Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: God's Everlasting Mercy Searches for Us

Today's Scripture Verses

Exodus 32:7-14 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said,
`These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation."

But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, `It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm 51 (BCP., p.656)


1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NRSV)

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. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 15:1-10 (NRSV)

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."

So he told them this parable: "Which one 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? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Blog Reflection

Of all the things that people spend money and time on, none is more precious than searching for someone who's been lost.  Children who were separated from their biological parents have searched to find their birth mother and/or father, because they just want to know them.  People who get separated from their loved one's and want to know where they are, will go at great lengths to be reunited.  

God, our Creator, though humankind still refuses to grow up in our love for God, our neighbor and ourselves, still searches for us.  Our sins that keep us from growth spiritually and socially hurt God very much.  God does not force God's will upon any of us.  God gave us the opportunity to chose growth in grace, or to remain as stubborn children.  Yet, even our decision does not stop God from loving us so much.  God still remains faithful to us, and waits for us to turn back to God.  Not just as a matter of personal spiritual growth, but in our relationships with one another.

The Christian Faith is not a religion that is all to ourselves. Our Faith is about community.  As Christians we share our lives of faith with others in this world, including those who do not share our particular world view.  Yet, we live by faith and not by sight.  In other words, what we believe and practice in our worship and prayer, needs to become how we live.  If as the hymn says; 'There's a wideness in God's mercy..." then why are the hearts and arms of Christians so narrow?

The readings for this weekend are all about God's transforming grace & everlasting mercy.  They invite us into relationship with our God and one another, so to experience and share that mercy.    It is so easy to be the recipients of God's wonderful works, and then forget what God has done and put other things between us and God.  The Israelites in Exodus, did just that.  God's anger was so roused. Yet, Moses interceded for them, and God's mercy was abundant. God's generosity was extended.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us that no one is so horrible a sinner, that He will not search for them and bring them back to safety.  We are all like that sheep who get lost, or the coin that is missing, and God gives up everything God has to find us, and bring us back into redeemed relationship with God through Christ.  All of us are counted as precious in God's sight to the point that God gave us Jesus Christ so that we may find our way back to God to live holy lives.   To bring comfort to those who mourn.   To feed the hungry, and give company to the lonely.  To welcome the immigrant and help her/him to find their home among us.  To encourage LGBTQ teens to live as they are without the fear of bullying or religious based violence.  To call for an end to the out of control anti-gay violence in Russia.  To call for justice for the oppressed in those who experience racial and gender bias in their jobs, communities and churches.

God's grace and mercy want so much to transform us and the world around us.  God's Holy Spirit gives us God's gifts so that we can be people of mercy and help others find their way to God.  It begins with the ministry of hospitality and reconciliation, through which God's mercy gives new hope to those in despair.  As recipients of God's mercy, we must give praise, honor and glory to God by sharing with others the mercy that we have received. After all, what could be better in our world of violence, oppression and darkness, than to share the Light of God's everlasting mercy in Christ Jesus, our Lord?

Amen.


Prayers

O God, because without you we are not able to please you,
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct
and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen. (Proper 19: Book of Common Prayer. p.233).

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, p.260).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).