Pentecost 16 year C 07 Sermon Rejoice with me Luke 15:1-10 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Jesus... God revealed in human form...Jesus says ...‘Rejoice with me...’
Paul... a former terrorist... testifies that the
grace of our Lord... was poured out on him.
Tells us he once was lost, but now he’s found.
Did you really listen...to the parable of the lost sheep? Did you take in every detail...It’s a story so familiar ... you might not even listen... when someone reads it in church...thinking...ah... I know what that’s about.
But what if you’d never heard the story before... [pause] hey...wouldn’t it be great...if there were someone here who never...ever...heard the story before...
Wouldn’t it be amazing... if there were folk sitting right next you... who didn’t realise... how far... God is prepared to go...to find them...and bring them home...
to the love and warmth of his family...who pray with Jesus... ‘our Father...holy is your name...
Wouldn’t it be exciting...if we were as diverse as the crowd Jesus is talking to... in Luke’s gospel?
But we’re not...and sometimes I wonder why that is. [pause]
And when you think about it...Jesus is always playing to a diverse crowd.
Jewish tax collectors...who’d sold out to the Roman’s... and other so called "sinners" ... untouchable men and unclean women… outsiders you wouldn’t welcome to your house… let alone sit next to… in the synagogue…
These people had been cut off…and cast out…
of religious community…shunned by those who saw themselves… as the people of God.
And in the crowd did you notice…there are Pharisees too…who run the synagogues …
and teachers who specialise in Jewish law…
Masters of religious surveillance…monitoring… the situation…on the lookout… for sin and heresy…for pollution…worried about Jesus’ popularity…
as a rabbi. [pause]
In their world of religious purity…
rabbi’s kept themselves ritually spotless…
by avoiding anyone and anything that was ritually unclean…good rabbi’s invited only the best of the best… to be their disciples.
Good rabbis wouldn’t waste their breath or their energy…on these losers Jesus is talking to…
In their eyes…they weren’t worth it.
So they’re muttering and jeering…
‘This Jesus seems to waste all his time…hanging around with sinners.
They don’t like Jesus yoke… they don’t like his teaching…
They don’t like his values…
they don’t like his way… [pause]
But maybe they just don’t understand that…
Jesus is showing them something…
about what God is like…so to make it clear
for everyone listening…for the so called sinners…
and the so called righteous…
He tells them all a story… [pause]
‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep in a paddock... and loses one of them.
Wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine
and go after... the lost sheep [pause]
until he finds it? [pause]
And when he finds it, wouldn’t he joyfully put it on his shoulders and go home.
And would he call his friends and neighbors together with great enthusiasm and excitement and say...
'Rejoice with me; I found my lost sheep.
Everyone’s sitting there looking at Jesus...
gob smacked...
I’m serious...Jesus says…in exactly the same way ... there’ll be more rejoicing in heaven...
over one sinner... who turns back to God...
than over ninety-nine virtuous people...
who don’t need to repent. [Pause shift of mood]
Do you get that?
Jesus is inviting everyone who will listen...
to rejoice with him...he’s bringing them all back home
every one of them is worth it…
every one of them... is worth looking for…
worth the effort…worth the cost... [pause]
worth... dying for…[pause]
Where are you
in Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep?
Are you out on the darkened cliff side...
in the shadows? Maybe you’ve been labeled a ‘sinner’ by the religious authorities?
Or maybe... that’s how you see yourself...
Maybe you don’t think you’re worth it...
[pause]
Can you hear his footsteps...
approaching through the bush... as he looks for you...to bring you home?
Or maybe you’re one of those people...
in the crowd...safe back in the paddock...
certain of your place in the flock...
but uncertain...that some people are worth the effort...let alone safe to bring home.
Maybe you don’t feel like rejoicing with the shepherd. [pause]
And maybe that’s the part of you... that’s lost...[pause]
can you hear his footsteps as he approaches
Can you hear his invitation? ‘Rejoice with me’ [pause]
Or maybe you identify with the shepherd...
willing to follow him... and pay whatever it costs...
Or like me... maybe you’re counting your blessings
like the formerly lost sheep...Paul
who wrote that letter to Timothy...
Only too well aware of the times... you’ve strayed from the path... and got lost...grateful the shepherd carried you home...to pour out his grace on you.
Rejoice with me.
I once was lost...but now I’m found...
