No One’s Left Behind -- Sermon for Pentecost 14C/Proper 19 (Luke 15)
There are “in crowds” and the “not-so-in crowds.” It’s always better to be part of the in-crowd, even if that means living on the margins of the group. At least you’re inside the circle! Unfortunately, not everyone gets to live inside the circle. Even churches have cliques that by design exclude certain people. These cliques might not have secret codes or handshakes, but they do send signals letting people know they’re not welcome.
We see this played out in the 2007 movie Hair Spray. In that movie, John Travolta plays Edna Turnblad, the obese mother of an overweight but determined daughter named Tracy. Edna watches as her very talented daughter is kept from achieving her dream of dancing on the Corny Collins Show. Although Tracy is a very good dancer, she doesn’t fit the youth-oriented variety show’s image of a dancer. So, the “powers that be” collude to make sure she doesn’t get on the show. Even when a slip of fate lets her get on the show, her detractors are merciless. Fortunately, her determination and spunk make her a hit and she breaks down the walls for others.
While the movie helpfully calls into question stereotypes and prejudices, it also affirms the principle that everyone, no matter what they look like, or where they come from, has value. Yes, Tracy— along with her mother; her somewhat oblivious father; and her friend Seaweed, a young African American dancer, who, like Tracy, keeps getting excluded from the show— is just as valuable as Velma Von Tussle, the former Miss Baltimore who is now the station manager. The same is true of Velma’s daughter Amber, who has all the physical attributes that society values in a star. While it appears that societal rules will exclude certain kinds of people, fortunately, in this version of the story, no one is left behind!
Jesus knew what it meant to be an outsider. He was a Galilean and fatherless. He was also poor and hung around with the wrong crowd. You know, the sinners he shared meals with. According to his critics, who you hang around is indicative of your character. If you spend your time with the riffraff, then you must be riffraff yourself. After all, image, as everyone knows, means everything.
Like Tracy, Jesus wasn’t afraid to identify with the lost and the ostracized. That’s because he was committed to breaking the walls of the circle that divides the in-crowd from the outsiders.
We see this vision present in the first parable. While Jesus asks his critics whether or not they would leave behind ninety-nine sheep to find the one lost lamb, he must have known that a good shepherd would never put the ninety-nine in danger to find one lamb that wandered off. Nevertheless, Jesus believes this is the right way to go. We see something similar in the second parable where a woman loses one of ten coins and turns her house upside down to find it.
Jesus uses these parables to answer his critics who are grumbling about him eating with the riffraff. In Jesus’ mind, this is what God does. God is committed to making sure that what is lost gets found. In other words, Jesus believed in second chances and maybe more! The religious establishment, however, didn’t agree with this perspective.
As these two parables reveal, God is committed to making sure that no one is left behind. That shepherd in this story took a big risk when he shockingly leaves the ninety-nine behind so he could find the lost lamb. But to this shepherd that one lost lamb was just as important as the ninety-nine. As for the woman in the second parable, she is equally committed to finding what is lost. She lights the lamp and looks under the rugs. She goes to great lengths to find a single coin when she already has nine. Of course, that’s not the end of the story.
Both of these parables have a happy ending. That’s because not only does the shepherd find the lost lamb without losing the ninety-nine, but he throws a party to celebrate. The woman also throws a party after finding her lost coin. I find the parties intriguing.
I might be reading between the lines when it comes to the parties that Jesus mentions, but remember that the question that led to the parables involved eating with sinners! These parables seem to suggest that we serve a God of abundance who is willing to be extravagant when it comes to celebrating the restoration of relationships.
I see this sense of abundance especially present in the second parable. While we can understand why she might want to search high and low for a lost coin. After all, that coin might be needed to pay some bills. But, then she throws a party. While Jesus doesn’t give us the menu for the party, I’m thinking it probably cost her more to throw the party than this coin was worth.
As for the shepherd, I can’t help but wonder if he slaughtered one of the ninety-nine sheep to feed his friends at his party. After all, in the parable of the Prodigal that follows these two parables and also serves as an answer to Jesus’ critics, the father slaughters the fatted calf to celebrate the return of his lost son. From Luke’s perspective, all three parables serve as a response to Jesus’ critics who complain about the kinds of people he eats with.
So, it might not be prudent to throw a party when you recover a lost coin, but according to Jesus, that’s the way God works in the world. God’s love for the world is so abundant that God is willing to spend everything to make sure that what is lost gets found.
As we read these parables, Jesus invites us to do a bit of theology. These stories reveal something about God’s identity and Jesus’ vision of his ministry. While this is just an ordinary shepherd and an ordinary woman, they represent for us God’s nature. This is a God who takes risks and isn’t concerned about proper behavior when it comes to restoring a broken creation. As I read these parables, I find a God present here who won’t leave anyone behind. Not only that, here is a God who loves a good party!
So, as we ponder the message of these two parables, let us think once again about how they represent God’s identity. Is this not a God whose identity is defined by love? Is this not the God who welcomes everyone into the family? Of course, there are other understandings of God’s nature. Consider the image offered by Jonathan Edwards in his famous 18th-century sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” That image seems more in line with Jesus’ critics than with Jesus. At least, that’s my reading of the parables.
I opened this sermon with a word about cliques. I know that some Christians have taken great pleasure in drawing small circles so they can exclude certain people from the circle of God’s love and embrace. That has all the marks of a clique. Jesus, like Tracy, was known for challenging the cliques of our world. The God he revealed to us is, in my mind, a God who draws big circles so that no one is left on the outside of the circle. This is a God who takes great risks in doing what is necessary to find what is lost. That is because God loves God’s creation! We may need to experience some refining as part of the process of restoration, but I believe God is determined to make sure that no one is left behind.
When God finds us and brings us back into the fold, God likes to throw a party. Yes, God not only attends the party; God hosts the party. Since God’s resources are infinite, when it comes to the party, the cost is of no concern!
This means that whenever we come together as God’s people, we can celebrate God’s ministry of reconciliation. As Paul puts it, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male and female, but instead, we are all one in Christ (Gal. 3:28). That means ethnicity, economic status, and gender, are not barriers to joining in the festivities. Now there are other barriers that we could add to Paul’s list, but I think you get the idea.
Therefore, let us rejoice in the good news that Jesus is always seeking that which is lost and celebrates when the lost are found. That, of course, requires a party. While we’re not gathering at the Lord’s Table this morning, is this not a meal that celebrates the breaking down of the walls that separate us from God’s love?
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church
Troy, Michigan
September 11, 2022
| Image Attribution, Swanson, John August. Celebration, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56538 [retrieved September 10, 2022]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/. |
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