Lost and found

A Sermon preached at Pentecost XIV 14 September 2025 at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10

Jesus is weird at times. He meets and eats with all the wrong people – today it was tax collectors and sinners, rather making it sound as if being a sinner is as much a profession as being a tax collector! What would the job description and the salary scale for a sinner be, I wonder? In fact, we think this broad category covers all sorts of people who did not keep to the strict rules that the Pharisees propagated, and often simply could not, due to their status and poverty: outcasts, outsiders and misfits! And in the two parables about lost things – a sheep and a coin – the behaviour he recommends is very strange indeed. So much so that if his listeners were honest, their answer to the question: “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?” (Luke 15:4) would be, well me of course. I would not. Why should I put 99 sheep in danger just to go and look for the stupid one that has wandered off! And why should I spend hours searching for one drachma (to use the original term, the equivalent of a day’s wage of a labourer), possibly even using up oil in the lamp worth the same amount?

The level of care that Jesus shows and recommends, and the amount of time and effort that the sheep owner and the woman in the two parables are willing to invest is simply astonishing, and the extent of love and mercy and joy that Jesus expects for the one sinner who repents goes well beyond any expectations, both those of his listeners and I think also ours today. This is the kind of love without limits and constraints that inspired the hymn Amazing Grace:

 

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found,

was blind but now I see.

Last week in the Epistle, we heard about a slave, Onesimus and a slave owner, Philemon. The author of Amazing Grace, John Newton, was a slave trader and captain of a slave ship. In that function, he was not only lost himself, but responsible for the pain and death and loss of many, many people. And so, he was truly amazed that God went looking out for him. But with the help of his friend and later wife, Mary Catlett, and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ (hint: that book title is a command!), Newton not only gave up the slave trade, but became an ardent abolitionist. And under the influence of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley, yes, the founders of Methodism, he studied for the ministry and was ordained a priest in the Church of England. What a turnaround!

And then as we heard in today’s Epistle, the 1^st Letter to Timothy, Paul too was amazed that God went looking after him, “even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. … “the foremost sinner.” (1 Tim 1:13, 15) And yet it was for him that the “grace of our Lord overflowed … with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:14) As we know from the story in Acts, Paul was privileged to experience this faith and love through a very dramatic and personal encounter with Jesus Christ. This was another amazing turnaround! And once again that theme of example, of imitation comes up: “I received mercy, so that in me … Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example.” (1:16)

So, what does Paul’s and Jesus’ example have to tell us? We can get very comfortable in our own communities and bubbles, we can be tempted to close out that confusing and frightening world outside, keeping ourselves to ourselves, and carefully avoiding other viewpoints and experiences. But as Christians, those who follow and try and imitate Christ, we don’t get to avoid today’s equivalents of “tax collectors and sinners,” and we don’t get to talk and interact only with those we know and whose views match our own.

Instead, the right answer to the question, who would not go after the lost sheep, who would not actively welcome the stranger, who would not seek out the lost and needy, and who would not leave the comfort of our sheep pen, is I would Lord. I would go after them. I will follow you and your way – which is what true repentance entails. Following the way of Christ, as we will recite together in a moment in the Baptismal Covenant, is a call to seek and serve HIM in all persons, loving our neighbor as yourself. We are supposed to reflect God's persistent love and to participate in God’s active search for those who are lost.

There are so many lost people out there. People who have lost home and family, people who have lost a loving community, people who have lost meaning and purpose, people who have lost all sense of being valued and worthy. Reports from England, and some other countries, on what is being called a “quiet revival” indicate that loneliness and a need to be loved are one motivator for the young people seeking out communities of worship, and joining them, if they are properly welcomed.

All these lost ones need to know and hear from us that God is diligently looking for them. And as followers of Jesus, we should be actively engaged in the search on behalf of our Lord! Jesus provides a clear example for us to follow. Finding lost "sheep" and missing "coins" is a disciple's priority. Jesus involved himself with the lost of his culture and time, especially those that society rather wanted to lose and not see or experience.

Jesus is weird and so must we be. It may be more efficient to focus on the 99%, but we value everyone, not just 99 out of 100 or 1 out of 10. Each individual matters and let’s not forget that it is pretty risky to be a lost sheep. In the parable, both the owner of the sheep and the woman take responsibility for what is lost and they do not give up on them. Their joy in finding them is their reward. Finding the lost, incorporating them into our community, making our church as broad and as diverse and as much like the colorful, rich and varied kingdom of God as possible would be our reward too. It is always an occasion to rejoice and to celebrate!

And today we incorporate Alma into our community and into Christ’s body, the church. She’s not lost! Nor is she a sinner. Though she – like all of us – will probably need to repent and return to the Lord now and again. Like every new member, she will strengthen and enrich our community, and so we rejoice and celebrate.

Amen.

