RCL Year A (Advent 1) - November 28, 2010

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year A (Advent 1) - November 28, 2010

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Psalm 122

I have got to be honest with you, when I was little, I was afraid of the dark… Not that I believed that there were monsters hiding under my bed or in the closet… It was just that the darkness made things seem so different. Different in a way that was a bit scary.

Needless to say, I was a child with a very active imagination, and the darkness held the unknown and unseen, and it made it difficult for me to relax and get to sleep. Sometimes the shadows of the darkness cause me to see things differently… What I knew to be a coat hanging on the doorknob, became a short person standing guard at the entrance to my closet, or what was a chair with an afghan thrown over it, became that odd looking thing that I had never seen in my life… I would sometimes stare at these things for hours, waiting for them to move… waiting for the light to come on again in the room, and reveal its true identity.

I can bet that perhaps some of you don’t like the darkness. And even though you probably won’t admit it, you don’t like not being able to recognize and understand what lurks in the shadows. No matter how much we mature, our natural instinct is to be afraid of the unknown – of what we can’t see. And the absence of light makes it very difficult to see anything.

Now, we have several ways that we deal with this… We can age, and simply grow out of the fear… We use night-lights (or artificial sources of light) that give us a sense of false security… but, some of us never deal with it, and just end up living in the darkness. These folks sometimes need assistance (a professional) to help them deal with the darkness in their lives, a counselor.

That is what our scripture lessons are talking about this morning… About keeping awake, putting on the protective armor of true light, and walking and living in the light of the Lord, the light of Christ. A place where there is no fear, and there is peace and rest. We deal with the darkness in our lives by relying on the wonderful counselor, Jesus Christ.

In the season of Advent, we all become the keepers of the watch, and must keep awake and be ready. Even though it’s dark and scary sometimes, we know that this is our time to wake from sleep, live honorably, and keep watch. We watch in active anticipation for the arrival of Christ. Not to commemorate the baby Jesus being born in a barn, but the arrival of Christ in His power and glory, descending on the clouds, coming back to reclaim the world for justice and peace! For him to establish a Kingdom under His rule where there is no war and the swords are beat into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.

But we live in a world that doesn’t honor faithful living… and we aren’t prepared for this final judgment. Like Paul tells the Romans, we need to wake up and recognize our salvation because the day is near. But, we are not good watchmen… We want to be comfortable, so we chase after things that give us a “quick fix” but do not gratify in the long run (things like reveling, drunkenness, debauchery, and licentiousness) aggressively going after pleasure, and over indulging.

Think about the holiday that we just celebrated… Thanksgiving. Another major feast of the church that our society has hijacked… It has taken it, and rearranged it into a gluttonous feast followed by football and shopping. I am wondering if our forbearers, the ones who sat down with strangers to give thanks to God over a shared meal, would be proud of what we have become…

Instead of walking in the light of Christ, we are wandering around in the dark cloud of consumerism. The consumerism that has convinced us that we need this or that… it has become an artificial light in our darkness. And we wonder why this time of year is so difficult for folks that are dealing with depression and anxiety… It’s because, in our American way of life, we have replaced the true foundation in Jesus Christ with the “Stuff” that doesn’t satisfy.

We try to overcome our anxiety by trying to make it happen quicker by decking the halls early with all kinds of stuff… somehow trying to make that euphoric holiday feeling come, thinking that the artificial lights will chase away our darkness.

Jesus said that he will come back… and like the days of Noah before the flood, life has been one big party, not being concerned with doing anything to honor God, or giving God the glory… we all know what happened during the time of Noah – the flood came and swept them all away… so Jesus warns us to keep awake and be ready because we will not know when he will come… be ready, because one will be taken and one will be left… He will come like a thief in the night at an unexpected hour.

