This morning’s opening passage acts as the literary lead-up to the story of the Prodigal Son. However, instead of being swallowed up because of that story being so powerful, these two brief parables are able to stand out, not only because they help to accentuate the point of the Prodigal Son, but also because they create other imagery which allows a greater number of people to understand what is being spoken of.
The message is
actually rather simple: with God nothing is impossible, even the restoration of
one who was so separated from the love of God.
The way that Jesus physically shows this is by sitting down and breaking
bread with two groups of people who were considered to be the scourge of
society: tax collectors and sinners. Tax
collectors were considered traitors to their faith and their country because
they went out and collected funds on behalf of the
Luke 15:1-10
15 Now all the tax
collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the
Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes
sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does
not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9
When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors,
saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just
so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.”
Our second passage has the author, who
identifies himself as Paul, describing himself to Timothy, both who he was and
who he is now. What he was, was someone
who stood in defiance to God. He wasn’t
passive in this stance: he was aggressive.
So not only did he not believe the truths as spoken by Jesus, he looked
to silence those who did. And I’m not
talking about picketing against those who believed. I mean throwing them in prison. That is the sort of person he was. No one would blame you if you thought that it
was impossible for God to work through such a person to do good, let alone to
build God’s kingdom.
And yet, in God, the ‘im’ is removed and that
which was impossible, not only becomes possible, but becomes reality.
What about you? Each of us have, or at the least had, areas
of our lives where we have struggled, felt deficient, maybe even like
failures. And yet in our scriptures what
we hear is that in God everything is possible.
So which is right? The scripture
reads this way.
I Timothy
1:12-17
12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. 16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Pharisees and Scribes, and to a lesser
extent, the audience in the first letter to Timothy, thought they had life
figured out; they thought that they had God figured out. Good had been differentiated from bad and
separated in such a way that once you were classified as ‘bad’, well the journey
back to ‘good’ was next to impossible.
This sort of thing happens all the time today
where once an impression of someone has been firmly established, and then it’s
difficult to get beyond the confines of that impression. How many of us know of someone (yes, even
ourselves) who longed for the day when high school, or college, or a job would
be over so that we could turn the page and move on, not necessarily walking
from our history but at the very least stepping beyond the shadow that the
history had created? Because when we
become trapped by that impression, regardless of how well deserved that
impression may be, everything that you do is run through the filter of that
impression. Once you get labeled it can
be next to impossible to move beyond those limiting connotations.
This was what was facing the people whom
Jesus was spending time with. They are
labeled as ‘sinners’ and ‘tax collectors’.
It’s almost as if they are no longer seen as people anymore. Instead they are what they have committed or
what they do. They carry around with
them their particular version of a scarlet letter, and all the Pharisees and
Scribes are able to see is the letter.
The impression, and again, this is regardless of how deserved the
impression may be, is impossible to move away from. They had been classified as ‘bad’ and ‘bad’
was who they were to remain. Again,
people acted as if they had life and God figured out.
But they were wrong. The parables that Jesus offers up speak to
how while God may recognize the label that has been affixed (that of being bad,
or lost, or broken), those conditions, in and through the movement of the
Spirit of God, are not for all time. God
is out there looking to find the lost, heal the broken, and allow good to come forth
through the one who was once considered bad.
Jesus is reminding us that no matter how far we, or the world, may feel
we are from the Divine, that God is working to bring us back so that we might
be able to be the people God has created us to be. These scriptures remind us that in God,
nothing is impossible; we just need to get the ‘im’ out of the way so that we
are able to realize it and ultimately believe it.
So let me ask you a very simple question: do
you believe that this sort of spiritual transformation is possible for
you? Because it’s real easy to say,
‘yes, I believe that it is possible …for someone else. But me, if I get by, if I feel like God is
out there somewhere, that’s enough.’
Sons and daughters of the living God (and
that is every single one of you!), let me assure you that this is not
enough. The parables that Jesus spoke of
did not talk about the sheep being content with knowing that there was a
shepherd out there, somewhere. But
instead, of a shepherd who didn’t rest until all of the sheep were welcomed
back into the fold. God is longing for
each of us to realize how loved and important we are (after all, Jesus did die
for our sins), for when that happens, then we are able to move to a place where
not only is a spiritual transformation possible, but all things are possible. Relationships are able to be mended; lack of
trust is able to be washed away under the gracious touch of forgiveness;
healing is able to take place of mind, body, and spirit. When we realize just how loved we are, even
the most difficult of situations becomes an opportunity for God to make all
things possible.
