Luke 15:1-7, Second Week DMin

In the very short story that we have before us today we participate in a celebration, a banquet, that is so much greater and grander than any celebration we can put on ourselves. There are so many people invited, so many people come. How do we get there? How do we get from a lost sheep to a grand, joyful, party?

The sheep is lost. It has wandered off, ninety-nine sheep left behind, and the shepherd goes out to find that one darned sheep. The shepherd looks and looks and finally there it is. The shepherd wraps this sheep in his arms, cradles it across his shoulders, tucked around his neck, where the shepherd can feel it’s heartbeat, slowing with every step, calming with every assurance, you’ll be ok, I’ve got you now.

Have you ever felt like that one who is lost? Have you ever wandered, wondered, if you would ever be found again, scooped up in the arms of anyone who loves you? You may know what that embrace feels like. But maybe not, maybe that return and embrace is yet to come. The one who waits, the shepherd, Jesus, anticipates your return.

Food, fun, frivolity. Celebrations just are not celebrations without gathering together around food, and the people who matter to us. The last thing I did before I came to spend these three weeks with you was our parish picnic. You know those picnic potlucks, overflowing with food enough for hundreds. We had to pull out more tables for all the food. We celebrate around food. Come we say, come and help us celebrate our graduations, our births, our comings and our goings. Come, and help us celebrate life, and death. Come, and help us celebrate our joys and sorrows. Come and let’s celebrate our turning and returning. Come to this table, you are expected, you are welcome. I think God’s celebrating at that one found sheep.

Don’t you hate that feeling of loosing someone in a crowd? The initial panic of  “Where’d he go?” followed immediately by “Oh my God he’s lost!” Even when it’s just for a minute. We were at the Minnesota State Fair, many of you know what those crowds are like. Up near machinery hill, playing on the Rainbow Playsets, and all of a sudden our son is gone. We panic, and look desperately for him, convinced someone has snatched him and run off with him. And the god-awful longest minute later, there he is, running toward us, as panicked as we are, and we snatch him up and hold him tight never to let go again. There is never even a question of leaving the ninety-nine behind, of course I search for the one who is lost.

That one horrible minute of being lost, it’s not about anyone being at fault, it is about the love and compassion in the finding, and in the returning to the arms that enfold, and encourage, and celebrate our return.

That Minnesota State Fair feels like the biggest party on earth. It seems like everyone in the entire state of Minnesota is there, all of humanity is there, all at the same time I am. And the food…the corn on the cob, and the Sweet Martha’s Cookies, and everything imaginable on a stick.

But the party held at the return of the one who was lost, is even bigger and better than the State Fair. Because, like the State Fair, no one is left out, every darn person is invited. You see, there are people at the State Fair I would never have invited to my party, there are people there I would never have eaten a corn dog next to in any other place or at any other time.

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.

When we hear these words, we recall the grumbling and whining of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Why did we leave Egypt, at least there we knew what misery to expect. In this wilderness we are hungry, and we don’t like the food God gives us, we’d really like something else. But Luke shows us that Jesus is trying to get the whole family together at the long ago foretold Abrahamic table, and the invitation is so broad, and wide, and deep, there is no building that can hold the party.

The story of the lost coin, and the story of the lost son, that follow this story of the lost sheep, help us to see how deeply Luke believes that this great feast, this great banquet, this amazing meal, is the portrait of the kingdom of God. In those stories, what was lost is found, what was dead is alive, and the celebration begins. In the third story, the lost son, we never find out if the older son, the one who was loyal and never got himself lost, ever joined in the celebration. He may very well have missed out because he was so angry at his father for welcoming back his brother. Each story shows us an increasing measure of loss and pain. But the measure of that loss and pain is nothing compared to the immensity of the joy of the one who welcomes the lost ones back.

The joy of the one who welcomes back the lost, and the celebration that ensues, shows us what the Kingdom of God looks like. It includes the outcasts and sinners, it includes the expanse of time and space. It includes the fellowship we have around our picnic tables, our Eucharistic tables, and our soup kitchen tables. It includes even the one who would rather not be included.

I’m reminded of a movie I watched with my kids, over and over. Hook, with Robin Williams, the kingdom table is piled high with all the wild and wonderful things that can be imagined. And the people sitting at that table, are lost boys, battered, bruised, lost, and found.

God’s kingdom table is populated with all those who have turned from God, and returned to God. God’s kingdom table is populated with all those younger children who have been reckless, and all those older children who have been loyal. God’s kingdom table is populated with all those who stand on the margins and look in, and those in the center whose gaze is nearsighted. God’s kingdom table is populated with those who wish to be first, and those who are always last. God’s kingdom table is populated with all of us who are scooped up by the joyful, compassionate one, and ride on those shoulders all the way to the celebration. The table is set, the party is ready. Come.