September 15, 2013
Pentecost 17
Luke 15:1-7
Jeremiah 4:22-29
1st Timothy 1:12-17
(prayer)
I am thrilled to have been invited to be with you today as you enjoy this sabbatical time without your regular minister, Rev. Danielle. I have had a good amount of connection with this church in recent years, mostly as a representative of the Yellowhead Presbytery (which connects United Churches between Ft McMurrary and Jasper). I helped with the final report of your transitions team a few years back. I reviewed your governance structure for the presbytery. I followed up with your board after last year's pastoral oversight visit. Currently, I am your pastoral charge supervisor while Danielle is on sabbatical. Add to that the fact that Rick Chaba recruited me to be on the organizing group for last fall's Banff Men's Conference; it's fair to say that I am pretty familiar with highway 21.
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I have been an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Canada for 23 years: the last 13 of which I have be in ministry with the people who connect to St. David's United Church in Leduc. I am a husband, a father (of four), a dog owner, a football coach: sports fan, music lover and musician - just to scratch the surface.
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As a parent, I have recently crossed a threshold: ten days ago, my son turned eighteen. As our oldest, every experience with him was a new one for my spouse and I. (whisper). And I won't lie to you there have been times when I was ready to throw in the towel.
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It was actually kind of liberating to realize (a week and a half ago) that my official, legal obligations were at an end. Okay... he's still living at home, currently recovering from knee surgery before he finds gainful employment, so it is still hard to resist the urge to still offer "parental advice". Why not, my mom hasn't stopped and it's been 32 years since I reached voting age.
Even though I'm allowed to; I'm not ready to give up.
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The Parable of the lost sheep in Luke chapter fifteen, is the first of three similar parables that the gospel writer puts together for the readers. We only read the one today:
1. One of 100 sheep gets separated from the flock;
The other parables in Luke 15 are:
2. One of 10 coins is lost in a house;
3. One of 2 sons leaves home.
At first glance, these all seem to be three variations of the same parable. They all have the same theme. The person responsible refuses to accept that the missing item is lost for good. She/he refuses to give up and keeps looking until it is found. And the result is joy - joy that is not only kept within the individual, but shared with the community: a celebration is held.
But... they are not exactly the same parable. The tales of different lost items seems to me to be more than just a variety of ways of telling the same story with the same lesson. The three Lukan ‘lost parables’ may have a similar effort in the search and a similar response to the finding, but how and why the loss happened in the first place is unique.
THE LOST SHEEP
With 100 sheep to keep watch over, it is not all that hard to believe that, as they graze and roam the hillside that one could go missing from time to time. That’s why the shepherd does a regular count - so that if one does go astray, it can be found before it is too late - before it gets hurt or before a predator grabs it for supper.
One of the ways, things can get lost is that we are just overwhelmed. We lose track with so many things on the go. It’s understandable. If this experience happens over and over, it may a sign that we are systemicly overburdened and could do with some more training or help.
THE LOST COIN
Ten coins is not 100 sheep. It is certainly a more managable number. And they were not scattered throughout the countryside; they were all in the house (keep in mind this is a first century tiny one room shack, not a modern 2,500 square foot showhome). We can imagine that when the coins were retrieved from their storage space, it was simply noticed that one of them was not there. When was it last seen? Who had it last? Was it not put back carefully?
One of the ways that things can get lost, is that we are neglectful to some degree. We just didn't offer it our best, due care.
THE LOST SON
The father's younger son is not an inanimate coin, nor and instinctual domesticated animal. The son gets lost on purpose. The decision may have been years in the making.
One of the ways 'we' get lost is... by choice. And likely we wouldn't even describe ourselves as getting lost. In fact, we might profess that we were 'lost' at home and needed to be out on our own to 'find' ourselves.
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In these three stories, it is the shepherd, the woman and the father who experience the agony of the loss. Agony (in like) this is not fun. We don't like that feeling. If we have some hope that the item is not lost forever, the process of searching is also a process of easing our own pain.
The deeper the pain, the more we'll do to find it. We won't give up easily.
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As the Babylonian invaders moved west, tensions in Jerusalem grew. The walls were reinforced; goods and weapons were stockpiled. The Judeans were a confident people. This was their land. Land promised to Abraham. Land controlled by the Israelites from the time of Joshua. They had weathered every attempt to wrest them from their home. In the previous century, Judah remained independent even as the northern tribes were assimilated into the Assyrian Empire.
The Judeans "knew" from past experience that although the Babylonians appeared overwhelming, this was their promised land.
So... how annoying Jeremiah must have been with his prophecies of unfaithfulness and a future of desolation. The prophet preached: God saw the people as foolish, stupid evil-doers. Their foolishness (read... arrogance) would ruin this land of promise. And God would let their over-confidence run it logical, predictable course.
Biblical history tells us that it was worse than even Jeremiah imagined. Not only the countryside was lost to the Babylonians, but Jerusalem fell as well. The great stone Temple built in the time of King Solomon was pillaged and laid to ruin.
But... as Jeremiah hoped, this was "not a full end". A remenant of the people, including some key religious leaders and thinkers, were taken into exile to live as refugees by the rivers of Babylon. They kept their identity and culture alive. Their faith survived and even evolved beyond the Temple centric rituals. The people were not ready to give up. And so, when (a few generations later) their descendants returned home to Judah, they found they still had the ability to live as God's people.
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The underlying message from both Jeremiah and Luke is that God does not give up on us. We may find ourselves lost from time to time, but we are watched over, emboldened from within and loved by the heart at the centre of the universe.
Discovering that unconditional grace brings almost indescribable joy. The first letter to Timothy recounts for the early church the experience of the Apostle Paul who began his connection with Jesus' Way as a zealous opponent of Jesus' followers. The story of the grace and loved that welcomed Paul, was an encouragement to a new generation that of believers that there is nothing that can separate them from the love of God through Christ Jesus, their lord. I love the phrase from today's reading : "Jesus Christ [displayed] the utmost patience [with me]."
Yeah, we are not perfect reflections of the image of God. We get lost from a life in homey comfort of God's love. It may be the busyness of life that makes it hard to find time for the Spirit no matter how much we long for it. Perhaps we just let the call of the Spirit fade into the forgotten background of the world, only to find it hard to find when we seek it. Or maybe we are gone from by choice. We have been hurt or disillusioned by religion or by people who live what you see as a hypocritical or indefensible faith.
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The hope in our scriptures today is that it is not a "full end". That God is like a dedicated shepherd watching hillside for any trace of our whereabouts; a woman willing to sweep out the whole house to find what is deeply valuable to her; God is the parent sitting on the front porch watching the road everyday until we find our way home.
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In one way or another you are all seekers of a homefor your spirit. Your very presence in this space today has bucked the dominant societal norm to avoid church on Sunday mornings.
Look within yourself and try to discover...
What it is you are seeking?
· What is in the process of being nurtured in you?
· How can God find and hold you today?
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Seek that within you.
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Know that you are not alone.
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And celebrate that the Love of God is in your midst.
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Amen? Amen!
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