WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 16th 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Turned Toward Life”
Luke 15:1-10
It was in the book Foolishness to the Greeks by missionary and scholar Leslie Newbigin that my understanding of Christianity radically changed. Newbigin, a Presbyterian pastor, spent many years as a missionary in India. Upon his return to the England he believed that the future of the church depended upon its ability to share the gospel to Western Culture which he saw as decidedly not Christian. Newbigin spent his life challenging the ways that the church in England and the United States had so comfortably enmeshed itself with the surrounding culture. Instead of seeing the Gospel as a logical extension of western culture Newbigin followed the example of the apostle Paul. Paul talked about the Gospel as foolishness to the Greeks to emphasis that the wisdom of the Gospel and the wisdom of the world are, more often than we might expect, at odds with one another. It was this insight which helped me to understand the importance of thoughtfully examining our culture and tradition in light of the gospel message, not the other way around. In our passage this morning we see a real conflict between Gospel values and the values of culture.
In this passage we are deep in the heart of Jesus’ ministry. The crowds have flocked to hear the message of this young rabbi who stirs up trouble with the religious leadership. Jesus’ welcome for all people, not just the socially and religiously acceptable folk, has caused the ranks of his followers to swell. It also caused a dramatic increase in the number of people considered sinners in his followers. The increase in his following meant an increase in attacks from the religious leadership. One common insult was that Jesus: “welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Later on, Jesus will do so much of this eating with sinners that he is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. You might see how this sort of reputation from a religious leader might cause some problems in the religious community.
Jesus’ response to these challenges and allegations is to tell stories. This morning’s story is particularly foolish, at least in the eyes of conventional wisdom. Jesus begins with a rhetorical question: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” Since this is a familiar story it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing there is one answer. However, the logical answer to the question is that no wise shepherd would go after one lost sheep. Loosing one sheep out of a hundred is really an acceptable loss. To leave ninety-nine sheep unattended in order to find one sheep is simply irresponsible. However, the irresponsibility does not stop there. Jesus then expects that the shepherd will invite the neighbors to celebrate his risking the life of ninety-nine sheep for the life of one lost sheep. But before anyone can challenge him on this, Jesus tells another foolishness story.
In the second story we have an unnamed woman who is supposed to represent God, so you know Jesus is already in trouble. It begins when this woman looses one of her silver coins. As a result, she tears her house apart in order to find the coin. It was a foolish action because the silver coin had about as much value as a penny. Once the coin if found; the woman gathers her friends together and has a party to celebrate the return of one small insignificant coin. Both are foolishness meant to shake up our understanding of God’s wisdom.
Just so there is no confusion we need to take a moment to get clear on the role of possessions in these stories. If we are not careful the rejoicing in this passage could be taken as joy for the return of possessions. However, the joy and celebration, textually, focuses on relationships. Notice that neither the shepherd nor the woman celebrate alone. There are no private parties. Instead, the celebration is all about the restoration of community found in the return.
So, if the recovery of possessions is not the focus of the passage, what is? I believe that the heart of this passage is the message of repentance. Immediately following the story of the returned sheep Jesus says: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.” And, at the conclusion of the story about the lost coin Jesus says: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Often, passage has been used by the church to preach repentance to sinners who are the lost sheep or coins. However, that is not at work in this passage.
In both stories neither the sheep nor the coin returns on their own. In fact, all the action in both stories is done by those people represent God. At the end of the passage, Jesus does not say: Go and do as the shepherd and woman. And, in the stories neither the shepherd nor the woman preaches to the lost sheep or the lost coin about the need for repentance. Instead, repentance in this passage is most likely intended for the religious community. It is time for the religious community, more concerned with creating a homogeneous community of like-minded people, to welcome (not judge) those whom they consider ‘sinners.’ The call to repentance for the religious community means to turn away from certainty, legalism, and traditionalism. Repentance is an invitation to turn toward the ways of life. It is a way of discipleship which says yes to welcome, yes to hospitality, and yes to acceptance. However, turning toward this way of discipleship is far more difficult than turning from the ways of what is traditionally called sin. That is why so many religious people attack Jesus for the way he acts and teaches.
Despite news to the contrary, repentance is not a one time event. It is not a magic formula of words which work like a ‘get out of hell free card.’ Instead, repentance, or turning toward life, is a life-long discipline. This is true because, simply put, the powers of death have a strong pull. The messages of death are all around us: Kill your enemies before they kill you… It is foolish to spend time and energy on one worthless coin or foolish sheep… And the truth is that the lure of religious legalism is powerful in an age of chaos and doubt. The human tendency in these times is to want everything so ordered that there is no room for the mystery and complexity of God.
Repentance, or turning toward the ways of life, must be part of our daily existence. It is particularly true because the message Jesus preaches says that a lost sheep and worthless coin have value in God economy. That is why we must hear these foolish stories to remind us that following Jesus, turning toward life means we may just be seen as fools by our surrounding culture. So the question remains: Are we willing to turn toward the ways of life and even be fools for Jesus. Amen? Amen.
