A Sermon for the15th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, Cycle C
September 16, 2001
Lectionary Texts:
Jeremiah 4:11-12,22-28 or Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 14 or Psalm 51:1-10; *1 Timothy 1:12-17
*Luke 15:1-10
* preaching text
TrinityUnited Methodist Church, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Rev. Justin K. Fisher
fishhook@iquest.net
http://www.trinityumc.cjb.net
A Prayer for our Nation in this time of Crisis
God of all the ages,
in your sight nations rise and fall, and pass through
times of peril.
Now when our land is troubled, be near to judge and save.
May leaders be led by your wisdom;
may they search your will and see it clearly.
If we have turned from your way, reverse our ways and
help us to repent.
Give us your light and your truth, let them guide us;
Give us your light and your truth, let them guide us;
through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of this world, and
our Savior. Amen.
(Presbyterian Worshipbook, USA)
#517 in the UM Book of worship
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one
of them.
Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country
and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?" (Lk. 15:4)
"Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor
and a violent man,
I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief." - (1 Tim.1:13)
We serve a God who cares for us deeply, who seeks us out.
Like a shepherd looking for a
lost lamb, like a woman searching for that one coin,
like a little cat nipping at our heels.
Following Christ is not about how good we are, it is
about "getting found" and it is
about sharing God's gift of grace with others.
May it be so. Amen.
(from "Getting Found", a sermon by Dave Russell, from
the Internet: www.deaconsil.com for Sunday, Sept. 9, 2001)
There is a line in "Amazing Grace" that says "I once
was lost but now I'm found".
When have you had the feeling of being lost?
How did God find you?
WAY BACK in the first grade I remember my teacher surprising us one day by bringing in a HUGE, brightly wrapped box, with a bow on top. Printed on each of the sides were the letters "S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!!" Of course, most of us didn't have a clue what the letters spelled, but we sure were impressed with the box. The teacher never said a word about it, just left it in the middle of the room.
By lunch time we were nearly crazy with excitement about what might be in the box. We had sounded out the letters to form the word "surprise", but that only heightened our curiosity as to the box's contents. We guessed there might be all kinds of things in that box: an elephant, a new car, the principal (remember, we were first graders!) I was secretly hoping there was a kitten inside. The anticipation was unbearable. Finally, the teacher opened the box and we saw it was filled with chocolate chip cookies. (Not bad, but not an elephant, either).... I think we were more excited by what we thought might be in the box than what actually was....a condition we find at other times in life too, and also in our faith journey.
Do you realize we're surrounded by boxes? Since the American family moves, on the average, once every five years, we all have empty boxes stored someplace in the house. It has been ten years since we moved last and nine years for Pastor Bob and Cheryl. Can you imagine the number of boxes these two families moved this year? I am a little ashamed to admit it, but I counted twenty boxes that we have left unopened since June! And they all have something in them! It's not that we don't know what's in them. It's just that we haven't need those things. We just accummulate things. And so these unopened boxes sit next to the already empty ones we brought with us and next to the ones we emptied out as we moved. We even tried to throw out some of our empty boxes before we moved, but they multiply like rabbits and now we have another batch. What amazes me is that these empty boxes don't go away. We just move them around. We could not afford to fill them all up, even if we saved for years and years. The sensible thing to do would be to throw them all away. But my wife says we may need them some day, even the little ones. And so the boxes accumulate. I'm seriously thinking of donating them to the youth parking lot sale, but I suspect they would come home to roost when it was over, and probably filled up. We would empty them, and then ... we would put the boxes back for another day...
I once saw a skit in church which was a light hearted reflection on other kinds of boxes we accumulate over time. In the skit a man is carrying around a heavy box which he calls a "God Box", sort of like a good luck charm for difficult moments in life. His philosophy runs something like this: Got a crisis? Pick up your "God Box" and carry it along with you. The man in the skit was worried about his medical test results. He got out his "God Box" to keep along side him, to remind him he's religious, that he does believe in God, sort of. And he likes to have God around, if it'll help, especially in this scary time. After all, it never hurts to look pious. And when you don't need God, put the box away. Nothing wrong in covering all our bases.
I suspect we're a lot like the man I saw in this skit. We have a lot of boxes. And some of us have "God Boxes".
Of course, our "God Boxes" are not like the ones we accumulate on our shelves in the walk-in closet. Or are they? Right now those boxes in the closet are empty, we say to ourselves, but we have every intention of filling them up when the need comes along. But it will have to be a specific need for a specific box. Until then, we just keep piling up the boxes. The more I think about it, though, my "God Box" sits in stora ge a great deal of the time too. I'm not sure others see much of it, except when I'm in a jam. And then I polish it up and carry it around with me.
Now Jesus was the Son of God, so I suppose if anyone had access or right to carry around the "God Box" it would be he. Only for Jesus, the "God Box" is not an invisible rectangle that a drama team can create before r very eyes. Nor is it one of the multi-sized boxes we cram into our storage shelves in the parsonage. For Jesus, the "God Box" is a cross, pure and simple, but very real. And he carries it for us. And he hung on it for us. And it will never be anything else but a cross, no matter how beautifully we decorate its picture. A cross is still a cross.
But it is a very real symbol of God's Box, that encircling love He has for His creation, crowned by the gift of His very Son into our midst. This Cross cuts across a world that seems so splintered, and it invites us to embrace the Lord who hung on its beam. It offers us the Christ with outstretched, wounded hands.
