Proper 19, 2010

One of the important elements of parables in the Gospels is that they serve to root concepts into something more concrete. In the Gospel narratives, we see how Jesus employs daily experiences from the common cultural milieu to weave in deep theological truths so that they might be made a bit more plain.
Today’s reading is no exception—in today’s reading we discuss how wonderful it is to have the wayward and lost returned. But we not only find the hope in return, but also the promise that those who are lost will be sought after diligently. What good news…and how easily we can accept it.
I mean, really who of us hasn’t had to leave all of our sheep to go and find that one who has wandered off?! After all of the time we have spent raising that little lamb and seeing that it is healthy…to just have it wander off? Certainly once we’ve brought it home, the first thing we would do is call all the neighbors and tell them the great news…
Then there’s the whole issue of losing your silver coins. Boy, if I had danarii for every time I lost my silver coins…jinkies. But after all of the sweeping and turning on of lights, well, it all turns out alright, and immediately I’m on the phone again to the neighbors…
Okay, so maybe all of that is a bit of a stretch. Granted, if I had 99 sheep living with me in Shaker Heights it is likely that my neighbors would be less than excited that I recovered one which was lost. Besides I’m sure there is some city ordinance about keeping sheep in Shaker, anyway.
It may also be the case that my neighbors are not all that concerned about me losing my silver coins. So, if they suddenly got a celebratory phone call from me telling them that I’d found them—well, I’m sure that they would be polite, but I imagine that the phone call would not be very long.
It’s all a bit hard to put into our own context … But it’s a stretch only because we have some cultural and temporal barriers to get past. Most of us don’t keep sheep and we certainly don’t use silver as a common currency.
But, then what we actually see in parables is a willing suspension of disbelief for everyone—even on the part of both Jesus and his listeners. The point of the parable is to go to such an extreme that those being taught cannot help but really “get” what is being explained.
So, while there may be some cultural relevance to lost sheep and coins in the 1st Century, it’s likely that celebration at their recovery might be a little over the top for them as well…
Luckily the meaning behind these stories is not so hard to get at…
What can we say for this particular lesson is that it promises something that anyone can understand—that Jesus is willing to go to great lengths to find the one who is lost and wandering. Whether we’re just random sheep who get found and picked-up, or we’re sheep who just got a little distracted, we can all probably agree that being recovered after being lost is a pretty good thing…
A particular memory from my childhood comes to mind in regard to this idea. I was probably only about 5 or 6, and my dad took me to some really big store. I don’t recall the name, but it was a store big enough to carry both home improvement supplies and toys—all of the essentials, really. It just happened that we passed the toy section on our way through and something inevitably caught my eye… A “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set.
Suddenly there was nothing else in the world that I could have wanted more—compared to this “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set, all else was dross…
Well, I knew I had to have this thing, and so I set about making my plans about how I would talk my dad into purchasing it. I knew I would need to begin by reasoning with him that this would be a toy that I would play with always, and there would be no need to ever buy another toy as long as I lived. My life would be complete.
The first step in my plan however would be to show him the wisdom of this investment, and so I needed only to find someone to tell me the price…
I wandered for a short time before I found two men working at a counter and I inquired about the “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set, (which more and more I knew I could not live without). To my surprise, these two men looked at one another and chuckled.
Apparently my request was not understood, because rather than responding with some figure, one of them asked “Where are your parents?” Suddenly I was all alone in the world—except for Bert and Ernie, of course. For the first time I realized that my dad had not followed me on my mission—how he had utterly vanished… Without hesitation I bravely began to cry.
The man asked me my name and who I was with, so he could make a call over the P.A. system. I proceeded to tell him my full name, my dad’s full name and our address and I may have even added my birth date. In the end, my dad found me, and I was far less interested in the “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set afterward… I was just glad to know that I was safe and wouldn’t have live in the store.
I admit the memories of the story aren’t so clear now, but I certainly know the feeling associated with it. I never did get the “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set, but I was surprised to find that my sisters and my mom and dad were not angry that I had gotten lost—only concerned that I knew I was safe again.
I suppose for any of us who have had one of these experiences—whether we’re the one who is lost, or the one searching—we know how frightening it is to have all feeling of security suddenly pulled from us. Obviously that’s the feeling that comes with being lost…
I often joke that because I have survived my son Tristan for 3 ½ years that my karma is paid up. But there is never a more frightening feeling than when he bolts at the play ground, or if he is out of my sightline for too long. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter how many times I tell him to stay close, he will inevitably find an opportunity to take off. When I think about all of the emotions and physical responses that I feel in those moments, I begin to understand a bit of why Jesus would pursue us in the moments when we have bolted.
I think to carry the image a bit further, I might even imagine Jesus saying “I need you to understand that I want you to stay close so that you won’t get hurt or lost. But right now, I’m just glad that you’re safe…”
Sometimes we can get so distracted by things that we find too late that we have wandered off. Maybe it’s not just that we have not attended to our spiritual lives, but also that we have begun to forget the connections and people who keep us safe. Those people who remind us that we are loved and accepted not only by them, but most of all by God. But sometimes we forget…then we’re like wandering sheep, or children too caught-up in getting a “Bert and Ernie Play Doh” set.
Thankfully, like the parent who loves us and cannot imagine being without us, Jesus searches us out desperately and spares no effort in reclaiming us. And that feeling of being found again and returned to a safe place is one that I hope all of us have had opportunity to experience.
It’s true that we might have a tough time connecting to certain parables, but what we know about this one, and what we should never fail to comprehend is that the love of Jesus Christ for us is so strong that we cannot help but be ‘found’ and returned home.
So to everyone here, welcome back to the program year. But more importantly, for all of us who have felt at some point lost and wandering: welcome home.