Time for a Celebration - Luke 15:1-32 @St John the Divine

Lost

[Act Lost Credit Cards]

Oh, the last time I did that was on the morning we were to go on holiday. What a panic! I looked everywhere for hours and hours. Eventually I gave up and phoned all the companies to cancel the cards. When you have joint credit cards they cancel both of them, so even Jo's were no good. It's horrible being on holiday and having nothing spend. When we got home from holiday the cards were waiting for me on the dining table. I had dropped them in my son's car while moving it off the drive the night before!

When you loose something, especially something important a horrible panic sets in and you search wildly trying to find it. When its a person – a friend or relative the sense of anxiety is much stronger and in some cases searching will do you no good at all.
While we're talking about loosing people, do you remember being lost as a child. Try to remember the panic and fear of it for a moment. We will come back to that later.

Nature of God

We are created in the image of God, so its no surprise that God also keenly feels the sense of having lost someone. You wouldn't expect God to panic, but you would expect him to search. We can see from the stories that Jesus told in our reading today that God does search.

God searches urgently: The shepherd leaves his sheep to search for the one that is lost.

Would you? Would you leave 99 healthy sheep out in the wilderness, where wolves and bears could easily find them? Would you leave 99 sheep out in the wilderness where any number of them could wander off? Just to find only one that was missing?

We may answer 'Yes' quickly to this question, that's because you know the passage, but it's likely that Jesus hearers would not have been quite so positive. Jesus is showing us that God exceeds human expectations.

God searches diligently: A peasants house would have had a low door and no windows, so the woman who lost her coin would have needed a lamp to have any chance of seeing a coin on the floor. Her best chance, even with the lamp lit was to sweep the earth floor carefully until she spotted something move that was not dust. The coin may have been part of her dowry and would have been very valuable.

God waits patiently: Just like the father waiting for his son to return home God waits for his lost people to return to him. When someone has left of their own accord there is not much point in searching, they probably don't want to be found and would just go further away if you did find them. It is better to wait patiently, always on the lookout for the person to return. Just like the father is our passage today.

The Ungrateful Scorpion (found on http://desperatepreacher.com/bodyii.htm)

This is the story of an old man who used to meditate each day by the River. One morning he saw a scorpion floating on the water. When the scorpion drifted near the old man, he reached to rescue it but was stung by the scorpion. A bit later he tried again and was stung again. The stings made his hand swell up and gave him much pain. Another man passing by saw what was happening and said to the Old Man, "What's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don't you know you could be killed trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"
From desparatepreacher.com

The old man calmly replied, "My friend, just because it is in the scorpion's nature to sting, does not change my nature to save."

It is God's nature to save. We are his treasures – He does not want to loose us. Despite all our best efforts to get ourselves lost God is always there ready to save us.

Urgently looking for an opportunity to rescue us. Diligently searching for a way to make us turn to him.

Patiently waiting for us to respond.

Celebration

When we do there is a celebration. Did you notice that each of the three stories ends with a celebration – a party to mark the occasion.

I heard on the TV the other day that the average wedding costs £17,000. It scared me a little as Karen is talking about getting married. It's an important day in anyone's life. What you do on that day changes you life, so it's worth making an occasion of it.

I've heard that some Jewish families preparing for a Bar Mitzvah have the whole house redecorated and then have a huge party. It must cost a fortune, but marking you son's move from childhood to adulthood is important. His life will change from that point onwards.

There's even a huge party after a christening – when we thank God for the arrival of a new life and commit to bringing the child up in the Christian faith.

What do we do when someone who we've been praying for for absolutely ages becomes a Christian? How do we mark the day when their life changes, indeed when their life really begins?

Our Response

That's all very well, you say, but I've been a Christian for ages, and I didn't get a party! Well if you are thinking like that, let me remind you of the lost son's brother. He is usually condemned for his churlish attitude.

The real question you should be asking is what these stories mean for us as Christians. How should we respond to Gods searching for the lost people in our world?

We are supposed to be God's agents on the earth, so we should join in with his efforts. I'm really assuming that you know that and already have relationships with non-Christians and are praying for them.

Take a moment to remind yourself who they are.

[pause]

The first thing to do is to make sure that no-one else gets lost. I was in a meeting with Warner the other day when someone said they hadn't seen one of our parishioners for a couple of months. Other said the same. He wrote the name in his diary and said he would give them a call to see how they were.

Is there someone who you haven't seen in a while? - Give them a call when you get home and tell them they're missed.

So the first response we can have is to keep in touch.

Remember that feeling of being lost as a child. People are lost in the big wide world. They may never have known anything else. So often people are looking for something more in their lives and don't even realise that it is available. Until they meet someone who has that something. Perhaps someone like my daughter Liz, who some of you may know. When she was at University the people she was living with refused to play games of chance with her. She kept winning and they believed that God was on her side, so they didn't stand a chance. They could only make this assumption because Liz was very open about her faith and didn't compartmentalize it. She talked quite naturally about her relationship with Jesus.

So the second thing we can do is be natural. Peter calls it being prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15).

Think carefully about those you are in touch with. What would make them more interested in God. What can you DO to show them who God is and how much He loves them. Be sure it's something that will help them, and not just you.

So the third thing we can do is work diligently at showing people who God is.

A guy’s car was stalled at a green-light. Cars behind him would honk and honk. Out of frustration, the guy got out of his car, tapped on the window of the person behind him and said,"My car will not start, would not mind trying to start it, while I will sit back here and honk your horn for you"

(http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/finding-lost-passion-for-lost-people-ryan-johnson-sermon-on-evangelism-how-to-43916.asp)

I've been told that the average time taken from first interest to full conversion is three years. That is certainly true for me. I also know that a number of people were praying for me long before I showed any interest.

