Sermons
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 The Gospel Luke 19: 1-10
Zacchaeus was loathed by the society of Jericho. He was not just a tax collector, but the chief tax collector: he had become rich by taking from his Jewish people and serving the oppressive Roman government. There is an assumption here that he likely skimmed some off the top as well, enriching himself even further. But Zacchaeus was curious. He had heard of this Jesus movement and wanted to know who this Jesus was and what he was about. He was also vertically challenged, so he couldn’t see above the heads of the people in the crowds. So he climbed a tree to get a glimpse of this Jesus fellow and to hear what he had to say. Jesus must have felt Zacchaeus’ presence, because he looked up and invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ not just for dinner but to stay with him. “Zacchaeus hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today.”. None of the righteous people who followed God’s laws were going to invite this guy Zacchaeus to dinner. For us it would be like inviting an oligarch or billionaire whom we knew had made their money by oppressing others. It would be a huge honor to have Jesus stay with you and I am sure there were many in that crowd who hoped their home would be blessed to host Jesus that night but Jesus chose to stay with the billionaire. “What the heck?” the people in the crowd likely grumbled. “This guy is going to stay with a sinner when he could have stayed with me or him or her - the righteous people? Who is this guy?” As they continued to grumble, I imagine they are rethinking the whole idea of this Jesus person. “How can he possibly be righteous if he is going to hang out with this rich man who serves the enemy?” They watched in mock horror as Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree and were shocked when he said to Jesus, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” “Wait, Jesus didn’t say anything except he is going to stay at this man’s house and yet Zacchaeus is already offering half of his possessions to the poor?” I imagine some in the crowd wondering aloud. “He might be poor after he pays back all he has defrauded times four!” another in the crowd might have commented. I imagine that Jesus’ disciples were likely taken aback as well. But I bet they also began to see what Jesus was up to. “Oh, I get it,” one may have leaned towards another to whisper, “our radical leader is changing people through mercy rather than condemnation, again.” Jesus could have come from a place of righteous anger, as so many would, and have called Zaccheus out saying, “Confess sinner! Quit taking from your people to enrich yourself and this oppressive government!” Instead, he led with love by calling Zacchaeus in, likely planning to sit down at the dinner table and talk to him, to help him find a better path. But before he even gets a chance to do that, Zacchaeus’ heart has already been changed by the mere invitation: the honor of hosting Jesus. Zacchaeus immediately offers to share his wealth and to change his ways. This Jesus Effect shows that love and mercy are far more effective than righteous anger, condemnation, and vengeance. Zacchaeus was like the lost sheep in the parable last week. Jesus found him and brought him back into the fold, as he says to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.” And it was not just Zacchaeus who was saved. Mercy and kindness always have a ripple effect: Zacchaeus’ whole family is saved and many poor people benefited from half of this rich man’s wealth. “God has a really bad habit of using people we don’t approve of,” Rachel Held Evans once said adding. “What makes the gospel offensive is not who it keeps out, but who it lets in.” Could we do what Jesus did? Could we show kindness and mercy to people we disagree with, could we let them in? And if we could, might that kindness and mercy build a bridge or possibly inspire change in them, and maybe us? Congressman and Civil Rights Activist John Lewis did show mercy and kindness and one particular story illustrates that very well. As Freedom Riders in 1961, Lewis and others were beaten by KKK members in a bus station in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Forty-eight years later, one of his attackers, Elwin Wilson, asked to meet with Congressman Lewis in Washington. Lewis described the incident in his book, Across that Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America, this way: Wilson had apologized to other Freedom Riders during ceremonies honoring them in South Carolina and had mentioned his wish to find the men he had beaten up that day in Rock Hill. I welcomed him to Washington and as we sat, Wilson looked deep into my eyes, searching my expression, and said he was the person who had beaten me in Rock Hill in May of 1961. He said, “I am sorry about what I did that day. Will you forgive me?” Without a moment of hesitation, I looked back at him and said, “I accept your apology.” The man who had physically and verbally assaulted me was now seeking my approval. This was a great testament to the power of love to overcome hatred. Wilson has said publicly that he is glad to be able to count me as a friend today, and he has expressly mentioned his gratitude that we did not press charges that day. His life and the life of his family could have been changed forever if South Carolina had actually tried and convicted him. But beyond that, had he been tried, it would have added a layer of justification to the rationalization that always accompanies guilt. If he had been publicly vindicated, which would have been the likely outcome, it would have been more difficult for him to come to the point where he eventually believed an apology was in order, and more difficult for him to feel love. Elwin Wilson also said that he was glad we did not have any weapons that day. If Albert Bigelow and I had inflicted harm in Rock Hill, we would have fueled the flames of violence instead of putting them out. Any sense of remorse would have had to compete with the fire of anger. Instead of a possible reconciliation, revenge would have been the product of that violent confrontation in Rock Hill. But because we met this man in love and offered him our respect despite his obvious hatred, it gave him nothing to justify his anger. He left that day only to review it in his mind so many times over the years. The resonance of our innocence made room in his own soul for the realization that he needed to ask for forgiveness. I was surprised to hear him clearly restate forty-eight years later the essence of what I had said to the police officer as I declined to press charges almost half a century earlier: “We’re not here to cause trouble. We’re here so that people will love each other.” That was how he put it. The impact we left was undeniable. Lewis did not call Wilson out in 1961 or in 2009 even though he had every right to. It certainly would have been righteous anger for the beating he received for his peaceful protest as he sought equity for people of color in our country. He expressed instead, the essence of calling in, “We’re here so that people will love each other.” Lewis and the other civil rights protesters led with love and received hate yet they planted a seed that grew into our civil rights laws and, after many years, grew a changed heart for Elwin Wilson and, hopefully, others. Jesus and John Lewis called people in rather than out and that made all the difference. There will always be people we disagree with. There will probably always be people who lead with hate rather than love. But that is not who we are called to be. Jesus is calling us in. He is showing us through the model of his life to lead with love, mercy, and kindness as John Lewis did. Their actions remind us that everyone has a story and we do not know all those stories. By calling people in, inviting them to the table, we might just learn something that changes them and us. Consider who you might call in. Rather than attacking in anger, even righteous anger or judging someone over a difference or a mistake, imagine sharing a dinner with them. Eating with someone, sharing a table, is an intimate act, especially if you invite the person into your home. Not everyone is invited in. It is a lot of work to clean, prepare the food, and consider conversation topics. Picture eating with someone whose ideological and spiritual beliefs are very different from your own, maybe even polar opposite. Where might you find common ground? Maybe in enjoying the food or talking about your families? Picturing that alone, even if we never have the opportunity to do it, forces us to acknowledge their humanity, to consider ways to build bridges. Actually doing it, gives us a chance to better understand others and help them better understand us. Mercy and kindness plant seeds even if those seeds take many years to grow as John Lewis learned. Jesus planted many seeds by calling people in through his mercy and we are called to do so as well. At a recent protest, someone who had different views from the protesters drove by and yelled something negative. One of the protesters yelled back, “We love you anyway!” Love anyway - that is the Jesus way. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain (John Lewis photo provided by Wikipedia)
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 Old Testament Reading Ezekiel 34: 11-16
The Gospel Luke 15: 1-7 As we know, our amazing musician Terry is also a shepherd. Terry knows her sheep - she can tell the different voices of each one. One night she was awakened by the sound of a sheep calling. She knew exactly which one it was, Dolly, who was in distress. Terry put on her bathrobe, muck boots, head lamp and work gloves, then grabbed the fencing tool and headed out to help Dolly. She didn’t know where she was but she called out to her and Dolly answered, guiding Terry to where she was stuck on the other side of the fence near the swamp where coyotes often range. It took Terry quite a bit of work to get Dolly back to the safe pasture. As Terry worked, Dolly bleated her gratitude and joyfully joined her fellow ewes when she was safely back. Dolly is just one of many sheep Terry has had. It was not fun getting up in the middle of the night to have to work hard to get her back, but Terry didn’t think twice about what she needed to do. Dolly needed her and Terry was there to guide her back to the safety of the flock. Of course this was not the only time Terry had to help a sheep. A good shepherd, as Terry is, always does what she can and always welcomes the wayward sheep back. The Bible has at least 78 references to shepherds and over 100 to sheep. Of course sheep are useful for their wool, meat, and even milk but they must be cared for to