THE PANIC OVER LOSING SOMETHING

Luke 15: (1-10)

As a student in high school science class, in biologywe dissected a frog; in chemistry class, we mixed chemicals in the lab, beingsupervised so we would not mix two chemicals that would create some toxic gas! Alsoin Junior High my father and I had our 18 year old lawn mower engine fail.Instead of getting a new one, he used that event for a bonding time: we went tothe lawn supply store and bought new rings and a piston and spark plug. We wentto the library and borrowed a Briggs and Stratton engine repair book. We tookseveral weeks one winter rebuilding the engine of the mower. Surgeons alsobenefit from studying cadavers to learn how we are put together, just asmechanics and scientists benefit from repair or experiences. But what about atheologian; what about a student of the Bible? Today I invite you to join me inthe Biblical laboratory. It is good to read our Bibles; but for life lessonsthat impact us best, it is better to learn the back stories of passages likeLuke 15 by dissecting or dismantling them.

First, these three stories about lost-ness mostcertainly should be read as a group.In most church services like today, an entire chapter is not read, but we mustinclude each story.

Second, each story not only says something aboutwhat or who is lost, it also says something about the finder (searcher).

And third, more than a story about a sheep or acoin can describe, the last story talks about the loss of what is mostprecious: in Jesus’ day it was a father and a son and the panic that could setin when either one lost the other.Let’s begin.

First, these three stories about lost-ness mostcertainly should be read as a group. In the first story read today, the one wholost something was a shepherd; in the second story it was a woman; in the laststory it is a father. In the first story that which was lost was a sheep; inthe second story it was a coin; in the third story it was a son. Like any goodstoryteller, Jesus builds the tension in the stories. Stories, like some jokes,build descriptive tension by telling examples in threes. For example, I haveheard countless jokes featuring a minister, a priest, and a rabbi. Mostchildren have grown up with the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, includingmama bear, papa bear and baby bear. In the folk story the bears have a cottagethat the young Goldilocks enters. She tries their porridge, sits in theirchairs, and lies down in their beds.In the story of the Three Little Pigs, each pig finds a man from whom tobuy building equipment to make a small home in which they each could live. Asyou probably recall, one built his house out of straw, one out of wood, and oneout of bricks. A big bad wolf happened to come to each of their houses, (remember,it’s a story!)  asking foradmission to eat each one! One by one he visits their houses, blowing down thefirst two and eating the pigs! Only the third one was safe.  The first two examples in each story arecomparisons; the last example is the one where the story is leading. So today, aswith the pattern of stories told before and after Jesus’ parables of the lost,we have a story with three sections to bring tension and resolution to theplot.

Second, each story not only says something about whator who is lost, it also says something about the finder. In 1^stcentury Galilee, the first story is that shows value. In those days a shepherd was one of the poorest paidand least educated of workers, but a shepherd would be still counted as aperson and not property, therefore making him a person of value.  In the next story it is a coin that islost. This is a least value storybecause a coin is worth less than a sheep or a son. The searcher in this storyis a woman, a person who was of least value in that day. In those days womenwere property who brought a price for their work, and brought a price when theymarried. In the last case, the father was a person of great value in that day. He provided for his family, contributedwisdom and work for the betterment of his community, and he taught the faithand his trade to his oldest son- the next most important person in the familyof that day.  Jesus has three partsto his story about lost-ness: valuable, less valuable, most valuable.

Third, more than a story about a sheep or a coin candescribe, the last story talks about the loss of what is most precious: a humanbeing, yes, but in Jesus’ day that loss of a son was tragic, and the panic thatlikely filled the heart of both the father (the searcher) and the son (thelost) was the point.  The lastsegment of Jesus’ parable is surely where he was leading his listeners in Luke15. But Jesus has to get his listeners there first, so he tells his earlierstories. He starts with a story of a valuable person—a shepherd—and avaluable animal—a sheep. In the firstsegment, a shepherd—charged with guarding and feeding sheep—panicked over hispossible loss of job, reputation, and income when he lost a sheep. Even onelost sheep is not an acceptable loss to whoever the owner is, so the shepherdsets out to look for the lost animal. When he finds the panicked sheep, theanimal is exhausted, but the shepherd’s mind goes back to the flock he leftbehind. So having compassion, he picks up the lost sheep and in a shepherd’scarry, brings the lost sheep back to the fold. We know a sheep, unlike a coin,is a living and breathing animal that can feel panic and loss. But sheep areincapable of making choices that are morally right or wrong. Sheep are some ofthe least bright of creatures that God created! They always need a shepherd orthey can’t survive. That’s why the Bible often describes us as sheep andJesus as shepherd: hoping to instill in us that we simply can’t survive withouta savior! But that is still not thecrux of Jesus’ story. Before the last segment is told, Jesus inserts the storyof less value- the woman and the coin. How many of us know the panic that canset in when you have lost your wallet while shopping, lost a paycheck in yourhouse when bills are due, or lost your car keys when you are far away from home?  Doesn’t your heart start to race, yourhead start to pound, and your thoughts start to get muddled!  You might feel embarrassed and not callanyone until you have retraced your steps in the shopping center, your home, orthe parking lot. But when you find what you lost, don’t you feel relieved andoverjoyed? Have you once called someone to share your joy at finding what youlost? That’s what Jesus imagines as a shrewd observer of human nature. Butnotice the coin in his story cannot feel lost, or afraid, or alone. Coins arenot living objects! They are notbreathing! A sheep and a shepherd are closer to be main point but there isstill not an analogous connecting with a person and with God … yet.

