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Chris Bellefeuille
St. Barnabas Lutheran Church
Plymouth, MN
1
Timothy 1:12-17
Luke
15:1-10
When I was about 8 years
old I got lost in the Sears store in St. Cloud. One minute I was next
to my mom looking at something or other and the next minute she was
gone. Luckily there was a service counter nearby where I could ask for
help. They took me to the manager’s office and pretty soon I heard my
parent’s names being called over the loudspeaker. “Will Keith and
Natalie Bellefeuille please report to the manager’s office?” I waited
stoically until I saw my mom. Then I burst into tears, howling; “I was
l-l-lost!”
Isn’t it funny that it does
not always occur to us that we are lost until we are found! Up until
then I was a little anxious but I was okay. Things worked out just the
way my parents and teachers said they would. I knew to find a safe
adult. They responded calmly and kindly. They found my parents. Happy
ending. But I had been lost. I knew it to the very core of my being.
The next day or two were filled with wild imaginings about what
horrors could have befallen me had I been in a less benevolent place
than the St. Cloud Sears store.
Looking back on it, I am
compelled to reflect on the other times that I did not realize I was
lost until I had been found. Discovering God in a new way my freshman
year in college. When a relationship ended and I felt set free. When I
left a particular work environment. When I found out what work God was
really calling me to do. Things hadn’t been bad. I was pretty okay.
But things were so much better after having been found.
Take a moment and think
about a time that you were found. Perhaps you knew you had been lost
all the while. But maybe you did not discover it until you had been
found. What was that like for you? Did you feel the freedom and the
joy that comes with being found? What was it like to reflect back and
realize that you had been lost?
Jesus is talking about
those that are lost: the sheep, the coin and the sinner. But notice
who Jesus is talking. Jesus is telling this story to the tax
collectors and the sinners. Much to the irritation of the Pharisees,
Jesus is once again focusing on the lowest, the least and the lost.
And Jesus is telling the lowest, the least and the lost that he will
go to any length to find them.
Most of us have heard this
bible story many, many times. And we have talked about ways to reach
out the lost around us, to bring all of Jesus’ sheep into the fold.
But this morning I want you to take a little time to be the lost sheep
or the lost coin. Some of you might bristle at that…proclaiming: “I’m
not lost! I’m here, in church! What is Pastor Chris up to with this?
Is she implying that I am lost and unaware of it? Wouldn’t I know if I
were lost?” But bear with me. I want you to think not just about what
it means to be lost but about why Jesus cares so much about finding
you? And I mean YOU!
By now many of you have
heard or seen something about “Centered Life.” Centered Life is an
initiative of Luther Seminary. And like churches of many denominations
across the country, St. Barnabas is making the commitment to become a
Centered Life church. To be a Centered Life church means we believe
that all people are called to do God’s work in every aspect of their
lives – in their homes, in their workplaces and in their communities.
And we believe it is the responsibility of the congregation to help
you uncover your gifts, identify your calling and support you as you
live out your faith everyday in the world.
So what does Centered Life
have to do with being a lost sheep? Well, let’s take a look at the
letter to Timothy that was read this morning. The author writes: “I am
grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he
judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was
formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence. [Even
though I was lost] I received mercy…and the grace of our Lord
overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the
foremost, I am the most lost. But I received mercy, so that in me, as
the most lost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making
me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal
life.”
The write of this letter
understands profoundly what it means to be lost and what it means to
be found. He was not found simply to be counted among the flock. He
was found that he might serve. He has a role to play in the kingdom of
God. He is necessary to the kingdom. Jesus sought him. Jesus brought
him back. There is a direct connection between being found and serving
God.
Now most of us do not think
of ourselves as the absolute worst kind of sinner. But at some point
in our lives we have felt like the lowest, the least or the lost. The
point Jesus makes in the story of the coin and the sheep is the same
point made in the letter to Timothy. Everyone is necessary to the
kingdom, even the lowest, the least and the lost. After all, that is
exactly who Jesus is talking to here. If even the worst sinner is
gifted and called, if the sinners and tax collectors are sought,
certainly each of us would also be gifted and called. Jesus finds us
and returns us to the fold for a reason, for a purpose. Jesus wants to
judge us faithful and appoint us to his service. Jesus wants to pour
his grace into us so that we might be made an example to those who
would come to believe in him for eternal life.
This should not be a source
of stress for you. The idea of being a Centered Life church is not to
make you feel you are not doing enough, that you need to sign up for
things and serve on committees. The point of being a Centered Life
church, as we will discover in these next few weeks, is to help you
understand that you have each been gifted and called with a holy
calling and you can serve God in the regular activities of your daily
work and you can serve God in the regular activities of your daily
lives.
Jesus seeks you out not
because he likes round numbers, not just to count you among the fold.
Jesus seeks you out and finds you because you each have a unique role,
a unique ministry in the kingdom. From the lowest, the least and the
lost to those who feel they might be on pretty firm footing. Each of
you is being sought. You have been forgiven and washed in grace so
that you might be able to live as found people.
Seven years ago I entered
seminary because I was called by God to serve God’s church and God’s
world in a particular way. I can tell you now that I was found. I was
being carried back across the shepherd’s shoulders, grasped as the
woman grasped the coin. Being returned to where I belonged. God gifted
me. God called me. God has appointed me to God’s service.
A friend of mine liked her
job in an insurance company but felt she would have to look outside
the workplace for a way to serve God. The thought of adding more to
her already burdened schedule was overwhelming. Then through prayer
and conversation with her faith-based small group, she realized that
by being an outstanding employee, a naturally gifted leader, a fair
boss and a woman of faith, she was serving God in her daily work at
the insurance company. Suddenly she too felt found, and discovered
that she had been appointed to serve right where she was.
Some of you already know
how you have been gifted and called to serve. Some of you are
struggling to discover your gifts and your callings. A few weeks from
now each of you will have a chance to share your feedback with us
anonymously. You will be able to let us know what we can do to
celebrate the way you are serving or you can let us know how we can
help you discover your own gifts and callings.
God sought you out and
celebrates finding you because God has work for you to do in this
kingdom. You have been gifted and called to serve. You have received
grace, mercy and forgiveness so that you can be an example to those
who would come to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life. It is no
wonder that there is joy in heaven as each one of us is found.
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