Amazing Grace

Meditation on Luke 15

Worship in Renvilla Chapel

                                        Sept. 15, 2013

       Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

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

       ‘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? 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.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.'" (Luke 15:1-10)

***

     My friend Lou Ann brought me a photograph this week to copy for our church newsletter.  It was one of those days when my church work was busier than usual, and I was not multi-tasking very well.

    The photograph was probably more than 60 years old.  It was an original, and I am pretty sure there are no copies or negatives.  If something happened to it, it could not be replaced.  It was a picture of a child—one that would bring a smile to anyone who saw it. 

      I was so busy that I set the photo aside and didn’t make a copy of it right away. Other things had to be done---our bulletin, for one, and the agenda and reports for a meeting that night.

      The hours flew by as Lou Ann, who is now our church secretary, and I worked.  I went to my meeting at 6:45 and finished around 9. I began to gather up my notebooks, papers, calendar, and books.  Finally, I could go home and rest after a long but productive day.

     But where was Lou Ann’s photograph?

    I looked through my notebooks, bags, books and calendar.  Then all through my purse, in case I may have tucked it inside. I scoured my desk and checked the copy machine.  Searched through my office and the church office, looked in the recycling box, and went through every page of the books I knew we had opened that day.

   

      No photo.

      I continued to search, alone in an empty church after dark, beginning to feel not exactly panic, but rising concern that the precious photo, the one cherished by a friend of mine and could not be replaced, was really lost.

     I felt bad. 

    Then, maybe it was the Holy Spirit trying to comfort me. Or maybe it was just the voice of reason.  In any case, I began to think that I was tired, and it was late.  It was possible that the photo wasn’t really lost.  Maybe it was right there in front of me all the time, and I would see it in the light of day.  Or perhaps I would wake up and remember where I had put it and immediately go and find it.

     Or maybe—and this thought was the one that gave me the greatest hope—maybe Lou Ann had seen the photo sitting out and had picked it up and taken it safely home.

      I suspended my search and emailed a note to Lou Ann, telling her that I could not find her photo. Could she possibly have taken it with her? I promised to keep on looking until it was found.

     I went to sleep thinking about the photo and praying that the Lord would help me find that which was lost.

***

      Jesus tells three parables in Luke chapter 15.

      

     At the beginning, we learn he is talking to the Pharisees and scribes, who are grumbling and complaining about the tax collectors and other sinners who are drawing near, hungry for Jesus’s teaching.  The Pharisees and scribes think that some people are not worthy of God’s forgiveness and love. God’s Word speaks to all of us today—all who might be reluctant to share Jesus and His love with the whole world, especially with people we find hard to like, let alone love. We might be tempted to have the same bad attitude as the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ day.   Truth is—no one is worthy enough for God’s forgiveness and love.  Only by His amazing grace and His work through His Son are we saved. None of us deserve what our merciful God has offered to all as a free gift.

     

     The first parable Jesus tells is about a shepherd pursuing a lost sheep, though it means leaving his other 99 in the wilderness. The third story, of which you are quite familiar, is about the son who demands his inheritance while his father still lives and then leaves and squanders it on his own pleasures.  He comes to his senses, realizes he is starving because of his sinful ways, and decides to return home, beg for forgiveness, and hope to be permitted to stay as one of the hired hands.

     

    The second parable tells of a woman who has lost one of her 10 silver coins, and cannot rest until she has found it—lighting a lamp, sweeping the house, and doing an exhaustive search. 

    

    All three of the stories end with the one that is lost being found.

    

    And all bear the same Good News—that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. 

***

  

    The day after the photo went missing, Lou Ann sent me a note. She assured me that she had, indeed, brought it home with her.

    

      I was overjoyed –and thanked God.  Yes, it was only a picture, but it was something precious that belonged to someone I care about.  Something that cannot be replaced if it were lost or destroyed.

     

       And I thought… Hmmmm…..  If I felt that happy about my friend’s photograph being found, just think how happy the Lord would be if His church were to go and bring into the fold that which is more precious to Him than anything. Our loving Lord longs to draw all people to Himself.  One lost sinner is one too many. He has already paid the price for the sins of every human being. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

   

      It is too easy, when we are distracted with our own cares and busy lives, to forget about the Lord’s passion for the lost—His love for all the nations.  And if we love Him, we will obey His call to love and care for all that He loves—our neighbors around the world.