be useful. They must be protected from predators, fed, and watered. In the winter they must be kept warm. In the summer, they must be moved to green pastures and sheared. Being a shepherd is an important job. Sheep are valuable and you do not want to lose any of them. So Jesus shares the parable of the shepherd and the single lost sheep to show the value of each individual. Once again, Jesus turns conventional wisdom on its head when he says, “ Which 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?” I mean, it seems a little negligent to leave 99 sheep in the wilderness to go after one doesn’t it? Jesus didn’t say leave 99 in the safe pasture and go after the one lost in the wilderness. And while Jesus may have been a bit hyperbolic here in relation to the 99 that he leaves, his point is clear: every single one of those sheep is worthy and, if only one really needs you at a given time, you go after that one, not worrying about the others who are not lost. When you find the one who was lost - you celebrate! I think what Jesus is trying to point out here is that it is not so much the taxpayers and sinners who are lost, after all, they have come to hear Jesus speak. But instead it is the scribes and Pharisees who are lost. They don’t want these people they consider “outcasts” around them or Jesus. Those righteous Pharisees and scribes who supposedly followed all the rules and lived good lives looked down on the others and did not want them sitting in the same space, let alone sharing a meal with them. They did not stop there either, they judged Jesus for welcoming those tax collectors and sinners and eating with them. They could not believe the company he kept. It is not ok to just accept most people, to help most people just not those people who somehow are not like us or who have made bad choices or mistakes or are too needy due to illness, habits, war, violence or disaster. Jesus does not exclude those tax collectors and sinners that the others did not really want in the synagogues or at the prayer meetings. Jesus was just listening for and bringing back the lost sheep. And it worked! “The tax collectors (who were likely taking more than their share thus sinning) and sinners were coming near to listen to” Jesus. They were coming back into the safe pasture, welcomed by Jesus the shepherd but the Scribes and Pharisees were more happy with their exclusive green pasture - they did not want to make room for more, especially those whom they deemed as lesser. That is just not how God works. In the Ezekiel scripture God is taking over as the shepherd of Israel because the previous shepherds or leaders were failing. In an earlier portion of Chapter 34 in verses 1-6 the prophet says, “The Word of the Lord came to me: Mortal prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them–to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.” So God stepped in and said he would gather the sheep from all their scattered countries and bring them into good safe, nourishing pastures - bringing back the lost and healing the sick. As we consider this, we might look for guidance to the last stanza in Rev Sarah Speed’s poem, “The Good Shepherd”: She says in reference to Jesus’ parable: “But maybe God was not talking about us. / Maybe God was talking about / her own reckless love. / Maybe God was talking about / her own willingness / to turn the world upside down / for me.” God is willing to turn the world upside down for each and every one of us unique sheep. All humans are God’s sheep no matter what they look like, where they live and how they act; they are all God’s sheep and God will turn the world upside down to support them. That is exactly what Jesus was doing with the sinner and tax collectors and the example that he is trying to set for the Pharisees, Scribes and all of us. You see, we are all called to be Good Shepherds and not just to the sheep we know and like. We are called to welcome in any lost sheep just as God looks for us when we are lost at various points in our lives and celebrates when we come back. We are also called as shepherds to reach outside of our own pastures: across borders and political divisions, across artificial boundaries that we humans create to exclude and isolate rather than invite and welcome. We are called to help all those in need, not just those in our own community or country. We are called to create allies and support them in this sheep herding work to make sure that all are fed, all are sheltered, all are safe and all have access to medical help and the chance to heal. There are many ways that we can be welcoming, caring, supportive, healing shepherds. One way we will do that today is by contributing towards the One Great Hour of Sharing offering which helps refugees and people struck by disasters - those without a safe pasture and shelter. If today you are feeling like a lost sheep, know that God is looking for you to heal you, feed you, and welcome you home. And, if you are not feeling lost, then you are called to be one of God’s good shepherds. Like Terry, we might have to get up out of our warm comfortable beds or chairs to help out a lost, hungry or injured sheep. That is what it means to follow God’s example of radical acceptance and welcoming, nurturing, healing love for all sheep. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain |
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