Be Right or Be Embraced – Luke 15:1-10

A text – Luke 15:1-10

15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ “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? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

⁸ “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

A reflection:

Our gospel text this week has Jesus surrounded by an audience of tax collectors and sinners, with Pharisees and scribes looking on and grumbling about the company Jesus chooses to keep. So Jesus has two audiences: one directly in front of him, taking in his words, and one eavesdropping and looking for faults.

Just imagine yourself as a person rejected by your neighbors because you collect taxes for Rome, or because you have done things that make you an outcast. Imagine living in a community where you feel unaccepted and even despised every day. Imagine Jesus telling you that God goes way out of God’s way to find the lost, to bring back the one who got left out, to discover and rejoice over one who disappeared from view, who perhaps was cast aside and excluded. Would you identify with the lost sheep or the missing coin? Maybe. But would you be glad to hear that God throws a party when someone repents? Probably. Because the religious leadership you know in the flesh in your neighborhood does not seem to be likely to throw any parties for you, even if you came asking for forgiveness.  But if you knew for sure that you’d be welcomed back, might you not think about how great that would be?

Now just imagine yourself as a true and faithful scribe, or a Pharisee whose job it was to interpret the law and make good choices every single day. You are witnessing a truly amazing preacher and teacher who really seems to understand scripture but who defies all the distinctions and boundaries made over the centuries, boundaries between the acceptable and the abhorrent, between the virtuous and the degraded. You have been taught that you and your colleagues are what is standing between holy pureness and the collapse of the faith into chaos and ruin. Might you not think about how wrong Jesus seems to be?

We can imagine how the scribes and Pharisees tried to be right. We can also imagine how the sinners and tax collectors longed for the embrace of their God. These parables are about a God who not only embraces but also actively and with deep energy looks for the lost and outcast. Would you rather be right or be sought and embraced?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us the teachings of Jesus and the stories told by St. Luke. Help us to relax in this life, knowing that when we do not do right, that we can come to you for your embrace. Help us to always seek you, no matter what. Amen.