Lost and Found

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Please join me in prayer. God our helper, show us your ways and teach us your path. By your holy spirit. Open our minds that we may be led in your truth and taught your will. Then may we praise you by listening to your word. And by obeying it through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Today's reading is from the book of Luke, chapter 15, verses one through 32. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable. Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them. Does not leave the 99 in the wilderness. And go after the one that is lost until he finds it. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 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. Just so. I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. Than over 99 righteous people who need no repentance. 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. 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. Just so I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God. Over one sinner who repents. Then jesus said, there was a man who had two sons. 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. A few days later, the younger son gathered all he had. And traveled to a distant country. And there he squandered his property and dissolute living. When he had spent everything. A severe famine took place throughout that country. And he began to be in need. 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. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating. And no one gave him anything. 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. I will get up and go to my father. And I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me like one of your hired hands. 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. 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. 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 and get the fatted calf and kill it. And let us eat and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to celebrate. Now his elder son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, your brother has come and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound. Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 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. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him. Then the father said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 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 is the word of the Lord. [00:04:35] Speaker B: Good morning, church. It is a gift and a half to be with you all this morning. I bring greetings from Culver City Presbyterian Church, where my husband Tim, who's with me this morning, regularly worship. And it has been a minute since I first met you, and it is beautiful to see the good thing that God is doing in your midst. As Liz mentioned, I serve as a chaplain, and it makes it possible for me to help pinch hit when good and faithful pastors are getting good and needed rest. So I'm extra glad to be with you all this morning. It was a long scripture that was pretty obvious, right? We're going for the whole, the whole package. It's one that's so familiar. So I invite you to join me at kind of a 30,000 foot view of today's passage. We need to start with understanding that Jesus is teaching to a divided house. We've got tax collectors and sinners. On one side, you might say that they've already asked God for their inheritance and spent it. And on the other hand, we've got those scribes and pharisees, and they've been dedicating their lives to doing what's right by God. So I haven't reviewed any resumes. I don't know anything detailed about your background. But this side, it's going to be tax collectors and sinners. Over here, y'all are scribes and pharisees. You feel it? Okay? You gotta just own it, because it really helps us get to the heart of this passage. Everyone in earshot that day listening to Jesus is, first of all, like, giving the stink eye to the people across the aisle. You might want to practice that right now because you do not necessarily appreciate the other side. So we've got Jesus teaching, and he's talking about a shepherd who's lost a sheep. This is like a valet losing your car. Like, it is not a surprise that the shepherd is going to go find that sheep. Everyone in the house, both sides, are like, oh, yeah, Jesus, we saw that coming. Of course the shepherd is going to find the last sheep, and of course everyone is going to be happy. This is one thing that everybody here can agree on. So then Jesus goes on to teach about this woman who's lost a coin. Now, this is not like a quarter in the couch. This is one of ten silver coins. This is code for her dowry. It's her 401. It's like if she had gotten identity theft and looked and noticed 10% of her nest egg was gone, you know she's going to freeze her credit. You know she's going to go and try and get it back. You know that woman's going to look for that coin. Everyone here once again, is like, yeah, Jesus, tell us something we don't know. Of course she's going to look for that coin, and of course she's going to be happy when she finds it. So again, we all can agree, good thing happened with that coin. So here it comes. Jesus keeps on going. He adds another parable. And as you all know, the thing about the parable is, like, the smooth taste sort of fools you until there's a twist. And it's in the twist where the wisdom of the teaching comes out. So the last bit is the twist that Jesus gives us. We've got this father who cannot keep track of his sons. And everyone in the room once again, could agree that this father was a little bit crazy. He was very ridiculous even. This is a culture that is based on honor and shame. And so we have a father who is willing to forego the conventions of honor to chase down his sons. No self respecting father is going to even entertain the request from the younger son to pay out an inheritance before he is dead. Like, obviously, that is a huge insult. No self respecting father is going to act as if that son is not dead to him. Like, that was