"Rejoicing with God"

Luke 15:1-10

Last summer Jan and I inherited my mother's dining room set.  Originally it belonged to my grandparents. I remember as a child sitting around that table at family gatherings such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Then, for years, it was in my parents' home. One of the traditions I associate with that table was that, as we joined hands for the prayer, we'd always leave a gap—"save a place" as we called it—for whoever wasn’t present.  Well, in our reading this morning Jesus and his guests have gathered around a Table to eat together.  Jesus has saved a place, many places, in fact.

Look at the folks who gather with Jesus around his table. Tax collectors and sinners!  Jesus has made a place for the very ones who should be excluded. Tax collectors, you’ll remember, are notorious bad guys.  In the Roman Empire, local residents were taxed to death.  There were poll taxes, road and bridge tolls, taxes on merchandise and what we would call property taxes. The unpopular task of collecting taxes was usually given to a wealthy figure in a geographical area, most often someone who was not a native of that area.  He, in turn, contracted the work out to local collectors, who did the actual collections. The system was made for abuse, and tax collectors routinely pocketed extra taxes.  Not surprisingly, tax collectors were despised for their collusion with the oppressors of Israel, for their greed and dishonesty. Believe me, the tax collectors Jesus welcomed to his table are a despicable lot.

And who are the sinners at table with Jesus?  While Luke doesn’t elaborate, we can imagine that they are the kind of riff-raff who would hang out with tax collectors.  Among these would be prostitutes and other disreputable folk you'd see in unsavory places.  Jesus' association with these characters led to the accusation that he was a glutton and a drunkard. These are the scoffers who thumb their noses at the Mosaic law, care not a whit about godly matters, and generally act in ways regarded wrong and immoral.  Because of their behavior, the sinners, along with the tax collectors, were excluded from the synagogue. In short, they were outcasts.

For a modern equivalent, imagine the type of folks who might hang out at an adult video parlor.  Picture the type person who shaves his head except for a streak down the middle that is dyed hot pink. Or picture the drug scene populated with lawless thugs who live outside the norms of respectable society. Well, this is the kind of bad company Jesus keeps.  Here at the Lord’s table, Luke tells us, Jesus has made a place for tax collectors and sinners.  No wonder he caused such a scandal.    

Now let's shift our attention away from the table, to the Pharisees and scribes who are keeping their distance. Let’s listen to their point of view. Here's what they might say to us. "We know you Christians often dismiss us Pharisees and scribes as Jesus' enemies, but try to understand our point of view. Our concerns are not unreasonable. We’re only attempting to follow the commandments of God, and to obey God’s laws, to heed the scriptures.  Look at that ungodly scene over there. Jesus, who claims to be a teacher of God, is eating with tax collectors and sinners!  Hasn’t Jesus read Psalm 1?  'Blessed is the person who does not keep company with the ungodly.' And what about Proverbs 1:15?  'Do not walk in the way of sinners, keep your foot from their paths…'  Or has Jesus forgotten Isaiah 52:11? 'Touch no unclean things; go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves…'  How else can we preserve our community's sense of righteousness and maintain our moral and religious fiber?  Don’t judge us too harshly, for by separating ourselves, and keeping a distance from the ungodly, we are doing what seems right and morally responsible and what is mandated by scripture."

Now understand.  We religious leaders wouldn't have objected if Jesus had crashed the party like a John the Baptist on an evangelistic mission, shouting:  "Repent.  Change your wicked ways.  Make yourselves acceptable to God." If only Jesus had gone to this group of reprobates like one wearing a Salvation Army uniform, or latex gloves to avoid contamination. If only he had handed out religious tracts to the lost, we’d applaud him.  He’d be our hero. After all, we’re not cold- hearted. If someone repents, changes her behavior, or cleans up his act, we’ll gladly welcome that person back to our fellowship. But look at Jesus.  He’s right there eating with sinners, showing acceptance, acting as their host even though they haven’t shown the slightest signs of repentance. Grumble. Grumble.  Grumble.

So Jesus tells two parables to illustrate what his actions have already shown.  Namely, that there's always a place at God's Table.  Imagine, Jesus begins, that God is like a shepherd who cares for each of his sheep so much that he leaves the ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to search for the one that is lost, and, finding it, rejoices, puts it on his shoulders, carries it back, and invites all his friends to rejoice with him.  Or again, God is like a woman who loses a coin and sweeps the whole house until she finds the one that is lost and, finding it, rejoices.  Well, Jesus implies, that's what God is like, and that’s why I’m here with these outcasts I want to show them that they matter as people, that God loves them right now, and that no one is beyond the reach of God’s concern and love. It’s not that Jesus didn’t preach repentance, but in him we see that love and acceptance come first.  One commentator described the difference between the Pharisees and Jesus this way.  He said, "The Pharisees tended to focus on the fruit; Jesus on the tree itself.  There is all the difference in the world between telling the tree it must produce good fruit and tending to its real needs which make such fruit-bearing possible." Jesus first tends to our basic need for acceptance, for communion and belonging.  That's the condition that empowers us to transform our lives. 

Well, in just a moment, the invitation will be given to come to the Lord's Table as Jesus' guest.

Some of us will come knowing that part of us shares the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes. At least at times we feel disapproving, judgmental and resentful toward those who aren't contributing to society.  We may also come identifying with. As a community of Jesus' disciples, we are attempting to be more inclusive, more welcoming, more receptive to all sorts of people.  And we may also locate ourselves with the tax collectors and sinners, who were surprised that Jesus received and welcomed them in spite of their sinfulness.  True, we are not likely to be notorious sinners, but we can all think of ways that we've loved too little, failed our friends, or chased false gods.  But whether we locate ourselves with the Pharisees and scribes, or with Jesus, or with the tax collectors and sinners, let us all come to Christ's table rejoicing--Rejoicing in the radically inclusive love of God. Rejoicing that there is a place for each one of us at God's table. Rejoicing that as we are transformed by God's love, we will find more room in our hearts, in our community and at our table.