     Jesus calls to us every day.  Every day we have another chance to obey and follow more closely after Him. His soothing voice rises above our tumultuous lives, if we stop and listen for Him. He calls us to walk with Him, rest and find peace in Him, place our burdens on him, and help him build His kingdom one lost soul at a time.

     Friends, hear the Good News! All of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents.

Let us pray.

Lord we come to you now, needing your love and forgiveness.  We are still sinners, Lord, saved by your amazing grace.  Open our hearts so we care more about people in other places, people who live in poverty, sickness and hunger, and in places torn apart by war. Move us to compassion for people who do not have what we have—the hope of salvation in Christ the Lord.  Empower us to be your voice and your light, sharing your grace with all the nations so that what was lost will be found and all heaven will rejoice.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.

“Rejoice with Me”

Meditation on Luke 15:1-10

Sept. 15, 2013

***

     "Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

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

       ‘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? 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.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:1-10)

***

           September 11 this year, perhaps for the first time, slipped by me.  Busy with my church work, I didn’t give much thought to the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. But I will never forget the horror of that day in 2001, when I was working as a journalist in York, Pennsylvania. We watched on a dozen newsroom TV screens as the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Three thousand people were killed. We sensed our world had changed.  Our enemy had become an elusive group of Islamic fundamentalists. Twelve years later, our war on terror rages on.

           And then last Thursday, on Sept. 12, my Bible study at Meadows brought it all back.  We were just three weeks shy of completing a 28-week study of Acts.  Since our adult Sunday school is watching a film on Islam, I asked if my Meadows’ class also wanted to see it.

          Some seemed startled, at first, but when I talked more about my plan for the 4-week study before we begin another book of the Bible, most got on board, wanting to learn about the faith they had never even heard of when they were growing up.

           But one student was not convinced.

          “Absolutely not,” this student said.

          This person seemed concerned that I was trying to convert them to Islam—or at least persuade them to look more favorably upon this religion that is an enemy of America, this student said, and the enemy of Christians everywhere.

           My response was that as a pastor, my job is to equip and empower other Christians to take the gospel out to all the nations.  Muslims are God’s children, too.

           And Jesus calls us to reach out to the lost—one person at a time—just as He did during His ministry on earth. We reach out and touch lives not through preaching fire and brimstone on a street corner, but through growing loving relationships.  By our lives, we show nonbelievers that Christians are people of peace, who are kind and generous to strangers and to people in need.  We bear witness to the love and compassion of Christ, the author and model of our faith and the one whom we obediently and gratefully serve.

           We do everything always remembering what the Lord has done for us through His sacrifice on the cross so that we, who are sinners, will be forgiven and receive everlasting life. And we cannot have a relationship with someone if we do not try to understand and respect their religion and culture. 

            My student was not persuaded. 

***

          Jesus is also trying to persuade a difficult audience in our reading today in Luke.  The Pharisees and scribes are grumbling about Jesus being too friendly with tax collectors and other “sinners.” They are complaining, “this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

          Jesus responds by sharing three parables – the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son.  In the first, the shepherd leaves 99 sheep in the wilderness to pursue the one that is lost.  And when he finds it, he carries it lovingly home on his shoulders.  In the second, a women with 10 pieces of silver lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and does an exhausting search until the one she has lost is found.  The prodigal, as you know, is the story of the greedy son who demands his inheritance while his father still lives and squanders it on selfish pleasures.  He hits bottom and comes to his senses, realizing that he is starving because of his sinful ways.  He decides to go home, beg for forgiveness, and ask to be one of the hired hands.

       In all three stories, what was lost is found. All three end with heaven rejoicing when just one sinner repents.

      “Rejoice with me,” the shepherd says, “for I have found my sheep that was lost.”

      “Rejoice with me," the woman says, “for I have found the coin that I had lost.”

       After hearing Jesus’ parables, the Pharisees and scribes are not moved to compassion for the tax collectors and “sinners.”  Nor do they see themselves as sinners in need of redemption.

       They are not persuaded.

***

         On 911, as the religion reporter, my beat suddenly became one of the most important beats in our city newspaper.

        My phone rang off the hook.  Callers asked, “Was this the end of the world? Is this God’s judgment on America?”  And, “Does Islam really teach people to hate and kill Christians as a kind of holy war or jihad?”