Our advice today from our Lord Jesus Christ, our Wonderful Counselor, as we start a new church year together, is to stay alert and live faithfully… Like the scriptures tell us, we should “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” – Be clothed with Christ as we take on his teaching and model his holy righteousness… This is our “armor of light” that repels the darkness…

We are the keepers of the watch… and what we do as Christians, our work in this world, is only accomplished in the spirit of wakefulness and watchfulness. We are called to faithful work, awareness and sensitivity, living in the mystery of things that are to come. And it’s not an easy place to be… it’s like living in the middle of the “already” and the “not yet.”

We are called during the season of Advent to a period of eschatological waiting, anticipating the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to vanquish the world’s darkness…

Today, we have a beautiful new advent wreath here, adorned with new oil candles that will be dedicated in a few minutes. With the passing of the Sundays in Advent, we light another candle, symbolizing the light of Christ that is coming into this world… growing brighter and brighter, casting away the shadows of darkness, until the day of the incarnation when the true light comes into the world and all the candles will be lit…

So keep watch my friends, put on the armor of light, and let the light of Christ grow in our hearts and in our lives… and be ready to receive our Christ at His coming.

RCL Year C (All Saints') - November 7, 2010

Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (All Saints') - November 7, 2010

Daniel 7:1-3,15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31

Sainthood, what is it? – and more importantly, how do we attain it? Because this is All Saints! (November 1st – transferred to the following Sunday) One of the 7 principal feasts of the church! Yes!!! As big as Christmas Day, and Easter Day and The Epiphany and the Day of Pentecost – this is All Saints!

It is the day that we celebrate ALL the Saints (Sanctus) – All Hallows – All the Holy Ones! When most people think of saints they think of those folks that have a special day of the calendar. You know – the great ones – the martyrs of the faith, who stood out by the way they led their life and were recognized as the Holy Ones – Saints (from the latin Sanctus)

But if you think about it for a minute All Saints is about us! It’s about ALL the baptized. We attain sainthood by virtue of our baptism… our baptism, by water and the holy spirit that brings us to new life in Christ and includes us fully as members of Christ’s Body, the Church.

In Baptism, we participate in Christ’s Life, Death, and Resurrection, and are made heirs of God’s heavenly Kingdom… Not the kingdoms of this world, that our first lesson in Daniel speaks about... those are the Kingdoms that tear down and destroy. But the Kingdom of God… where we will have life everlasting in the presence of God.

When we pass from this life to the next, we will take our place among the saints of God the holy ones that have gone on before us… I’m not necessarily talking about the ones who have a special day on the liturgical calendar… But ALL the saints, who have professed and practiced a faith in Christ Jesus and proclaimed Him as Lord and Savior. That’s exciting stuff!!! Exciting News!!! We should be jumping around and celebrating… shouting from the rooftops!!!

But we are just sitting here like Episcopalians – straight faced, with no emotion… (the frozen chosen) Yes, that’s lovely…

It’s exciting!! It’s something to get jazzed about!!! You can feel the excitement that Paul expresses to the church in Ephesus… He is so excited, you barely know where one sentence ends and the other begins…

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power…
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We can feel it in the rhetoric as he displays his uncontrolled and uncontained excitement about faith and love and the will for the future… The people in Ephesus weren’t just living in history, they were making history by the way they led their life and Paul was excited! He has heard of their faith in Jesus, and their love toward the saints and he was excited!!

Have you ever been that excited about anything? Have you ever been that excited so much that it seemed nothing else mattered? Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot, we’re Episcopalian and we’ve developed a melancholy faith… and we don’t get much excited about anything… Unless someone (God forbid) is sitting in our pew, or unless someone doesn’t kneel or bow in the liturgy when we think they should.

We need to stop worrying about the “stuff” of this world and get excited about the everlasting life that we share in Christ Jesus. We need to get excited and claim our Sainthood, and live out our holiness in the streets and in the workplace, not just come here on Sunday and rot in the museum.

But again, we are a melancholy people, how dare we mention Jesus in public or make any sacrifices in our life that might be considered holy… It’s just not proper… We are scared to be Saints… We are scared to be what God has called us to be because it may cost us something… We may have to adjust our busy schedules or open our minds enough to let the graces of God transform our thinking and show us something new.

