{"id":185,"date":"2025-09-14T17:35:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T17:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/?p=185"},"modified":"2025-09-14T17:35:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T17:35:33","slug":"jesus-seeks-tirelessly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/jesus-seeks-tirelessly\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus seeks tirelessly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Psalm 14; Luke 15: 1-10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost- Proper 19- September 14, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them\u201d <\/em>(from Luke 15:1-10). That\u2019s what the Pharisees and scribes said about Jesus. So how does that strike you? What do you hear in those words? Are they words of complaint and disagreement or ones of hope and invitation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one level the words of the Pharisees and scribes are simply a statement of fact. That\u2019s what Jesus did. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Not only does Luke tell us this but so do Matthew and Mark. At another level they are an accusation, an indictment, and a judgment. In the eyes and words of the Pharisees and scribes Jesus is guilty of violating the law and social norms of the day. At the deepest level, however, their words are, ironically enough, a statement of the gospel. They have just spoken the good news. Jesus not only welcomes the sinners, but he also eats with them. Eating with them means there is relationship and acceptance. Jesus has aligned himself with them. He is on their side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke tells us that the \u201ctax collectors and sinners\u201d were drawing near to Jesus. And what was the reaction of the religious leaders? Grumbling. Complaining. \u201cThis man welcomes sinners and eats with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be honest. Respectable religion has always had a problem with the wrong people coming too close. Churches today still ask: Do they belong here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The addicted. The undocumented. The unhoused. The queer. The formerly incarcerated. And Jesus answers\u2014not with an argument, but with a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First story: the shepherd leaves 99 sheep in the open wilderness to chase after the one. By every measure, that\u2019s foolish. Risking the 99 for the one is not \u201cgood management.\u201d But that\u2019s the point: God is not a manager. God is a lover. And lovers are reckless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second story: a woman turns her whole house upside down to find one coin. She lights a lamp, sweeps the floor, digs into every dark corner. God\u2019s kingdom-community is like a person on her or his hands and knees, searching in the dust until they finds what is precious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sisters and brothers, here\u2019s the radical edge: God\u2019s love is not efficient. God\u2019s love does not calculate profit and loss. God\u2019s love is wasteful, stubborn, unreasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if God is willing to risk everything for one lost soul, how dare we build churches that only welcome the safe, the clean, the respectable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this God\u2019s reckless search, we find a message of hope in Jeremiah 4:11\u201312, 22\u201328<\/strong>. Even when the winds of judgment blow and the land trembles under the weight of brokenness, God is not finished with creation or with us. The harsh imagery in Jeremiah reminds us that sin brings chaos and emptiness, but it also points to God\u2019s deep desire for transformation. The God who allows the storm is the same God who calms it. The positive word is this: our failures are not the final word.<\/strong> Even when it feels like the world is falling apart, God is preparing the ground for renewal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, in I Timothy 1:12\u201317 we find <\/strong>a testimony of God\u2019s amazing grace. Paul remembers who he once was\u2014violent, stubborn, even an enemy of Christ\u2014and yet, God chose him, forgave him, and entrusted him with ministry. Instead of shame, Paul is filled with gratitude: \u201cI thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength\u2026 the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.\u201d <\/em>The good news is this: no one is beyond the reach of God\u2019s love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God’s economy is not like our savage capitalism. In God’s economy, no one is disposable. Not the drug user, not the migrant, not the incarcerated person, not the person you fear or despise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parables end in joy: parties, music, dancing. Heaven itself celebrates when what is lost is found. This means that the community of God’s kingdom is less like a board meeting and more like a block party. Less like a gated community and more like a dance floor open to the entire neighborhood. So, church, the challenge is clear: Will we join Jesus in his tireless search?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will we revolutionize our churches, sweep away the dust, light the lamps, and search every dark corner of our society for the forgotten and marginalized? Because if we don’t go in search of what is lost, perhaps we are the ones who are lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parables end in joy\u2014parties, music, dancing. Heaven itself throws a celebration when the lost is found. That means the kingdom-community of God looks less like a board meeting and more like a block party. Less like a gated community and more like a dance floor open to the whole neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, church, the challenge is clear: Will we join Jesus in his reckless search?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will we turn our churches inside out, sweep the dust, light the lamps, and search every dark corner of our society for those forgotten and cast aside? Because if we will not go after the lost, then maybe we are the ones who are lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good news is that Jesus is still searching. Jesus is still calling. And when Jesus finds us\u2014dirty, wounded, wandering\u2014Jesus does not scold us. Jesus rejoices. Jesus throws a party. Friends, that\u2019s the radical gospel: You are worth the risk. You are worth the search. You are worth the party. Jesus\u2019 reckless search is a paradigm for our discipleship and our ways to build churches. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen & Ashe.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them\u201d (from Luke 15:1-10). That\u2019s what the Pharisees and scribes said about Jesus. So how does that strike you? What do you hear in those words? Are they words of complaint and disagreement or ones of hope and invitation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions\/188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iglesiatodoslossantos.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}