Rector's Reflection—16 Pentecost, 19
September 12, 2010
As a rule, I don't write a reflection on a reading and then preach on the same thing, but there's something about the Gospel for Proper 19C that presents points to preach and points to ponder. OK, ALL of Jesus' parables do this, but the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin is so rich, although it may seem more tame than rich, given the Gospel minefields we've picked our ways through the last couple of weeks!
But it's not the lamb and the coin so much that have me pondering. It's the very beginning of the Gospel: "Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.'
Although they are not as common as they used to be, Episcopal Church signs have dotted curb-sides for a good number of years. When I first came looking for Ascension, there was one of those familiar signs on Hardy Street with its message "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You" and an arrow pointing the way. Maybe the sign was deemed distracting or some such thing, but it is no longer there. (An aside here: When Katrina blew the doors of the church wide open, damaging wood, brass, and hinges, the only way to secure them was with a length of heavy chain and a padlock. That created enough of a disconnect from "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You," that Greg Hammer had us able to lock up very quickly!)
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You." What is it that we mean by welcoming? Oh sure, we greet people at the door; we roll out the proverbial "welcome mat." But is there something different that is meant when Jesus "welcomes sinners and eats with them"?
The lost sheep and the lost coin provide a bit of a spin on welcoming. According to Jesus' parable, God is going to go to extreme lengths to save his lost sheep—and not just ‘sheep' as in a whole slew of them, but ‘sheep' as in one little lamb at a time. God will search through the thickets for you. He will crawl into whatever hole that you have dug for yourself and He will pull you out. If you, like the coin, have managed to end up in some dark corner, God will keep looking for you. You are never—even in your most despondent and self-loathing moment—beyond God's reach.
As I pondered this, I couldn't help but think about Amazing Grace. You know, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found..." Images of lost sheep and lost coins are inescapable.
And then I got to thinking, Jesus told this parable in response to accusations by grumbling Pharisees and scribes that he welcomed sinners. There's no suggestion that they thought he saved these particular sinners. He just showed them into the dining room and ate with them.
And then that led me to mull over the difference between welcoming and saving. In the first letter to Timothy, Paul declares that "The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost." Saving is a major piece of Jesus' mission statement. The invitation to repentance... the promise of eternal life... the embodiment of love... the pouring out of amazing, saving grace.
But there's something else here... something in this story that we can do. Let's face it, we can't save anybody. Only Jesus can do that. But if we are to reflect the face of Jesus, we can welcome people as Jesus did... even the ones whom we, in Pharisaic style, deem offensive... giving them the chance to learn about amazing, saving grace.
Susan+