A Boundary-Crossing God (Sunday, September 11th, 2016)

Bible Reference(s): Luke 15:1-10

Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn

In an article leading up to this fifteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on our nation, one writer noted that the students entering high school this year were not alive when the event took place.  They are part of the generation that will never know the United States of "before"...before terrorism crossed the oceans in full force, before TSA screenings dictated what you could carry onto an airplane, and before anyone even knew places like Afghanistan existed. However, this is also the generation that has never known a society without access to information on the internet...never known a society without global connections through social media and never known a world in which cell phone video was not immediately available to record, view and share on Youtube.

So on the one-hand these children, and their friends who were too young to remember, will only know about the events of 9/11 based on what other people tell them...yet they will also have unprecedented access to vivid video and commentary that will make it seem as if they themselves were there.  

I often wonder if this is a good thing or not.   Certainly, it's good and important that we remember the events of history, and we must never forget all those who lost their lives that day, but I sometimes wonder if we really need to remember the details so vividly.  Still, I'm certain that all of us have specific images that come to mind on this anniversary date.  For some, it is the image of the planes crashing into the building that you can't shake.  For others it was the sight of people running through the streets of New York, scrambling to get across the bridges.  Many folks remember the sounds of the sirens or the anxiety in the voices of newscasters who were usually as cool as a cucumber.  

Today, in light of the scripture readings, the image that comes to my mind is that of the first responders at Ground Zero.

I'm remembering the images of firefighters and police officers moving toward the destruction while others were trying to run away.  More vividly, I remember the photos and clips of them fervently digging through rubble of concrete and steel as they sought to rescue and save lives...as they worked to find those whose lives were on the verge of being lost.  Like the shepherd who leaves the 99 in order to seek out the one, these men and women left their stations and posts to do what they were trained to do...to rescue...one precious life at a time. 

The first responders in New York City, as well as at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, resembled the shepherd.  They courageously sought to save any and all that they could - without hesitation and without regard to race, gender, religion, socio-economic status or lifestyle.   They impulsively left everything else behind.  And the thing is...they weren't just risking their lives in the moment, they were jeopardizing their entire future too.  You see, not only did the terrorist kill  2,996 people, including 23 NYPD officers and 47 Port Authority officers. Thousands more were wounded.  And, even now, fifteen years later, the toll continues to mount. 

According to the FDNY union statistics, to date, roughly two-thirds of all FDNY first responders have at least one Ground Zero-related health condition — that’s more than 10,000 firefighters. Battalion Chief James Lemonda said over 1,300 members have come down with a form of cancer, nearly 3,800 have gastrointestinal conditions, roughly 5,000 have lower airway ailments and about 5,000 have upper airway illnesses.

But here is the remarkable thing...in a recent interview, Lemonda, who worked at Ground Zero after 9/11, also said, "There’s not one member of our union, of this department, that we have reached out to that ever said they regretted responding down there. Even though they have these terrible illnesses, they all said the same thing: They would do it all over again.” 

So yes, these heroes, and they are most assuredly heroes...exhibited and continue to demonstrate the same radical, sacrificial, encompassing kind of love that Jesus proclaimed to the Pharisees when he told these remarkable parables that we read today.

You see, these stories, as well as the third one in the series -- the Prodigal Son -- were intended for the ears of the Pharisees and scribes who were critical of Jesus.  They did not approve of Jesus' willingness to be with those whom they considered to be the unworthy...the sinners...the lost...so Jesus tells these parables as incredulous illustrations of God's love for the very people they disdained.  All three are shocking stories because they were meant to shock the Pharisees.

Now, honestly, we can't be too harsh on the Pharisees and scribes.  They were well-intended church folks.  They were just trying to do the right things...preserving the religious order and orthodox teachings.  Keeping the laws to the letter and making sure the code of righteousness was preserved.

So of course they were disturbed that Jesus was fraternizing with the tax collectors and sinners.  Who wouldn't be upset by it? These were the unclean...the non-persons...the untrustworthy, undeserving, unlovable outsiders.  It was a genuine assault to their sensibilities that any God-fearing Jew, particularly a teacher or a prophet, would be near sinners, much less have a dinner party with them.  And make no mistake, when we hear that Jesus was eating with sinners...it wasn't like they were just some folks in the same buffet line.  No, eating together meant that they were spending time together - forming relationships and getting to know each other in a real and personal way. 

So clearly, Jesus' actions went against everything the Pharisees and scribes expected or believed to be appropriate.  And so does the God revealed in these parables...against all sense and sensibilities. I mean think about it.  What self-respecting shepherd is going to leave his entire livelihood...his source of security if you will...and put it all at risk to go after the one lost sheep?  Surely everyone who heard this parable knew that even the thought was completely ludicrous.  By all practical sheep-herding standards, any rational shepherd would just cut his losses, be glad for the 99 he had, and let the lost one go. He would never ever leave the others alone.   It would be reckless and foolish.  

