"Finding the Lost Among Us" - Sermon, September 11, 2016
Community UMC, Quincy
“Finding the Lost
Among Us”
September 11, 2011
Pastor Andrew Davis
Luke 15: 1-10
There
is no doubt that many of us still remember where we were and what we were doing
fifteen years ago this morning when we first heard the news of the attacks on the
World Trade Center and Pentagon, followed by the crash of United Flight 93 in
rural Pennsylvania. It was a surreal
morning; one of those mornings that felt like a bad dream, but no, this was
really happening. When my TV came on at
6:30am as it was timed to do, I was still semi-asleep, but knew something was
not right from the urgent and serious tone that the anchor team on Good Day
Sacramento was using instead of their typical morning zoo antics. However, I was fully awake when I watched in
horror and helplessness as the twin towers fell to the ground.
Today is a day where the raw emotions still
come to the surface as we remember the tragedy that happened fifteen years ago
this morning in a coordinated attack by Al Queda, a network composed of those
who were filled with pure evil in the name of religion. In the days to follow, many of us asked
why? Why did this happen? We tried to make sense of it, but could not
right away. In the end, we saw a massive
loss of lives, but the beginning of a new culture of fear and mistrust that is
still prevalent today.
Today
is one of those difficult days to preach.
Even though it has been fifteen years since the attacks on the World
Trade Center and Pentagon, it still feels like it happened yesterday. On the other hand, one of my former teachers
from high school who I stay in touch pointed out that for many of this year’s high school freshman, the attacks are now
an historical event that happened before many of them were born. I definitely think about that as one of my
cousins is a month into his freshman year of high school and wasn’t born yet
when the attacks happened. Yet amidst
that fact, there are still strong emotions of grief for those who were lost,
admiration for the first responders who didn't stay away, but went right for
the towers. And, there are still also feelings of anger, and the fear that it
could happen again. Yet as I have been
reflecting these last few weeks leading up to today, I think of those who were
lost, and even those who are still lost because they have not been accounted
for and their loved ones still here on earth.
A recent report from NBC News mentions how there are still many families
whose loved ones were lost in the attacks, yet never had their bodies recovered,
which has not given their surviving families the sense of closure, as they
still try and struggle to move on from fifteen years ago today and find hope.[i] It is
a deep sense of loss, but also speaks to how it is still possible to have the
feeling of being lost fifteen years later.
In
the days, weeks, and even years following these attacks, many of us also felt a
spiritual sense of loss. I admit that I
felt like I lost faith in God and humanity that day and in my jaded view of God’s
will at the time, became very angry with God for allowing a tragedy on this
scale to even happen, which took time to reconcile and realize that it was not
part of God’s will. God was still
present in the ones who came to bring aid and in the first responders, and God
was never lost, even though it was very difficult to see in the moment.
Nobody
was unaffected by this tragedy. It was
and still is a time of wrestling and asking questions, even as we remember and
continue moving forward in hope, love, and justice. But, in the midst of remembering such tragedy
and other tragedies that have happened in the last fifteen years, what are we
as people of faith to do in such instances when tragedy strikes? How do we respond? Is it our call to try to point blame on
others, or even try and to find answers to people’s questions of why? Or, is it possible to reach out across the
divides, not pretending to have the answers, but simply reach out and be a
presence, especially for the lost among us?
Do we stay away, or engage? Our Gospel lesson this morning may hold a
key on how we can respond, but also in how we can find the lost among us. Let us hear these words from Luke 15: 1-10.
This
morning's lesson is quite fitting given the context of this morning in some
ways. And quite honestly, our Gospel
lesson can open up a can of worms too because of what the Pharisees are saying
right off the bat about Jesus: “this man receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk. 15: 2,
NKJV). Now, sin is corrupt and evil in the Pharisees’
eyes and the people who Jesus is hanging out with defy the ritual and purity
codes of that time (see Leviticus and Deuteronomy for an idea of what those
codes entail).[ii] However, Jesus didn’t stay away from those
who the Pharisees avoided, but instead engaged with everyone who was in his
midst, even when it raised controversy.
As we may find ourselves grappling with who to stay away from and who to
engage with as 21st century disciples in this culture of fear that
we have lived in these last fifteen years, it feels like we are being told a
message to stay away from the other, particularly through some of the ‘talking
heads’ that we see host various news shows, which comes from both sides of the
political spectrum too. We hear the
message to stay away from those who we don’t agree with or aren’t like-minded
with us. Stay away from those who aren’t
patriotic. Stay away from those who
aren't Christian. Just stay away if
people are not just like us. It feels
like we hear those voices constantly in our heads and they are certainly loud
and clear.
This
past week in a conversation on Facebook with one of my younger friends who I’ve
known since he was only a few years old, my friend pointed out that it is
almost impossible today to have a conversation in this country without getting
angry with each other. And there’s
definitely some truth to that, as there is certainly a lot of anger out
there. My response was that it is
because we have been conditioned to stay away from those who think differently
from us and only to hang out with like-minded people, much like what the
Pharisees did in that time. However, in our Gospel lesson, Jesus does not
stay away or react in anger towards the Pharisees and instead, shows us a whole
different way of doing things, and that is to find and engage with the
lost who are among us, or
with people the rest of society would typically avoid. Just from a show of hands, how many of you
have intentionally stayed away because you saw something in people that you
didn’t quite like, agree with, or because you didn’t know how to respond? It’s happened to all of us.