Maybe we think that we are not good enough, or maybe that God doesn’t love us enough, or that we, for some reason, aren’t dressed right, or that we don’t have enough money in our 401K. Whatever the reason, we are afraid, and we don’t claim our sainthood, but none the less, we are created in the image of God (and God don’t make no junk!) and by our faith and witness of Jesus as our Lord and our baptism, we are Saints!!

Today, Ivan, Beth, & Joey will join the ranks of All the Saints and be welcomed into the fellowship of Christ Body, the Church through Holy Baptism. A holy baptism that adopts us as God’s children sets us apart for God’s service and bestows on us the Grace of God in the promise of everlasting life.

As always, I had the pleasure to speak to Ivan & Beth about baptism in preparation for this big event… I explained to them that baptism is the initiatory step (the primary sacrament), the way into the fullness of life and participation. The way into the community of the church and the door to the sacraments – which are the vehicles of God’s grace.

Ivan, Beth, & Joey… this is your license to learn, to be involved, and let the love of God in Christ guide you as you grow in understanding of God’s great love and God’s abundant grace…

We are all in different phases of the great journey that we call growth in the Christian life… but none of us is any more privy to God’s Grace than any other.

Then we have the business of the Gospel reading: the beatitudes… or attitudes that some have suggested we must adopt or ways we have to BE in order to live the Christian life…

Jesus has just come down to the people from the mountain - to be among the people, and he blesses them – and he heals them… Then Jesus begins to teach the newly chosen disciples that are with him…

Blessed are you who are Poor… Blessed are you who are Hungry… Blessed are you who weep… Blessed are you who are hated, excluded, reviled and defamed on account of the Son of Man… Wait a minute… the disciples must be saying… What does it mean to be blessed??? Does this mean that we have to be poor, hungry, weeping, or prosecuted? If so, I don’t want any part of it!!…

After a quick cursory and uninformed reading of the scripture passage we just heard… it seems that Jesus might be giving us a bunch of marching orders or imperatives to be followed … It has been the past interpretations and even could be the interpretation of some folks today… that you actually have to be Poor to get to heaven…

But once again, we must remember that this is the “scandalous” Jesus, the man who hung out with outcasts, women, lepers, tax collectors and sinners, the one who is always challenging the conventional understanding of the way society was supposed to be… Jesus begins to upright what society has turned over and straighten out what has been perverted and abused…

Jesus says that if you go against the conventional understanding of society, and honor the poor, and bless and heal, then society will probably hate you, reject you, and defame you… But no worries… your reward will be everlasting life with God in heaven!

But then we have the woes… the turn of focus turns from blessings to woes… With the woes, Jesus condemns the stubborn ones… the rich who think they are self sufficient… the ones who are laughing at God because they think they’ve got it all figured it all – out by themselves… These are the folks who don’t think that they have any more to learn… and these are the ones who vie for control…

In the big picture of things, the blessings for us are many… and we all are all very blessed in our lives… Most of us have a roof over our heads, and most of us are not wondering where our next meal will come from…

Jesus’ beatitudes are not a prescription by which we should live… But rather, they provide a focus of reflection on how we should respond in thanksgiving to God’s generous blessings in our lives… how we should live out our sainthood.

If we set our lives with the priorities of the beatitudes: If we truly let our holiness given to us in baptism shine though us and the way we live our lives and let it form us into the saints God wants us to be… If we honor the poor, and proclaim the teaching of Christ, what could that mean to our society today?

My brothers and sisters, (and my about to be – brother and sisters in Christ Jesus) I challenge us to live out our sainthood, claim it, own it, and then go out and live it… and let it so form us as Saints in God’s heavenly kingdom.