Called to passion

A Sermon preached at Pentecost XI 24 August 2025 at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden and St. Christoph, Mainz

Jeremiah 1:4-10, Hebrews 12:18-29, Luke 13:10-17

May these spoken words be faithful to the written word and lead us to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I love the “call stories” in the Bible – Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Mary and this morning Jeremiah to name but a few of those who receive a personal call from God. Jeremiah’s calling contains all the typical elements. God takes the first step and speaks to or appears to the person either directly, in a vision, or through an angelic intermediary. The individual responds, most often they protest and resist! God insists and persists, they are then commissioned, and their mission or ministry begins.

Calling processes in our church are a little more complicated than they were in Biblical days. Just have a chat with Audrey or Vania if you’d like to hear how complicated and long they can be! They still all start with a call from God. Mine was nowhere near as dramatic as Jeremiah’s, I don’t recall hearing a voice, it was more of a feeling. I certainly resisted it for many, many years. An intermediary was also involved, though not an angel, but my then parish priest who pushed me in the right direction.

But between God’s call and the Church’s confirmation of that call we insert a quite long and at times somewhat bureaucratic process of reflection, discernment, examination, and preparation. There are very good reasons for this. Ministry can be a challenge, and we need to make sure people really know what they’re letting themselves in for. In Jeremiah’s case, God even tells him “Do not be afraid of them (i.e. those he is to prophecy to) for I am with you to deliver you.” (Jer. 1:8) There are also many different forms of ministry we can be called to, and the process is to help people find the right one, after all that first call from God may not be as clear (or as daunting) as was Jeremiah’s: “See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” And, sadly but realistically, the Church has a duty and responsibility to examine the motivation of those who feel called to a ministry, to keep those who would be entrusted to their care safe and to make sure the trust inherent in ministry is not betrayed.

Coming back to the traditional process, why is protest and resistance almost always the first reaction of those called? I can think of several good reasons. I suspect that they all had a strong suspicion that God’s call would turn their lives upside down. And they were right. They would have to speak unpopular truths, they could be threatened, even killed. They might have to leave their homes, families, jobs, in in one case they would become the mother of God with all the sorrow that entailed.

Another reason, perhaps closely connected to the first, is a feeling of inadequacy, of not being fit for the task. Moses tells the Lord that he thinks he is not eloquent enough (one of many excuses he uses) (Exodus 3:10) Jeremiah too feels unable to speak on God’s behalf “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” (Jer. 1:6) But none of that is news to God, God knows us intimately, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (1:6) And if necessary, if what we have and bring is not enough, God equips, God provides the words, God provides the additional ability.

Their protest is also a necessary sign of humility. No true prophet in the Bible, ever declares themselves to be a prophet. None of them go knocking on God’s door asking for a commission, no true prophet is ever super confident. None of them really want the job. In fact, we might well be concerned about those who readily assume such significant responsibilities without any hesitation! They tend to believe that what they want is God’s will, rather than the other way round. God values a certain degree of reluctance and humility. And when God chooses those who seem inappropriate, who are often not aligned with societal expectations: the youngest rather than the eldest, the reserved rather than the eloquent, the woman rather than the man, the farmer or fisher rather than the rich and already privileged, God is reminding us that those societal values do not count so much in God’s Kingdom.  

Most of all I think that they were probably also a little afraid, not only of what their mission would entail, but also of God. Ancient scripture seemed to teach that God is dangerous, even deadly if not approached correctly. This is what the reading from Hebrews is addressing, that fear that the Hebrews had of encountering God on Mt. Sinai, when even Moses did not dare face God. "Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." (Hebrews 12:20) But the Letter to the Hebrews goes on to tell us that we have nothing to fear. We can approach God not as on Mt. Sinai with flames and smoke and death, but on Mt. Zion, in the city of the living God, in the heavenly Jerusalem. We have been made righteous and perfect, through Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. And if we look carefully at the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, we see many intimate encounters, such as when God calls Samuel in the Temple (1 Samuel 3) or when God takes care of the prophet Elijah. (1 Kings 17)

And even the image that the author of Hebrew uses, of God as a consuming fire, does not have to be a frightening one. Yes, fire can be dangerous and deadly. It also stands for sacrifice and for things offered to God. It is used as a symbol of cleansing – think of how John says that Jesus  will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew 3:11) But most of all I think it is a metaphor for passion, as in the song “Consuming Fire” by the Australian band Hillsong.

Consuming fire fan into flame
A passion for Your name
Come like a rushing wind
Clothe us with power from on high

When God calls someone to any ministry, ordained or not, God is not looking for superpowers, for supernatural abilities, or for omniscience or omnipotence. Those are God’s qualities not ours. Instead, God invites the reluctant, the stutterer, the boy, the shepherd, the young woman, the old man, supposedly past his prime. God invites them into a relationship, into one that God has already established before their and our birth. God is looking for passion, for people who are passionate for God, passionate for Jesus, passionate for justice, passionate for the neighbor, passionate for love, passionate for God’s glorious creation. In the final words from the passage from Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.”

Amen.