Wandering Christian

I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is my strength, who has considered me trust­worthy and appointed me to his service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a rabid enemy. However he took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is true and worthy of belief: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Because of that I was forgiven; Christ Jesus wanted to display his utmost patience so that I might be an example for all who are to believe and obtain eternal life. To the King of ages, the only God who lives beyond every perishable and visible creation—to him be honor and glory forever. Amen!

Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable:
“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the nine­ty-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.
What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp and sweep the house in a thorough search till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

I Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10 - Proper of the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (year C)
The Bible (Pastoral Community Version)

There is a popular TV series nowadays, called Lost. Recently, it became more popular in Brazil, because local actor Rodrigo Santoro (who also was Xerxes in the 300 movie) played a minor role in some episodes. It follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a passenger jet flying between Australia and the United States crashes somewhere in the South Pacific.

But even if you have not watched it (and I imagine you must be living in a lost island if you do not know Lost), you must probably recall a cartoon, very famous in the eighties: Dungeons and Dragons. The story behind it is that a group of children are pulled into the "Realm of Dungeons & Dragons" by taking a magical dark ride trip at a fairground. They want to get back home, but there is also something that prevents them from doing that (in 90% of the time, a stupid unicorn, by the way).

Being lost, inevitably, is not an unknown feeling for people. Some must have been physically lost, I imagine. I know a parishioner whose son got lost three times inside a supermarket, which forces her to keep him attached to her arm with a special rope for children. Others, even being adults, still get lost. I am one of them. I can get easily lost while driving, and I imagine this contributes to my disliking driving.

Being lost is not a good thing. Not at all. When one finds him/herself alone, s/he can think there is no way out of that situation. Society also contributes to that. Have you realized the impact that words such as "loser" and "lost case" (and other derivatives of the verb "to lose") have? I can imagine the pharisees and teachers of the law muttering about Jesus, the man who dared to have a personal relationship with those sinners and tax collectors, who were, to them "lost cases".

In response to that, Jesus left three parables (two in today's Gospel) about being lost. One of them is about lost sheep. It is interesting to notice that sheep can get lost very easily. Sheep tend to form groups for mutual support and protection. However, they are very sensitive animals, and anything can distract such fluffy creatures and make one (or even a group of them) separate from the flock. Our churches tend to be like such flocks, and it is not a coincidence that Scripture and the Church uses this metaphor very often. People can form and group themselves in worship spaces very easily. However, it is also very easy for them to get distracted or offended with the others, and leave their faith community. In some cases, sin (or even a non-sinful behavior which is seen as sin by many), can make one feel unworthy of being a God's child, forcing that person to run away from Her/His Church. The remaining "sheep" would probably say: that was a lost case anyway. This person is lost.

The other parable is about money. A woman loses one of her drachmas. A drachma was an ancient currency unit found in many Greek city states and successor states, and in many South-West Asian kingdoms of the Hellenistic era. It can be compared, more or less, to a daily pay. In Brazil, that would be about R$ 40.00, and I will leave up to you how to imagine a forty-real bill. The fact was that she lost one of those bills, but still had R$ 360.00 left. It was late (and probably dark). Most people (including myself) would try to find it at first, but in case of no success, they would still rejoice in having most of the money, waiting for the next day (and for sunlight) to look for it again. It was lost, anyway!

What one forgets is that the word lost presupposes two facts: that the object (or person) once was not lost, and can still be found.

And this is the difference between God and mankind. God, represented here as both a shepherd and a housewife, does not give up until S/He finds what was lost. God is the father of a flock full of distractive sheep, and also the mother of a treasure of silver coins, like us. And all of us, human beings, were destined to be God's children, since the beginning of times. It is true that sin, unfortunately, made us "lose" the way. My hope, however, is to know that there is no one who cannot be found again. And God keeps searching incessantly for those people. Our attitude, as members of the Body of Christ, is to understand that all of us are susceptible to this state of "being lost", and, on this continuous path of conversion, we have probably gotten lost sometimes (or, at least, were tempted to). Jesus, as the lesson from I Timothy says, came to this world in order to save the sinners, so that they would have eternal life. And the Church must have open doors, daring to follow the example of her master, who had personal relationships with those regarded as sinners, despite the condemnatory eyes of modern pharisees, who still insist in populating our communities. As Christians, we have to learn how to see the others with God's merciful eyes, to whom nothing is eternally lost.

May the Church of Christ, and especially this faith family, understand that this is a place of transformation and regeneration of the sick and wounded, and may we have the courage to follow Christ's example, never giving up, even on those who are considered "lost cases" by society.

Sermon preached at Christ the King, a parish of the Anglican Diocese of Rio de Janeiro, in 09/16/2007.