RCL Year C (Proper 24) - October 17, 2010

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (Proper 24) - October 17, 2010

Jeremiah 31:27-34
Psalm 119:97-104
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

We live in a world of instant gratification… from the human desire to have an immediate pat on the back for a job well done, to the microwaves ovens sitting on our kitchen counter…

In our world we spend a whole lot of time rushing around to find the source of that instant “feel good” – an unhealthy sense of urgency has taken over our culture…

It is displayed in our culture by the fast paced trading on the stock market – causing our stocks to rise and fall in a matter of seconds. It is even seen in commercials on TV… We are told that we need everything from instant weight-loss to those work from home businesses that will make us instant money…

The images in our society of this “instant” need will absolutely make your head swim… Instant breakfast, instant coffee, and ATMs that dish out “instant” money.

I sometimes feel that the internet is a direct result of this need for instant gratification… As great as it is, it is a source of instant knowledge – to know what the weather is, what the current news issues are, and it even gives us the real time sports scores… In seminary it was even common for us to look up facts on the internet concerning what the instructor was talking about, and then cut and paste them into our notes…

This need for instant gratification and spontaneous reward has even worked its way into our prayer life… When we pray to God, we want instant results… It is somehow that we want the Almighty, Omnipotent, creator of heaven and earth to be reduced to our vending machine. Push a button… have a prayer answered… And we think that if God doesn’t give us instant answers, then we believe that we are somehow not good enough, or deserving of God’s infinite graces.

We fall into the rut of thinking our faith is quantitative and not large enough or our prayers are not sincere enough… We think that maybe God isn’t listening… it’s then that we often either give up, or feel defeated and quit praying all together.

Jesus tells us a parable this morning about a widow, and a judge… The widow has a need for justice in a time and place when widows did not rate anything in society. Widows were on the bottom rung of the ladder and had no rights. They were exploited and oppressed.

Unlike today, widows were not even allowed to inherit their husbands estate, and if they didn’t have any sons to take care of them, they were often forced to return to their father’s family. Interestingly enough… The Hebrew word for widow means “one who is silent” or the “one unable to speak”

So this widow, who was not even allowed to speak in society on her own behalf, is pleading with the judge for justice… We aren’t told what the issue was, but we are sure that she knew the judge… he didn’t respect anyone or anything, not even God, do you think he had the time or even the desire to spend a second discerning the appropriate justice for this widow?

The widow is persistent in her pleading and doesn’t give up… It almost seems like she gets a bit feisty in her pleadings because there is some language in the scripture that indicates the Judge may have thought she would become physical. So, the judge takes action and grants her justice, almost as if to brush her off or somehow get rid of her.

Jesus takes this image and puts God’s love for the faithful in contrast… If this Judge, who doesn’t respect anyone, not even God grants justice to the persistent widow then how much MORE will God do for us, who cry out to God? How much MORE will God bless those who are persistent and faithful with their prayers?

Over the past few weeks, we have really gotten our tool box for discipleship full of useful equipment that we will need in our ministry to others as we seek to proclaim the kingdom of Jesus Christ to the whole world.

We have learned to be moving forward, and mission focused. Jesus has made sure that we know how to receive others with radical hospitality, and how to serve them without prejudice. We have loaded up our tool box with prayer, love, and faith. We even learned a couple of weeks ago, that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, the tiniest of seeds, then we could do tremendous things like move mountains.

Today, Jesus adds to his metaphor of the mustard seed of faith, and teaches us about persistence. Yes, we must have faith, but our faith requires persistence. Persistence to keep close to God, even when it seems to us that God is far off. Persistence to keep praying even though it seems to us that God is not listening.

The scripture indicates that we should to show our faith in God through the persistent actions in our life. This parable often gives folks the false impression that we can somehow conform God to our needs for instant gratification. That we can somehow “wear down” God and get God to do what we want God to do by our persistent prayers.

But – that’s not the point at all. Our persistent prayers to God are NOT a means of controlling God. We cannot reduce God to some genie in the sky that grants us wishes. God will not be controlled like that! Our prayers to God are the mechanism that guides our hearts and minds to help us grow - to be formed and be informed by God’s love for us and God’s will for our lives.

Our prayers to God are the way we grow and are formed in our faith. It is how our minds focus on and how our soul connects with the One who created us. It is the way we know WHO we are and WHOSE we are. Prayer is our response to our God, with or without words.

