Children's Time:
What's this? Yes, it's a basketball. How do you play basketball? What do you try to do? How do you get points? What happens if you get fouled? (All of these questions were rapidly answered correctly by the young son of a basketball coach.)
Do you know who invented basketball? A man named James Naismith.
Can you guess what this basketball has to do with church? In my sermon, I'm going to talk about basketball and a long time ago I met a man who told me his Sunday School teacher was James Naismith, the same man who invented basketball. Sunday School teachers can do a lot of different things.
So far, in the gospel of Luke, Jesus has been invited by several Pharisees to come to their homes for dinner. In those days, a guest in your home could increase your honor and add to your social standing. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Luke 15:1-32.
1 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."
11 Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.'
So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.
17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."'
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe-- the best one-- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
27 He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'
28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
29 But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'
31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"
This ends our gospel reading.
Some Pharisees were upset with Jesus because he was eating with anyone who asked him, even sinners. What honor is there in having a guest who will eat with anybody? Perhaps after eating with sinners, Jesus was no longer a desired social commodity. So he tells these Pharisees stories about people who find what they had lost. God didn't value these Pharisees more than the sinners; when sinners return to God's ways, heaven rejoices. Jesus reminds these Pharisees that social status is not what God is about.
Paul reminds the people in the church in Corinth what God is about, and what the people of God should be about. He reminds them that each person has value. Reading Genesis, I would say that because God created us in God's own image, way back in the beginning, each of us has value. But Paul wants to put it a new way. For Paul, people have value because Christ has died for them. “From the moment of Christ's death, everyone, everyone has value.”
Listen for the word of God as it is found in 1 Corinthians 5:16-21.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This ends our reading from God's word.
The last parable of lost and found things is often called The Prodigal Son. It's also called “The Forgiving Father” or “Two Beloved Sons.” The sons are both beloved.
The younger son came home, wanting to be treated as a hired hand. Apparently, the older son had a similar sort of expectation for his younger brother. But the father surprised them both by throwing a party.
The eldest is jealous. His beef with his father was that his father never killed the fatted calf for him. Even though in the years his brother was gone, he would have celebrated plenty of holidays with his father, and eaten his share of fatted calves. Doesn't his father think he, the eldest son, is worthy of celebration?
In those days, the eldest son had the most responsibility for the extended family, and so was given a double portion of the inheritance. The eldest son would get twice as much as the youngest son. He would have privileges that go with being the oldest that the youngest could never have. The eldest is speaking from a position of power.
He says to his father, “I have never disobeyed a command.” Hmmmm. How likely is that? “You never gave me a goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” Hmmm. Is the youngest really celebrating with his friends? Does he even have any friends at this point in his life? It sounded to me as if it were just the household: the family and the servants celebrating.
It sounds like the childish complaint, “He got more than me.”
The father reminds him that “all that is mine is yours.” Apparently, the eldest could take a young goat anytime and celebrate with his friends. The father's generosity wasn't limited.
Why was the youngest's return a cause for celebration? He was no longer a cause for mourning. They didn't wonder where he was or if he was alive—they know, and he is safely home. They rejoice because they don't have to grieve. When someone comes back from the dead, a celebration is in order.
But why should the elder son no longer view his younger brother as a loser? Because of Christ's death and resurrection. We no longer regard anyone from a human point of view. We don't look at each other according to all the ways we fall short. One pastor said, “Because of Jesus Christ, we are to see one another through the eyes of grace and mercy. We are to see the brokenness as places through which God's light can clearly shine. We are to see people as remade, restored and redeemed.”
That pastor remembers the “professor Shirley Guthrie almost shouting in our theology class, ‘The gospel is a great “nevertheless.” God sees us in our sinfulness, sees us better than we see ourselves, but NEVERTHELESS God loves us and saves us anyway.'”
I appreciate that theology a lot, but it doesn't work well when we hear that as “Accept everybody for who they are. Don't hold them accountable for anything.”
Accepting people doesn't mean resigning ourselves to mediocrity. It means recognizing that because people have worth, we can hold them accountable. Whether we are supervising employees, or meeting the terms of a contract or teaching students or working with a bunch of volunteers, we can recognize them as God's beloved children, as people for whom Christ died. Whenever we are in positions of responsibility, we can work to match people to their abilities, and give them opportunities to succeed. When we are willing to look at a person as a new creation in Christ, celebration happens.
