Sermon for September 11, 2022

Sermon title:  "Eating with Sinners"

Scripture:  Luke 15:1-10

(Other lectionary choices include Jeremiah 4:11-12 and 22-28, Psalm 14, and I Timothy 1:12-17.)

Luke 15:1-10

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2and the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3So he told them this parable:  4"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

          The sermon title has to do with eating with sinners, but this whole section of Luke is about finding the Lost, whether it be a sinner, a lost coin, or even a Prodigal Son. The story of the Prodigal Son follows what we heard in today's Scripture, but I have preached on that alone more than once, so I'll try to stay within today's Scripture reading.

         There is something about sharing a meal with someone that indicates they are accepted. Look at what we do every Sunday as Disciples of Christ:  have a symbolic meal at the Lord's Table and EVERYONE is invited. I am also reminded that in Israel's long feud with the Palestinians, no Israeli leader has ever sat down to eat with a Palestinian leader. In fact, back when Yasser Arafat was still alive - he was the Palestinian leader - Israeli heads of state seemed to make it a point not EVER to eat with a Palestinian. And probably no Palestinian leader would agree to eat with an Israeli leader, either. To sit down with somebody at a meal implies a welcoming, a "you're okay" assertion. And when Jesus was willing to eat with those whom the "purity police" thought unworthy or unfit, he got into some trouble.

          I also had this thought:  look at the state dinners our presidents have for world leaders when they come to Washington. They are a way of saying, "you're okay", or "We approve of you". Sitting down at table with someone is a centuries-old tradition of welcoming someone as a friend.

          Did you hear Jesus saying that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 who need no repentance? That statement will mean more to us when we realize that the orthodox of Jesus's day said the opposite; they said, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God." Can you imagine that? The so-called "righteous ones" looked forward to the destruction of whoever they thought was UNrighteous! They were more happy with the destruction of the sinner than the saving of the sinner!

          As we know, Jesus called himself the shepherd of the sheep, and he even mentions the searching for that one lost sheep. There was an Old Testament scholar named George Adam Smith, and he traveled widely in Palestine. Listen to what he said about the shepherd:  "On some high moor across which at night the hyenas howl, when you meet him, sleepless, far-sighted, weather- beaten, armed, leaning on his staff and looking out over his scattered sheep, every one of them on his heart, you understand why the shepherd of Judea sprang to the front in his people's history, why they gave his name to the king and made him the symbol of providence:  why Christ took him as the type of self-sacrifice."

          When Jesus tells the story about the woman looking for and finding the lost coin, his listeners could identify, because most of them were poor, and one silver coin could mean the difference between eating that day and not. And maybe the coin was from the wife's head-dress. A married woman had a head-dress made of ten silver coins, held together by a chain. Losing one of  those coins is the equivalent of a modern married woman who loses her wedding ring. The ring is valuable, yes - but it also has sentimental value, which may be worth even more.  So, Jesus's listeners could understand the worry of loss and the joy of finding what was lost. Jesus was saying that God was like that:  so very happy when one of his "flock" was found. God was as happy as a shepherd who found a lost sheep, and God was as happy as a person who lost something valuable and then found it again.

          The Pharisees of Jesus's day simply did not understand the God Jesus proclaimed. For them, purity was what was important. Keeping the rules was what was important. For Jesus, apparently, repentance was what was important. A great Jewish scholar, whose name I don't know, said that Jesus really did bring a new idea to the religion table, and that is that God actually searches for us. In the Judaism of Jesus's day, there was the idea that "those who came crawling home to God in self-abasement and prayed for pity might find it."  But nowhere before Jesus is the idea that God actually searches for us.

          That's pretty powerful, isn't it? God ACTUALLY SEARCHES for US! Wow! I have heard before that some people, in their search for God, when they "find" Him, gradually realize that THEY were found BY GOD! As you know, I found the ministry fairly late in life.....but maybe the REAL truth is that God found ME!

          When I was in high school,  I saw George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess". It was made into a movie, and that's what I saw. Before I went to that movie, my high school minister had seen the movie first, and he mentioned that something at the end of the movie reminded him of God's love for us. At the end of that movie, tears came to my eyes as I realized what my high school minister had meant. In the story Bess - who has been anything but faithful! - runs off to New York with somebody - I forget who it was, maybe Sportin' Life, played by Sammy Davis, Jr. But the very moving part for me was Porgy, who loved Bess, Porgy, in his crippled little cart, is determined to go find Bess, and he doesn't even know where New York is! That scene was the one my high school minister was talking about, and for him, Porgy - like God - is determined to go to New York in that rickety cart to find Bess. Porgy was going to search for Bess, just as God searches for us.

          Do you believe that, that God loves us so much that he'll even COME LOOKING for us? Jesus believed it. And not only that, but he SAID it: he came to seek and to save that which was lost. That's love, friends, and I hope you realize sometime - if you haven't already - that that's how much God loves you. And me! Thanks be to God! Amen. Any questions?

Pastor Skip