Luke 15:1-10 “Finders
& Seekers”
Have you ever been lost? I mean really lost. Lost as a child in a store?
Lost hiking in the
woods? Lost driving in
Or maybe you’ve been with
someone who got lost.
One of the most traumatic
experiences I ever had was when I was the associate minister at my former
church,
chaperoning a youth mission
trip back in 2003. We were staying at a
motel in
and one evening, about 9 o’ clock,
two of the teenage girls in our group asked to go
and wash a few clothes at the
hotel laundry. They’d be back by 10, no
problem.
Well, at
The youth director and I
looked everywhere for two hours - it was a large motel and restaurant
complex.
We were just at the point
where we began to talk about calling the police.
And then suddenly, these two
girls rounded the corner of one of the buildings,
near our block of rooms. They had been talking, and lost track of
time.
We were so relieved they were
safe, that we forgot about how angry we were at their thoughtlessness.
We were so glad that we had
found them.
Today’s scripture reading is
about seeking and finding.
The two stories we heard are
probably two of the most beautiful,
and certainly the most
memorable, in the Bible.
They are placed right before
another familiar story - the one about the prodigal son.
These three stories taken together teach us about
God’s grace -
a grace so amazing that God seeks us out when we’re
lost, and celebrates us when we’re found.
Jesus was a
storyteller. He frequently told stories
to make his points.
The two verses that began
today’s reading set the scene, and if you notice,
Jesus is in trouble with
the authorities once again.
He’s been hanging out with
tax collectors and sinners.
But when he hears his
critics, he doesn’t pull out his Hebrew scriptures,
and start thumping it on
the table. Instead he tells these
stories called parables.
Now a parable may sound
simple but it is not a one-dimensional story.
The word parable in the
Greek literally means “that which is tossed alongside,”
which suggests a
comparison, or a metaphor. A parable
invites interpretation.
He tells the story of a man,
who, when he discovers he has lost one of his sheep,
goes so far as to risk the
other 99 sheep in the wilderness, just to try to find the lost one.
In the other story, a woman
loses a silver coin, and carefully – with a lamp and a broom – searches her house
until she finds it. In both stories, the
conclusion is the same – there is joy and celebration.
Jesus used these parables
to respond to his critics, who were upset because Jesus was attracting a
following
of tax collectors and
sinners – the outcasts of the society.
In their hearts, the
leaders of the synagogue believed that these people
shouldn’t be hanging around
the community of the faithful.
Not only were they hanging around, trying to hear what
Jesus had to say,
the real problem was that Jesus was actually eating
with these folks.
This was an absolute slap in the face to Jewish
authorities
because if there was anything that showed you were a
good enough Jew,
it was who you ate with and how you observed the
Sabbath.
So when Jesus told these two
stories, he was essentially saying to the leaders of the synagogue
who were so bent on excluding
certain folks, “No one is to be excluded.
Not even the last, most lost, most left out sheep. Not even the smallest, most hidden, most
forgotten coin.”
These parables sum up the
purpose of Jesus’ ministry. Right
after this story, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son and the forgiving
father. But in case it isn’t crystal
clear from these stories, a few chapters later,
when he goes and eats with Zaccheus, a rich tax collector -- another outcast.
Jesus states his purpose: “The son of Man came to seek out and save the
lost.”
Unfortunately, the word
“saved” and our understanding of it has become pretty distorted over the
decades.
My former church used to set
up a booth in a community fair -- kind of like the festivals and fairs they
have periodically in downtown Norcross.
There were crafts, and food, and displays, including booths set up by other
churches. I remember one booth which
always had a couple of folks quite aggressively approaching people, especially
teens dressed all in black and wearing
multiple earrings. Or guys in
leather with tattoos on their arms.
And then they would confront
the person with the question: “Are you
saved?”
They would hand out a tract
to read, supposedly with right answers.
Although there is nothing
wrong with the question, it matters how and who you ask.
As an approach to evangelism
or conversion this method doesn’t work with people who are skeptical about the
Christian faith. For you see, if you are lost, you’re not saved by learning the right
answers.
You’re saved by grace, which comes out of a
relationship with Jesus Christ.
And somebody aggressively
handing out tracts on a street corner
probably isn’t going to
convince many people to seek out a relationship with Christ.
But it’s not just street
corner evangelists who fail to be effective.
Churches sometimes do the
same thing. Some have evolved into a
style of discipleship
based on separation rather
than association.[1]
In a way that looks very much
like the Pharisees, the church has written doctrine,
created rules, and used
communion and other sacraments to decide whether or not you were a good enough
Christian. As we sit in our church each Sunday, there are a whole bunch of
people who have not found grace in the church.
