2019-09-14
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Story about Losing Eve...
Story about Losing Eve...
That one time that Shannan and I lost Eve...
Our search wasn’t casual… We didn’t just keep doing what we were doing and say “We will get to that later...”
Finding the Lost...
Finding the Lost...
It wasn’t dignified… There was an urgency, if it has happened in a public place, it would have looked a bit crazy...
And after all that, probably only a few minutes, she was hiding behind our bed playing with a toy...
1 One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus,
2 the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”
2 the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”
3 So Jesus told them this parable:
So lets stop right there… These folk that are coming to hear Jesus… They aren’t respectable people… They aren’t even people who put on a good show, but are dodgy behind closed doors… They are the folks who their whole community sees as unwelcome, unclean, as traitors… The last people who should expect anything from God.
The thing is that this response clearly hit a nerve for Jesus...
He goes on to tell three parables, that is three short stories in response to this comment from religious leaders… Have you ever met someone who makes a point and then keeps going on about it… This is Jesus here… He wants to be absolutely clear… This matters...
At what point are you so far gone that there is no way back...
3 So Jesus told them this parable:
4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it.
This might sound really heroic… But this sounds like really bad advice… What if we lose more? Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on keeping what we have?
What if… We just pretend that nothing is lost… I mean 99 can pretty much round up to 100… Wouldn’t that be easier..? Less drama… Require less of us..? Maybe the sheep deserves to be lost?
Loss Aversion… It feels worse to lose $5 than to gain $5...
5 When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders
6 and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’
This shepherd loves the sheep… They are happy… Really happy…
7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.
8 “Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them—what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it.
9 When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!’
10 In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents.”
And after this, though we don’t cover it today, he tells a parable about a man with two sons where took the inheritance early, ran off and eventually came back seeking forgiveness… Lets just say that the dad was happy to see this lost son and the more responsible brother was annoyed...
All of this in response to some religious leaders taking issue with hopeless people coming to hear Jesus… These religious leaders had clearly missed something really important...
These passages remind us of how God seeks us...
All three of these parables talk about the way that God seeks us… All three of them portray God’s search as being intense to say the least… Undignified… Odd… The portray God searching for people with the same intensity that Shannan and I had looking for Eve… This isn’t casual, this isn’t an afterthought… This is the kind of obsessive love, obsessively seeking, searching and pursuing God that we worship here today… This is the kind of love we see in God reaching out to Israel in the old testament… This is the kind of love we see with God being faithful when Israel wasn’t… This is the kind of love we see in God coming amongust us at Christmas and this is the kind of love we see in Jesus on the cross at Easter...
But this is the kind of obsessive love, obsessively seeking, searching and pursuing God that we worship here today...
It’s funny because it’s almost obsessive, especially if I am only looking for something that I could replace for under $100… But this is the kind of obsessive love, obsessively seeking, searching and pursuing God that we worship here today...
Before we say anything else, this second parable pretty much describes my life… I am generally happy to put up with mess, but there have been times when I will clean the entire house looking for something… I’m sure I am not the only one… It’s funny because it’s almost obsessive, especially if I am only looking for something that I could replace for under $100… But this is the kind of obsessive love, obsessively seeking, searching and pursuing God that we worship here today...
Folks, we worship a God who loved us, sought us out, even while we were still God’s enemies… All of us...
But this is the kind of obsessive love, obsessively seeking, searching and pursuing God that we worship here today...
These passages remind us of the true basis of our place in God’s family.
I think that more than anything, these passages remind us of the true basis of our place in God’s family.
We don’t belong because of anything that we have earned or done. We don’t belong because we have sought God… We find our place because our loving God sought us… Persued us…
These parables make me wonder… What if God sees each of us as more precious, more valuable, that we see ourselves… What if God loves us us more than we love ourselves? I think the reality is that God does… No matter who we are...
Firstly, I think it reminds us of the true source of our relationship with God. We aren’t made right with God through our hard work. We aren’t kept right with God by simply keeping the rules and only associating with those who do.
Secondly, what if God sees each of us as more precious, more valuable, that we see ourselves… What if God loves us us more than we love ourselves?
Jesus associated with those who religious leaders saw as unclean precicely because he understood the true basis on which
Our task to demonstrate this pursuing love...
I honestly think this is at the heart of Jesus’ reaction to the religious leaders in his day… As God’s people, they had missed God’s heart for humanity and put a whole bunch of people in the “too hard” basket...
Our task is to seek out those who are lost… Those in the community who God loves far more than we ever could… Those who God doesn’t simply seek in some casual sort of way, who we shouldn’t seek in some casual sort of way... Our neighbours… Our family… Our friends…
What if God sees each of us as more precious, more valuable, that we see ourselves… What if God loves us us more than we love ourselves?
Our task is to love one another when people from within the church drift away… We live in a broken world and there are times when life gets hard and we find ourselfs drifting from Christian community...
The last 12 months has been really difficult… As a community we have grieved as many we counted as friends have felt they could no longer worship here, but my encouragement to you is that if you know, don’t just pretend nothing happened… Don’t just tell yourself it is too awkward… Be brave and reach out, whether that is a phone call, a letter or a visit… Folk who have left might not want to talk to me or Pete, they might not want to talk to anyone… But they might want to talk to you… It’s not even about trying to change their mind, but just about reminding them, reminding ourselves, that they are loved… That someone noticed and that someone is prepared to risk an awkward conversation… Some will have found community elsewhere, some won’t...
Connecting with God’s lost sons and daughters in our community isn’t something we do in our spare time… When we have resources to spare…
Our life together as a church then, isn’t just about a comfortable routine of worship. Our task isn’t just about looking after those who are here and getting around to connecting with God’s lost sons and daughters when we have some spare time… But we are also reminded about God’s heart for those in our community here in the Redlands… Loves them more than we ever could, and desperately seeks that they would know his love and grace… Are we prepared to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this, are we prepared to give up what is comfortable, to risk awkwardness, to look a bit undignified…
Our task is to worship God… In doing so we are reminded who we are of our need of God’s love and grace… But we are also reminded about God’s heart for those in our community here in the Redlands...
I think the biggest challenge is that generally we can get quite comfortable
Our task is to love one another when people from within the church drift away… We live in a broken world and there are times when life gets hard and we find ourselfs drifting from Christian community...
The last 12 months has been really difficult… As a community we have grieved as many we counted as friends have felt they could no longer worship here, but my encouragement to you is that if you know, don’t just pretend nothing happened… Don’t just tell yourself it is too awkward… Be brave and reach out, whether that is a phone call, a letter or a visit… Folk who have left might not want to talk to me or Pete, they might not want to talk to anyone… But they might want to talk to you… It’s not even about trying to change their mind, but just about reminding them, reminding ourselves, that they are loved… That someone noticed and that someone is prepared to risk an awkward conversation… Some will have found community elsewhere, some won’t...
But they might want to talk to you… It’s not even about
