First Presbyterian Church
Lost and Found Priorities
Sermon for March 21, 2004
by Pastor
Susan Barnes
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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 drachmas, 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." This ends our reading from the gospel. Just after these two parables, Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal son and his forgiving father and angry brother. I'll preach on that parable next week. Our epistle reading is on page 198. Paul writes to the church at Philippi , to help them with some controversy within their church family. In the early church, a large group of people thought Christians must become Jews first, before being able to be a follower of Christ. This meant that the men needed to be circumcised. The kosher food laws were also problematic. Paul explains to the Philippians that there is more to being a Christian than having the right credentials; he himself has impeccable credentials, but it is not what counts. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Philippians 3:4b-14. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything, (1) and I regard it as dung (2) in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith of (3) Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming likehim in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because I have been overtaken by Christ Jesus. (4) 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. This ends our reading from God's word. Two months ago, we lost a library book. It was for a project at school, checked out with a bunch of similar books, that all got returned, except that one. The child who borrowed it insisted it had been returned properly. The library disagreed. I paid the fines, I kept renewing the book. I lectured both children about library property and paying fines. Finding that book became my priority. I made three trips to the classroom to check if the book had been left there. I looked through my child's desk, I checked with the teacher, I checked with the school librarian, I checked at the Public library. No book. Of course, it was part of a series of books, so it would be especially hard for the library to replace. To say nothing of expensive for me. I sorted through all the closets and bookshelves in our house. Also desk and dresser drawers, as well as cars, trunks, and underneath the seats. It took two weeks of evenings and weekends. I found so much stuff that I had a garage sale in early February. It was the coldest garage sale Baker City had ever had, apparently, and only about half of the stuff sold. We packed up the leftover toys for the North Baker carnival. The book still hadn't appeared. Who would want to steal a history book? How could anyone accidentally walk off with such a large item? Mike paid for the book at the library. The next day, the day of the carnival, I had to drop something off at my child's classroom. I made one last futile look around, checking the bookshelves one more time for a mismatched cinnamon-colored binding. It still wasn't there. The teacher asked if I had checked the little bookshelf by the chalkboard. Of course I had. I'd checked there twice already, on my previous visits. But I hadn't looked at the little unused desk next to it, too, the one with the lined papers on the tall bottom shelf, laying on top of a book with rust colored binding that was almost the right color — and there it was, laying neatly underneath a pile of papers. I was so happy, I think I yelled in the quiet classroom. The teacher smiled quietly, but it was a large smile. I think she was relieved I wouldn't be dropping by anymore. On my way out, I told the secretary, the librarian, another teacher, several parents, and perfect strangers “I found the lost library book.” That night at the carnival, when people asked me how I was, I said I was great. I had found a lost library book. All my guilt was removed. I felt lighter, I walked taller, and I rejoiced. I made other people rejoice with me, too. So I can relate to Jesus' parables about rejoicing at finding lost things. We are God's priority. The woman called in their friends and neighbors to share in the rejoicing. Her lost drachma was found. Drachmas aren't round coins, but squarish ones. One couldn't roll away, but it could get buried in a dirt floor, or lodged between floorboards, or kicked under a carpet. Or it could have been stolen. No wonder her neighbors rejoiced; they weren't under any suspicion. And the shepherd with the lost sheep- someone could have stolen that. That would have been a concern for his friends and neighbors, who would be concerned that someone was stealing sheep; theirs might be in danger too. That was a problem for the community-but no, he found the sheep, so everyone rejoiced. But it wasn't just a book or a coin or an animal that was lost, it was a person. And these stories aren't about repentance, but about reception. Jesus tells the people of God, the Pharisees, to join the celebration whenever someone repents. This group of Pharisees had been honored by Jesus' presence at their table, and were insulted that he would share a table with tax collectors and sinners, after eating with them [the Pharisees]. Jesus uses the image of a shepherd. We're accustomed to thinking of God as a shepherd, but in the first century, shepherds had bad reputations; they were shiftless, thieving, trespassing transients. And then he talks about a woman. Sweeping. It's a quick story, only two verses. I wonder if they complained about that too. I remember, when I first heard someone calling God ‘her' how horrified I was. It just wasn't biblical. People were plopping their own agendas into the text. But after a lot of study, I found it was biblical, and so it was ok. I learned that for some people, it's comforting, not just challenging. It became comforting to me. I was a little intimidated to preach on it, though. I remember the first time I preached on this text from Luke. It was at a Presbyterian retirement home. I talked about God the shepherd, looking for a lost sheep, God the sweeping woman, looking for her lost coin. It was important to me that in Jesus' parable of the lost coin, the woman is the God figure. After the service, an elderly retired pastor approached me. He said he had himself preached on these parables of the lost. He had preached on God the shepherd, searching for his lost sheep. He had preached on God the loving father, welcoming the prodigal home. But he had never noticed that in the parable in between those two, the woman searching for a lost coin is the God figure. He thanked me for preaching on it, with tears in his eyes. I was awed that this man, with so many years experience in the ministry, heard the gospel from me. But I shouldn't have been surprised. He'd been a pastor for so long, he was practiced in listening for the gospel. We're all working on becoming Christians. In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he reminds them that Christians haven't arrived at their final destination; they still need to go on becoming like Christ. Paul himself hasn't attained anything on his own, but he presses on because Christ has claimed him. Paul presses on to the goal of the heavenly call of God. I'm sure that this group of the Pharisees thought they were doing what God wanted, staying pure, not associating with sinners and tax collectors. Religious people have always wanted to keep themselves holy. Four hundred years ago the Reformers wanted to make sure that Presbyterians did not partake of the Lord's Supper unworthily. Sometimes they would have several days of fasting or classes of preparation. In some Presbyterian churches the pastor or the elders were responsible for examining every member to determine whether or not he or she as worthy to have communion. Sometimes the examination consisted of reciting the Apostles' Creed, listing the ten commandments, or answering one of 108 questions from the shorter catechism. And sometimes it meant paying your church tithe in full. When members passed the examination, they were given communion tokens. On Sunday, an elder collected a token from each person before they were admitted to the table. One Reverend John Steele, in the 1760's, refused to give his wife a communion token, convinced that she did not have a proper attitude toward his son by a previous marriage. Mrs. Steele took the matter before session who in turn brought the case before presbytery. After two years, Steele was finally ordered to allow his wife to receive the Lord's Supper. He did so, although he announced that he was acting in obedience with Presbytery and that as far as he was concerned, she was still undeserving of the privilege. (5) I am happy to report that now the Presbyterian Church officially views the Lord's Supper as a sign of mercy, not merit. Our constitution says, “The invitation to the Lord's Supper is extended to all who have been baptized, remembering that access to the table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a privilege given to the undeserving who come in faith, repentance, and love.…Even one who doubts or whose trust is wavering may come to the Table in order to be assured of God's love and grace in Christ Jesus.” (6) Here's a poem I found about Christ as an innkeeper who welcomes a traveler who feels unworthy. It was written four hundred years ago, by a priest. It's a well-known poem, but I read it for the first time this year. Love (III), by George Herbert Love bade me welcome; Listen for the word of God as it is found in Philippians 3:4b-14. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel , of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (1) New Interpreter's Bible , XI, translation, p. 528. (2) Mine; it means excrement, not rubbish, as NRSV has it (3) NIB XI translation, p. 528 (4) NIB XI translation, p. 529. (5) Silver Spring Presbyterian Church, silverspring.org/history/history04.htm (6) Book of Order, W-2.4011. |
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