Lost and Found | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon audio:

Sermon: Lost and Found

September 11 and 12, 2010

Luke 15:1-10

9 years ago.

Tuesday.

September 11, 2001

8:46 am—the first tower was hit.

9:03—the second tower.

Almost 3000 died.

We remember.

And we pray for peace.

I was reading my sermon from September 23 of that year—

--about two weeks after the tragedy.

Let me read a little bit

of what I said then:

The tragedy is still with us.

Each day that goes by

things get a little more back to normal.

But it’s not normal.

We still feel the pain.

We still feel the grief.

We still feel the anger.

We still feel the loss.

We still don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

And we still feel the need to make a difference.

We seek meaning in the midst of madness,

hope in the midst of the terrible evil

done on September 11.

Think back.

What was your first reaction?

You wanted to call your loved ones.

Even if you knew they weren’t in harm’s way,

even if you knew they were safe,

you still needed to hear their voice.

You reached out to your loved ones

to tell them how much you love them.

You’ve hugged your kids a little longer

and harder the past few days.

One preacher wrote:

I’ve been mesmerized by the stories

of people on those planes

and in those buildings

who knew they weren’t going to get out alive.

What did they do?

What was their last act?

Thank God for cell phones.

They reached out to call their spouses,

their kids,

and if they couldn’t get them,

they left a message.

And what were those last words?

“I love you…

Tell my wife how much I love her…

…Hug my kids for me.”

What’s important in life?

Tall towers of wealth and fame?

What really matters?

Who cares if the package didn’t get there on time?

Who cares if the carpet has a kool-aid stain?

Who cares if your stock portfolio has headed south?

Who cares about those things?

Well, we all do.

But what’s really important?

In light of 9/11,

does it look different?

Do you notice (I wrote) how our heroes have changed?

The baseball

and football

and golf

all stopped.

It just didn’t seem important.

It just didn’t seem appropriate.

It just didn’t seem right—right then.

We had new heroes.

The man in the fireman’s suit—

--many of them rushing in,

and never coming out again.

The woman holding a scalpel

and a syringe,

in the dust and debris—

--bringing health and healing

in the face of undeserved pain and death.

The person staying by the side of a friend,

with the world tumbling down around them,

not knowing if they’d make it to see another day.

What’s really important?

I’ve heard a lot of people asking that question.

A lot of people saying:

“Since September 11, 2010

I’ve been thinking…

…about my job

…about my kids

…about…whatever.”

Thinking.

“What’s really important?”

Now—9 years later.

What’s really important?

I hope we never have to live through such tragedy again.

And I also hope we remember what’s important.

What really matters.

What has eternal significance.

In the midst of tragedy,

in the midst of struggle,

we are drawn to one another—

--and drawn to God.

What’s really important?

God’s love for us

and reflecting that love to others.

Today,

in our Gospel reading,

Luke 15—

--we are reminded that God’s love never ends,

never leaves us.

This is maybe my favorite chapter

in the whole Bible.

Because we have the two stories we heard today—

--the lost sheep

--and the lost coin.

And then comes the story we know even better,

about the lost…..son.

The prodigal son.

And we are reminded

that God loves us when we are lost.

And God reaches out to find us

in the midst of struggle.

We hear again and again

that God won’t give up on us—

--won’t ever give up.

And we’re reminded that God doesn’t only love us here in this room—

--but all of God’s people

--even the ones we struggle with

--even the ones we think of as the outcasts,

the ones we think God couldn’t possibly love.

And when we’re feeling righteous

and proud

and full of ourselves—

--we wonder why God would love the outcast,

the sinner.

But when we are feeling lost

and alone

and fully aware of our sinfulness,

our unworthiness,

our failings—

--what good news!

That God loves us even then.

That’s really good news.

And in the midst of that love,

overwhelmed by God’s grace,

we are able to look beyond ourselves

and love one another—

--even our enemy.

What’s really important?

God’s love for us.

And reflecting that love to others.

Some interesting things in this passage,

that we sometimes miss because many of us

have heard it so often.

Look at verse 4.

Would you read that with me, please.

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?

Which one of you would do that?

Having heard this over and over,

I tend to think—sure I’d do that.

But the logical answer,

the expected answer is—

--nobody’s do that.

Leave 99—where?

In the wilderness.

To go look for one.

Doesn’t make sense.

I was trying to think of a parallel.

Maybe it’s like having $100.

And losing one.

And leaving your wallet with the other $99

on a park bench

in the worst part of town you can imagine—

--while you chase after the $1.

Which one of you would do that?

Well, none of us would.

But God would.

God’s love for us is like that.

It goes beyond what we expect.

Beyond what we deserve.

Extravagant love.

Unexpected grace.

Or the woman.

I’m with the woman on hunting.

I think we probably all are.

I’ll search for that lost coin.

But what catches off guard in this little story?

It’s the celebration.

It’s out of proportion.

The coin we’re talking about—

--could very well be the denarius

--one day’s wage.

So this woman doesn’t have much.

Just 10 days wages saved up to live on.

And when she finds one,

what does she do?

She has a party.

Could even cost her more than the coin was worth.

Does that make sense?

Which one of us would do that?

Well—none of us.

But God would.

God knows what’s important.

And God throws a party when we are found.

The celebration is more than we deserve.

The celebration reminds us what’s really important.

To God—

--everyone is really important.

You are.

I am.

All God’s people—

--near and far

--even the outcast

--even the sinners.

What’s really important?

God’s love for us

and reflecting that love to others.

And what did the sheep and the coin

do to deserve this celebration?

Really—not a thing.

They were just found.

In fact, in our way of thinking,

the sheep maybe should have been scolded.

It ran away.

God’s celebration comes because of repentance.

And these stories maybe expand our idea of repentance.

We’ve talked before

about repentance meaning turning around.

But maybe this pushes that thought a little

to repentance meaning being turned around.

Because it’s God who is turning us.

God who finds us.

We’re lost—

--like the coin and the sheep.

And the reason for celebration

is not that we do anything particularly good.

We’re just found—and that’s good news.

And in case we get puffed up,

thinking we deserve that love from God,

notice who’s listening to Jesus tell these stories.

You have the tax-collectors and sinners—

--the outcasts.

And you have the Pharisees and the scribes—

--who are grumbling because Jesus is loving the outcasts.

And you know what Jesus is doing.

He’s making the comfortable uncomfortable.

And the uncomfortable comfortable.

He’s reminding us,

that when we think we deserve God’s love

and they don’t

(whoever they are who we think

God couldn’t possibly love),

then we are the Pharisees and scribes—

--and we are missing the boat.

And when we feel like outcasts,

like God couldn’t possibly love us,

then we hear the good news—

--that God’s love is for everyone.

That is good news.

And what’s really important

is God’s love for us

and reflecting that love to others.

At the end of that sermon that I preached right after 9/11,

I said this:

Can you lose a home?

Yes

Can you lose a career?

Yes

Can you lose your health?

Yes

Can you lose your life

in a senseless, cruel tragedy?

Sadly, yes.

But can you lose the love of God?

No.

Never.

Nothing can ever take that away.

And because of that,

we can spend our lives following Jesus,

reflecting God’s love,

spending our lives on what’s really important.

I pray that God will point us to a life filled with purpose

greater than ourselves.

I pray that God will daily fill each of us

with a sense of what’s really important,

as God’s finds us again and again

with a love that never ends

and sends us out again and again

to reflect that love to all the world.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen