Exodus 32: 7– 14 / Psalm 51: 1–10 / I Timothy 1: 12–17 / Luke 15: 1–10
This is the written version of the homily given on September 14, 2025 at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“DOES GOD RATION HIS GOODNESS, LOVE & MERCY?”
(Homily
text: Luke 15: 1-10)
We begin this morning with a question:
“Does God ration (withhold) His goodness, love and mercy to certain persons?”
Or, to reverse the question, we could ask, “Is God so generous that He showers
His goodness, love and mercy upon all persons, seeking to be in relationship
with each and every human being?”
The answer ought to be obvious.
But to the Pharisees and the scribes we
read about in this morning’s Gospel text, the answer was – most certainly –
that the first question is the one that pertains, and the answer to that
question – in their minds – would he that God, does, indeed, withhold His
goodness, love and mercy from certain persons, and especially those notorious
tax collectors and other really bad sinners that Jesus had a habit of hanging
around with.
The picture that the Gospels present to
us of the commonly-held attitudes among the Pharisees and the scribes is one
that was governed by two major ideas: The first one is that God requires
holiness of life and cleanliness in all things. The other guiding principle was
that if a person was doing all the “right” things (like keeping the many rules
and regulations in the Law of Moses), then God would bless that individual.
Conversely, if a person was poor, or sickly, or was in some other terrible
situation in life, then their predicament must surely stem from some grievous
sin (perhaps known only to God, but, nonetheless, still there).
As the Pharisees put these two guiding
principles into action, they, themselves, stayed away from “unclean” persons,
persons like tax collectors, those who were sick, and so forth. For to
associate with such persons as that was to risk becoming “unclean” themselves.
No wonder they grumbled when they saw
the Lord hanging around with all those “bad” people. (I love the fact that Luke
used that word, “grumble” to describe how they reacted to what Jesus was doing...perhaps
Luke is telling us that they objected to Jesus’ ways somewhat quietly…if so,
Jesus heard or sensed their reaction.)
To correct the erroneous views of His
opponents, Jesus offers two short parables. He makes the point that God’s way
of seeing things is radically different from the ways that we often see things.
The other thing we might notice is that
God’s “economy” (used in this sense to describe God’s set of values) is also
radically different from ours. For whatever reason – but, quite likely, because
God’s nature is one of love and generosity – God seems to value each and every
human being. Moreover, God seeks to be in relationship with each individual.
What a radical idea!
Jesus’ teaching, in these two parables,
must have prompted those who heard them to scratch their heads. Maybe they
thought to themselves, “Nobody risks a flock of ninety-nine sheep to go rescue
one lost one…that doesn’t make sense”. They may have added that common sense
dictates that if you lose one, you cut your losses and protect what you still
have left.
But God’s “economy”, that is to say,
what He values, is quite a bit different that what we think is important or
valuable. God doesn’t want to see or experience any losses, not where human
beings are concerned.
The challenge for us – as Christian
believers – is to see things the way God sees them.
Our challenge, as Christian believers –
is to prepare the soil of our hearts and – thereby – the field that is our
churches so that all who come our way will experience the radical welcome that
Jesus extended to the outcasts in the time of His earthly visitation.
No wonder the early Church experiences
such growth in the early centuries of its existence. The Church said to any and
all who came their way that God loves them, God values them, and God seeks to
be n relationship with them. Put another way, we could say that the Church
said, “Come one, come all. No matter where you are in life, God loves you,
seeks to be in relationship with you, and offers you a different way to be”.
Just as Jesus’ care for and interaction
with the notorious sinners of 2,000 years ago changed lives forever, so, too,
must we be about the business of changing lives with God’s message of love,
radical welcome and invitation to a changed and better way of being.
AMEN.