        I didn’t know.  As the religion reporter for less than a year, I had visited many churches and a synagogue.  But I had never been to a mosque, though there were 2 small ones in town. I didn’t know much about Islam and knew no Muslims personally.

        Suddenly, I needed to be an expert.  People who wore the distinctive clothing of the Muslim faith were in danger.  Not long after the destruction of the Twin Towers, hate crimes were being committed against American Muslims. All Muslims were the enemy—or so some people thought.

         On the following Friday—the day when Muslims gather around noon to pray—I attended a local mosque.  I was frightened of how they might react to me coming into their holy space. The newspaper had practically ignored Muslims in our community up until 911.  And then, when Muslim fundamentalists kill hundreds of Americans, journalists show up at their door.

           Turns out, they were more frightened of me than I of them.  They emphatically defended their faith as a religion of peace.  Those who committed such atrocities had hijacked Islam.  The terrorists were not serving Allah or engaging in jihad or holy war.  Jihad is the inner struggle or conflict that every Muslim experiences—just like when Christians struggle with temptation and are forced to make choices every day that boil down to, “Am I going to serve God?  Or am I going to seek to please myself?”

          Those brave enough to talk to me were very kind.  One woman, in particular, reached out to me, saw that I wanted to learn and that I really cared what happened to them. I was concerned about every word I wrote. I wanted to be fair and accurate. I did not wish to hurt anyone.

            From that first visit to the mosque, a friendship developed between the one Muslim woman and me. She invited me to her home for dinner, and  shared her search for God and how she found him, finally, through the Muslim faith.  We talked about our families and our concern for our children.  Through our relationship, I came to understand that she and I are not so different. We truly are all of God’s children. And I thought, “There for the grace of God go I.”  I could have been a Muslim, if Christ’s Spirit had not opened my heart and mind to the truth. 

          Friends, we cannot take any credit for our faith.  It is only by grace we are saved. Our faith is a gift from our merciful God.

          All that I am today and all I will ever be are because of the Lord.  John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that all who believe on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

          And I hope that you will join us in our study of Islam.  And that the Spirit will open your hearts to love all of God’s children.

         May you be empowered to share your faith with all the nations through loving words and acts of compassion.

         I hope you will be persuaded!

Let us pray.

       Holy One, we thank you for our faith in Jesus, who was sacrificed so that we may be forgiven, receive everlasting life, and also live new lives in Christ today.  Help us to seek to obey Your loving commands every day.  Forgive us for not loving all of the world, as you do and call us to do.  Forgive us for being reluctant to share our faith and sometimes being like the Pharisees and scribes.  Move us to gratitude, Lord, for what you have done, as we are all sinners in need of redemption.  Change our hearts and minds so we are stirred to boldly reach out to the lost—one person at a time. Give us passion to build your kingdom and to rejoice with You and all heaven when just one sinner repents.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.

                   

    

        

“Confession, Prayer and Healing”

Meditation on James 5

Sept. 8, 2013

***

    Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

      

    Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

       

    Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

      

     Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

     

     My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5)

***

      

     There comes a time when a pastor, while preparing a Sunday message for her flock, needs to close all the scholarly commentaries, place them back on the shelf for another day.

     And set aside her great plans for a fifth and final installment of a sermon series on James and simply rely on the Spirit to lead her to bring a message of hope.

     Brothers and sisters, this is the time. 

     As I was packing to leave town with Jim on Monday, I received a call from the sheriff.  I was needed to help a family in crisis.

     Our community is hurting and broken now because of what happened on Monday in Granite Falls. One person abruptly lost her life.  Another was seriously wounded.  And all of us will never be the same. The pain and loss of one family in our church are shared by the entire community of faith.

      My heart is as heavy as yours. I, too, have felt anxious at the possibility of more sorrow to come.  People are struggling, wondering how this could have happened in our community. Some may ask, “Why did God allow this to happen? Why didn’t he do something to stop it?”  As your pastor, I should know all the answers. But I don’t.

      The most common question I have been asked is, “What can we do now?” People from the community—some who attend other churches—have contacted me asking if we could please do something together as a community of faith to show our love and support for Jeff and Jane.

        They are asking, could we at least gather and pray?

