Luke 15-1-10 (11-31)
"God Throws a Party"
Take a moment to remember pictures that you have seen with Jesus carrying a sheep or a lamb on his shoulder.
We have lost many things in our move! We know that we have the items; however, we cannot find them. Have you ever lost $50.00 in a pocket, in your purse or in your house or perhaps lost a valuable coin in the house? (Much reaction and discussion) When it is lost it is not useful. One may even forget about that lost money – not this woman!
I think that in this Sabbath's morning Scripture lesson, we see a clash between being a religious, respectable person and being a faithful person. It was a clash between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees historically by this time had decentralized Judaism by setting up synagogues (we call them churches) where the faithful could worship without having to go to the temple in Jerusalem. Each day, morning and evening worship consisted of prayers, reading of Scripture (Old Testament), and possibly a commentary of the scripture by one of the leaders. (Sounds like Sabbath morning worship.)
The basic teaching of the Pharisees was that God the Father so loved the individual that God revealed God's own Will, so that the individual might hope for eternal life and resurrection by doing that will. The major difference between the Christians, after Jesus' death and resurrection, and the Pharisees was the basis of God's revealed will. For the Pharisees, God's will was revealed in the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Now additionally, an oral tradition grew around the Torah which sought to apply those laws to the changing times as the society moved from an agrarian society with its shepherds and farmers to an urban one of artisans, merchants and traders. The individual would obtain salvation by following God's will as revealed in the law, the Torah and in its interpretations. However, for the Christians, God's will was revealed in Jesus Christ. The individual would obtain salvation by believing that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, was Lord and then follow Jesus' teachings.
I think that the clash between the Pharisees and Jesus begins when tax collectors and sinners come to hear Jesus, and Jesus welcomes them and eats with them. Now to eat with someone was not like going to a restaurant as it is today. In those days if you shared a meal in someone's house or home, it was an expression of fellowship. Think of it, Jesus was going into the homes of sinners, people who did not necessarily go to the synagogue, people who did not regularly go to worship! Jesus was going into the homes of sinners, people who did not adhere to all the laws and traditions, people who were unrighteous. According to Torah, Jesus was eating with sinners.
Now the Pharisees recognized Jesus as a Rabbi, a teacher of the law. But a teacher of the Law was also to be an example to all by following the law. Jesus did not do this. Rather, Jesus' going into a sinner's home and eating with them was a sign that they were acceptable, and their behavior was approved of. Jesus was eating with sinners. The respectable religious people, the Pharisees, did not approve.
In response to this criticism, Jesus tells three stories, but we are going to only comment on the first two. They, I believe, give us a clue to what gives God joy, to what causes God to throw a big celebration. These stories also give us an interesting picture of God's activity in the world. In these two stories, God is portrayed first, as a shepherd and second, as a woman. In the first story, we are the near-sighted sheep, getting lost following our noses for more grass to fill our bellies. In the second story, we are the lost coin, helpless to move ourselves to be found. In both stories we are of value to God, but we are lost. God must find us. We are worthy of a celebration when we are again safe in God's presence. And when we are safe in God's hands, we are able to admit that we are silly sheep and flat coins, we are able to confess our sins and to repent.
Yet for some of us it is hard to imagine God throwing a party for us. This, I believe, is because we do not understand who God is. Today, there are two equally dangerous misconceptions of God. The first is that God is an angry and wrathful God. With this conception of God, we have to be fearful if we do anything wrong. Often people who as children had parents who were angry and very punitive have this image of God based on their childhood experiences. I believe that these stories of Jesus show a very different picture of God. If we sin, if we lose our way, God seeks us out, because God love us and wants a deep trusting friendship with us.
In the first chapter of Romans, Paul tells us what the wrath of God is. Simply put, the wrath of God is "God leaving us to our own devices." It is like a child going into a candy store. A loving parent may say that the child can spend only so much money, or the child can have one or two pieces of candy. However, if the child ignores the parent and decides to go and get lots of candy and then eats it all at once, the consequence of the child left to his or her own devices is at the very least - a tummy ache. The parent's "wrath" did not cause the tummy ache. In the same way, God's wrath is allowing us to suffer the consequences of our actions - not causing our actions. Returning to the analogy of the child, a loving parent would call the doctor for the sick child, and would not abandon the child, but actively seek the well-being of the child, explaining the relationship between lots of candy and the tummy ache. God seeks us out to keep us out of trouble.
The second equally dangerous misconception is that because God loves me, anything I do is just fine. This says that nothing I do makes any difference. One of the problems today is people finding meaning in their lives, finding a purpose for living. Several years ago some sociologists did a study to find a way to increase the productivity in a factory. First, they played music in the factory and they found that productivity increased. When they removed the music, they found that productivity remained high. The sociologists were really puzzled with the results. But when they interviewed the workers, they found that the key to the increased productivity was the realization that someone was interested in them, that someone cared about what they were doing.
If no one cares about what we do, it is very easy to fall into the attitude - Why try? Why put out the effort? What difference does it make? Who cares? If God doesn't care about what we do, what difference does it make? Why should we try to love and reach out to that difficult person? Why should we try to go with one less outfit of clothes so that we can give more to the church? Why should we buy a lower cut of meat, so we can give more to the Salvation Army or the Red Cross for hurricane relief? Why should we try to make the extra effort to go to Bible study regularly, or Sabbath Worship, or Sabbath School? God loves us no matter what we do.... Why try? What difference does it make?
But, I believe, it does make a difference to God. Did you know that every time we realize we have blown it, that every time we acknowledge we have done something that God did not want us to do, and ask God to forgive us, and help us to be more faithful, that God throws a party? Did you realize that the Holy Spirit is already "finding" us so that we may realize that we are with God - and are forgiven by God?
We will celebrate Communion, Sabbath, 9 October. This Sabbath's celebration is sometimes called God's banquet with his gathered flock. It has been called God's festival of healing, of binding the wounds of the broken-hearted, of strengthening, encouraging, and empowering the sheep. May we ever, through this holy meal, be transformed from sheep into shepherds who seek the lost, bind up the wounds of the broken, who strengthen, encourage, empower, and nourish those around us! We also say that Jesus hosts a banquet and eats with sinners who have asked for forgiveness. There is a place for you and me, because God throws a party!