September 16th 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Turned Toward Life”
Luke 15:1-10
It was in the book Foolishness to the Greeks by missionary and scholar Leslie Newbigin that my understanding of Christianity radically changed. Newbigin, a Presbyterian pastor, spent many years as a missionary in India. Upon his return to the England he believed that the future of the church depended upon its ability to share the gospel to Western Culture which he saw as decidedly not Christian. Newbigin spent his life challenging the ways that the church in England and the United States had so comfortably enmeshed itself with the surrounding culture. Instead of seeing the Gospel as a logical extension of western culture Newbigin followed the example of the apostle Paul. Paul talked about the Gospel as foolishness to the Greeks to emphasis that the wisdom of the Gospel and the wisdom of the world are, more often than we might expect, at odds with one another. It was this insight which helped me to understand the importance of thoughtfully examining our culture and tradition in light of the gospel message, not the other way around. In our passage this morning we see a real conflict between Gospel values and the values of culture.
In this passage we are deep in the heart of Jesus’ ministry. The crowds have flocked to hear the message of this young rabbi who stirs up trouble with the religious leadership. Jesus’ welcome for all people, not just the socially and religiously acceptable folk, has caused the ranks of his followers to swell. It also caused a dramatic increase in the number of people considered sinners in his followers. The increase in his following meant an increase in attacks from the religious leadership. One common insult was that Jesus: “welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Later on, Jesus will do so much of this eating with sinners that he is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. You might see how this sort of reputation from a religious leader might cause some problems in the religious community.
Jesus’ response to these challenges and allegations is to tell stories. This morning’s story is particularly foolish, at least in the eyes of conventional wisdom. Jesus begins with a rhetorical question: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” Since this is a familiar story it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing there is one answer. However, the logical answer to the question is that no wise shepherd would go after one lost sheep. Loosing one sheep out of a hundred is really an acceptable loss. To leave ninety-nine sheep unattended in order to find one sheep is simply irresponsible. However, the irresponsibility does not stop there. Jesus then expects that the shepherd will invite the neighbors to celebrate his risking the life of ninety-nine sheep for the life of one lost sheep. But before anyone can challenge him on this, Jesus tells another foolishness story.
In the second story we have an unnamed woman who is supposed to represent God, so you know Jesus is already in trouble. It begins when this woman looses one of her silver coins. As a result, she tears her house apart in order to find the coin. It was a foolish action because the silver coin had about as much value as a penny. Once the coin if found; the woman gathers her friends together and has a party to celebrate the return of one small insignificant coin. Both are foolishness meant to shake up our understanding of God’s wisdom.
Just so there is no confusion we need to take a moment to get clear on the role of possessions in these stories. If we are not careful the rejoicing in this passage could be taken as joy for the return of possessions. However, the joy and celebration, textually, focuses on relationships. Notice that neither the shepherd nor the woman celebrate alone. There are no private parties. Instead, the celebration is all about the restoration of community found in the return.
So, if the recovery of possessions is not the focus of the passage, what is? I believe that the heart of this passage is the message of repentance. Immediately following the story of the returned sheep Jesus says: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.” And, at the conclusion of the story about the lost coin Jesus says: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Often, passage has been used by the church to preach repentance to sinners who are the lost sheep or coins. However, that is not at work in this passage.
In both stories neither the sheep nor the coin returns on their own. In fact, all the action in both stories is done by those people represent God. At the end of the passage, Jesus does not say: Go and do as the shepherd and woman. And, in the stories neither the shepherd nor the woman preaches to the lost sheep or the lost coin about the need for repentance. Instead, repentance in this passage is most likely intended for the religious community. It is time for the religious community, more concerned with creating a homogeneous community of like-minded people, to welcome (not judge) those whom they consider ‘sinners.’ The call to repentance for the religious community means to turn away from certainty, legalism, and traditionalism. Repentance is an invitation to turn toward the ways of life. It is a way of discipleship which says yes to welcome, yes to hospitality, and yes to acceptance. However, turning toward this way of discipleship is far more difficult than turning from the ways of what is traditionally called sin. That is why so many religious people attack Jesus for the way he acts and teaches.
Despite news to the contrary, repentance is not a one time event. It is not a magic formula of words which work like a ‘get out of hell free card.’ Instead, repentance, or turning toward life, is a life-long discipline. This is true because, simply put, the powers of death have a strong pull. The messages of death are all around us: Kill your enemies before they kill you… It is foolish to spend time and energy on one worthless coin or foolish sheep… And the truth is that the lure of religious legalism is powerful in an age of chaos and doubt. The human tendency in these times is to want everything so ordered that there is no room for the mystery and complexity of God.
Repentance, or turning toward the ways of life, must be part of our daily existence. It is particularly true because the message Jesus preaches says that a lost sheep and worthless coin have value in God economy. That is why we must hear these foolish stories to remind us that following Jesus, turning toward life means we may just be seen as fools by our surrounding culture. So the question remains: Are we willing to turn toward the ways of life and even be fools for Jesus. Amen? Amen.
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