Sunday, September 6, 2020

SEEK

So Jesus told them this story:  “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?  Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.  When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Luke 15:3-7

 The Word of God for us, the People of God .  

In my reading of this parable I was reminded there is a lot of lost in this chapter.  There is a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son – the Prodigal one; lost, lost, lost!  With all the information that is at our fingertips these days, it just seems backward that anything could go lost.  But our President got lost a week ago…in my bride’s dream the night before her birthday.  Here’s how she described it:

"I had this really strange dream where I woke up laughing my head off.

In the dream I went out to the mailbox to check if the mailman had come.  While I was there, I heard a noise, and when I turned around there was a big, dark limousine that had pulled up behind me.  The back window rolled down and there was the President and Melania in the back seat.  

The President stuck his head out the window and said to me, 'Hello; I'm President Donald Trump, and we're just driving around North Carolina.'  He smiled, and I just said to him, 'Hello Pumpkin'. 

And then I died laughing so hard I woke up."

A lost President, coin, sheep, and son, these set the stage for the lost brother Elizabeth Clephane wrote about.  Her brother, George Clephane was a remittance man, a dubious distinction[1]

Remittance men (a term used in the 19th century) described men who were commonly ill-behaved children of wealthy English families.  They would agree to leave England and never come back.  In return for their compliance, the rogue royalty would receive either a lump sum, or a monthly “remittance”. 

George was no different.  His alcoholism was out of control at age 23, and his family gave up on him, sending him to Canada in 1842, where he became an unsuccessful farmer of 60 acres.  His only memorable success was the ability to consume large quantities of cheap whiskey. 

Written-off as hopeless by friends, family, and farming, to say George Clephane made a mess of his life is an understatement.  Although the news never reported so, the end to his life was probably in a drunken stupor.  So much so, that his horse couldn’t bear to have him on its back; he was ejected from the saddle and died a few days later from the injuries. 

We probably would never have heard of George if every member of his family gave up on the drunk.  Elizabeth, 12 years younger, loved her big brother.  And, within a few days of hearing of his death in 1851, she wrote the poem The Ninety and Nine, in memory of the kind of ONE Jesus, the Good Shepherd would have gone after.  You can just hear the pathos of Elizabeth Clephane describing George in the third stanza of the poem –  sick and helpless and ready to die. 

Indeed, if Jesus got through to George Clephane on his deathbed (and no one really knows), surely, with his resume of failure, disappointment, and disgrace, the last stanza tells us the rejoicing in Heaven over that one lost sheep coming home would have been a thunderous chorus of angels, the likes of which we’ve never heard before!

Now, that is the story behind the hymn; what do we make of Gospel that inspired the hymn? 

There are the facts of the Gospel, and then, there is the deep meaning of the facts.

Seeking the Lost, Least and Last

In the Gospel account the Pharisees represent the lost coin, lost sheep, and the lost son.  They’re the ones who are grumpy over the company Jesus is keeping, prostitutes, tax collectors, drunks, gluttons, and all sorts of seedy sinners. 

In the debate Jesus shows them how the woman had to look for the coin in the dark and dusty corners of the house, and how the shepherd had to search for the lost sheep in the rocky, lonely places, and how the father had to wait patiently for the lost son to make his way home. 

The meaning of the facts is that you will not find those who need to hear the Good News inside the temple walls on Sunday at 11am.  To seek and to save those who are lost means you’ll be willing to go find them where they hang out. 

Too many churches that have spider webs on the pews where there ought to be joyful worshippers thought that hanging out a church sign that says y’all come is sufficient…they know where we are. 

Jesus didn’t do it that way; wonder how we ever got that idea?  Our job is to seek!

Loving the Lost, Least and Last


Sheep are incredibly cute; they’re also stinky, stupid, and prone to wander.  Frankly, I’m not sure there is a shepherd of sheep that enjoys the problems that are associated with difficult animals.  It’s a 24-7-365 job…and then some! 

It is no accident Scripture calls people who belong to God “sheep”.  Like sheep we have all gone astray…left home like a prideful, ungrateful prodigal, gotten lost like a coin, being a stubborn sheep about coming back when there must be some good grazing land out there somewhere.

How do you know where to find a sheep wandering from God’s purposes and plan?

Look for the list of the seven deadly sins (Greed, Sloth/lazy, Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Wrath/anger, Envy).  You start to put faces on those names, and you won’t ever ask that question again.  Your dance card, learning to love and care for wandering sheep, will keep you engaged like someone trying to herd housecats.  They never appreciate your efforts, but your job, as one of God’s under-shepherds, is to seek them…not please them.

And that leads us to the final thought about seeking.  The facts of the Gospel have:

·       the woman turning her house upside down, frantic to find that coin.  Dust flies everywhere as the broom swirls.  Dark places are searched with a floodlight.  She will not rest until that coin is in sight.

·       The shepherd is off in the wilderness, climbing over rocks, crags, fording streams, fighting off mountain lions and bears.  He’s listening closely for the lonely sound of a bleating, caught in a thicket.  He won’t quit until he finds the remains of an ear or hoof, proof the animal is gone forever; he will press on until he finds a live animal to bring home.

And if a sheep is still stubborn, tending to run off every chance it gets, shepherds have been known to break one of its legs on purpose, so it can’t wander away.  And during the time of healing, the shepherd will carry that stinky animal on his shoulder everywhere he goes.  The bond that develops is unmistakable; the sheep will never be the same again.

·       The father of a prodigal will stand by the fence every day until that son is seen in the distance coming home.  Then he will break into a run, fall into an embrace, and shower the lost that is now found with kisses of thanksgiving!

The facts of the Gospel are also the deep meaning of the Gospel.  Like it was one stormy night on the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus walked on the water to get to the worried disciples in the boat, Jesus will do whatever is necessary to get to his own.

He came after you, didn’t he?

Elizabeth Clephane wrote at least 7 other poems of which the words were set to hymn tunes.  Beneath the Cross of Jesus is one of those, and a favorite of mine. 

This hymn stands as a guide for what to do, if in your heart you sense you are one of those sheep for whom Jesus needs to seek. 

It tells you

          ·       where to take your stand,

          ·       how to see the suffering savior on the cross,

          ·       and where it will lead you to rest in your soul. 

It’s all there, beneath the cross of Jesus.

Our Prayer

Father God, for any of us who has come to the point of truly surrendering our will and life to You, we understand what Elizabeth Clephane knew was the condition of her brother’s soul, sick and helpless and ready to die.

Lord, help us to be ready to really live.  Help us embrace Your loving embrace.  Let us not be satisfied to be a lost coin, hiding in our 401K, protected from the offering plate.  Help us to be wide awake like a Prodigal finally realizing what a pigpen smells like.  Help us to swallow pride, come home, and take our stand beneath the cross of Jesus.

And, for those of us who have already been there, help us to help others.  Plant the seed of seeking in our hearts and bones, that we might be like Jesus – ready to hang-out with those who need some Good News.

For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father. 

Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!

Sermon VIDEO

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation  Matthew 10:24-39©



[1] The Wellington Advisor, column reprint 9-2-20


 

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