Exodus 32.7-14
Psalm 51.1-11
1 Timothy 1.12-17
Luke 15.1-10
You may remember a few months ago when
Paula Deen publicly acknowledged having engaged in racist behavior in her
restaurant. The network that had carried her television show terminated its
relationship with her. Her many endorsement contracts were ended and she became
a pariah in the media. Her behavior was wrong and the marketplace reacted to
the news of it by making her an outcast, not necessarily out of disapproval for
what she did, but because the individuals and companies that were associated
with her didn’t want to be tainted by the unacceptable behavior she had
admitted. Yesterday it was reported on the news that Lance Armstrong has
returned the medal that he won at the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. It’s
another episode in a long fall from grace for him: endorsement contracts
cancelled, the relationship ended with his charitable foundation and the
enthusiastic admiration of millions thoroughly disavowed after his admission of
using performance enhancing drugs.
We see something a little bit like the
repudiation of Lance and Paula happening in today’s gospel lesson. The
Pharisees criticize Jesus for the company he keeps – tax collectors and sinners.
Tax collectors in territories conquered by the Roman Empire were despised. They
were frequently recruited locally, and made responsible for collecting punitive
taxes from their own people. The tax collection system invited low-level
corruption, making it almost a necessity if the tax collector was to earn
anything for his work. The term “sinners” as it is used in this instance is a
euphemism for sex workers – prostitutes, procurers, brothel operators and the
like. These corrupt, low-level bureaucrats and practitioners of the oldest
profession were shunned by the community in Jesus’ time. People who wanted to be
identified as upstanding citizens avoided association with these disreputables.
They didn’t want to be tainted by socializing with the wrong kind of people –
at least not in public. It was not uncommon to insult someone by accusing him
of associating with low lifes, and that is what the Pharisees do to Jesus in
this text.
The
stakeholders in our contemporary marketplace, the ones who manifest their good
corporate citizenship by shunning the likes of Paula Deen and Lance Armstrong
are doing much the same thing. And the marketplace is not obliged to forgive anyone. The players in it are there to satisfy
their needs and desires and to create value for shareholders. Christians are
obliged to forgive people. We are cautioned to be careful about judging others because
one day there will be reason for us to be similarly judged. Jesus tells us to
forgive others as God forgives us. But more often than not, we are tempted to
take on the judgment of the marketplace before we even know what we are doing.
Christians often ascribe to God the behavior we observe in the marketplace’s
dealings with transgressors like Lance Armstrong and Paula Deen, imagining that
God only really loves people who behave the way they think God approves of.
The
two parables that Jesus tells in today’s gospel lesson invite us to think about
that differently. Parables are quirky stories that challenge the assumptions of
the hearer. In the story of the lost sheep, the challenge comes in the first
line: "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?” Good question. Whenever I read this text, I think
about Jesus’ first century audience of Galilean peasants. I imagine them
hearing him say that and think about the expressions on their faces as it
begins to sink it. Which one of them – and which one of us - doesn’t at least
wonder if risking the 99 to go find the other one is a very counterproductive
move? Jesus goes on to tell his audience how happy the shepherd is when he
finds the sheep. He lifts it up to his shoulders and heads back to the flock.
Don’t you wonder if he’s even happier to discover that none of them has been
eaten by a predator or wandered away when he was off looking for the straggler?
What does this story really mean?
The
second parable begins with a surprise also. In the ancient world, silver coins
were rare and extremely valuable. In the Roman world, only the empire could
mint silver coins. 1st century Jewish coins were all made of bronze
and were much less valuable. The value of the nine coins that the woman has in
hand is substantial, whether or not she ever
finds the tenth one. But finding it missing, she lights a lamp and turns the
house upside down until she finds it. And like the man with the lost sheep, she
invites her family and friends in to help her rejoice.
For
whatever reason this story of the man looking for the lost sheep has come to
have a lot of sentimentality associated with it. Churches can put so much
energy into finding that individual sheep among their members who seems to be
perpetually lost and, incidentally, quite reluctant to be found. In doing so
they often lose sight of the needs of the other 99. These parables really aren’t
meant to be sentimental at all. They’re meant to invite us to re-imagine the
world. Start by asking yourself what the man’s friends and family are going to
eat when they come to celebrate with him over finding that lost sheep. I bet it
involves roast lamb. Don’t you wonder if the woman who found the lost coin will
use it to pay the grocery bill for all that rejoicing she plans?
These
parables invite us to try to see the world from God’s point of view. God
doesn’t do cost/benefit analyses. God loves each of us, values each of us
infinitely. God’s forgiveness of our failures is as infinite as God’s love. There’s
no ledger of transgressions and good deeds. There’s no such thing for God as
having enough faithful people that it’s OK to let the rest of them go. We’re
meant to give our lives to the work of making room for everyone. God does not ask if we’re worth the
aggravation or if it is detrimental to the divine reputation to have us as
God’s people. God loves, forgives and rejoices generously and extravagantly.
Jesus calls us to give our lives to learning how to love and forgive as God
does.
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