I read a story in Sports Illustrated last week. I read it only because Mike handed it to me and said, “This is a good story even you can appreciate.” It was written by Rick Reilly.
“You know the kind of kid I'm talking about, right? The too-skinny, too-slow type who shoots all day at the rec center and shoots all night in the neighbor's driveway and air-shoots in algebra class but never gets his chance in a real game? Well, this story is about that kid.
His name is Sean Cronk, he's 17, and he lives with his disabled mother in a housing project across the street from the rec center in Everett, Mass. ‘If Sean could move his bed into that rec center,' said his mom… ‘I think he would.'
And even thought he can't beat a phone booth off the dribble and can't stop a slug on D[efense], the kid makes the Everett High jayvee team as a junior this season mostly because they can't scrape him off the court with a shovel.” And one day he gets in at the end of a meaningless game and sinks two free throws…like it's nothing.
So 10 games later they try him again, and Sean makes two more. Before long he's 10 for 10, which is no surprise to his buddies because he makes 50 foul shots in a row sometimes at the rec and has hit 25 straight threes.
Then the varsity coach, John DiBiaso, gets the crazy idea to add this kid to the roster for the stretch run and the state tournament. Not that he'll play, people figure; it's more of a reward thing.
The next day Everett is playing at Peabody for no less than the Greater Boston League title, and the game is tight…. There's only 20 seconds left with Everett [ahead] by three, when one of the players [is injured] and has to be helped off.
And [the coach] looks down the bench at his subs and says to the scrawny kid, “Sean! Shoot the free throws1”
Everybody in the gym practically swallows their gum as the kid limps out to the free throw line, dragging his left leg along like a dog that doesn't want to follow. See, Sean Cronk has cerebral palsy, which is why he is the kid who only shoots, shoots, and airshoots and never gets his chance when it counts. And yet here it is.
The Peabody crowd sees him pulling that bum leg, and they boo and whistle… This is for the league title, after all.
…He brings the ball all the way behind his head, two-handed, like you see six-year-olds do. [The ball] hits nothing but net. Then Sean swishes the second one just as sweetly. After Peabody comes back to nail a three at the buzzer, everyone in the place realizes that without Sean's two killer free throws, Everett could've lost…
All the star varsity players muss his hair and he gets a big yell from the cheerleaders and he sits with the cool guys in the back of the bus instead of up front with the nobodies. And at the end of the bus ride he turns to his coach and asks sheepishly, ‘Does this mean I get to stay on varsity?'
I'm guessing Coach DeBiaso said yes. He told a reporter, ‘This wasn't a case of me treating Sean any differently than any other player. I selected him to shoot the free throws because he was the best player for the job.'
Now Sean says teammates are talking about faking injuries after they're fouled, just so Sean can shoot for them.” Imagine “healthy kids faking limps so the kid with a real limp can replace them.”
Sean wants to coach some day. He said, “Maybe I can get a kid like me. And when he says, ‘I can't play because of my leg,' I can say, ‘Oh, yeah, you can!'”
This story was in Sports Illustrated magazine and a lot of other newspapers. Can you imagine any of the Everett players saying to the coach “I never got written up in a magazine. No one wanted to interview me! I've made free throws, I've scored hundreds more points than Sean.” I don't think any of his teammates could consider being jealous of Sean – they were all just happy to be on the winning team
When we regard people from a human point of view, using the world's standards, we would choose healthy whole good-looking rich people. But when we recognize the new has come, we look with new eyes, and we can recognize God's enormous generosity to all his children.
I love the old saying “God loves us just as we are, and loves us too much to let us stay that way.” We aren't stuck with our limitations. In Christ, reconciliation is possible. When we trust in God, we know that the old has become new.
After church, one of our elders told me that his college coach was coached by Naismith himself.
The New Interpreter's Bible, XI, p. 98.
Kershner, Shannon. Journal for Preachers, Lent 2007, p. 6-7.
Reilly, Rick, “Shooting Down a Myth,” Sports Illustrated, March 5, 2007, p. 76. |
First Presbyterian Church