Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost |
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Scripture |
Luke 15:1-1015 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So 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? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And 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.’ 7 Just 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. 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? 9 When 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.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” |
Devotional |
What do these two parables tell us about God and about ourselves? The scribes and Pharisees are more like ourselves than we would be comfortable admitting. Where do we find God in these parables? First, we should find our place in the story but more important is to accept our place. Rick Marshall pastor of Brea Congregational Church in Brea, California states: The problem for the preacher in voicing the prophetic view is that we are embedded in the very system that perpetuates the powers that reign over us. The church is an organization, and churches are conservative in nature because they need to survive as organizations. Preachers who are paid by the people they preach to are beholden to keeping their people satisfied in order to maintain their position. Especially in these times when patriotism has reach a fevered pitch and infected many churches with its idolatry, how is it possible to speak truth to power? Where is it possible to hear the kind of preaching embodied in Jeremiah or Jesus? 1 When we accept our place as a scribe or Pharisee or preacher, we have reached the turning point in understanding these two parables. We must also see ourselves as the church with a limited and selected view. Having reached this point we are prepared to receive a truth from the scripture. The parables of Jesus are first of all about how God works in this world – the mysterious, strange, bizarre, odd way that God deals with us, because the parables are very strange things. Jesus is a genius of story-telling, and what you have to watch most of all with Jesus in his parables are the small twists, the turn and details you don’t notice. 2 If you had a hundred sheep and one was missing, would you leave the ninety-nine in harms way in order to search for the one, probably not. We would be thankful that we had lost only one. So this parable is not about us but God. God, the shepherd is the one who would leave the ninety-nine to search for the one who was lost. What about a lost coin? The image of God in this story is a woman. The woman has ten coins. Suppose nine of these coins were the state quarters in mint condition and one was just an ordinary quarter for circulation. She looses the ordinary quarter but the nine un-circulated quarters are safe. Would we really be concerned about this missing quarter? Again we would be thankful that we had not lost one of the valuable. God is the one who would search for the one lost coin. These two stories are about a finder who needs to find. This is a story about a God who searches for those who need to be found. God unlike us is not willing to cut the losses and keep what remains but continues to seek all those who are lost for whatever reasons. What would happen if God failed in a search for the lost one? How many times have you like the sheep wandered away and become lost? How many of us like the lost coin have become lost through no fault of our own? This is a story of a God who seek all who have become lost regardless of the reason. How do we response when God calls us together to celebrate the return of the one that has been found? Prayer: God, we thank you for seeking us regardless of where we are. We are confident that you will always seek us when we become lost. 1www.prosessandfaith.org/lectionary/YearC/2006-2007/2007-09-16.shtml |