Oh, You’re back. Now what?

You won’t be surprised to hear that we live in polarized and divided times. Hard lines have been drawn. Some believe the divide is too great to bridge. You have probably seen the social media posts or heard someone say things similar to these¹:

I’ll never forgive those who voted for this.

Being sorry doesn’t mean I have to forgive or forget what they proudly voted for.

I’m not able to look any of those people in the face and not feel anything but derision. …I’m done giving people a pass…”

Are they just too stupid to process information? Sorry I voted for Trump just doesn’t cut it. I hope grave misfortune befalls them and they suffer horribly until the last miserable minute of life. Same for any who voted Red in 2024.

I hope they are ashamed of themselves forever- they are part of the problem not the solution.

It seems to me, in our current political and social situation, that the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, have something to teach us. And it’s a little uncomfortable.

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 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? ⁵And 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 lost sheep.’ 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? And 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.” Luke 10:1-10 NRSVue

Parables almost always have a multitude of meanings, including these two short parables.² We could ask, who is actually responsible for the losing of the sheep and the coin? What responsibility do we, as part of the church and part of society, have for “sheep” who leave, and “coins” that are lost? Who is responsible to go looking for those who have left, or wandered off or who have been overlooked or lost? And when they return, what is our response?

If you substitute your MAGA uncle for the lost sheep or your Christian Nationalist co worker for the lost coin, what do these parables mean? What are they calling us to do?

Luke has set up two familiar groups, “tax collectors and sinners” versus the “Pharisees and scribes”. Even though these categories appear throughout the gospels, we should take a moment to consider these groups. All too often Christians carelessly contrast these groups as the “good followers of Jesus” and the “bad legalistic Jews”. Often Christian interpretations wrongly assume that tax collectors and sinners, were actually the good followers of Jesus, who were cast out of religious spaces and life- by bad, legalistic Pharisees. Let’s read what Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine has to say about this.

“For a first-century Jew, and even for Luke’s Gospel, the tax collectors and sinners are not those who have “abandoned the law” or “denied the covenant.”…The problem with “tax collectors is not that they denied the covenant” it is that they work for Rome and so would be seen by many within the Jewish community as traitors to their own people.

Sinners are not “outcasts”; they are not cast out of synagogues or out of the Jerusalem Temple. To the contrary, they are welcome in such places, since such places encourage repentance. The Gospels generally present sinners as wealthy people who have not attended to the poor. … Thus, in a first-century context, sinners, like tax collectors, are individuals who have removed themselves from the common welfare, who look to themselves rather than to the community.”³

The story begins with tax collectors and sinners who come near to Jesus to listen, and grumbling Pharisees and scribes, who are still concerned about who eats with whom. Dining and banquets reflected and reinforced social hierarchies. These meals mattered to the socially, politically, and religiously connected. Jesus has just spent time explaining how the cultural hierarchies, the rules of honor and shame and expectations of who can repay social obligations do not belong in table hospitality in the Kingdom of God.⁴ Jesus vision is difficult and dangerous. The parables are introduced with Luke telling us that those who would be seated at the lowest position at a banquet- if they are invited at all- are interested and listening. Those who benefit from the status quo and listening and grumbling.

In both parables, Jesus says that it is the responsibility of those in charge -of the flock or the household- to seek out those who have left or been ignored. This is not to be a quick, superficial look glance around the room. They are to put some effort in- to keep seeking. Neither the shepherd nor the woman give up easily. They don’t stop looking. They don’t write off the sheep or the coin as a business loss. They don’t say, “Oh well, I have 99 other sheep.” or “I still have 9 coins, that’s more than most folks.”

When they finally find what they are looking for, notice what they both say. Both do the same thing, they call together their friends and neighbors, saying “Rejoice with me…” for I have found what was lost. Then Jesus says there will be joy in heaven and in the presence of the angels of God over the return of the lost.

Heaven is not only a future place where people go after they die. Heaven is the present place where God reigns and God’s intentions for the world are realized. As Christians we try to create space where heaven can show up, where it can break in, be present, and change our lives and our world. The rejoicing and joy that Jesus talks about are not far off future events. When someone turns around and returns to life in the perplexing and often difficult way of Jesus, we are to rejoice.

People wonder if we should try to be reconciled with people with whom we have significant disagreements. Are there people we should just give up on? The entire topic of forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation is complex and needs careful consideration.⁵ Forgiveness is not automatic. Sometimes reconciliation and resumed relationships are not possible. In situations of abuse or harm people need to think about their safety and the safety of others. Some Christian Nationalists have beliefs that are transphobic, homophobic, misogynistic, or racist- or all of these. And they can advocate for policies and laws that actively harm people. We need to be careful, and wise. We need to attend to the safety of marginalized people in our churches and families.

Yet, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us⁶. There is nothing simple or easy about this. It requires all our intelligence, compassion, and wisdom. It’s best done within a trusted community. Certainly not every one of us is capable nor should be in conversation or relationship with anyone and everyone.

And yet, here are these parables.

What the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin teach us is that as a community, someone needs to be engaged in the work of reconciliation. Jesus may use individuals as examples but I think his point is for the larger community. The work of reconciliation and restoration are the work of the larger community. Not all of us have the ability or capacity to engage the MAGA uncle. Its not healthy or safe for some of us to engage with persons spouting homophobic or transphobic or racist or misogynist ideas. Not all of us are called to this, but some of us are. Because it is hard to see a way forward, a way that brings us closer to the beloved community of God without the slow, difficult work of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.

1. These statements are taken from Social Media and have been lightly edited to keep them anonymous. ↩︎
2. The third parable in this set found in Luke is the longer parable of the Prodigal Son, which the Lectionary doesn’t include this week. ↩︎
3. Levine, Amy-Jill, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, HarperOne, 2014, pages 35-36. ↩︎
4. See, Uncontrollable Diners and Uncontrollable Sabbath on Luke’s discussion of meals, hospitality and life in the Kingdom of God. ↩︎
5. In thinking about forgiveness and reconciliation, you might start with”Desmond Tutu’s No Future Without Forgiveness, Miroslav Volf’s Free of Charge: GIving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace and Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation ↩︎
6. Matthew 5:43-48. ↩︎