A Place for you to be Found

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington September 15, 2019 Luke 15:1-10 Year C Children’s Time….. "'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?' " Theme: Separation from God; children of God. Visual Aid: A cardboard box containing lost and found items (perhaps a sweater or cap, a pencil, a comb, and so forth). "How many of you have ever heard of a lost and found box, at your school or daycare center?" Several children raise their hands. "Have any of you ever lost anything and then found it again?" Again, several children raise their hands. One of the more outspoken ones says, "I lost my blanket once; it took two days to find it!" I suspect there is an interesting story here, but rather than get into unknown territory I just tell him I'm glad he found it after it was lost. "It's difficult to lose something you really care about, isn't it -- especially if you don't ever find it again. When I was your age, the whole idea of a 'lost and found' box just didn't make any sense to me. Obviously if something was lost, it was lost; if something was found, it was found. How could something be both lost and found? "Finally it dawned on me one day that in order to be found and get taken to the 'lost and found' box, an item first had to be lost by someone else. And since the person who lost it didn't know it had been found, it was still lost. Then the combination of 'lost and found' at last began to make sense. "Have any of you ever gotten lost in a department store or a grocery store?" Once again, several hands go up. Acknowledging their responses with a nod, I continue. "It's a frightening experience, isn't it? I used to be afraid that I might get lost like that when I was your age. I knew if I did, someone would eventually take me to the store's office. Then the store manager would use a microphone to ask in a loud voice, throughout the store, 'Would Kathleen's parents please come to the office. We have your child.' I did NOT want that to happen, so I was careful not to let my parents get away from me whenever we went shopping. Besides, if I did get lost and taken to the manager's office, what guarantee did I have that my parents would even know how to find the office? And if they couldn't find it, I'd really be stuck! It was better not to get lost in the first place. "You know, sometimes people get lost from God, just like in the store. At first I thought, 'God doesn't have a lost and found box to look in. And God doesn't have a store manager either.' Can't you just hear the announcement? 'Would God please come to the office? We have your child.' "However, I was talking with a friend the other day about these ideas and she said, 'But God DOES have store managers, lots of them!' She pointed out that every time any one of us knows of a friend who is hurting and feeling alone and we ask God in our prayers to be with that person, we are, in effect, doing the same thing the store manager would have done. We are saying, 'God, my friend is feeling lost and needing you right now. Won't you please come be with my friend?' "Well, eventually I did get lost in a store -- but it was only a couple of years ago." The children greet this confession with looks of surprise. "That's right!" I assure them. "I was an adult! I had been shopping with my husband and we had gotten separated. I really didn't want to go to the manager and hear the announcement: 'Would Mr. Fannin please come to the office. We have your wife!' "While I was looking for my husband, it occurred to me that he was probably looking for me too. Therefore, it would make more sense if I just stopped where I was and waited for him to find me. I did; he did. "I think sometimes our relationship with God is like my experience in the store. Something catches our attention and we wander away; often we don't know how to find our way back. But we are all children of God, and we need to remember that God is searching for us just as we are searching for God. Sometimes all we have to do is stand still and stop looking long enough to be found." CSS Publishing Company, Inc, Cows In Church, by B. Kathleen Fannin Luke 15:1-10 Common English Bible (CEB) Occasions for celebration 15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives. 8 “Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it? 9 When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Stewardship moment We have the opportunity to join with God in providing for the poor and the oppressed. Our Gifts carry God’s mercy to people who don’t know God’s love in their life in any way. Because we have been blessed by you O God, We are delighted to share. Because there are many who do not enjoy your bounty, we search for ways to help them. Thank you for showing us how to give. As we give let us celebrate with you in helping others find their way. Sermon……… Many years ago a friend of mine who was a high school teacher went to the nearby city for a Saturday shopping trip. She and her young son, who was about 4, were in Woolco and they became separated. By the time she discovered that he was not where he was supposed to be an announcement came over the loud speaker - it was his voice - he gave his name and where he was from (though not exactly as an adult would pronounce the names) My name is ............. and I’m from ............. (adult translation My name is ............ and I’m from .................) for privacy reasons the names have been removed from the internet version and then said, “My mother is lost”. Well, by the time she arrived at customer service to collect him, every colleague from her school was there waiting for her and laughing. Seems that everyone from ............... went to Woolco to shop on Saturdays (I shopped there too, except I went on Mondays!) “My mother is lost” - as far as the little boy was concerned, that was the truth. His mother had wandered off and left him all alone in the aisle with the cars and trucks. All of us are familiar with the feeling of losing something or someone in our lives. All of us are familiar with the feeling of finding something or someone in our lives. I think losing something is one of the hardest things for me to do. Whenever I lose something, there is this urge to replace it, I don’t want to feel the emptiness of doing with it. I am learning to deal with it, sometimes you cant replace every single thing that you lose. Luke is actually the only person who reports these three stories of lost things. I think Mark or Matthew reports two of these stories. But Luke 15 is a story of a shepherd losing a sheep, a woman losing a coin, and a father losing a son. Apparently God hates to lose things also, because Jesus uses these stories to tell about God’s love for us. God always loves us, sometimes some of us, as a matter of fact, all of us get lost in the store by ourselves and we lose our way. Jesus wants us to know that is the whole purpose of Jesus mission here on earth. God feels a sense of emptiness when we are not close to him in relationship, and Jesus came to bring us closer to God. Life is a story of being lost and getting found. It is a story of grumbling in emptiness and celebrating when found, it is a story of feeling empty and then rejoicing. We all have a place in that story. But I think just like to little boy in the first story, sometimes, especially in the church we may be a little confused about where we fit in in the story. Are we the one who is lost, or are we the one who lost something. I wasn’t going to use this story, but it makes a wonderful point. What the World Expects of the Church On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered at a large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the Christmas season. I had gone down a long hallway to help a small boy who was pushing against massive oak doors trying to get outside. The boy appeared to be about 2 years old. He was crying as if his heart would break. I picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the Christmas parties. Investigation, however, revealed nothing. I rushed outside and spotted an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually, it began to dawn on me that the child had been abandoned. I made a few calls, and soon the church was filled with people wanting to help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV stations interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the identity of the little boy. The next morning, one of the city's newspapers had the child's picture on the front page. Under the picture there was an article describing the events of the evening before. The reporter began his story with this striking line: "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!" It will be a long, long time before I can forget that newspaper headline. So much of the world's future depends on the faithfulness of the "People of God" to the "Great Commission." There is a deep hunger across our land as countless people grope for answers to the deepest questions of the human spirit. The message of Christ speaks to these questions, bringing hope and light to people who now stumble in the dark and live in despair. Our world will be changed as the hearts of people are changed. Evangelism is no longer an option for the church. It is essential to the survival of our world. The line in that Winston-Salem newspaper is a haunting reminder of what the world expects of the church. "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!" May that always be true! Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, "Someone Trusted the Church," Michigan ChristianAdvocate, May 5, 1997, p. 8. Unfortunately, sometimes in the church, we get convinced that we are the ones who find everyone, and that everyone else in the world that is lost. We know everything about Christ and it is our job to find everyone else. We become like the pharisees that Jesus would have been telling this story to. Even we in the church get lost sometimes. As a matter of fact we are like this little boy. Which Color Would You Be? Ralph Milton tells of the teacher who, for reasons of her own, asked the kids one day, "If all the bad children were painted red and all the good children were painted green, which color would you be?" Think about it. What color would you be? Red or Green? It is a tough question isn't it when you pose only two options. One very wise child answered the teacher: "Striped" The reason I am going on about this point is simple. It seems to me that in the frame of the story - everyone but Jesus is striped. It is the same in the world today. We are a curious combination of the lost and the found. We are striped. We are, in some sense, not completely complete. It is hard language, this language of lost and found, especially for folks in the middle, as most of us are most of the time. It seems too absolute. Rarely are we completely lost. And rarely are we completely found. There is always a part of us that needs to be dragged and cajoled into the light, and there is always a part of us that is already there in the light. For some it is more and for some it is less, but always some part. The wonderful thing is - that God wants us to enter fully into the light. The wonderful thing is that God wants to bless us all richly to keep us safe, to make us strong, to help us be like a Shepherd who really cares for his sheep, or like a poor widow who really values all her coins. Richard Fairchild, Seeking the Lost When I went to visit the Vatican, I took a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. Even though it is the center of the Catholic Church, there is also a worshipping congregation in the building. The sanctuary as you can imagine is huge and has a lot of history. I don’t remember all of the technical terms of the parts of the sanctuary. I think it is over the altar, there are these four huge post in a square with a dome over it. I want to say there is a fence the connects the post, and there is a opening in the front for one person to come and kneel and pray. As each of us kneeled in that open space, the tour guide encouraged us to look at the fence and to notice that there were 99 candles on the fence surrounding us. The 99 candles represented the sheep in this story who were found, and as we kneeled next to the candles, we were the hundredth sheep that the shepherd has found – welcome home. At some point in each of our lives – Jesus says to each of us – welcome home. I have been looking for you all of this time, I am so glad that you returned to the fold. We are all sinners, Jesus welcomes us all home. Create Him Not The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel of Holiness stood and said; 'Create him not … he will follow that which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.' Brett Blair, Sermons.com There is just one more thing that I want to point out about this story of being lost and being found. First of all the first two stories, of the sheep and the coin, neither intentionally ran away, and neither of them did anything to get found. Jesus did all of the work. But the other thing in common in all of these stories is that these were not lone items. The shepherd had 99 other sheep, he could have done without the 100th one. The woman has 11 other coins, if she lost one she would not have been totally broke. Even the father has two sons, one who was very faithful. But they could not deal with the emptiness of losing something. The Paradox of Christian Life There's a strange paradox about the Christian life. Often, it's more about being lost than found. It's more about feeling incomplete than whole. It's more about feeling excluded than included, because many of us live in those places most of the time. But that's why we need redemption. That's why conversion is at the heart of who we are, because we all get lost in the desert, even when we're part of the fold. And we all need someone out there, willing to go looking for us. We're always in the process of trying to turn back, to find our way home again. And it's a struggle. But it's a joyful struggle, because repentance is a joyous activity. It's the endless way that we turn back toward the truth and wholeness. How great is that? And life becomes this process of shouldering one another, of walking each other home. And sometimes we're the carrier, and sometimes we're being carried. But all the time, it's a movement toward wholeness, toward being included again, toward being under one roof again. A sheep. A coin. Two sons. Us. And what joy at being found. Edward Beck, The Joy of Being Lost and Found Finding that one, made the situation whole and complete. That missing son coming home meant that they could be family again. We are found in the spirit of God – God is happy, but we are whole and complete. And that is ultimately all that God wants for us – is wholeness in mind, body and spirit and even in the community of the church. May we all live in the wholeness and wellbeing of God! Let us pray. Amen. Additional illustrations…….. God Loves Me There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She was an active member of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco before her death. She wrote that when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented. She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words: "God loves me." She finished the reading, put the pamphlet down. The teacher said, "I want you to read that last sentence again." So she picked it up, read it again, this time somewhat sarcastically, then put it down again. The teacher said, "Read it again." She read it again. Then she described what happened. "After about the seventh repetition I began to sense there might be some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com The Church Is No Place for Joy In church the other Sunday I was intent on a small child who was turning around smiling at everyone. He wasn't gurgling, spitting, humming, kicking, tearing the hymnals, or rummaging through his mother's handbag. He was just smiling. Finally, his mother jerked him about and in a stage whisper that could be heard in a little theater off Broadway said, "Stop grinning! You're in a church!" With that, she gave him a belt on his hind side and as the tears rolled down his cheeks