Luke 15:1-10; Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

There’s an old story that I think is still funny. The phone rings and a little boy answers in a whisper: “Hello?” The caller says: “Hi, is your Mommy there? “Yes!”
“Can I talk to her?” “No!”
“Why not?” “She’s busy.”

“What about your Daddy, can I talk to him?” “No! He’s busy.”
“Well, is there anyone else there?” “My little sister.”
“Is there anyone else there? Another adult?” “Uh… The police.”

“Can I talk to one of them?” “No, they’re busy.”
“Is there anyone else there?” “Yes, the firemen.”
“Can I talk to one of them?” “No, they’re busy, too.”

Caller: “Good heavens, your whole family’s busy, the police and fire departments are there and they’re busy! What’s everybody doing?”

The little boy giggled and whispered: “They’re looking for me.”

Do you remember those days when you played hide-and-seek with your children? When I played it with Jonathan and Elizabeth, most of the time, I could find them easily. I remember one time when Jonathan hid so well that I couldn’t find him. I think he was about two-years old. I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find him. Finally I gave up and went on to something else, leaving him in his hiding place. It turned to a dinner time and Rachel said “Dinner is ready.” Every one of us was around the dinner table except Jonathan. Rachel said again “Jonathan, dinner is served… come out.” I joined Rachel, calling him out, “Jonathan, you won the game, we can’t find you. Now, please, come out.” I repeated the same sentence several times. But, he still didn’t come out and, by this time, I was irritated and got almost angry at him, finally shouted, “Get found, Jonathan!” Only then, I realized I scared him and totally broke up the game.

By the way, where do you think he was hiding? He was hiding in the laundry hamper. He fell asleep in the hamper that’s why he didn’t come out.
Do you think I was happy or angry when he finally came out of his hiding place? I was very happy to see him. He was only hiding and he had never been lost, but I was happy to see him. Imagine, how happy I would be if he was lost and finally found?

In the gospel lesson today, we heard two stories about lost things being found. In the first, a sheep is separated from the flock. It finds its way back through the love of the shepherd who searches until he finds it. There is a joyous reunion when it is carried home on the shepherd’s back. In the second, a small silver coin is separated from a woman’s headdress. The woman does not give up until she finds the coin. When she finds it, she rejoices with her neighbors.

I believe that we can all relate in some way to the stories. No matter how many times I hear them there is something I sense about myself, about the times I have felt lost. Last week, I heard some crying voices, “MOMMY…,” from our preschool. Of course, it was the first week and for some of our boys and girls, it was not easy to be separated from their loving parents. Teachers took them to the playground, but it didn’t work. They kept crying, “MOMMY.” I noticed that none of them cried out, “Daddy.” Isn’t that interesting? Anyway, I remember the terrible fear I felt as a small child when I suddenly found myself separated from my parents, all alone in a big frightening street surrounded by many strangers. I looked everywhere in a complete panic. What a wonderful feeling when I finally saw my father’s familiar face. How perplexing when he didn’t even know I was lost! Those feelings of panic come back to me at other times in my life when I feel lost and lose hope. There are times in each of our lives when we have become lost in our journey. We have all faced times in our lives when God has seemed far away.

I find it reassuring to see myself as that little sheep draped over the shepherd’s shoulder being carried safely home. My panic at discovering myself all alone and in need is over. The good shepherd is there to guide, to comfort, and to restore. And the rest of the flock is there to rejoice at my safe return.

Yes, we all can relate to these stories. Now, let us further reflect on the lesson and bear with me because the subject is somewhat heavy to deal with. Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees and scribes who were grumbling about the kind of people he kept company with. It seems Jesus had an extraordinary attraction for the alienated of society, the sinners, the harlots, those in real need. It annoyed the so-called righteous. They saw people in terms of their sins. It made them feel even more righteous. And Jesus challenged that with these stories. Jesus reminded them of what is important, of what God is about – by telling them the parables we heard this morning.

Instead of giving you a theological lecture on this text, I would like to tell you another parable; it is told by Henri Nouwen and it concerns an old man who used to meditate each day by the Ganges River in India.

One morning he saw a scorpion floating on the water. When the scorpion drifted near the old man he reached to rescue it but was stung by the scorpion. A bit later he tried again and was stung again, the bite swelling his hand painfully and giving him much pain. Another man passing by saw what was happening and yelled at him. “Hey, stupid old man, what’s wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?”

The old man calmly replied, “My friend, just it is in the scorpion’s nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save.”

It is in God’s nature to save – because God is love. God seeks the lost, heals the wounded, forgives the offender, and gives hope to those who are in despair. It is what God does. It matters not that “WE” might be scorpions. On the other hand, we might believe that “THEY” are scorpions – this is a big “they,” (you know) “us vs. them”… those who different from us… religiously, culturally, ethnically, sexually, and economically different from us. Even those who have different world view or opinion. We might believe that they are truly scorpions – but (you know what?) God still saves them and keeps them.

Did you watch CNN Special Present, God’s Warriors, several years ago? Jewish warriors, Muslim warriors, and Christian warriors, they are all fundamentalists and they are all do not hesitate to kill in the name of their own God. It is sad… so, sad! Actually, it is tragic to have such a belief system that developed thousands years ago when human-beings had a very limited concept of god, that is, a god of their own tribe. Have you ever shocked to read the Old Testament in which god ordered to kill everyone in the village? Please, don’t be confused. This is a tribal god. When the OT was written, people did not know anything about the universal God we believe in. And one of the characteristics of the tribal god is that it is a god of warriors.

Old Testament lesson for today is from Jeremiah chapter 4: “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”

Speaking of Jeremiah, you probably recall after the 9/11 attacks (by the way, last Wednesday was the 18th anniversary. Can you believe it? It’s been 18 years!), some of fundamentalist preachers in this land proclaimed to all the world that the attacks were God’s judgment on America for our toleration of a list of social positions that were in conflict with their own, for example, gay rights, abortion, and stem-cell research, etc.

What was your response to those remarks? Or, how would you respond?
As you can surmise, I believe their position was outrageous and abominable – the events of 9/11 are certainly not a reflection of the God I have come to know in scripture, in experience, and certainly not in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. For that matter, it is not even the Allah that is met in the pages of the Qu’ran, either.

The God we meet in the pages of the Gospel is not this vicious, violent Warrior God that some people want us to see. Instead, we meet a very different God in the stories of Jesus like the ones that we read in our lesson.

In which God is your faith? A God who sends airplanes into buildings because he or she is displeased? Or a God who is SO concerned about our ultimate welfare that the safe return of even the lowest and least among us is cause for a heavenly party? Not a hard choice, is it?

God wants us to appreciate the fact that God’s mercy is not limited to a select few. We believe in the universal God. According to Paul Tillich, it is “God above gods.” We believe in the God above all religions. May this faith in God above gods save the world and help all of us to live in a better and peaceful world! Amen.