  The cruxof the story is the parent and child segment; and, as I said, in the firstcentury the most valuable family members were the father and his sons accordingto birth order. The story shows a father, who is patient and loving, while hisyoungest son is having a time of youthful indiscretion. Although not spoken, welearn that the father has been concerned, even panicked, about his missingyounger son.  When the sonappears, the father, in a swift and certain move to protect him from hisneighbors who would have stoned the boy for treating his father with suchdisrespect, ran … ran inhis robes to embrace the boy, implying to the town that reconciliation hadtaken place when, in fact, it hadn’t. The father was dreadfully upsetover his child being lost, with his whereabouts and condition unknown.  The son was not concerned about hisfather at all, until the big bad world emptied his pockets and made himdesperate enough to eat pig food.Only when he hit his personal bottom did he return to his father, noteven expecting to be treated as family, but to be treated as property. (“Treatme as one of your servants”). And so by the end of the story, the father’s grace more than the son’s remorse reconciled the youngestson to him and saved the son from the harsh treatment the village would haveshown him. But the father’s work wasn’t done yet. He now had the work ofbegging his older son to come into the house to celebrate with him. He wantedto share joy with special people, telling them that his son who was lost wasnow found! But in the end the father is left begging for his oldest son to comein the house too! The twist at the end of the story is ironic: the lost son inthe father’s celebration is no longer the younger one, but the older one.

Now we move to 21^st century reflection. Inour day our work is important and what we have been entrusted to care for isalso important. In addition money is important, and women are vital parts ofstrong families, churches, professions, and communities. The one who is valuedthe most in our day is not just fathers, but also mothers, and grandfathers,and grandmothers. The children who are valued most in our day are not alwayssons, but also daughters and grandsons and granddaughters. But the analogy isthe same:  God, the Heavenly Parent,gets an unsettled heart when beloved children get lost physically, or emotionally,or spiritually. When a sheep, or a coin, or a child is lost, it is the searcherwho gets the most panicked until the lost is found! God, the Heavenly Parent,didn’t just hope we would one day want to make our home in heaven. In ourlost-ness, God came running down over pastureland in the little town ofBethlehem a long, long time ago, to enter our world; to dwell with us where weare. All we’ve had to do all along is just turn back; and there on life’s road,the Heavenly Father will meet us. God offers that to any of you, or those whoyou know, who are today lost in some way. Remember, when you drift away fromGod, you may not start to panicuntil you get in trouble. But in God’s eyes, the minute the back of your precious head disappears over thehorizon, God feels your loss. It could be that your far country is doing otherthings on Sunday, or deciding to be spiritual instead of religious, or playinginstead of praising, or other far country activities. When that happens, God’s eyeslong to see you again, and God’s heart beats faster until you come back intothose everlasting arms. As panicked as you might get over getting lost, theheart of the Holy One is both broken and frantically worried about children, who like sheep, wander into many dangers, toils,and snares. God, like a father whowaits for the return of his son, God watches the horizon for lost ones toreappear, making their way back from their far country chaos. God chose to meetus in our chaos. And God longs to be reconnected with wandering children of thekingdom, including you, and others who, in God’s eyes, are lost. There are eventhose who, like the older brother, may think they are close to God, but whosehearts betray them. They too are lost.  And oh, what a reunion it is when the ones who were once lostare found, falling back into the embracing and loving arms of God, arms thatseemingly do not want to ever let them go again. Amen.

Jeffrey A. Sumner                                                             September12, 2010