In faith, we keep praying, and in faith, God keeps listening. We show our faith by the fact that we are even praying at all... trusting that God hears us and that God will respond to us.

When we pray, there are rarely any easy instant answers or any instant gratification. There is no microwave or website or lever to pull that will automatically give us the connection that we are longing for. There is no instant salvation. But, God is always faithful and God always acts in God’s own time. So, we keep on praying with persistence knowing that God loves us, hoping and trusting that God will deliver us, and that God will provide us with what we need.

It's not going to be instant... But it will happen! If we are paying close attention, we just may even recognize it.

RCL Year C (Proper 22) - October 3, 2010

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (Proper 22) - October 3, 2010

Lamentations 1:1-6
Lamentations 3:19-26
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10

When we come to church, we hear a lot talk about faith. We read about faith in the Bible and we even sing songs about faith… But what is Faith?

I have often heard people mistakenly say that faith is a type of reasoning that is the opposite of doubt. But we know that the opposite of doubt is certainty… So, what is Faith?…

In today’s gospel story, Jesus’ disciples made what would seem to be a logical and obvious request… “Increase our faith!” We can picture them on the road… all prepared for discipleship… equipped with all the stuff they needed to build up the kingdom of God…

They were pumped up and ready for mission, and they have packed wisely for the journey… They were welcoming the stranger in their midst, and had even started eating with tax collectors and sinners… Jesus taught them well…

He taught them how to be steadfast followers, and how to use all their money and stuff that they were entrusted with to glorify God and build up the kingdom…

I get the image of some young rookie football player, all suited up in a new uniform, helmet on… looking right in the coaches eyes… We all expect him to say “put me in coach, I can do this… I am ready to play.”

But instead, the young player is saying… “help me... please… what if I get hurt?, what if the others don’t block for me?... What do I do if… ???” and his worries go on and on and on…

The disciples are prepared… and Jesus knows they are, because he has prepared them… But with all the preparation, the disciples still don’t get it, they still don’t trust that God will be with them… So they ask Jesus for an increase in their faith… Like they can top off their tank with “faith” and be ready to continue the journey. Sort of like a “fill-er up” with super high holy octane!

But, Jesus’ response to his disciples relates directly to the power of faith itself… Explaining to them, that the power of faith is so strong that even the smallest bit of it could prove to be a tremendous force…

Then Jesus takes the discussion an unexpected level. He basically says, to do the Job I have given you to do… to be my disciple… it isn’t going to require very much faith at all. All you need to do is obey God and do our duty… Jesus then depicts each of the disciples as a humble servant, who’s duty is to be hardworking, not expecting to be thanked. He says that this is what faith is… It is our duty within the relationship to God…

I think, most simply, when we say that we have faith, it means that we trust God… to be God.

Sometimes, most often where people are ill, folks will say, “if you have faith, you will be healed.” Or worse yet, “your faith isn’t strong enough.” We assume that if Jesus says that our faith can move trees… when if we had any faith at all, we would certainly be healed…

I think that we fail to realize that this means we would be manipulating God… trying to get God to conform to our image... instead of us being and living in His image… In other words, we get hung up in the world of, “If I have enough faith, then God has to do exactly what I want God to do!” That’s not what Jesus is saying at all!

Jesus makes it clear that we are expected to have faith… it is part of being Christian, just like serving is part of being a servant… Our faith doesn’t require God to do anything. God does not heal us because we have faith. God heals us because God is God. God loves us simply because God chooses to love us…

God is active and present in our everyday lives, and gives us more than we could ever ask for or imagine… Neither our level of faith nor our actions can earn us God’s favor or salvation! (which is another misconception - and another sermon in its entirety)…

So - How much faith is enough? Do we need to have a lot of faith, or will just a little bit do? The answers may surprise you.

The followers of Jesus said to him, "Increase our faith." Jesus answered them, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

When we have faith in God, our faith isn’t quantitative… it isn't a question of how big or small our faith is, it is qualitative… it is a question of how powerful our God is, and with God all things are possible!

