Let us open our hearts and minds to the spirit of God in prayer:
God of the lost and found
you know our thoughts and needs
even before we know them ourselves.
Be with us, this day,
as we recognize
that we are all both lost and found
but always within your sight
and never out of reach of your loving touch.
We give thanks for your great love
which surrounds us always
and for your persistent and faithful presence
which guides and inspires us
strengthening us to live with faith and hope
through all the challenges and
joys of our life together
as a community of faith.
Amen
This prayer, that came to me early yesterday morning, contains the essence of my thoughts and reflection for this week. Here are some of the things which have led me to this place of prayerful thanksgiving.
Wednesday night I had a dream which was very vivid and memorable. I was living in a very large house — a mansion really — far too large for my needs and so I was only occupying a few rooms. The house was massive and a bit overwhelming but I felt comfortable in the little section that I had turned into a home for myself. Feeling adventurous I decided to go exploring outside, to the town nearby which was unfamiliar to me, and find the market square that I knew was there. To get there, I had to take a strange and circuitous route through buildings and secret passageways but surprisingly I found my way easily enough. When I arrived in the market square I found it was deserted. Vendors' stalls were set up and the marketplace itself was a beautifully open place but other than that there was no sign of life there. Disappointed I decided to go back home but I couldn't see any familiar landmarks to guide my way — the buildings around the market square were tall and blocked my view of anything but what was right in front of my eyes. I wandered around trying to find the way I'd come but nothing looked familiar. I began to feel anxious because I couldn't find my way back. I looked around frantically for something that would help me with my orientation of where I was and where I needed to go. I wandered around slowly trying to figure out what to do when I practically walked into a rather dishevelled looking man who was sitting at a stall in the deserted market. Without any conviction that he would help me, but since there was no one else around, I asked if he could help me find my way home. To my surprise, calmly and graciously, he showed me the way. The portal I was looking for was not obvious to me until he pointed it out and then I couldn't figure out how I'd missed it. I woke up then, not having completed the journey home but with a sense of assurance that I was on the right path and everything would be OK.
Lost and found - these three words kept floating around in my mind as I was trying to keep up with the busyness of this past week and trying to be attentive to the pastoral needs of others and my own spiritual care.
Today's Gospel reading, from Luke, is all about being lost and found. But, as is always the case with Jesus' parables, what seem like simple stories with straightforward meanings are much deeper than they at first appear. Even though it is not at first easily apparent, Jesus' parables always turn conventional wisdom and assumptions upside down.
Luke's introduction of the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin tells us that there were many people gathered around Jesus to hear his stories. These people included tax collectors and sinners (those considered lower than low by 1st century Jewish standards) and scribes and pharisees (the religious elite; those considered to be the righteous upholders of sacred law). Luke notes that the tax collectors and sinners crowd in close to Jesus so as not to miss a word he is saying. We can assume the scribes and pharisees stand at a respectable distance so as not to come in contact with the unclean masses but close enough to hear what Jesus has to say so they can hold it against him if he says or does anything they deem to be contrary to their religious laws.
When Jesus heard the religious elite grumbling because of his association with those they considered worthless outcasts he told the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. Both parables illustrate a valuing of something that in and of itself seems to have little intrinsic value. After all, who puts 99 sheep in jeopardy in order to take the risk that one might be found? And, who turns their whole house upside down, and lights a lamp, using precious oil, in order to search for a small amount of money and then, when it is found, throws an expensive party? No one! It makes no sense to spend so much for such a small return. But this, Jesus tells his listeners, is how God acts. God's love is radical and inclusive and God is always persistently seeking, and finding, those who are not valued by others.
It was a radical notion, in Jesus' day, that God's love and concern would extend to those who were not viewed as righteous. Even more radical are the characters which Jesus chooses to represent God - a shepherd and even more shocking, a woman. In our 21st century North American context this may not sound terribly daring but in the 1st century middle-eastern context this would have been extremely radical. During the 1st century, shepherds were no longer held in high esteem as they had been in the periods when the Hebrew people were nomadic. Shepherds were a particularly despised class of labourers who were included among the forbidden occupations and excluded, along with tax collectors, from eligibility to serve as a witness. Women were likewise marginalized and had little power, status or legal protection.
