Sept 16 2007 Lost, in church

The sermon is posted with my usual disclaimers about punctuation, spacing, etc. I tried to tighten it up to fit this blog space. It is an oral communication form...so I bend the writing rules. And I just don't have time to clean this up! Consider it a set of notes.

PUMC Sept 16, 2007 Luke 15:1-10

Have you ever been lost? I don’t mean lost in the way that Steve Fosset has been lost right now and people are trying to find him and his plane. And I don’t mean lost in the woods or lost in Minneapolis and St Paul , the way I usually get lost taking the wrong turn.I suppose I gotta learn my way to Hamline now.
I mean lost. And I know that here in the church we could talk about lost souls and being spiritually lost...we know that kind of language and we could talk about the ways we can get lost in drugs or alcohol or some abusive living...some destructive behavior.
Of course you can get lost that way but I’m not going talk about that kind of lost.

And I know we can get also get lost in America with all our stuff and the rat race and a consumer lifestyle. We get lost in the ‘me first values’ and “we are number one” kind of thinking. And that’s another way to get seriously and spiritually lost but I want to bring this closer to home... as in ‘the church”...do you get lost... in the church ?
I don’t mean this building ... but in the church,, as people of God?
Do you ..do we, ever get lost.?

I think we do... I’ve been there.. I have been lost. I’ve seen a lot of people get lost right in the church life.

You hardly know its happening until you realize you’re just not where you should be.

Lost, as in missing the point ; lost as in not being close to Jesus.
As in lost our way with Jesus .Ever been lost?
There is a story told by Fred Craddock,
a retired minister from the UMC seminary at Emory University in Atlanta.
He tells about reading for the first time, Albert Schweitzer’s book,
Quest for the Historical Jesus.
Craddock said he was about twenty years old when he read that famous book.
As he read it he thought, “This Christology is weak material.He read through the book.
He marked it up, crossed out paragraphs, put big question marks in the margins. He said that he was very critical. Then.. not long after he read the book, he heard that Schweitzer was coming to this country.
He was coming to play a dedication concert on a new organ in a big church up in in Cleveland.
Now remember, Schweitzer was a philosopher, a theologian, a concert organist,
a medical doctor, and a pastor.
Fred Craddock was down in Knoxville, Tennessee.
So he got a ticket on the Greyhound Bus going from Knoxville to Cleveland.
He said that all the time he was on the bus
traveling up there
he had his book out, and he was going over his notes again.
He had a pad of paper with him and he was writing down questions.
He had the page references in his notes so that when he had a chance to talk with Schweitzer, he could say,

“On page so and so, you said this, and I don’t believe it,”
and then follow that up with,
“On page so and so, you said this, and that contradicts the other.”
Things like that. Oh.. He was ready.
He went to the concert.... It was a great concert. When it was over
he ran into the fellowship hall, and he sat down in the front row,
the announcement had said that there would be a time of refreshment and fellowship afterwards. He had all his questions laid out in his lap.
Finally Schweitzer walked in. with shaggy hair,
a big, white mustache,
stooped over, ...seventy-five years old
He was carrying a little cup of tea and a little plate with a couple of goodies on it.
Schweitzer walked up to the microphone in front of the room,
and said,
“You have been so kind to me, so hospitable.
I thank you very much. I can’t stay very long.
You see I operate a little medical clinic down in Lambarene in Africa.
My people are there. My people are dying. My people are hungry.
My people are diseased. I need to go back.
If any of you here have the love of Jesus in you, would you consider coming with me?”
Craddock said he looked at the questions in his lap.
They were utterly stupid.
He said, “In that moment I was changed.
I knew what it was to be a Christian, and I hoped someday I would be.”

You hear that.?
He had gotten lost but then realized that he was lost and he wanted to be found
he got found!
Ever been lost like that ?
Lost in all our little church head trips and lost in our debates of theology and doctrine
and politics and so on
and who’s right, and who is really right and who’s just plain wrong
....lost in our self importance..and our opinions but in the mean time
we are not quite loving Jesus and doing the love of Jesus; answering the call.,,,finding the lost.., healing . Feeding, teaching, serving,
You see that’s the kind of lost

that I think Jesus is getting us to see in those scribes or those pharisees as they are stereotyped in the gospels. Maybe we get lost.. like they get lost...
They maybe had a lot of pious and moral talk but did they care about that tax collector ?

Im sure they had all kinds of reasons why they should not want them:
Those traitors; those money grabbers.. those godless puppets of Rome
So they had their reasons. But they didn’t have the love of God.

Who is really lost here in these verses?

And those sinners well..still,
they are sinners.. Sin is sin...Outcasts..

They’re just not right.
But you see that’s who Jesus Found,and loved and ate with, welcomed.. tax collectors and sinners

Jesus didn’t get lost.
I think sometimes we get lost..

How about this?
These two stories are about finding this one who got lost;like finding that one lost sheep
Leave the 99. Now before you think that this shepherd is foolish; remember ,probably that shepherd had help with a flock that size. So the 99 were not left alone . But that one that got lost
was valued and missed and so the shepherd goes looking until he finds it ,,,,until he finds it!
And the story of the woman with the coin ;
Same point . You don’t just say “Well I can afford to lose that coin I still got 9"
I got 90% ..it s only a 10 percent loss.

That’s not the lesson!
What I hear in these parables is that there are no acceptable losses
Everyone counts..
No exclusion
no omission
no de- valuing
no acceptance of loss
Do you believe that?