On his way to the Cross, Jesus told a wonderful parable about God's nature to a group of tax collectors and "sinners" who were gathering around to hear him (Luke 15:1-10). On looking Pharisees muttered that "this man welcomes sinners and eats with them", but Jesus went right on E with his stories about animals and things andeople that get lost.. The first story is a very short one. Jesus asks us to suppose we are sheep herders with a flock of a hundred sheep. One gets lost, but the other ninety-nine are safe. Surely we'd go out and find that lost sheep, and when we find it, we would put it on our shoulder, go home and rejoice with our neighbors. "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep"!
"I've often wondered why the shepherd would risk leaving behind 99 to go and search for and find the one lost sheep. And in the other story, why would the woman waste her lamp oil and broom on one tiny coin when she had the other nine? Why throw a big party over one sheep when you've still got 99 sheep? Why throw a big party over one tiny coin when you've still got nine coins? Why? Because the truth of the matter is that at one time or another, each one of those 99 sheep get lost too; each one of those other nine coins get lost too. The same is true of us! At one time or another, each one of us gets lost. When we get lost, we are helpless like the sheep and coin in the parables - there's nothing we can do. The more we try to escape our lostness; to find our own way again; the worst it becomes; the more lost we get. As we prepare for worship on Sunday, we acknowledge our lostness publicly, when we confess: "We believe that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves." God, like the shepherd and the woman, seeks us out until God finds us. Once we are found, God and all of heaven rejoice. Once we are found, we become partners with God to seek out others who are still lost." (from "Lost And Found", a sermon by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson, from the Internet: www.deaconsil.com for Sunday, Sept. 16, 2001)
We would do that, wouldn't we? Well, maybe, but maybe not. After all, most of us would be satisfied with a score of 99 out of 100 on a test, wouldn't we? But not God. He searches diligently for the lost one, and he rejoices whenever that lost one is found. His "box" has no walls, no limits, no lock on the top. His "box" is big enough for all of us.
Even the worst of us. Paul writes in 1 Timothy (1:12-ff), that he thanks Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given him strength ...even though he was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, Paul was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and unbelief (v.13). "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus" (v.14) And here's another nature of the "God Box", it leaks! Grace through Jesus, the Cross Bearer, pours out on us"abundantly", pressed down and overflowing. We cannot contain it, nor can we shelve it for another time. We live it.
A word of caution, though, for those of us who dust off our own "God Boxes" now and again. We must live the faith daily, and with accountability, or we lose it. "God Boxes" are not decorative jewelry to be worn on social occasions. They are crosses to be borne daily and humbly. There is nothing so sad as those of us in the Christian faith who do not live what we preach (and I'm talking about clergy and laity here)! Not only is our own "God Box" witness diluted, the Cross is mocked. Lord, keep us from wearing our cross instead of bearing it.
Many years have come and gone since the first grade experience with the "surprise box". I've discarded hundreds of boxes and collected even more. The invisible ones are harder to identify and admit. Some of them are sins I'd rather keep boxed up. And so would you. But when it comes to my faith, I want my cross to be borne with humility and faithfulness. If it shows up, may it be a reflection of the One I love and Who loves me.
Feel free to leave your unwanted boxes of sin at the altar this morning. There's more than enough room. But make sure you don't leave without picking up a cross. And remember in the days ahead, it's not something you lug around but bear in service to the One who bore it for all of us.
This is one carry-out that you don't need a box for.
Amen.
(Prayer)
QUESTIONS for Reflection & Discussion
1. Re-read the Lectionary texts for the morning, especially 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10. Paul's words in 1 Timothy include a confession on his part, and something else. What is the "something else?"
2. Throughout the Gospel (Lk 15:1-10) there is a relentlessness about the grace of God. Read each of the short parables, and describe how each reflects the God who "seeks until he finds".
3. The skit mentioned in the sermon referred to a "God Box" that each of us carries with us (at times). What are some of the other "invisible" boxes we carry with us? Are they all healthy? Are some of them dangerous to the faith?
4. If we see the Cross as Jesus' "God Box", how did he carry it?
5. What are some of the crosses we pick up when we are called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?
6. Why is accountability so important as we bear our crosses? Give some illustrations of the "faithful" who have fallen (these can be famous "religious" people or even...politicians!) How has their witness been affected? Have they been restored to the faithful community? How did that process go? Was "cheap grace" involved?
7. If you're willing, share a time when you diluted your faith by your actions. How did it feel then (and now)?
SOME WORDS TO PONDER
The Lost Sheep
(Politically Correct Version)
by Tom Cox
Once there was a geographically disadvantaged (lost) sheep who wandered away from the flock in search of fresh grass. Due to attention deficit by the shepherd it took several hours to notice this absence. He was faced with a moral dilemma. Leave the ninety-nine sheep and search for the lost one? This risked the majority being prey to animal predators or an ethically challenged person coopting the sheep for personal use. However, being committed to equal justice for all animals, he went searching.
Upon finding it, his self-esteem was greatly enhanced and carrying it
back reunited it with the flock to much happy bleating. All his neighbours
rejoiced with him for finding his geographically dislocated sheep. However
one emotionally different neighbour
commented it was a stupid choice to leave the many in search of one.
Whereupon his shocked peers immediately began his reeducation in how to
be respectful of the feelings of other persons.
After Jesus had finished this story, the Pharisees and scribes said, "So what are you getting at?"
Jesus said, "Here's the point; There is more joy in heaven over one morally different person who become reeducated than over ninety-nineself-righteous person who don't think they need reeducation.
The Pharisees and scribes said to each other, "This Jesus fellow is
the victim of nonlinear thought processes. He is spiritually dysfunctional."
(from the Internet: www.deaconsil.com for Sunday, September
16, 2001)