So, the possibility that God's love is so radical and persistent that God would do the unexpected to make it known...or that God would pursue the rebellious...or that God would be so worried about the lost that he or she would deliberately "sweep" (or look fervently for) those whose perceived importance was a small as a lost coin...that was unimaginable.   The idea that God would not only welcome back those who, like the prodigal, had wandered way, but that God would be waiting for their return, ready to run out and greet them...well that was inconceivable.  

The Pharisees and scribes expected a God who would behave in a certain way...one that would uphold the righteous and condemn the sinners.  They expected a God who would rule the way they did...one that would exclude the same people they would exclude...one that would dismiss wayward sheep, lost coins and prodigal sons.  The Pharisees, like so many 21st century Christians, expected a God who matched their own image...yet the God revealed by Jesus was anything but. 

The God-figure in each of these parables is one who goes relentlessly searching for the lost.  They reveal a God who is steadfast in the quest and passionate in his approach; a God who cares so deeply about each and every sheep that he is nearly reckless in his desire to restore them to the fold; a God who wants all his sheep...or coins...or children...restored to the place they belong...in the fold, or the purse, or the community.

At the Congo Mission Network Conference that Kendra Whipkey and I attended this week, one of the speakers called God, a boundary-crossing God. He wasn't just referring to geographical boundaries, although clearly God will never be confined by a border wall or fence.  No, friends, the point of this statement was that a God who is willing to cross from the bounds of heaven to dwell among us is a God who will cross over every expectation and border that we erect to confine his love or to exclude and segregate others from it. 

This truth about God's love was so clearly evidenced in the things we learned about the work of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo and PC(USA) mission partners. Kendra and I plan to share more with you in the weeks ahead, but suffice to say we heard story after story, 20+ hours of stories in fact, all of which demonstrated the church's willingness to cross cultural, ethnic, social, political and language boundaries in order to ensure that the vulnerable people of the Congo, and especially the children of the Congo, know that they are loved by God through Jesus Christ.  Perhaps the most beautiful expression of God's boundary crossing love was the way the people of the mission network partnership -- American and Congolese -- worked passionately, diligently, cooperatively and fervently toward action plans for furthering God's kingdom on earth...particularly in the desperately poor Kasai region of the Congo.

One specific and pressing situation arose just this past week, as the group learned of snags with the accreditation and government teacher funding process for some of the Presbyterian church schools.  It's a complicated story but it boils down to the economic crisis in the Eastern Kasai which has delayed school funding...resulting in unpaid teachers walking off the job and therefore forcing five schools to close.  It's was troubling news, throwing everyone for a loop, but Kendra and I are here to vouch that there were mission bulldogs in the room who were like the woman in the parable, unwilling to let any corner be unswept as they searched for ways to rectify this situation.  And honestly, some of the ideas they came up with seemed incredulous to us newcomers...sort of like the shepherd leaving his 99 in search of the one.  Nonetheless, it was evident that the Congo mission partnership takes the idea of a boundary crossing God literally...and is committed to faithfully living as a boundary crossing church in response.  They will not stop until every child has access to education...but more importantly, until each knows that he or she is dearly loved...that they matter to God..and until all rest in the hope and promise of being made whole through Christ. 

And, really, when it comes right down to it, isn't that what it means to go from lost to found?   To go from not knowing God's love and mercy and grace..to being confident and certain of it...to no longer be lost from God because we have been found by God.

Friends, this is the good news of God's grace revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  The grace of a faithful God finds us...no matter where we are.  It is worthy of our rejoicing to know that we serve an unconfined, relentless God who will go to all lengths and risks - even to death on a cross -- for his children to know that we are beloved; and who will not rest until all have been truly found, secure in his love.  Ours is a God who will not give up on the lost...no matter how lost we are...until we KNOW that we are found.

Let's face it, we all get lost now and then...some more regularly than others   Sometimes we are the sheep that innocently strays...sometimes we are the coin that doesn't even know we are lost...and sometimes we're the prodigal son, determined to do things our own way.  I would add, too, that sometimes we are lost like the misguided righteous, lost in our own understanding and image of God.  But most of the time, we are merely humans lost in this experience we call life.

Sometimes we lose our direction...sometimes we lose our faith...sometimes we lose our hope...and sometimes we lose our love.

Being human also means we share a basic human need to be found.

The amazing news of the gospel is that the same relentless, border-crossing, merciful God revealed in Jesus is looking for each one of us.  Even if doesn't make sense.  Even if it seems foolish to do so.  Even though we are undeserving...stubborn...and sometimes just outright wrong.   God is still seeking us and, if you pardon my language, God is hell-bent on finding us.

Friends, everyone is lost at some point.  Some of us are lost as we sit here this morning.  Rejoice in this truth...our one and only hope of being found, whole and loved, is that we have a faithful God who will never stop looking until we are!  Amen.