***

        In our epistle reading today, we hear instruction on prayer and one of the promises of God.  James asks, “Are any among you suffering?  They should pray! ...  Are any among you sick?  They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”

         Then comes the promise. “The prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up; anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”

        My answer to all who ask if we should gather and pray is yes, we need to pray for one another. Right where we are, with the believers who are beside us. But we need to pray the deep, humbling prayer of faith that begins with a heart cleansed by the confession of our sins.  Do you see that there is a connection between confession, prayer, and healing? The prayer of the righteous that is powerful and effective is one that leads us to trust in what the Lord has done for us so that we are humbled and brought to confess our sins and acknowledge our need for the only One who can save us, the only One who offers us the gift of eternal life through belief on Him!

       Yes, let us pray for healing and hope but also for the salvation of those in our community who are lost, drifting through life in despair, and don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Because this is a spiritual battle, friends!  Our enemies are not human.  They are the powers and principalities of darkness.  But Christ has already defeated these powers; we have no reason to fear.

        Let us seek the Lord for more faith in the One who has made the way for our reconciliation not just with God but with other people.  God can heal what is broken between people in this community – and in every community.  But let the prayer of the righteous begin with confession.

        Let us pray as James teaches for a faith that endures trials of all kinds so the Lord may shape us into the loving, humble people of God he wants us to be. And one day, when we see Christ face to face, and he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” we will recall all the trials and suffering of our lives—and we will finally be able to consider them all joy.

       But now, while we feel pain and deep sadness and perhaps are worrying about what is to come, let us pray for more faith and that the Lord will use this terrible thing to work a miracle in our community, to bring about His good plan for the healing and salvation of the world, one person at a time, one family, one community at a time.

       We pray though we don’t always know the words to say.  People have asked me this week, tell me how to pray. And I say pray any way you can.  Your prayers will be heard and what’s more, God will hear your heart.  He will minister to your broken heart and restore you to wholeness.

        Pastor Dan Bowman shared with me that he was asked to come and pray with the staff at the nursing home this week, as they wait and worry for their friend Jane, unable to return to her home, work, and normal life until the police are sure that her family is not in danger. They asked Dan what they should do when they see Jane?  How do they show their love and support without making her feel worse?

        Dan told the story of the “three ministers” in Job—the three friends who sat silently with him for 3 days and 3 nights when Job was going through such terrible trials.  And then, when they broke their silence and began giving Job advice—that is when they were no longer ministering to him.

        Sometimes simply being the peaceful presence of Christ –and saying nothing at all—is the most loving thing to do.

        Dan led the staff in the ABC prayer. He explained that it is a profound prayer that you pray when you don’t know what to say.  You pray each of the letters of the alphabet—from A to Z. And then, “Amen.” You give God the letters and let him put them all together in His perfect prayer.

       So brothers and sisters, let us open our hearts and minds and let the Spirit lead us to pray, even if we don’t know the words to say.

       Trust in the Spirit that dwells within you.  Don’t lean on your own understanding of the situation or what you think will happen in the future. Acknowledge the Lord is your God, and He will direct your paths. Keep your focus on following Christ and being an instrument of His peace.

        Trust in the wisdom of God, who knows all and can see ahead to the future with eyes of eternity.  The Lord sees us not as we are in the flesh but through the body and blood of His Son, broken and spilled out for our sins.  He sees us after His Spirit has completed a good work in all of us as He promises to do.

        Trust in the grace, mercy, and love of God, shown to us in His sacrifice for our sakes.

        Trust in the Lord so that you freely confess your sins to one another. Then pray for one another, so you may be healed.

        

Please join me in prayer.

Holy, merciful God, we ask for forgiveness for our many sins—for our doubts and fears during times of trial and deep sorrow. Lead us to trust in you. In your wisdom, power, mercy, and grace. Humble us so that we are moved to freely confess our sins to one another and pray for one another the prayers of the righteous that are powerful and effective. Forgive us if we have spoken too many of our own words and have not allowed your Spirit to speak through us. Give us courage and patience to say nothing when that is the most loving thing to do.  Help us to be the comforting presence of Christ for our brothers and sisters in need.  We pray for healing and wholeness for all who have been deeply affected by the tragedy in our community.  We ask that Your will be done through us and that you will use us as instruments of peace for our families, communities, and world.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.