Some of you know that today is World Communion Sunday. It is a Sunday when all of the denominations in Christendom that are part of the National Council of Churches have agreed to have a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

As we know some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, do not celebrate The Lords Supper but once per quarter, or once per month. Unlike us who celebrate every Sunday. But today everyone is gathered around the Lords Table breaking bread and sharing the cup.

As we approach the holy table this morning we receive by faith the body and blood of the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ. My prayer is not to ask God to give us more faith. But, it is simply to ask God to help us use the faith that we have, and to help us do tremendous things to His glory and then trust that God will do the rest.

RCL Year C (Proper 19) - September 12, 2010

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC

RCL Year C (Proper 19) - September 12, 2010

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Psalm 14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10

We may think this morning… “Hey!! This week, these lessons are easy! We know right away what it says! You know, it’s like that hymn “Amazing Grace”… I once was lost, but now I am found… I got it preacher, you can stop right there! End of Sermon – See you next Sunday…

But, I’m not going to let you off that easy! Sometimes when we read the lessons, we think they are so easy… So easy that sometimes we like to get to the point because we think we don’t need to open the box…

It’s easy for us to jump right to being “lost” like the sheep and the coin from the Gospel lesson… We jump so quick that we loose the depth of what the scripture readings are telling us together this morning…

The prophet Jeremiah talks to us about how Judah interpreted what was happening to them… they were under attack, their lands were being destroyed, and their lives were falling apart. As far as they knew it, the end was near and all was lost!

They evaluated their situation and decided that they were suffering this dilemma because they were not following God’s ways, so God must be punishing them. The logic that they are using is pretty easy to understand. It is so easy to blame God for our misfortunes even though we are probably the ones who caused them in the first place.

But we have to remember, regardless of who is doing the destroying, out of the destruction God brings re-creation and restoration. Out of tearing down God builds up. Just like out of crucifixion God provided resurrection and out of death God brings us to life everlasting.

It’s hard to hear about that portion of the journey it difficult for us to spend time wrestling with the questions, trying to figure out where we have gone astray. It becomes so easy to blame God when something doesn’t go like we think it should. But, it becomes just as easy to praise God when something happens to us that we perceive as a blessing.

We think that these things are easy, because deep in our minds we think that it’s all about us instead of it being all about God. We are so hung up on that Amazing grace… that divine favor… God’s grace for us, that we don’t look beyond the gift of God’s Grace into our desperate need for God’s Grace.

We need to remember that God and only God has the ability to form, transform, restore, re-create, and resurrect. It must be that we are a bit hard-headed, and stubborn. We need that element of control because we have it all figured out. That’s probably why we don’t let God shower us with the abundance that God has in store for us.

In the new testament lesson, we get a first hand account of Paul’s testimony. Paul, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and man of violence was transformed into an example of the faith. Prior to his conversion, Paul thought he was very much in control. The scripture says that he acted out of ignorance. He was blinded by the things that he refused to believe. He was lost, and had that desperate need for God’s Grace.

And God went to work on Paul… redeeming him, restoring him, and re-recreating him for God’s glory. Paul was lost until Paul found God on the road to Damascus.

So, that brings up the question for us to ponder this morning, “In reference to God, who is lost – and who is found???” In reference to God, not in reference to the Pharisees, (who think that they have it all figured out)… or in reference to ourselves (because the Lord knows, we’re not in control, and if we use ourselves as a reference, and we consider ourselves found then everyone not like us is lost…) But in reference to God… Who is lost and who is found… In reference to God??

The gospel lessons this morning, Luke gives us 2 parables in the lost trilogy – the lost sheep and the lost coin. I say it is a trilogy, because the story of the lost son (some of us know it better as the prodigal son) that comes right after it, but we hear that story in Lent.