According to one biblical commentary, "Placing unexpected characters in a role that is allegorized as a representation of God reinforces the... emphasis of the value of outcasts. ...By using characters who have no social or religious status in the community to represent God, Jesus may be encouraging people to think about God and the kingdom of God in relation to common, ordinary life events, and in relation to all people, not merely those who have position and power." (New Proclamation, p.196)
It's easy to see how Jesus' inclusive message of God's love would be "good news"to the poor and not well received by the rich and powerful. Jesus threatened the status-quo of his society. At every opportunity he violated accepted social norms and crossed boundaries in order that marginalized people would be seen as beloved children of God.
There is also a contemporary parable, I've been thinking about this week, about people who are outcasts in their society and who find themselves loved and accepted in the context of community. Like Jesus' parables this story has a much deeper and profound message than is readily seen on the surface. The story I'm referring to is called Because of Winn-Dixie. Based on a book, for young readers, this story is vividly told in a movie with the same title. (I highly recommend it and have a copy of the DVD if anyone wants to borrow it. On the surface it is a nice family rated movie but there is also a lot of material there for in depth theological comparisons and discussions.)
In short, Because of Winn-Dixie is a story set in a small town with an array of characters who are misfits and outcasts. All are lonely and misunderstood, judged by their outward appearance and behaviour, without any attempt to know the person behind the masks of grief, fear, and loneliness. There is an elderly woman who is practically blind who has struggled with addiction and has a "tree of regret"on which over the years she has hung hundreds of empty bottles. The bottles tinkle in the wind and sound mysterious behind the high hedge which surrounds her house and so the local "bad boys"have circulated the rumour that she is a witch. There is also a young man who has spent time in jail and doesn't trust people but has an amazingly intuitive connection with animals; a young girl who is lonely and her father who has withdrawn into his own world of grief; a lonely old woman and a grouchy old man and a few others. At the beginning of the story, all these characters are misunderstood, alone and lonely. The change agent, the hero, (or Christ figure if you're looking at it theologically) is the most unlikely of all characters — a scruffy dog who appears out of nowhere and transforms the lives of everyone who comes in contact with him. The dog, named Winn-Dixie by the lonely little girl, is himself a stray who gets into trouble at every opportunity. Along the way, he collects a rag-tag band of misfits who gather around him and gradually become a caring and supportive family for each other. (This sounds very familiar when making connections with Jesus' rag-tag band of misfits who became his disciples and followers.) Toward the end of the movie the newly gathered community thinks they have lost Winn-Dixie. They grieve and support each other in their common grief and then they rejoice together when he reappears; not really lost just out of sight for a time. They experience the strength of community in times of joy and sorrow and form a bond which is meaningful and lasting.
There is a similar sentiment expressed by Christopher White, in the book, Emmaus Road, which he co-authored with Donna Sinclair:
The essence of Christianity is community. The whole of Jesus' movement is predicated on the belief that we worship and live, not as a collection of sovereign individuals, but as a community that is responsible to and for one another. ...The disciples Jesus chose were just like you and me - flawed, imperfect people who struggled to understand life and God. Jesus travelled with this group of men and women, who lived together and shared their gifts with one another. They formed a community, an extended family that has been the model of the church ever since. (Emmaus Road, p. 75, 76)
These are good things to remember in a week that has been filled with tears and laughter; grief and hope; affirmation and letting go; trust and faith. We are, all of us, both lost and found, seekers and finders. And, always, like the dream I had and the Winn-Dixie story, all we need is in front of us, in plain view, waiting for us to see with the eyes of faith and accept with open and loving hearts.
And so we pray: Gracious God, strengthen and guide us this day, and in the days to come, as we remember that we are all both lost and found. We are grateful that we are always within your sight and never out of reach of your great love which surrounds and comforts us always. We give thanks for your persistent and faithful presence which guides and inspires us strengthening us to live with faith and hope through all the challenges and joys of our life together as a community of faith. In the name of Jesus, our companion and guide, we pray. Amen
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