e-vo for week of September 8

Dearest e-votees-

There is a Lutheran duo that is called Lost and Found (www.speedwood.com). I have experienced them live in concert many times (small concerts to national youth gatherings). I even have a slinky that is signed by them (you have to know the song Lions to understand that).

The name of this group shares something with our appointed gospel lesson for this Sunday—they both come from Luke 15.

During their stage chatter at concerts Lost and Found talk about Luke 15 being the lost chapter of Luke—lost sheep, lost coin and lost son. This week’s gospel text covers the first two of those.

May all of us rejoice that we have been found and be open to God working through us to help undo the lostness in our own lives and in the world.

Peace,
Karl

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1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus]. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable: 4 "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8 "Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Luke 15:1-10, NRSV

Another artist I saw in concert lately (and expect will be around for a while) is Britt Nicole. She was just at Fishfest in Vancouver. Here is a link to an interesting video for her song The Lost Get Found. The trailing words of the song are:

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it

The reality is that we are a blend of saint and sinner. We are a blend of old Adam/Eve and new Adam/Eve. We are a blend of lost and found. We are a blend of the now and the not yet. We are who we are right now and we are who God is shaping us to be.

Sometimes we can get stuck worrying about the percentages. How much saint am I and how much sinner? I have always been intrigued by the ambigram by Mark Palmer that reads saint one way and sinner the other. You can see it on a shirt at Old Lutheran. I even know one pastor who has this pattern permanently tattooed on both of his hands to remind him. It is a UV tattoo, though, so it only shows up in black light. Not every good church going person is ready for a pastor with prominent tattoos. The point is that we are hopelessly intermingled saint and sinner. We will never know the percentages and we will never extract the sinner completely out of us. Fixating on that immobilizes us and betrays a lack of trust in God’s grace.

The good news is that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them—even when it aggravates the Pharisees and the scribes. The good news is that Jesus welcomes us and eats with us. We are invited to the family table at communion. We are welcome not because our sinner/saint ratio is in check but because God loves us. God rejoices when any of us repent. We are that coin and that sheep and certainly that wandering son. But God welcomes us anyway. God throws a party. God runs down the driveway to meet us. God fetches the robe and the ring and the fatted calf. God saves us. God loves us.

We are now free from stressing over the ratio of devil to angel in our life. We are released to reach out to others (as in the Britt Nicole video). We don’t need to take a road trip. There is a whole world at our fingertips. And we have the chance to change it as God works through us. Will we dare to take the chances that come our way as we are stirred by the Holy Spirit?


God, help us to rejoice with You that we are found. Help us to embrace the lostness in ourselves and in the world around us. Nothing has strayed beyond the reach of Your redemptive and impassioned love. Help us be agents of Your redemption and Your passion in this world—all to Your glory.