GCA Readings 20.06.21

Sermon 6-20-2021 What do I actually think about the homeless man who sits drunk on the side of the road and begs me? What do I think about the rebellious teenager who mobs me from afar and scares me? What do I think about the prostitute waiting for suitors in the park? Do I think these are people who have the full attention of society? Do I think you would have to leave everything standing and lying down to rush to the rescue? Do I think that without this one life, everything else loses its luster and beauty?

In the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost silver penny, Jesus reminds us of a dimension of our life that we like to hide: lostness. And we all know this reality: people and things can be lost!

Each of us can get lost! And such lostness does not always have to have something to do with failure or guilt. Even a third-party fault is not always the cause. But life itself can be a rather uncertain matter.

One could also say that it is life-threatening. Between birth and death, countless opportunities lurk. There are many situations in which and to which we could lose ourselves. Those who live are exposed to this risk.

(Reading of the sermon text: Lk 15,1-10) 1One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, 2the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”

3So Jesus told them this parable: 4“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them — what do you do? You leave the other 99 sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. 5When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders 6and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’ 7In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner

who repents than over 99 respectable people who do not need to repent.

8“Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them — what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it. 9When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!’ 10In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents.”

II. If one were to ask the shepherd of the lost sheep how the sheep lost, he would probably answer: "Suddenly it was gone! I just took care of the herd, that's when it happened. There were only 99 left.« The woman who lost the silver penny would perhaps say: »What misery.

All day I worked for the little money. Suddenly the silver penny was missing. A whole day's wage gone. What misery! It must have fallen out of my pocket. But how and where – no idea!« And if you could ask the sheep, it might say, "My goodness! I only enjoyed the herbs. It didn't take a minute. And suddenly everyone was gone. No one was to be seen anymore!"

Jesus tells of real life in the parables. He tells of lostness and loss.

And he tells of loneliness, fear and worry. He is less concerned with misconduct or the evil deed. He tells of a reality in which life suddenly shows its oppressive side. Suddenly and unexpectedly. Sometimes it is not only death that comes. Life also comes along like this. Suddenly the partner is gone and you sit at home and cannot believe it.

Suddenly, the four-legged friend lies dead on the street. Or the doctor calls and says you should come to the practice. There is an urgent need to talk about the outcome of a test.

III. Of course, there are people who always see guilt behind lostness and loss. Has the shepherd done his job? Was he attentive enough? Did he look carefully? Hasn't the woman been too careless with her daily wage? Doesn't every child learn that you have to take care of money?

And the one who gets the diagnosis of an ominous disease, has he not lived irresponsibly?

And certainly there are also people who would object that there can be no lostness without their own fault. And that every misconduct must be courageously opposed. After all, where would we end up if we didn't show mobbing young people how to behave? Where would we end up if we did not show the carefree that work and an orderly daily routine are part of a decent life. And where would we end up if we did not put a stop to prostitution? Our sermon text does not conceal the reservations. And he depicts them in the attitude of those who associate God's love with such judgment and reservation: And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "He accepts sinners and eats with them." (V 2) The general reservation of those who judge and look for guilt belongs to life as much as what the shepherd and the woman have experienced. The sermon text is filled with real life experiences. The reaction of people is soaked with opinions, experiences and judgments. It is beset by morality, religion, faith and culture. But Jesus sticks to it: There is a deep joy in God when we dare the unbounded and unconditional mercy. Whoever goes in search of those who have been lost or have lost themselves, comes close to this joy of God. Faith is not where we start moral debates about how to educate people. Jesus also does not want to stabilize social systems that draw boundaries and forge commandments. For him, a merciful life begins rather where people are open and available for each other on the search. The searching, looking and seeing within our existence is touched by God's own love. And the search makes sense, because in it the love of God shows itself. Repentance, discernment, a change of heart and a new beginning are not the higher goals of God's love, but their effect. God's mercy is not linked to social success. God’s mercy is free and takes shape as a great joy.

IV. God's freedom and joy is not complicit. It does not ally itself with those who have established themselves in their lostness. Nor does it

ally itself with those who can routinely enumerate all the reasons to which they owe a sad fate: father, mother, boss or state or the general conditions. Anyone who celebrates himself as a victim and holds conspiracy theories is not yet set free by God's seeing love. However, this seeing love of God also does not ally itself with those who always know that the effort would no longer be worthwhile with this or that person.

Jesus tells of seeing and energetic love. And he risks getting into trouble with it. For the guardians of morality and the law, who understand justice as bartering, who see themselves above all as stabilizers of state and religious order, feel the explosive power of Jesus' message. God's yes to us humans is not complicit. And we cannot claim God's yes to us humans just for ourselves. But God's yes to us humans is pure joy in possible life. No matter where life went and no matter what history it is burdened with. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost penny are not meant to open up a moral or pedagogical debate. And they are not instructions for use for how to thread people pedagogically or socio therapeutically into existing structures. Jesus says: There will be joy before the angels of God over everyone who repents, who returns home, who recognizes himself anew.

V. Such a belief leads to a certain attitude. And Jesus recognizes godly attitude where people live love and joy as attitude. That's when God's love becomes social energy. And this energy does not allow itself to first calculate what the aid would cost. Nor does this energy make a report on when it is calculatedly correct to look for a sheep when you still have ninety-nine. Rather, the joy of God lives where our attitudes breathe mercy. Where we begin to vibrate because someone is missing and/or has been overlooked.

So what do we do with the drunken homeless man who asks us for money? We give him money and help him through the day. But we will not forget him in the next moment. But we continue to ask why the unbounded mercy of God is so little visible in him. What are the driving forces for his lostness? What are the reasons for his misery? It would not be fairer or better if we asked about guilt and failure instead.

Jesus' attitude is clear. He wants the joy of God also in the life of this homeless person, not our reservations and judgments.

How do we meet the young person who mobs us? Do we agree with the routine judgment patterns of lack of self-responsibility? Are we talking about laziness and a lack of commitment? Or do we break through the exclusion routines in our heads and adopt an attitude of mercy? Mercy for this young life that is in the process of maneuvering itself more and more into the sidelines? Do we seriously ask about the alternatives that this young person has to his oppressive living situation? Do we ask about the forces that show him where he belongs? Are we going in search of him? If this young person was simply sent home by us, he would not find a place to study there. He would find his drunken father, who sends him off to get beer. And who tells him daily what a loser he is. His mother hasn't said anything for a long time. The fear of the beatings has made them both mute.

The joy of God begins where we go in search. Where we adopt an attitude of mercy. Wherever we look and become attentive. This is not something we can delegate to a higher-level system. We are the system. Each of us is faced with the question of whether he wants to live the joy of God, whether he wants to be a good shepherd. God's joy in a mercy attitude is irritating. But it is healing.

Amen.