I heard a story about an inner city pastor who was leading a visitor through the church on a day when they were feeding homeless men
in the dining hall. The guests were lined up in the hallway waiting for lunch
as the pastor led the visitor through the building, introducing her to some of the men.

He said, “We are in the business of saving souls here.”
And the woman, looking at these scruffy looking men, said,
“Oh, I can see that. .. They certainly need it.” And the pastor said to her
“Well.. No, ,,,not their souls, I mean our souls”…(from hardness of heart.)
Ever been lost like that ?
because we starting thinking of some people as acceptable losses
we start over-looking people People who don’t fit
they fall between the cracks they just don’t get it..
They are not our type
its there own fault..the unworthy
well
at least we got the nine and the ninety
that’s enough
but what happens to my heart and my soul
and the soul of a church
the soul of a community
when we as start accepting ..."acceptable losses"

We get lost
we lose our souls;our sensitivity; our deepness in grace,
when we stop caring, stop reaching, stop looking,
stop valuing, and treasuring any person.
If we dismiss or ignore a segment of our society
well....

This is one of those slippery slopes...if they are somehow worth-less;
Do I have to help them?
Do they have equal rights?
Do I have to even keep them around?
"They are a burden on society"

you see that slippery slope?
we don’t want them..Get rid of them
then our souls are in danger of being lost
the soul of America is in danger of being lost

Statistically
you know the rich are getting richer
and the poor are getting poor
are we ,,in the name of God
..ok with that?
Acceptable losses?

Can Christians ignore the poverty in the world
the refugees ..the wars
the Aids pandemic....as acceptable losses

Are we ok with that?

Some people do get left out ...just from this church life

some people have never been personally invited by anyone
to come to church
and experience a community of faith hope and love

are we ok with that ?
some people have never heard a real loving version of the story of Jesus
are we ok with that?
Do we settle for "acceptable losses"?

You know the old saying “Good enough, is the enemy of excellence.

Jesus is giving a us a picture of the greatness of God
Jesus in this gospel lesson teach us about excellence in ministry
excellence in evangelism
excellence in love
by finding even that last one

the pharisees in this story did “ good enough”
they settled for ‘good enough” ...got a few

Jesus... the excellent way..gets em all...all the sheep ..all the coins
in amazing grace says
I want you all
God loves you all.

With Fullness ....completely
until he finds it
Enough said..

Ever been lost.? In the church
How about in the middle of a meeting?

Now I know we’ve all been to church meetings where we go a little off the subject and
you are not exactly following the agenda.

We get talking about the weather; (“you know they got snow on Friday morning up in Merrifield and Nisswa ?!”)

and well
you get talking about this and that and so and so..
Say.. did you here about that football game that Michgian lost?

Well now that's distracted.
Or maybe...
we get lost in some project
Three times I was in a church
when we were picking church carpeting..
(it was easy here..no problem )

But it got almost bad.. one time at another church
....purple or red?
Do you think Jesus cares about the color of a carpet? Unless there some environmental or ethical reason?)
I don't think Jesus cares, unless we get lost in the carpet!

In a church I think that when you lose the big picture and you get lost in all these little things

then you’ve lost track
you get lost.when you forget what we are really here for

We are here to form our lives , in the life of Jesus,
to be disciples

9I said last week I was going to talk about expectations again..so there I just did)

We are here in Park church to let the love of God happen in and through us.

to find the lost and if we don’t do that we are getting lost
that means
that
Lets say the finance committee ;
if you think its your job to just balance the budget
and read the reports
and keep l the expenses down
well then you got lost
Because really
its about growing money for ministry..
Helping us to become giving and generous people
Its about dedicating our gifts. Faithfully.. For the work of God.
If you lose sight of that... then you got lost.
Now we know that in our finance committee.

..Or evangelism; we know that it s not just getting people to sign up and be new church members and its not just advertising. Its reaching out to people
and connecting them to a faith community so they can grew as disciples of Jesus Christ..Lose that in the church and your lost.

Sunday school..we know we are not just entertaining the kids;.we are telling the stories of Jesus and his love.
.
Choir you are not here just to entertain us and sound good
and do your music thing .
its music ministry...praising God .
Forget that and your lost.
Trustees ...they know its not just making sure the building looks good
Its having a good building
that houses a good ministry...its making space for Jesus to use.


Don’t lose that in the church
its the vision. It is the call
It’s where were supposed to be.

Are you there or are you off lost somewhere else?

Henri Nouwen said something that helps me from getting so lost
he said

“The question which must guide all organizing activity in a parish..(in a church)
is not how to keep them busy but how to keep them from being so busy
that they no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence.’


Whats he saying? We cant get so busy that we don’t listen prayerfully to the quiet voice, the calling, the guidance of God.

That’s how you get lost
when you are not listening
when you cant hear where God is,
and where you are called to be ,

What if we kept a practice of listening in prayerful silence
and scripture , at every meeting, every function of the church.....
spent time with that question
to guide us---
God ,are we
where you put us.?
.Are we going to be where you want us to be?
Are we with you?

You see, then you are not lost.
when we are living the Christ life of love
we are not lost
when we care about everyone .with no exception
then we are not lost
when we listen to God
we wont be lost.

Praise be to God who finds the lost.


1)Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories, Mike Graves and Richad F. Ward, eds. (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 125-126. I adapted the version also from Jim Standiford, First UMC San Diego

2) I picked up the story about the inner city pastor from a sermon by Jack Harnish at First UMC Birmingham MI (Beth's hometown church. My mother in law sends me the sermons!)

3 ) Nouwen...Way of the Heart