Images of Mercy

Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10

Today's Gospel portion provides us with two images of God and mercy.  The first image is a traditional one - that of a shepherd caring for his sheep.  In this parable the shepherd does something no real tender of sheep would do - abandon ninety-nine sheep to find a lost one.  Yet, the unlikeliness of the example is the point Jesus intends to give us: God would go to any lengths to save one lost soul because every person has value and worth.  

The second image is not a traditional at all, one that is quite shocking now as then.  Here, the image of God is that of a woman in search of a lost coin.  This example is much more believable and relates to people's common experience.  The woman needs that coin for her livelihood and existence.  She will search high and low for it.  In the same way, God has great need of each person, each being as valuable to God as each coin is valuable to the woman.  Representing God as a vulnerable woman says a great deal.  

These two parables serve as preambles to a parable not given in today's portion - the Prodigal Son.  While a sheep and a coin are valuable in an analogous way, a child is of even greater value.  God sees each of us as a child in the household of God.  Each child is wanted, each one loved.  The mercy of God will take great risks for each person, even leaving the house to search the highways and byways until the child is found and brought home.  As that is God's mercy to us, so it must be our mercy to the world. 

The Needs of Ministry

Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

The modern Christian cannot abide by today's Gospel portion.  Give up our possessions?!  Is Jesus for real?  After all, how can we undertake ministry without money and possessions?  We need our vast campuses, ornate churches, elaborate residences, and so much more in order to do the work of the kingdom, we think aloud to ourselves.  But is the kingdom we are working for that of God, or is it our own little kingdom?

Jesus had none of these things when he undertook the work of God on earth.  He had no vast estates, nor houses of worship or even a simple house to call his own home.  Jesus went from place to place encountering people, talking with them, and finding out their needs.  He discovered that people needed healing from their infirmities, liberation from their demons, the presence of another at table.  It cost Jesus very little to provide these things for others.  

Very little of what Jesus did on earth corresponds to what we regard as ministry today.  The modern Church finds visiting the sick and imprisoned and providing table fellowship and hospitality to others as secondary work.  That all takes a backseat to the annual appeal to maintain our properties and salaries as we seek to build empires of influence and power in the world.   To be the presence of God in the world requires few possessions.  It requires only that we be present to others in their need as Jesus was.  

The Invitation List

Gospel: Luke 14: 15-24

Today's parable contains two striking features.  The first regards those who were initially invited to the king's banquet.  They consisted of the usual attendees at royal banquets - the rich, the powerful, the influential.  All gave reasons of self-interest as to why they could not come.  Some of the reasons seem rather trivial to us.  But they have been to the banquets many times.  They are bored by them, and find their own pursuits of greater interest to them than attending another palace dinner.  

The second feature is the order given by the king to his attendants.  They were to go out and invite anyone they encounter without qualification - the poor, the outcast, the foreigner, everyone.  What is more, no litmus test or any entry criteria exist.  The king's attendants are simply to invite everyone to the royal banquet.  The attendants were not instructed to serve as bouncers or as a panel determining who was worthy and who could or could not attend.  

Many people who have repeatedly been excluded from the royal banquet greatly desire to attend while its regular attendees are indifferent to the invitation.  As the king's attendants it is our task to invite everyone to the banquet of the Lord, to make no hindrance or barriers to their entry.  It is not for us to change people.  The banquet itself will change and transform all who attend.  The banquet is not the reward for change; it is the catalyst of change and transformation itself!