Day 251: Inclusiveness: He Eats With Sinners, Searches For One Lost Sheep
Read: Luke 15:1 - 7
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord,
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Gospel lesson for this
morning contains one of those familiar parables of Jesus – “The Parable
of the Lost Sheep.” We probably believe that we know these parables
well. We probably learned them in our early years of Sunday school, and
because of the simple nature of these stories, they were easily
committed to memory. That was the purpose of Jesus using the parables to
teach us. They were easy to remember. Easy: Jesus is talking about the search for 'lost sheep'. The Pharisees talk about tax collectors. Maybe Jesus is talking about those Pharisees?
What!? The Pharisees? Yeah, why not the Pharisees? Think about those
Pharisees for a moment. All the emphasis is placed on the ultimate
sinners - tax collectors, the very worst of the worst kind of sinners imaginable. That is where the focus of this story is usually centered on. And rightly so I suppose because they were the
untouchables of that culture. The ones generally left behind and
deliberately kept out of sight and the Temple too probably. Yes, I fully
agree that this was a group of people who needed some attention by the
Master. Even today we can identify several groups of outcasts that
desperately need to experience the grace of God. But still, what of the
Pharisees?
Why does Jesus deliberately include them in the
story? To give us a villain, someone to hate and despise, to get angry
and point fingers at, associate the grumblers of a more contemporary
culture that we have today, those slow to recognize or accept the possibility of God working in the ultimate sinners heart? These are what I have heard through the sermons I have received. Compare and contrast seems to be the single message coming from this Parable. Do as they say, not as they do. Purge
their way from your heart and do what Jesus did - just eat with the tax
collectors of the world. I ask you again, are these really the only reasons this Parable includes the Pharisees?
Well, I see the underdog tax collectors too. Expend no effort searching
for that one lost sheep, bring it back to the fold - check and double
check. Well, Jesus is already sitting at the table in the tax collectors
home. Now wait for it ... the Pharisees are still on the outside
looking in! Did you happen to catch that one. It was so obvious that it
probably escaped your consideration and mine too. If Jesus teaches us
anything at all about the Kingdom of God on earth, it is the ongoing struggle of inclusiveness. God is desiring of all to come into a right relationship with Him. The tax collectors are doing that. The Pharisees aren't. Are we not looking to include them in God's story? God is!
Let we who are at table with Jesus, the Tax Collectors, the ultimate
sinners, pray on behalf of the Pharisees who are yet grumbling on the
outside looking in. Let we who are the Tax Collectors, now stand in the
doorway of the house where Jesus is now feasting with us. Let us look at
the Pharisees and let this be our example to them. Let this be our appeal, God's invitation to them. Our Collective Prayer To The Pharisees:
In the name of God, I AM THAT I AM and in the name of the Living Christ within me,
I am sorry for allowing my heart to harden through harsh life experiences or through fear or non-forgiveness.
I ask for forgiveness for all the times in my present and past lives
where I have acted insensitively towards others and I have hardened my
heart because of experiencing rejection from others.
Merciful
God, help us to have an open heart and mind, to allow God’s love to flow
in me and through and out to others. Let it be said, as well as, let it
done according to our God’s most holy and divine will. Amen.
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Luke 15:1 - 7
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Gospel lesson for this morning contains one of those familiar parables of Jesus – “The Parable of the Lost Sheep.” We probably believe that we know these parables well. We probably learned them in our early years of Sunday school, and because of the simple nature of these stories, they were easily committed to memory. That was the purpose of Jesus using the parables to teach us. They were easy to remember. Easy: Jesus is talking about the search for 'lost sheep'. The Pharisees talk about tax collectors. Maybe Jesus is talking about those Pharisees?
What!? The Pharisees? Yeah, why not the Pharisees? Think about those Pharisees for a moment. All the emphasis is placed on the ultimate sinners - tax collectors, the very worst of the worst kind of sinners imaginable. That is where the focus of this story is usually centered on. And rightly so I suppose because they were the untouchables of that culture. The ones generally left behind and deliberately kept out of sight and the Temple too probably. Yes, I fully agree that this was a group of people who needed some attention by the Master. Even today we can identify several groups of outcasts that desperately need to experience the grace of God. But still, what of the Pharisees?
Why does Jesus deliberately include them in the story? To give us a villain, someone to hate and despise, to get angry and point fingers at, associate the grumblers of a more contemporary culture that we have today, those slow to recognize or accept the possibility of God working in the ultimate sinners heart? These are what I have heard through the sermons I have received. Compare and contrast seems to be the single message coming from this Parable. Do as they say, not as they do. Purge their way from your heart and do what Jesus did - just eat with the tax collectors of the world. I ask you again, are these really the only reasons this Parable includes the Pharisees?
Well, I see the underdog tax collectors too. Expend no effort searching for that one lost sheep, bring it back to the fold - check and double check. Well, Jesus is already sitting at the table in the tax collectors home. Now wait for it ... the Pharisees are still on the outside looking in! Did you happen to catch that one. It was so obvious that it probably escaped your consideration and mine too. If Jesus teaches us anything at all about the Kingdom of God on earth, it is the ongoing struggle of inclusiveness. God is desiring of all to come into a right relationship with Him. The tax collectors are doing that. The Pharisees aren't. Are we not looking to include them in God's story? God is!
Let we who are at table with Jesus, the Tax Collectors, the ultimate sinners, pray on behalf of the Pharisees who are yet grumbling on the outside looking in. Let we who are the Tax Collectors, now stand in the doorway of the house where Jesus is now feasting with us. Let us look at the Pharisees and let this be our example to them. Let this be our appeal, God's invitation to them. Our Collective Prayer To The Pharisees:
In the name of God, I AM THAT I AM and in the name of the Living Christ within me,
I am sorry for allowing my heart to harden through harsh life experiences or through fear or non-forgiveness.
I ask for forgiveness for all the times in my present and past lives where I have acted insensitively towards others and I have hardened my heart because of experiencing rejection from others.
Merciful God, help us to have an open heart and mind, to allow God’s love to flow in me and through and out to others. Let it be said, as well as, let it done according to our God’s most holy and divine will. Amen.
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