Luke 15: 1-10
parable of a hundred sheep …
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
One of the wonderful things about the St Luke’s gospel account is the vivid nature of his storytelling. We are drawn closely into his narratives – they have a picture quality, or if you prefer, they are like short films. They have a cast of colourful characters, a clearly defined story line and it is easy to visualise the drama as it unfolds. If you are a visual person – like me – then it is probably the Lukan gospel stories that you remember from childhood. If you were lucky enough to have a large illustrated Bible at home or at school (with an improbably blond Jesus!) then that may well be where your mind scurries off to as you listen to the Gospel reading.
So we have the cast assembled – the tax collectors and sinners are drawing close to Jesus to listen to him. His message has touched something in them. Something about him and about his message is giving them permission, is giving them invitation to draw near. The phrase ‘coming near’ is a loaded one – to me it has overtones of being hesitant about acceptance, maybe feeling outside, being set apart from others.
And the religious authorities – the people who feel they have the monopoly on what is good and right for the community are beginning to raise an objection. Why is this man eating with and speaking to those who are ‘unclean’ or outside the norms of society?
In my mind’s eye I imagine Jesus looking around, perhaps seeing faces that are hesitant but attentive, telling stories about precious things – livestock or coins – that are found. Positive stories, about things that could happen to any of the people gathered around him. Things that could happen to you or me.
It’s worth remembering the skill of Jesus’s storytelling. He chooses the protagonists in his parables carefully. A shepherd tending his flock might not seem so radical to us – but it was to people from Jesus’s time. Shepherds lived out on the hillside with their sheep. It was very difficult for them to follow the ritual laws of purity – preparation of food, cleaning etc. For much of the time a shepherd was probably ritually unclean – and yet Jesus chooses the shepherd as the hero of the story. His second example is that of a woman in the act of cleaning a house as she searches for a coin. We know – of course – that women were subject to very strict purity laws due to menstruation, pregnancy and birth. And yet again, it is someone who spent many months of her life ritually unclean, unable to take a full role in the community who is at the centre of a the story of joy over the recovery of things lost.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for those assembled to hear themselves – or at the very least, people like them – at the very core of a story full of hope and joy? How welcomed, appreciated and loved they must have felt. They are welcomed as they are – given the opportunity to listen to and to follow the one who welcomes all…
This rich reading gives us many things to think about – but today I’d like to just focus a little on the radical welcome that Jesus offers – what one writer calls ‘the long loving reach of God’. Not only does Jesus welcome with open arms but he is willing to reach in to the thicket and pull us out like the lost sheep, or to search diligently with a lighted lamp into any dark corner where we might have hidden. This in itself is good news as we all have times when we wander from the path that God wants for us – and we can be sure that God’s action always exceeds what we might expect or hope for. As one writer notes – we are found in a way that is not dependent on our seeking but only on our being sought by him who loves us. That is radical, that is God’s love.
And this love, this radical welcome challenges us to welcome others as we are welcomed. Welcoming is about intimacy, welcoming is about creating community, and community is about demonstrating God’s love. (Because that is how God experiences love – in the relationship of love that we call the Trinity – father, son and holy spirit)
Welcoming is a vital activity and our welcome must be genuine. I’m sure it has happened to you at some point in your life – you arrive at an event or a party and find that you are not welcomed in a way that puts you at your ease? I know it has happened to me. In fact, I wouldn’t be an Anglican, let alone ordained if it wasn’t for a moment where someone saw that I was uncomfortable and unsure whether I was truly welcome.
Theresa Moses at ASMgSt. .. (First visit, courtyard, coffee, no money …)
Our welcome must be like this – a welcome that does not presume or assume, a welcome that is genuine, not trying to figure out what is in it for us. Our welcome should not demand or expect, it should allow space for the other person to be themselves, made in the image of God.
This kind of welcome sounds easy – you might say that it sounds Christian – but in reality welcome is hard and we need to acknowledge this fact – it will keep us on our spiritual toes, if you like.
So today, let us remember that we were – all of us – at some time in our lives on the edge looking in, unsure whether we were welcome.