So the fourth thing we can do is be patient. Don't try to hurry people, trust that God is more concerned about their salvation than you are.

Finally, when they have accepted Christ, make a thing of it, hold some sort of celebration. Make the occasion important for them and for you. Something to remember to mark the start of a new life. You'll just be mirroring what's happening in the heavenly realms.

The Shack by William P. Young

So many people (well, OK, one or two, but that's unusual) have asked me about it I thought I should get a copy and read it.  As usual I read it mainly on the bus to and from work.  The loss of a child is a difficult subject to think about and read about.  The emotional reaction that results is not really suitable for the bus.  There are plenty of those too if you follow the story through. 
The book attempts to provide personal answers to the problem of human suffering caused by other humans.  To meet its purpose the author provides various characterisations of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and uses the parent-child relationship to explain what is going on.  Humans have standard reactions to situations, so for example, when they are wronged they want revenge.  God, it seems does not have the same reactions, but loves us all - all the time. (This is of course an unreasonably short summary - but it is precisely what I was struggling with as I arrived at work one morning, 5 minutes after getting off the bus.)
Some of the images of God are helpful, some are not.  There are a few other books where you can check the theology that The Shack proposes and provide some biblical comparison.  Two longer reviews with more on this are:
http://www.challies.com/articles/the-shack-by-william-p-young
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001788.cfm

I nearly stopped at the start.  The forward and early chapters are technically too difficult for a story.  Things improve once we get to the centre of what's happening - the encounter with God.  The ending is also difficult and the plot device used to 'cover up' God's intervention into his world is not dealt with particularity well.  There is a lack of detail and a paling of characterization in the last chapter as we try to understand the visible effects that the encounter has had on the main character and his relationships.  For me this should have been the bulk of the story.

After reading it and reacting to it, remember that it is FICTION, and doesn't make a claim to be anything else. The god described in the pages bears a resemblance to the God that I know, but sometimes not a very close one.  For me, at the end, it could never be transformational, but it is (mostly) a good, well written story and very thought provoking.

Matthew 5:17-20 "The Laws of Life", an introduction for Just 10

Reading – Matthew 5:17-20

I'm going to tell you two short stories from my past by way of introduction. Then, I'll tell you why I told them.

Many years ago I was sent on a training course. I was staying is a nice hotel , backing on to a river – probably the Thames – but I don't remember. I met someone there who I hadn't seen since school. He was on the fringe of the group of people I'd done my best to avoid at school, but he greeted me as an old friend. We had a couple of drinks together and at the end he threw his beer glass as far down the river as he could, making some comment like 'beat that'. I said that I couldn't be asked, it was all too much effort, and dumped the glass over the edge of the pontoon we were sitting on. He went one way and I the other. I'd hardly left the pub when a little old lady approached me – caught up with me might be more accurate. She gave me a good telling off for my behaviour, and let me know that she knew I knew it was wrong.

That's the first, now for the second.

I was going to pick up Jo from her job at Marks and Spencer. It was the end of a typically busy Saturday, but by the time I arrived most of the shoppers were long gone. There was a bus stop on the other side of the road where I needed to be, so I nipped across and parked there. I started to look around for Jo. There was a tap on the window from the other side. Turing round I saw a policeman. I wound down the window and received a stern talking to about my driving and parking.

Both those stories are from about 30 years ago, but even then I was used to the pattern. When I decide to do something that I know is wrong, however trivial it may seem to you, there is ALWAYS someone there to tell me that I shouldn't have done it.
I used to think it was a curse before I was a Christian, but now I believe its a blessing. Either way I've learnt that its how my life works. As I grew up I learnt a series of rules that define how my life works. There are probably still many to learn.
The good news is that the rules of life are written down. The Jews call it “The Law”. I'll call it the “Law of Life” just to be clear what we are talking about.
A couple of weeks ago we went to the British Touring Car Championship races at Silverstone. There we found small groups of men doing their very best to understand the laws of Physics. They understand lots about friction – they call it grip when it applies to tyres on the tarmac. They know about aerodynamics, they call it down force, it helps with the grip, but if they have too much down force the car will go slower. If they don't have enough the car won't go round corners. They are working within the Laws of Physics – well most of them. Only one member of each team tries to break the laws of Physics. They have a name for him. They call him the driver.
The Laws of Physics are constant, they do not change with time. The Laws of Life are the same – they do not change over time, that is why Jesus says “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law”. The I's have been dotted and the T's crossed, there are no more changes needed – the document is perfect.
The Laws of Physics can't be broken. When you try that in a racing car, its the car that gets broken. We saw some spectacular skids, a few collisions and one quite serious crash. The Laws of Life work in a similar way. They cannot be broken. If you try to break the Laws of Life its you that gets broken. Just like the driver in the racing car tries to go too fast, or turn too quickly, we try to do things with our lives that they were never meant to do. That's what Jesus means about fulfilling the Law – he came to show us how to live without trying to break the Law of Life and getting hurt as a result.
In 1687 Isaac Newton published “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica” which set down some of the very basic Laws of Physics. We've been discovering more laws and more about how they work ever since. The Laws of Life have been around the same amount of time as the Laws of Physics, but we've had much longer to understand them.
I think we've done a worse job understanding the Laws of Life. So starting on September 15 for 10 weeks we've got an opportunity to look at them in a lot more detail.
If you haven't signed up already, it's still not too late. Speak to Warner, or the Office and book your place.
It's an opportunity to learn how to live in harmony with the Laws of Life, or the Laws of Love as J.John calls them, instead of trying to break them all the time.