grammatically a horrible way to put it. But the fact that the father is sitting there watching, looking for this kid to come back is ridiculous. The fact that the father will run before God and everybody to go chase down that son when he sees him on the horizon again. Crazy pants. This dad an embarrassment. And then, like, there's more. He's throwing a big party. He restores the son to his standing in the family, and then he goes and chases down the older son who's refusing to join the party. This father loved his kids so much that he was willing to cross and break all these rules in terms of respect and honor. Everyone in the room that day, tax collectors, sinners, scribes, and pharisees, you can all agree that this dad is crazy pants, a ridiculous figure. You can feel it a bit, right? We're pretty familiar. Like, that song was just perfect. We really like the drama and the joy of a son leaving and then finding his way back to God and his heart. And notice, did you notice how often the word joy and celebration and rejoice come up in this passage? It's a thread that's woven through. The father's delight is complete once this kid is home. Something that we miss a little bit, I think, as north american Christians, is the dynamic with that elder son fuming outside. Notice he's not coming into the party. You can feel it a little bit. That toxic rage. That family system would make for a very interesting chart. All those years, that son says, all these years I've been working like a slave for you. What kind of son speaks to their father like that? Well, I'm guessing it's a son who's been burning a lot of resentment towards his dad. Maybe the Son has been embarrassed more than once at the dad's extravagant love, the dad's willingness to forego honor and position and the conventions of the community. This kid is really mad and it's really toxic. The father leaves the party and goes to try and beg the older son to share in his joy. This father is a fool for love. He is willing to pursue those kids no matter where they are hiding now. Can you imagine how this played that day? Jesus talking to scribes and tax collectors. Jesus explaining that God loves us all and will seek us all out when we're lost. Whether we're like in the wilderness, lost or lost to relationship there at home. I can imagine that the Pharisees are like, I can't believe it. I can't believe Jesus is putting up with them and the sinners. Same thing. Why is it that Jesus is even entertaining the possibility that those guys over there could have something good to say? Our church families are similar, right? We have people who have had different paths to the home that we have with God. And I imagine that some of you this morning are really connected with that younger son's journey. Others of you might be feeling a little bit more on the Pharisee side. How unfair it all seems for me. I grew up in the church. I don't have a dramatic conversion story or a big ask my father for the inheritance moment. So for me, I more readily step into what's going on. For that older son, I understand what fuels his resentment, and I get why he's so mad at his brother and his dad. If I'm really honest with myself, I understand that I confuse the choices I've made and the ways I've tried to please God as earning my place in the family of God. And practically speaking, there are seasons that I live as though that I'm not saved by grace, that I'm saved by my good behavior. And it's true, I can be pretty comfortable and pretty eloquent in my critique of people who've made other choices. And when I do that, my resentment against God builds and it feels like God is pretty far away, even when I find myself in a sanctuary on Sunday morning and it seems unfair because the harder I try, the farther God seems. And my heart is not necessarily in repentance mode all the time. What I love about this passage is that Jesus is teaching us to get out of our own way. We have a God in heaven who is ready to throw a welcome home party the minute we cross the threshold. It doesn't matter if we've been hitchhiking across the country and making all kinds of reckless mistakes or whether we've been like, dealing with the plumbing leak in the basement. Either way, when we cross the threshold, God is willing to rejoice and welcome us. Now, how can it be that God's heart is so big? Doesn't God have standards? Isn't there a rubric somewhere here in this teaching, and there's other parts in the Bible where we get clear on that. But in this teaching, Jesus is hitting joy and hitting it hard. The heart of God is one of welcome that will rejoice when God's children have come home. And it doesn't matter the drama level. What matters is that we cross that threshold and notice there's no bow that is put on this passage. Jesus leaves it wide open like we don't know if that younger son really meant what he said in his abbreviated confession. We don't know if he goes back to his old ways. We don't know about the older son. If he ever comes in to join the party and gets over his resentment of his dad. I like that because Jesus keeps our focus on God. Jesus keeps our focus on that main character that God longs for. Right relationship with us, a good relationship. We don't get this photo of the three of them with their arms around each other, hamming it up and grinning for the camera. We don't know how it ends. It leaves the door open for us. For me, this teaching of Jesus leaves me with a longing. With a longing to know that smile that will spread across God's face when I realized that it's time for me to come home. When it's time for me to set aside whatever resentments I have been harboring, whatever wrong decisions I need to let go of. No matter which kid I am, God will not rest till I'm found. God won't stop until each and every one of us is home safe and sound. Look, I don't want to point out the obvious because the sanctuary is relatively full, but not everybody's here yet. God is still chasing us down, folks who aren't here this morning and folks who are sitting in the pews already. And the best part is that we will be greeted by God's joy and a celebration. Amen.