Luke 15:1-10
September 12, 2010
I never tire of these two parables. Like any parable of Jesus, they can be mined for many different meanings, but one thing that’s hard to deny is the overall theme of “seeking;” the notion that God seeks – goes after us , never abandons us – speaks loudly every time this passage is read. And I love that image – of God seeking every single individual out there – seeking even me. It’s comforting to think of a God who wants so much to be with us – who gets down on hands and knees and scours the house for us. So, it’s hard for that message to get old to me.
But this week my mind has been on church. I know, I know, you would hope that given my job, my mind would be on church fairly often. But I mean I’ve been thinking a lot about what churches in general do, what they mean, stand for, offer in a larger sense. Basically asking the question “what good are we?” And I wonder if sometimes it feels like we as a church are the lost sheep.
There is no shortage of conversation, essays, books, conferences out there that talk about the diminishing size and impact of the mainline church today – i.e. us. And we in the mainline church can’t deny the fact that we are diminishing in size and impact. The numbers don’t lie; we had more people then, we have less people now. And though we often over-romanticize the past, it does seem like mainline churches used to really have a voice in the public sphere. They were listened to, granted respect and their word carried weight in all kinds of public decisions: for good or for bad. But those days seem past. Now, when the mainline church tries to say anything to society, culture, or the world, “spitting in the wind” is the image that comes to mind. So the idea that the mainline church has less impact on what goes on in the world rings true to many – and I would probably count myself in that group.
Luckily, the essays, books, conferences and conversations are not just interested in laying out the numbers and giving evidence for the decline in relevancy. They are always also asking the question: “What should we do about this?” And then, because of course they have the right answer, they share it with the rest of us. And it’s easy to get caught up in that conversation – and that makes complete sense. Some of the analysis and suggestions can help the church. It’s an appealing thought that if you find the right answer, your numbers will grow, and your influence in the world will increase.
But, behind all these critiques and forecasting of the future of the church and remedies for the problems, is the assumption that there is little worth any more to these small, dying churches and denominations. I wonder if we shouldn’t take a step back, though, and challenge that assumption. Do numbers and power over others determine a church’s worth? Are small churches doomed to irrelevancy?
Our parables are about worth: about what makes something valuable. We usually read them in terms of individuals; one sheep, one coin, one person. But what if instead of seeing these passages as being about God seeking us as individual people, we see it as God seeking out congregations?
Remember that the first couple of verses tell us that the parables are a response to the concern of the Pharisees that Jesus is eating with the wrong people: tax collectors and sinners. These folks were not like the Pharisees. Tax collectors and sinners were completely unimportant to the religious community of which Jesus himself was a part. More than that, they weren’t welcome. They did’t pay temple tax, they did’t follow the rules, they were unclean, they were the wrong religion. The Pharisees were asking, “What good are they?” By any measurement the religious leaders could think of, these folks don’t measure up; were are not worthy of eating at your table. So, they ask Jesus, why are you wasting your time on them?
Jesus tries to help the Pharisees understand who “these people” are, and how they are connected. He tells them that tax collectors and sinners are valuable to – important to – the Pharisees and their community. And more than that, these folks are valuable to God and what God is doing in the world. He tells them the two parables: the one of the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to seek out the one that’s lost, and the woman who’s missing one coin of ten searching her house high and low to find it.
The things that the shepherd and the woman seek are of great, great worth to them. We know that simply because the woman and the shepherd search…until they find it. They search hard and don’t give up. In doing so, they indicate worth is not about numbers, not about being like the others, not about being part of the “in” group. Notice, there is no difference between the worth of one sheep and the worth of 99 sheep put together. It’s not a contest about which is most important – most people would clearly conclude that the value of the 99 sheep far outweighed the value of the 1. But, that’s not a contest these two seekers play.
The problem in these two parables is that there is separation between these things of great worth. The 99 and the one are not connected to each other; the one coin and nine coins have been separated. So the shepherd and the woman set out to reconnect them – to bridge the chasm. God, Jesus is saying, is the connector. When these things are separated – that’s when something is diminished. That’s when the value of each is threatened. The lost sheep and the lost coin are more than the prized possessions of their owners; they are also parts of a whole. When just one is missing, all are diminished.