Do you believe it? Do you believe that this is the case for
you? Do you believe that all things can
be possible? If we’re at a good spot in
our lives, where everyone is healthy, and the job is going well, and everyone
is getting along with one another around the dinner table, then we might be
able to say ‘yes’ rather quickly.
However, when life starts hitting the fan and
we start looking around wondering which way to go (and a day like yesterday on
the calendar causes many of us to be reminded of that feeling), well, at that
point many of us begin to wonder if God really cares, or if God even
exists. I get that. I’ve been there. The beginning of the week that has just
concluded could have been one of those times.
Let me explain why.
My grandfather has been homebound since he had
a stroke nine years ago. He had this
stroke at the age of 82, while working at the car dealership that he founded
50+ years earlier. Grandpa always worked
hard and then, he couldn’t. To make
matters worse his Parkinson’s and dementia continued to worsen until my
grandmother couldn’t take care of him by herself anymore. He went into a wonderful nursing home setting
two years ago. Two Monday’s ago they
took him to the emergency room because he had turned blue and couldn’t breathe.
While they were able to get him
breathing regularly again, the doctors quickly determined that due to his age,
and the advanced state of his various disorders, feeding tubes and any other
measures beyond comfort care would be for naught. He went under hospice care last Monday. He will die sometime this week.
I went to see him after church last Sunday
(they live about an hour south of Harrisburg, PA). It was hard.
He was restless. He was
uncomfortable. He asked to eat. We had to say no. When he was conscious he was pleasant but he
had no real understanding of who I was anymore.
Monday held much of the same. The
last time I saw my grandfather was on Monday evening. My grandmother, my Aunt Bunny and her husband
Don were all there around his bed. My Grandma was crying and I rolled over in a wheelchair that
we used as a chair and held her hand. She
asked if we could have a prayer. I asked Grandpa if that was okay and he
said, "That’s fine with me." It was a prayer that thanked God
for all of his blessings in Grandpa's life and that peace might be with him and
our family. Grandpa thanked me for the prayer and then it was time
to leave.
I was sitting on the arm of his chair, right next to his
bed, and I looked down at him, my right hand on his left and said, "It’s
time for me to go home. Thank you for this time and for letting me
visit with you." He then put his right hand over on top of
mine and said, in a knowing clarity that was absolutely my grandpa speaking to
his grandson, "we all want more time. But the time we have is
good. Don't worry. Don't you worry. I'll see you plenty
more times. I'll keep my eye on you."
At that point I lost it and through the tears asked him
if he would let me know when he was there. He shook his head yes, and
said, again, in total clarity, "I will. It'll be okay. I'm
okay." I thanked him and said 'I love you'. He said the same,
and then said, 'thank you for everything'.
I walked away from the bed and my uncle wrapped his arms
around me. My grandfather hasn’t been able to look at me with any real
recognition in years. And then there, on
his death bed, as I’m saying good-bye, the impossible happens and I am reminded
that the stuff that is spoken of through me on Sunday mornings is not something
that is solely contained by the binding on any Bible. It is real.
It is for me. It is for you. It was for the sinners and tax collectors,
and it is for my grandpa. In God all
things are possible.
So again, I ask you the question, do you believe it? Do you believe that this is the case for
you? Do you believe that through God all
things can be possible? Regardless of
what you may be facing or what you will face in the days that are yet to come,
what I want you to hear, and what I pray for you to ultimately believe is that
in God all things are possible. The
sinner can be redeemed. The forgotten
will be loved. The broken can be
restored. The sick can be made well,
even if but for a moment in a short conversation with his grandson. In God, all things are possible. Will you believe it?
After
Sermon Prayer
God, it can be so easy to get trapped under
the weight of a world that says that You don’t exist, or that Your redemptive
care is but a figment of our imaginations.
However, this is a lie. God, in
You all things are possible. Help us to
take this truth and begin to plant it in our own lives so that we might allow
that which we thought to be impossible to become yet another opportunity for
Your glory to shine. God, help us to get
the ‘im’ out so that we are able to believe that all things are possible in
You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.