Crazy little thing called love - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 15: 1 - 10
The American writer Max Lucado once wrote;
“If God had a refrigerator, your magnet picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. Face it, friend, he’s crazy about you.”
What a beautiful thought! However, badly we my feel about ourselves, however low we may have dropped in the esteem of others, God is absolutely crazy about us.
In this morning’s Gospel reading, we have seen something of that crazy love. Let’s just for a moment set the scene. Jesus is enjoying the company of those who Luke describes as “tax collectors” and “sinners.” These are the people who were most on the margins of society. In the case of tax collectors, the offence was that they raised money for an occupying power, Rome. More than that under the system by which this role was contracted out, they were people with considerable discretion as to how they raised the revenue and often this was done in ways that were ruthlessly exploitative. As for “sinners”, we are not told what exactly this means but most commentators suggest that at large meals, prostitutes would be amongst those present.
Now I don’t know about you but in my youth I was constantly told to be careful as to the people hose company I shared. That sort of parental advice has always been dished out and probably always will be. Warning as to company would certainly have been known by Jesus. After all the very first verse of the very first Psalm proclaims:
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.”
So it is no surprise that those guardians of holy living, the Pharisees begin to grumble. After all, this was a culture in which dining with a person involved a showing of acceptance of them. No wonder the moan went up;
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
No whilst I am sure that the Pharisees saw their emphasis upon living in accordance with the Law as being important as a means of pleasing God and thereby avoiding a calamity such as the destruction of the Temple and exile as had happened some 600 years earlier, leading to the emergence of the Pharisees. But is there not something desperately sad in their response? For here is the very worst type of religion which is alert to rules but totally blind as to people and their needs. All that they could see was the sin and that caused them to effectively write such people off. Hate filled religion which still rears its ugly head too often!
All of this leads Jesus into telling three stories. The most famous of these stories is that which we know as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” but it is the two stories that precede it that we turn to this morning.
The first of these stories is about a shepherd. He has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. And of course as those of you who know the Sankey hymn, “The Ninety and Nine” will know, the shepherd goes in search of the missing sheep and rejoices when he finds it.
I wonder if we always appreciate what Jesus is here saying. Whilst shepherding was very much a commercial practice, in Israel and the surrounding area the image of the shepherd had been used to speak of caring, especially in regards to a ruler’s responsibility to his subjects. You see, this is about caring. And the message here is of caring for those who have gone astray. Why? Because in the eyes of Jesus, all have value and worth.
The second story is about a woman who has ten silver coins and loses one. Now, it is possible that these coins would be those that were put on a headband during the marriage ceremony, ten being required so that a woman could be properly married at a time when being married was crucial to a woman’s identity. There may also be a play on words as the Hebrew word for coins “Zuzim” can also mean those who have moved away. Anyhow, the woman embarks on a careful search of the house until such time as she finds the coin. And then like the shepherd, she calls her friends and neighbours so that they might rejoice with her. And Christ finishes both parables by speaking of the rejoicing in heaven as one sinner repents.
So what is the essential message? I think that Jesus is here telling us that God truly is crazy about us. God will go to any extremity in love for us because to God, not one of us is disposable. Made in the image of God, however badly we marr the image, God goes on loving us, willing the best for us and rejoicing when things come right.
An American Roman Catholic named Vincent Donovan pioneered missionary work amongst the Masai people in Tanzania. In his book about his experiences, “Christianity Rediscovered” he tells of a Masai chief who argues that his notion of faith as intellectual assent is like a white hunter shooting an elephant from great distance, only the eyes and fingers being involved. Real belief the chief argues is like a lion going after its prey, using all its being to make the prey a part of itself. Then he adds these powerful words;
“You told us of the High God, how we must search for him, even if we leave our land and our people to find him. But we have not done this. We have not left our land. We have not searched for him. He has searched for us. He has searched us out and found us. All the time we think we are the lion. In the end, the lion is God.”
Yes, our God is a God who searches us out. And the purpose is a love which is prepared to go to great lengths, even crazy lengths. It is a love which doesn’t condemn us but simply loves us to bits. That is what the stories told by Jesus are about. God never washes his hands of us but loves without limit, rejoicing when we respond the God’s embrace and take our place in the cycle of love. And in love, God can be seen in a despised shepherd or a marginalized woman. For God is the lion who will be all that is necessary to truly find us.
These stories are essentially God revealing. But they also demonstrate a healthy pattern for us to follow. Our calling is to love rather than to coldly sit in judgement of others. We are called to appreciate the value of fellow humans in all their variety.
Writer, Barbara Taylor Brown has written that these parables are a reminder that we are called to share in the work of Jesus as good shepherds in the world. She says;
“Repentance is not the issue, but rejoicing; the plot is not about mending our evil ways but about seeking, sweeping, finding and rejoicing. The invitation is not about being rescued by Jesus over and over but about joining him in recovering God’s treasure.”
And this can only be when we see the huge value that God sees in even the most difficult of people. For God does not dispose of people but goes on loving. And as followers of the Jesus way, we are called to share in such a love. For surely what the world needs today is to take the words of Queen recording, “A crazy little thing called love.”