Instead
of responding to the Pharisees by shouting them down and telling them that they’re
wrong, which seems to happen more and more these days when we encounter
differing viewpoints, Jesus does what he does best and goes into his parables
with the same message in both short parables: GO, find the lost among you, with
one parable being a shepherd leaving his flock of 99 other sheep vulnerable in
order to find that one, lost sheep out of 100 and a parable of the woman who
thoroughly sweeps around her house just so she could find that one, lost coin,
which was one part of ten-days worth of wages.[iii] The end result is that both the shepherd and
poor woman are excited to find their lost sheep and lost coin and celebrate
with their friends and neighbors. It
seems small, but is still quite significant to them.
On
the other hand, Jesus is telling us that when we too are lost at different
times in our lives, God is willing to go find us like the shepherd does for the
lost sheep and the poor woman and her lost
coin. It's much like how our first responders will
seek the lost whenever I think of this passage. Jesus is talking about people
here instead of sheep or coins, though. We can walk away from God if we choose
to, but God is willing to go out and find us when we become lost. However, like finding the lost sheep and the
lost coin, the result of finding the lost among us is the same result: “there
will be more joy in heaven over one who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who need no repentance” (Lk. 15: 7).
Kind
of an OUCH when it speaks to those who feel righteous, but that’s why the Pharisees were grumbling and also
why Jesus did not stay away from sinners and tax collectors, but engaged and
ate with them instead. He was seeking
out the lost among him and as a result, it was seen as a scandal because “the
God who showed mercy [to the Israelites who wandered away from God] in the
wilderness rejoices over the salvation of every lost person like a shepherd who
rejoices over the recovery of a lost sheep or a woman who rejoices over the
recovery of a lost coin.”[iv]
Just
as our world has become more polarized and we have seen more people become lost
for one reason or another, it feels like instead of going out to seek the lost,
we are more inclined to hang around those who are just like us because it’s
safer to do so. It feels like it’s safer
to just to stay back than to find the lost.
In his book, Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear, Scott
Bader-Saye mentions how
Spencer
Burke, a pastor who speaks and blogs about church and culture explains: “Believing
that the world is an evil place to raise our children, we take a variety of
steps to insulate ourselves from that reality.
We watch Christian videos, read Christian books, and listen to Christian
music. Why? Because we deem these items to be ‘safe.’” Some
Christians would rather retreat to the safety of a Christ-saturated subculture
than live in a complex, gray-shaded world.”[v]
In
Burke’s observation
between mainstream culture and Christian culture, there is definitely a strong
inclination to stay away from those except our own kind instead of going out
out to find the lost among us. But, is
that what Jesus wants from us today? Does Jesus want us to ‘circle the wagons’ and
ignore and stay away from those who are not like us by hiding within the safety
of Christian subculture? I don’t think
so. Outside the doors of our sanctuary,
there are people out there who are lost, and might be lost for many different
reasons, some within their control and some not within their control. Some are lost because of addictions. Some may be lost because their marriages or
their very lives have fallen apart. Some
may be lost because of their grief. Some
may be feeling lost because of events that still happen in our world today that
shake us to the core.
However,
as followers of Christ and people of faith, if we are to be the hands and feet
of Christ in our world today, we need to roll up our sleeves and get out there
to engage, not stay away because people are not like us or think like us. Something I need to work towards as well, as
we in this together. Besides, if we were
all exactly alike, the world would be a boring, boring place. Jesus’s actions were scandalous to the
religious authorities at the time, but sometimes we need to stick our necks out
some and take part in that great scandal by loving and finding the lost among
us, which does present its own set of challenges. And you know, if we hold an attitude of
righteousness, “‘Righteousness’ [does not] make God rejoice” at finding the
lost among us, but instead Jesus shows
us that “the celebration of the coming of the kingdom was taking place
in [his] table fellowship with the outcasts, but because [the Pharisees’] righteousness had
become a barrier separating them from the outcasts, they were missing it.”[vi] So what are some barriers that might prevent
you from finding the lost among us?
Amidst
the events fifteen years ago and those who were lost both physically and
spiritually, we do have a lot to be hopeful about when we can reach out and
find the lost among us. Despite the
pain, grief, suffering, loss of life, injury, and emotional trauma the Al Queda
terrorist attacks caused, we did see a lot of good in the helpers and first
responders and even amidst the fear that is still prevalent at times, we as
followers of Christ can be that light and that hope when we work as peacemakers
when we actively seek out the lost among us, regardless of why they may be
lost. After all, “those who find God’s
mercy offensive cannot celebrate with the angels when a sinner repents [and]
thus exclude themselves from God’s grace,” so it is up to us to continue seeking the
lost among us, lifting them up, and inviting them into an active relationship
with God through Jesus Christ.[vii] But it’s also up to us to show our
willingness to be in relationship with everyone around us, regardless of
situations in life, which goes for me as well.
Let’s go out and be like the shepherd willing to find the lost sheep or
the poor woman who cleans her house inside and out just to find that lost coin
(and have a clean house too). So even
though the events of September 11, 2001 are long past and while we still grieve
when we remember those who died, we still have our job cut out for us as
followers of Christ to continue spreading hope, finding the lost, even if the
world around us is like being sheep among the wolves in a world of fear. Because “there will be much celebration in
heaven” and “joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents” when
we as Christ's followers engage with those who may be feeling lost around
us.
In the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
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