Overflowing with Faith and Love

For many of our churches the Sunday following Labor Day is referred to as Homecoming Sunday.  Vacations are over, schools and colleges are back in session, summer is coming to an end, and the daylight hours are getting shorter.  Church choirs are reconvening and supporting congregational singing.  Sunday School registration and classes are getting underway, and fall programs are being planned and announced.  It is time once again to pay attention to what God is doing and how God’s concern for the human community and the earth we inhabit affects all of us.

It is no different here at All Saints’. We are glad you are here with us; it is a joy to have our choir in procession again, and today in honor of the 15^th anniversary of 9/11, they will be singing an anthem titled “Christ in the Rubble, a hymn for the dead and the bereaved, for the rescuers and for the world.”  During coffee hour following our service I invite you to remain with us downstairs for a brief discussion of several things that are planned for this year.  Among them are an explanation of ChurchTrac, our online data management system, and a proposed brief 2^nd Sunday program series.

God’s grace and love are the subject of the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in the Gospel of Luke.   Jesus told these stories to reveal what God is like, how God acts toward those who are lost, and how we are called to act.  Luke used the familiar metaphor of the shepherd for God and stressed the shepherd's concern for the lost sheep.  The shepherd's search was more important than the sheep's foolishness in being lost, or the value of the sheep, or the questionable act of pursuing one sheep while leaving open the possibility of the other 99 sheep straying and also getting lost.

Imagine, would a shepherd leave 99 sheep to graze in the wilderness while going off to find one that was missing?  What was he thinking?  If all the sheep had been enclosed in a fenced field it would have been a different matter.  But these sheep were in the wilderness where there were no fences, no protection.  If the shepherd left the flock and predators attacked, how many more sheep would be lost?  However, the shepherd was single-minded in his search for the one sheep that had gone astray.

A second story in this passage concerns a lost coin. It is about diligence and persistence in searching.  The coin was known to be in the room; it was only hidden from view.  The woman who looked for it lit a lamp, took a broom and swept the house until she found it.  Then, when she found the coin, she was filled with joy and thankfulness.  She invited her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her.  In this way, Jesus said, "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

These two stories might move us to ask whether God is as reckless as the shepherd, failing to ascertain the cost of losing more sheep while going after one that was lost.  Or, is God as spontaneous and generous as the woman who found her lost coin?  The point of these stories is that God is faithful, generous, compassionate and persistent.  What is lost, or hidden from view, will not stay lost or hidden forever.  The parable of the lost sheep is a reminder that the community of God's people must be concerned with those who are lost, unattached, or not reached by God's steadfast love.  The lost coin tells us that if a woman will act with such diligence, so will God's search be diligent for those who are lost. 

Jesus came to save the lost -- lost sheep, lost coins, lost sisters and brothers.  Everyone who is neglected or shunned aside by society, some people we have given up on and labeled as lazy, uneducated, or worthless; and all the people who are alone, feeling bereft or unloved.

These brief parables illustrate what it means to overflow with faith and love. They are about learning how to find, seek, sweep up, and rejoice. The invitation is not about being rescued by God from our human fate; it is about joining in the community to seek, find, welcome, and celebrate!  "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

The Letter to Timothy picks up on the Gospel theme and reminds us that, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”   Sin is about “seeking our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.”  In other words, whatever alienates or separates us from God is sinful.

Paul, writing this letter to Timothy, knew he was a sinner.  He had been "a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence," a sinner who finally received God's mercy when he became faithful.  He was "an example to those who would come to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life." Paul discovered that the grace of God "overflowed

…with faith and love."

All of us are invited to receive God’s grace and love regardless of the circumstances of our lives. It is up to us to offer thanks to God and to invite others, friends, neighbors, and any we know who have not been with us recently, or who are lost, to come together as we gather at the Lord’s Table. We are invited each week to celebrate and give thanks to God by sharing in God’s heavenly banquet.  God’s grace and mercy are overflowing with faith and love for everyone.   Amen.