added, "that's better," and returned to her prayers. I wanted to grab this child with the tear-stained face close to me and tell him about my God. The happy God. The smiling God, the God who had to have a sense of humor to have created the likes of us. Erma Bombeck Create Him Not The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel of Holiness stood and said; 'Create him not … he will follow that which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.' Brett Blair, Sermons.com Unconditional Love What is your view of God? The scowling judge waiting to convict you? The disapproving parent whose love you have to earn? Your view of God affects every decision and relationship in your life. Kathleen Chesto wrote to Catholic Digest to tell them about an incident that occurred in her family. Her five-year-old child approached her one day in the kitchen and asked, "Mom, is God a grown-up or a parent?" Mom was a little puzzled by the question. "I'm not sure what you mean," she said. "Is there a difference between a grown-up and a parent?" "Oh yes," her five-year-old answered quickly. "Grown-ups love you when you are good and parents love you anyway." I know this sounds trite to some of you, but have you ever really come to appreciate the wonder of God's unconditional love? I dare say that there are some people in this room who don't really believe in unconditional love. You have never received it, and you have never given it. Some of you are still trying to earn your way to heaven. And you are expecting others to earn their way as well. Relax, my friend, and let God love you. Jesus is trying to tell us in this parable that God's love doesn't depend on our goodness; it depends on God's character. Here is this truth expressed in I John 4: 10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com From Table Manners So if I were putting together a sinners table at the Huddle House, it might include an abortion doctor, a child molester, an arms dealer, a garbage collector, a young man with AIDS, a Laotian chicken plucker, a teenage crack addict, and an unmarried woman on welfare with five children by three different fathers. Did I miss anyone? Don’t forget to put Jesus at the head of the table, asking the young man to hand him a roll, please, and offering the doctor a second cup of coffee before she goes back to work. If that offends you even a little, then you are almost ready for what happens next. Because what happens next is that the local ministerial association comes into the restaurant and sits down at a large table across from the sinners. The religious authorities all have good teeth and there is no dirt under their fingernails. When their food comes, they hold hands to pray. They are all perfectly nice people, but they can hardly eat their hamburger steaks for staring at the strange crowd in the far booth. The chicken plucker is still wearing her white hair net, and the garbage collector smells like spoiled meat. The addict cannot seem to find his mouth with his spoon. But none of those is the heartbreaker. The heartbreaker is Jesus, sitting there as if everything were just fine. Doesn’t he know what kind of message he is sending? Who is going to believe he speaks for God if he does not keep better company than that? I saw them eating and I knew who they were. Barbara Brown Taylor, "Table Manners," article appearing in The Christian Century, March 11, 1998, page 257 In 1988, the poet Carol Wimmer, became concerned about the self-righteous, judgmental spirit she was seeing in some people because she felt strongly that being judgmental is a perversion of the Christian faith. So, she wrote a poem about this. It’s called “When I say I am a Christian” and it reads like this: “When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not shouting, ‘I’ve been saved!’ I’m whispering, ‘I get lost!’ That’s why I chose this way. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t speak with human pride. I’m confessing that I stumble – needing God to be my guide. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not bragging of success. I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t think I know it all. I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I’m worth it. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I do not wish to judge. I have no authority – I only know I’m loved.” James W. Moore, quoting Carol Wimmer, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Looking for Me! There's an old, old story, that I think is still funny. The phone rings and a little boy answers in a whisper: "Hello?" The caller says: "Hi, is your Mommy there? "Yes!" "Can I talk to her?" "No!" "Why not?" "She's busy." "What about your Daddy, can I talk to him?" "No! He's busy." "Well, is there anyone else there?" "My little sister." "Is there anyone else there? Another adult?" "Uh, huh. The police." "Can I talk to one of them?" "No, they're busy." "Is there anyone else there?" "Yes, the firemen." "Can I talk to one of them?" "No, they're busy, too." Caller: "Good heavens, your whole family is busy, the police and fire departments are there and they're busy! What's everybody doing?" The little boy giggled and whispered: "They're looking for me." Today's passage of Scripture is about searching and finding. And that's an old story that illustrates the frantic nature of people who have lost something and are in search of it. Billy D. Strayhorn, Finders, Keepers