What have you Lost?

Scripture Text: Luke 15

One of the challenges in reading Scripture is to set aside previous interpretations so that we can hear what the Spirit may be saying to us today. I found this especially challenging last week because I have heard and become accustomed to a certain way of interpreting these stories. But I was challenged through a book* I am using in my study of these texts to think of them in a new way. So let us consider these three stories together.

The parables we read today are a group of three stories that share a common theme, something or someone has been lost. The context for these stories is that “tax collectors and sinners” are gathering around Jesus and this upsets the Pharisees. But who are these people exactly? Tax collectors were Jewish people who worked for the Roman government, often adding an extra surcharge to the taxes which they kept themselves. They were seen as traitors and extortioners. In the Gospels, “sinners” were people who were often wealthy but did not care for their neighbor. They were selfish and kept their resources to themselves instead of sharing with their community for the common good. So this group gathering around Jesus are seen as selfishly rich people who have ignored their community for their own good.

The Pharisees on the other hand are people who were committed to studying and following the Scriptures. They were trying to live faithfully following God. In response to their objections about the tax collectors, Jesus tells these three stories. But as we hear them we should keep in mind what or who is lost and who was responsible for this loss?

To Jesus’ first audience these stories may have sounded something like this. Imagine you own 100 cars. But one day you notice one is missing. Wouldn’t you leave the other cars on the street with the keys in them and go to search for the missing car? And when you found that one car you would come home and celebrate? 

The story should catch our attention at many different points. First, 100 cars! That is a wealthy person. Second, how do you just lose a car? Maybe its because the person owns so many they have a hard time keeping count. But then who really leaves a car, much less 99 other ones, on the street with the keys in them, ready for anyone to take? And yet that is the type of story Jesus tells.

The second one might be like this. Imagine a woman owns 10 earrings with precious jewels. And one day she realizes she is missing one. Wouldn’t she grab a light and look everywhere until she finds it? In this story the woman is also wealthy, and loses something of value. Perhaps she notices it is missing sooner because she only has 10 earrings. But again, she was responsible for losing the earring.

See, one of the ways these stories are often interpreted is that the things lost represent sinners who have turned away from God. And that God is the owner searching for the lost. But the text says it was the owner who lost the item. The sheep and coin did not choose to be lost. So it becomes a little problematic to see these items representing us, and God searching for us. That doesn’t convey a God who loves, rather a God who can’t keep track of us.

The last story is about a father with two sons. One of them asks for his portion of the  inheritance and then goes to another country and wastes it all on himself. During a famine he finds himself hungry and realizes his father’s slaves are treated better than he is. So he decides to go back to his father with a prepared speech suggesting he would become a worker. But is he really sorry? Or is he thinking that his father has always given him what he wanted so if he gives an eloquent speech how can his father refuse? And when the father throws a party for the son, the older son is upset and refuses to come. The father goes to him and tries to comfort him. In the end we are left wondering, which son was really lost?

Many of you know that central to my understanding of God is that God loves us and that there is nothing we can do that will separate us from that love. But we should ask, is that what this parable is really saying? Is that how Jesus’ audience would have first heard it? It might be a good message, but it might not be the message in these stories.

Luke adds an interpretation to the first two parables by saying that “in the same way…there is rejoicing [in heaven] over one sinner who repents.” But who is the sinner? Perhaps indeed it is a reference to the tax collectors and other wealthy people when they are moved by a change of heart. In the Gospels, to repent, means to turn around. To not continue in the same direction. So maybe these selfish rich people are struck by the amount of wealth they have and are moved to turn from their selfish practices to share generously with others. To have a party and celebrate with generous hospitality.

But the question remains, what does that mean for us? None of us are wealthy enough to own 100 cars, perhaps some of us own expensive jewelry. So what is the call to us in these stories? Perhaps it is for each of us, regardless of our wealth, to take stock of what we own, and of the relationships in our lives. There is indeed one theme that runs through all of these stories. There was a recognition of loss, of something missing. What are the ways that we focus on ourselves and cut ourselves off from each other? Are there ways that we neglect relationships in our families and don’t realize what we are losing until it is gone? I don’t know how these stories are heard by you. I recognize that you all have left much to come here, including family and friends. Some of you may feel like the son in a far off country, living in conditions worse than at home. For each person in the story there is the question, what have you lost, and what will you do to get it back? But there is also hope, that no matter the decisions of the past the future remains open. And when we turn from our selfish ways, and accept our responsibility as a member of a family and community there is hope for something new. Indeed God does love us, and God does bless us with family and resources. But these blessings and God’s love are not to be kept to ourselves. Rather they are to be shared with one another so that there might be rejoicing and celebration together. Amen.

*Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus. Harper One, 2014.

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