Sunday September 11, 2022
Church Picnic Sunday
Scripture: Luke 15:1-10
There is a cartoon drawn by David Hayward, who goes by the handle, “Naked Pastor.” It shows a sheep who has fallen over the edge of a cliff who is desperately clinging to the side. The shepherd is walking towards the cliff, and the viewer can assume that he is going there to rescue the sheep who is in grave danger. Behind the shepherd is a pen where the other sheep are safely kept behind a stone wall. But the sheep are angrily glaring at the shepherd, and they are carrying signs that read, “All Sheep Matter.”
And while yes, I do agree with them that all sheep matter, the sheep who are safely inside the sheep pen aren’t in need of the shepherd’s attention at that particular moment. If all sheep matter, then surely the sheep who has fallen over the edge of the cliff matters, the sheep who is in danger matters, and that is the sheep who is most in need of the shepherd’s attention at that moment in time.
Jesus liked to teach using parables or short stories; and while most of his parables seem like straightforward teaching stories on the surface, they are often very complex when you start digging just below the surface. This parable reads very differently depending on whether you identify with the sheep who was in danger, whom the shepherd seeks out and brings to safety, or if you identify with the 99 sheep who are safely in the pen.
A story that seems simple on the surface can offer so many layers of meaning once you dive below the surface.
The parable of the lost sheep is the first in a series of 3 parables that Jesus tells. We heard the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin today, and they are followed immediately by the story of the lost son… you may know that one better with the handle of the Prodigal Son. In all three of these parables, something is lost. In all three of these parables, something is found. And all three of these parables end with a celebration, end with a party.
Often, if you want to understand what Jesus is trying to teach with his parables, it is helpful to look at the context. Who is Jesus telling these stories to, and why is he telling them?
Jesus had gathered a group of outsiders around him – people who weren’t part of the in-crowd; people who weren’t part of polite society; people who didn’t live strictly according to the laws given by God to Moses as interpreted by generations of teachers. This group of outsiders listened to Jesus’s teaching. They shared meals with Jesus. This group of outsiders were insiders in Jesus’s world. And the scribes and the Pharisees – the people who sought closeness with God through carefully obeying all of God’s commandments – they thought that this wasn’t right. Why should Jesus eat with “those” people? Is their sin contagious? Is it going to rub off on Jesus?
But all through the gospels, Jesus never follows society’s expected pattern of us-and-them. He doesn’t put up borders and walls. There were Pharisees among his followers. There were women among his followers. There were rich people and poor people among his followers. Anyone could be a part of Jesus’s crowd.
And as Jesus tells these three stories, these three parables, I think that he is asking the question – who is invited to God’s feast? The religious officials were questioning who Jesus was eating with, and so each of the three stories that he tells ends with a party, with a celebration, with a feast. A lost sheep is recovered, and the shepherd calls together his friends and neighbours to rejoice with him. A lost coin is recovered, and the women calls together her friends and neighbours to rejoice with her. A lost son returns home, and the fatted calf is butchered and the whole household and neighbours come together to celebrate.
The party can’t begin until everyone is present. The party doesn’t begin until all 100 sheep are present. The party doesn’t begin until the lost coin has been found. And while it is a bit more ambiguous in the third story, I don’t think that the party can truly begin until both brothers are restored to the family.
God’s feast – God’s banquet – God’s party requires ALL of God’s children to be present in order for it to be truly celebratory. The party can’t begin until all of the sheep are gathered together, until all of the coins are back in the wallet, until all of the wandering children are safely home. And then let the celebrations begin.
Whether you identify with the sheep who wandered away from the rest of the community; whether you identify with the coin that was separated from the rest through no fault of your own; whether you identify with the sheep safely within the fold as the shepherd goes out searching; or whether you identify with the shepherd or with the woman, working tirelessly to bring about reunion and reconciliation…. let the party begin, and let us make sure that no one is excluded or left out or forgotten or left behind. Let the party begin, because God is with us, God loves all of God’s children, and when we are together, celebration is the order of the day! Amen!
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