This sermon was preached at Northam on Sunday September 16th 2007
The American writer Max Lucado once wrote;
“If God had a refrigerator, your magnet picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. Face it, friend, he’s crazy about you.”
What a beautiful thought! However, badly we my feel about ourselves, however low we may have dropped in the esteem of others, God is absolutely crazy about us.
In this morning’s Gospel reading, we have seen something of that crazy love. Let’s just for a moment set the scene. Jesus is enjoying the company of those who Luke describes as “tax collectors” and “sinners.” These are the people who were most on the margins of society. In the case of tax collectors, the offence was that they raised money for an occupying power, Rome. More than that under the system by which this role was contracted out, they were people with considerable discretion as to how they raised the revenue and often this was done in ways that were ruthlessly exploitative. As for “sinners”, we are not told what exactly this means but most commentators suggest that at large meals, prostitutes would be amongst those present.
Now I don’t know about you but in my youth I was constantly told to be careful as to the people hose company I shared. That sort of parental advice has always been dished out and probably always will be. Warning as to company would certainly have been known by Jesus. After all the very first verse of the very first Psalm proclaims:
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.”
So it is no surprise that those guardians of holy living, the Pharisees begin to grumble. After all, this was a culture in which dining with a person involved a showing of acceptance of them. No wonder the moan went up;
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
No whilst I am sure that the Pharisees saw their emphasis upon living in accordance with the Law as being important as a means of pleasing God and thereby avoiding a calamity such as the destruction of the Temple and exile as had happened some 600 years earlier, leading to the emergence of the Pharisees. But is there not something desperately sad in their response? For here is the very worst type of religion which is alert to rules but totally blind as to people and their needs. All that they could see was the sin and that caused them to effectively write such people off. Hate filled religion which still rears its ugly head too often!
All of this leads Jesus into telling three stories. The most famous of these stories is that which we know as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” but it is the two stories that precede it that we turn to this morning.
The first of these stories is about a shepherd. He has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. And of course as those of you who know the Sankey hymn, “The Ninety and Nine” will know, the shepherd goes in search of the missing sheep and rejoices when he finds it.
I wonder if we always appreciate what Jesus is here saying. Whilst shepherding was very much a commercial practice, in Israel and the surrounding area the image of the shepherd had been used to speak of caring, especially in regards to a ruler’s responsibility to his subjects. You see, this is about caring. And the message here is of caring for those who have gone astray. Why? Because in the eyes of Jesus, all have value and worth.
The second story is about a woman who has ten silver coins and loses one. Now, it is possible that these coins would be those that were put on a headband during the marriage ceremony, ten being required so that a woman could be properly married at a time when being married was crucial to a woman’s identity. There may also be a play on words as the Hebrew word for coins “Zuzim” can also mean those who have moved away. Anyhow, the woman embarks on a careful search of the house until such time as she finds the coin. And then like the shepherd, she calls her friends and neighbours so that they might rejoice with her. And Christ finishes both parables by speaking of the rejoicing in heaven as one sinner repents.
So what is the essential message? I think that Jesus is here telling us that God truly is crazy about us. God will go to any extremity in love for us because to God, not one of us is disposable. Made in the image of God, however badly we marr the image, God goes on loving us, willing the best for us and rejoicing when things come right.
An American Roman Catholic named Vincent Donovan pioneered missionary work amongst the Masai people in Tanzania. In his book about his experiences, “Christianity Rediscovered” he tells of a Masai chief who argues that his notion of faith as intellectual assent is like a white hunter shooting an elephant from great distance, only the eyes and fingers being involved. Real belief the chief argues is like a lion going after its prey, using all its being to make the prey a part of itself. Then he adds these powerful words;
“You told us of the High God, how we must search for him, even if we leave our land and our people to find him. But we have not done this. We have not left our land. We have not searched for him. He has searched for us. He has searched us out and found us. All the time we think we are the lion. In the end, the lion is God.”
Yes, our God is a God who searches us out. And the purpose is a love which is prepared to go to great lengths, even crazy lengths. It is a love which doesn’t condemn us but simply loves us to bits. That is what the stories told by Jesus are about. God never washes his hands of us but loves without limit, rejoicing when we respond the God’s embrace and take our place in the cycle of love. And in love, God can be seen in a despised shepherd or a marginalized woman. For God is the lion who will be all that is necessary to truly find us.
These stories are essentially God revealing. But they also demonstrate a healthy pattern for us to follow. Our calling is to love rather than to coldly sit in judgement of others. We are called to appreciate the value of fellow humans in all their variety.
Writer, Barbara Taylor Brown has written that these parables are a reminder that we are called to share in the work of Jesus as good shepherds in the world. She says;
“Repentance is not the issue, but rejoicing; the plot is not about mending our evil ways but about seeking, sweeping, finding and rejoicing. The invitation is not about being rescued by Jesus over and over but about joining him in recovering God’s treasure.”
And this can only be when we see the huge value that God sees in even the most difficult of people. For God does not dispose of people but goes on loving. And as followers of the Jesus way, we are called to share in such a love. For surely what the world needs today is to take the words of Queen recording, “A crazy little thing called love.”
This sermon was preached at Northam on Sunday September 16th 2007
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