In the first parable, a shepherd looses one of his sheep. Shepherds are talked about quite a bit in the Bible, and is often used as a metaphor for how God tends to us and cares for us… In the case that Jesus presents, the shepherd has a hundred sheep (Now – a hundred sheep is a pretty large flock. Most families would only have a small fraction of that number.) And Jesus gives us a clear invitation to identify with this thankless shepherd asks the question, "Which one of you?"

Which one of you, having 100 sheep, and loosing one, would leave the 99 in the wilderness? It almost makes it sound as if leaving the ninety-nine was the natural response, but that is far from the case here. It’s actually an absurdity.

It’s not practical! Anybody with any kind of business sense would say, don’t worry about the one. Protect the core business -- the ninety-nine. We can survive a one-percent loss. We cannot survive a ninety-nine percent loss. But Jesus speaks to us about leaving the ninety-nine… leaving the 99 not "safely in the sheepfold," but in the wilderness – an extremely wild and dangerous place.

The little lost lamb is found, and "When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.” This is a nice thought, but it’s truly absurd! But, I think it’s absurd to make a point… The point to see in this story is the radical and absurd ways that we are called to act as disciples of Christ in the world, because of the way God acts radically toward us.

It’s just like the church. Sometimes as a church we do stuff that the world would consider absurd. You can take your pick and fill in the blank. But we do these things in order to respond to the unquantifiable grace that we have received... the love, forgiveness, and pure joy that we can only get from God. When the shepherd comes home, he calls together all his friends and neighbors. The shepherd's joy cannot be contained, but overflows throughout the whole community.

The second parable this morning is about a woman that has 10 silver coins, but looses 1. Again the balance is upset… Where could it be? How could I have been so careless? How difficult is it to keep a mere ten coins in the bag? Lost! Nine coins will not be enough. All ten will be required to meet the needs of the month. Look under the bed. Carefully sweep the rooms and sift through the debris. Where could it have gone? Check the mantel once again. "Ah, there it is!" Rejoice!

Throughout his ministry, Jesus introduces us to the kingdom of God, a radical place of upside-down rules, an absurd place where the norms are different than that of the world. In these stories about the kingdom of God, Jesus teaches us about the radical nature of God's love. This is a place where the ordinary rules of business calculations do NOT apply.

The shepherd mourns the loss of the sheep, so the shepherd searches until he finds the sheep. The woman is frantic at her loss of the coin. But, the joy she expresses at the coins return is beyond extreme elation!

The parables of the lost, really aren’t about being lost at all they should be referred to as the parables of the found! The reaction to finding the lost sheep and the coin is a metaphor for God's joy… God’s joy over the one sinner who repents.

So God's joy really is the point of these parables…

The Pharisees think that they have it figured out, and chastise Jesus for eating with the wrong people… grumbling and telling Jesus that they are sinners… that they are all lost... But Jesus seeks them out and eats with them… Jesus finds them and shares a meal with them, and teaches them, and transforms them into and example of God’s grace, just like he does with us…

Like the people of Judah, we are all here in the wilderness, in the desolate desert, in the ruins of our life, living in the issues and problems that we have made for ourselves. The problem is, like Paul we think we have control of it. But, we are just as lost as we can be. However, no matter how lost we may feel, or how horrified we may become, God is there. God is there to restore us, to reconcile us, and re-create us… All we have to do is accept it and live into it…

The sheep wonder off and go astray, the coin drops off the table and onto the floor… But, all we need to do is remember that God is radically searching for us until we find God. Yes, you heard me right, God is so radically searching for us… searching for us until WE find God. And thank be to God!! God doesn’t follow the normal rules. God doesn’t write us off, or cut the losses because each and every soul is precious and deserving of God’s love.

God doesn’t keep us confined on a short leash, but lets us wonder around in the wilderness. And we do… we even get lost, because we are all a rebellious and sinful people. It is God’s love for us that continuously draws us back to God.

Regardless of how lost we may feel, or how sinful we may be (and when we finally figure out that it’s not about us) God is there… God is there among us, ready to draw us back… and bring us home to the church. So that when we repent we can be reconciled to God and be re-created and restored through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Because when we are lost, it is only through God that we are found!