Sometimes it seems to me that just like the Pharisees looked at the tax collectors and sinners and saw them to be of no value to the faith community, often people both inside and outside the church look at small churches as if they have nothing to add. They don’t see – they don’t see the amazing things happening, and how those things fit into a larger purpose. They don’t see that if the small churches are written off, the things they have to offer, which are of infinite value and worth, will be lost forever. They don’t realize that the value and worth of each and every church – from 5 members to 5000 – is necessary to the whole of what God is doing in the world.
Since I have been a part of the Des Moines Presbytery, two of our churches have closed: Ewart Presbyterian church and Knox Presbyterian in Des Moines. Because we tend to measure worth by the success or failure of institutions, it would be easy to see these 2 churches as failures. But in both cases, I believe God had gone after those people in the churches, and knowing the infinite worth of each one, God connected them to something larger.
Even as the institutions closed, there were faithful people tending to the closings. They were unnoticed by many, but they took their jobs seriously as they helped decide what good can grow out of even the closing of a church. Thanks to a small commission of people – that included our very own Paul Parmley – Ewart church will be the home of a new ministry. And the proceeds from the sale of Knox church will fund the mission of the presbytery. Most importantly, people from those churches now pepper other congregations, including, thanks be to God, ours. And when they join a new community, they bring with them their own infinite value and worth – value and worth that was formed by their time in these small churches over the years. Those churches were never – at any moment – insignificant…they still aren’t.
I spent this week thinking about our church here as the one lost sheep – and I realized we are the sheep at the end of the story: the one sheep after the shepherd finds it. Because we are already found by God; everything we do, everything we are, is connected to a larger meaning and purpose; it’s connected to the whole. Things we do that seem small are added to the whole picture and made significant – are of infinite worth.
Over the last 5 years I have come to know this church pretty well, and I can see why God pursues us and yearns to connect what we do here with the larger picture. I know God revels in the sometimes grand but often small, faithful things this church does all the time. We have two wonderful examples here this morning. We celebrated the start of Sunday School, recognizing the faithfulness of both the teachers and the students. And I’m telling you, we aren’t just having Sunday School in our little church. I know the teachers and the kids and I have no difficulty imagining God wanting to run toward this and join in and draw it into God’s purposes in this world. There is nothing small or trivial about that.
And in a moment, we will take in a new member. One. Not 99, not tons of families to fill our pews and classrooms. One. But like the one sheep and the one coin, God can’t wait to be with us in this. And while it might be hard for some to see – those who don’t know our church – because I know the people involved, I understand how precious it is, how meaningful it is, and how connected it is to God’s hopes for the rest of the world.
We could see what we do as mundane and insignificant to anything going on “out there”. But if we do, we are disconnected from the larger world – disconnected from the things we know about, read about – and we’re lost; what we do here loses all meaning. We are diminished if this is what we believe – that God has just left us to ourselves and nothing we do is connected to a whole.
On the other hand, we could see ourselves as a sheep that God has tracked down. We could see how God joins in all that we do and transforms it into the faithful, wonderful thing it is. When our Sunday School teaches the kids about service – when the whole class goes out and serve the community as a part of their Christian education – it connects what we do with God’s works of justice and compassion all over the world. And when bringing in a new member teaches us how a church – a congregation – is not confined within these walls, we are connected to all of God’s work for inclusion and expansion of communities. These “small” things matter – they are of infinite worth to the whole.
How, you might ask, can I really be sure that this is happening? Because of the rejoicing when we’re found – when we feel that connection to something larger. There is great joy here – today we celebrate the passion and energy of those involved in Sunday School…and it is joy-filled. And I can tell you there are many who are absolutely overcome with joy to see Corky join our church today – not to mention the fact that the joy Corky expresses can hardly be contained.
That’s how we know we’re found – that’s how we know we’re the sheep at the end of the story. Jesus tells the Pharisees that God runs toward us – even us, small though we are. God wants to be a part of everything we do….and when I look around, I realize God’s here working in each little action, each faithful decision, each ministry, to accomplish amazing things here and out in the world – even if we can’t see it. Oh what a joyful thing. God seeks us – even us – to be a part of all that God does. Amen.
