Sermon Reflections and More!
(scroll down and check out all the links in the left column!)

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost September 11, 2016

This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 51:1-10; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10

Bishop Graham's Anniversary Sermon

Children's Sermon: The 10 Coins

Sermon Notes from Pastor Steve...

(The Notes below are from Pastor Steve's sermon on Saturday; the video to the left is Bishop Graham's sermon on Sunday, as the congregation celebrated Pr. Steve's 25th Anniversary of ordination.)

A little over a month ago, I was working on my car with a friend of mine. Everything went well, except that there was one little machine screw that was rusted in to an old part. I needed the screw for the new part. And it should have been easy to find a replacement at Home Depot.

So I headed up to Home Depot to look for this machine screw. And because I couldn't get the old screw out, I wasn't quite sure of the length I needed. I found one of the correct size, but I was sure it was too long. Nevertheless, I figured that with that screw I could determine the proper length, and I could return it on a later trip to Home Depot. After all, including tax, it was only going to cost me 82cents.

So I bought it. And after some more searching around, I found the right size, installed the screw, and set the 82 cent screw aside with the receipt so I could return it on the next trip.

But somehow, I didn't have it with me or remember it on any subsequent trips. And the other day, one day before the 30-day return period was up, I noticed the 82 cent screw and receipt still sitting on my workbench.

So now I realized I had a choice. I could make a special trip to Home Depot to return the screw and get my 82 cents back, or just decide it wasn't worth it. I did some quick calculations and figured it would cost me at least $1.25 in gas round-trip to make this return. And then, there's standing in line at the Home Depot returns line.... !

So of course, I didn't do it! It wasn't worth it!

And I tell you that story, because in our society it's easy to understand that taking almost an hour out of your day, spending $1.25 in gas and potentially putting up with more Home Depot aggravation just isn't worth 82 cents! No sensible person would do it. It's just not worth it.

And that is how these parables about the sheep and the coins sounded to Jesus' first hearers. Jesus says, "which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost..."

The answer? Nobody! Notice that Jesus doesn't even say, "leave the 99 safely in the sheepfold with other people watching them..." He says, "leave the rest in the wilderness" where they'll be potentially subject to thieves and wolves. And who knows how long you'll be looking for that sheep? Even if the rest of the sheep are fine when you get back, the time you spent looking for the sheep (even at shepherds pay) is worth more than that sheep! It's like spending $1.25 to chase 82 cents. It's just not worth it. Who would do such a thing?

Or, says Jesus, this woman with 10 coins. And when she loses one, she stops everything, lights a lamp and searches the house until she finds it. It might take her all day. And if she lights a lamp, she may burn through enough oil to cost her almost as much as the coin is worth. In the meantime, she isn't getting work done that's critical to her household, which, together with the oil, will cost her quite a bit more than the one silver coin. It's like spending $1.25 to find an 82 cent screw. It's just not worth it. Who would do such a thing?

And the answer, apparently, is that God would. People have been noticing that Jesus is spending an inordinate amount of time with folks who the "good people" consider to be worth about 82 cents. Sure, they're fine to spend time on if you're heading to Home Depot anyway, but they're not worth making a special trip for.

Yet Jesus is willing to make a special trip, and to spend far more than anyone thinks they're worth.

And you can't really understand these parables if you romanticize the sheep as cute and fuzzy, or the coin as shiny and special. You have to understand that, by all human estimations, these things just aren't worth it.

And yet, even people who seem not worth it to others, are worth it to God. That's the point that Jesus is making. And in making that point, Jesus is addressing:

People who think they're not worth it - the folks who were the "tax collectors and sinners" were part of the audience; and so are all of us when we figure we've just gone too far off the deep end to be worth it to God ...

People who think they ARE worth it - the folks who criticized Jesus were part of the audience - they weren't bad people; but sometimes, like us, they needed to be reminded that they, too, were "worth it" to God, but not because they were worth more than others...

People who think that God is really irritated that people have to be sought out and found - the shepherd and the woman don't resent what they're doing, and they don't yell at the sheep or lock up the coin. Instead, they rejoice in a way that also seems not worth it. And that joy is what we're supposed to know and reflect about God, instead of figuring that God must be really irritated or angry... (not like the meme on Facebook I saw this week where Jesus is knocking at the door ...)

It really wasn't worth it for me to drive up to Home Depot and return an 82 cent screw. There are a lot of things, and a lot of situations in our lives like that, where it's just not worth it.

And because we know so many times and situations where it's not worth the effort or the cost, Jesus used these parables to make sure we understand that each of us is always worth the effort to God. Jesus used these parables to show us the extent God is willing to go to search for us, no matter how lost we may feel. And even if the world looks on us or other people as expendable or disposable, Jesus used his life to show us our true value in God's eyes.

Amen.