Instead they have been judged, condemned, hurt, and disillusioned by
their experiences in the church.
You wouldn’t call these folks
unchurched. A
better name would be dechurched.
Some people are lost because
the church has left them behind. Some of
you who have found your way back to church after some years probably can relate
to this.
This past week, a group of
about 20 Disciples clergy from the
We had lunch together and
then shared some of the highlights of what was going on in our ministries.
One of the ministers,
Rev. Jim Lindskoog,
from Community Christian Church
in
It’s called “Seekers and
Skeptics” and meets on Saturday nights at the church.
The idea for the group came
from one of their members,
whose spiritual journey as a
young adult had led him through all sorts of places,
including being an atheist
for a time.
What the group does is to
engage in dialogue and debate about matters of faith,
organized religion, the role
of faith and religion, or the lack of it,
and other issues of concern
to believers, seekers and skeptics.
As I listened to him describe
the program, I immediately thought about our denomination, the Disciples of
Christ, and how well suited we are to offer such a forum.
Sometimes we Disciples take
some criticism for not having ready answers to all the questions. But that’s a strength, not a weakness. Not having all the answers leaves room for
the complexity of our spirituality.
It leaves space for the
mystery of God. In a world that wants
easy answers to hard questions,
we Disciples can offer the
good news to people whose questions aren’t being answered by the same old
responses.
We have the capacity to offer
not right answers, but the tools to develop a right relationship with Jesus
Christ.
Tools like prayer, and Bible
study. Opportunities for worship and
service.
Practices that help us stay
in relationship with Jesus Christ.
This right relationship - not
right answers - is what makes our faith life changing.
One
of the things that made Jesus so radical in his day was that he did whatever it
took
to
reach the folks that the leaders of the synagogue were excluding.
It
eventually took him to the cross.
But
Jesus was willing to think in new ways to reach the people that others had
given up on.
He was willing to hang out
with people the institutional church had kicked out.
Paul, writer of much of the
new testament, also modeled this.
He didn’t get the name
“apostle to the gentiles” by associating only his Jews.
Some of you may have heard
this before, but there is a story told of a fairly traditional, even
conservative church that was located right near a college campus.
They wanted to develop a
ministry to the college students,
but weren’t sure how to go
about it.
Meanwhile, living on the
campus of that college is a young man named John.
He has wild hair, wears an
old t-shirt, jeans with holes, and no shoes.
This was his wardrobe for his
four years of college.
He is brilliant, a real
thinker, and had become a Christian just that year.
One Sunday, John decides to get
up in time for worship at this church.
He walks in with no shoes,
and wearing his t-shirt, jeans, and wild hair.
The service has already
started, and this morning it’s packed,
so John heads down the center
aisle looking for a seat.
As John nears the front, he
realizes there are no seats,
and so he just sits down on
the carpet in the aisle.
(Although perfectly
acceptable behavior at the Christian fellowship he attended
on campus, trust me, they had
never done it that way in this church before!)
By now, the people are
getting pretty tense, not really knowing what to do next.
Just about then, from way
back in the church, one of the elders of the church,
who is in his 80s,
well-dressed in a suit and tie, begins to make his way to the front.
He walks slowly, with a
cane. He is very dignified, much
respected, and an important leader in the church.
No one expected a man of his
age or experience to understand
some college kid on the
floor.
You couldn’t blame him for
what everyone knew he was going to do.
Finally, the older man
reaches the college student.
By now, the church has grown
completely silent.
People are thinking, he’ll
take care of this, and then we can get on with the service.
But then, the older man drops
his cane on the floor, and with great difficulty,
lowers himself and sits down
next to John -
sits down next to him so
won’t have to sit alone.
We may not be asked to sit on
the floor next to a college student.
But there are other people,
and other ideas we may need to hear and not judge.
These people may be in our
neighborhood, where we work, or at school.
Some of these people may need
to express doubts about their faith.
Some of these people may
question beliefs we hold dear.
Some of these people may need
a safe place where they learn about God’s love.
We may need to journey with
people to places we’ve never been before.
We may need to have dialogue
that helps people grow in faith.
Discipleship is not about
having the right answers, the right doctrine,
or in fact, being right,
which is the way so many churches and people
who call themselves
Christian want it these days.
Christian discipleship is
about relationships.
Relationships with all of
God’s people -
seekers, believers,
skeptics,
those who are lost, and
those who’ve been found.