Rejoice in the Differences

Ex 32: 7-14
Luke 15: 1-10

 Today's parable deals with two sets of people and how they are both feeling as they hear Jesus' words to the crowds. First, we are told that tax collectors and sinners were gathered around Jesus and so were the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. These are two completely different groups surrounding Jesus and trying to hear what he had to say about life and God. Jesus has a choice. He can choose to spend time just with the sinners and tax collectors, or he can choose to spend time with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, or he can try to spend time with all of them.

Jesus refuses to take sides. He refuses to spend time with only one group and thereby silently saying the other group isn't as worthy of his time and attention. He also challenges the people in each group to do the same. He challenges us to not think that one type of person or one certain viewpoint is the only one that we can accept. Jesus offers two parables to help us to come to terms with this idea.

The first is the parable of the lost sheep. In this story, it is obvious the lost sheep are the sinners and tax collectors, and the other 99 sheep are the Pharisees and teachers. Jesus says to them through this parable that although the one sheep has wandered away from the flock, that does not make that sheep any less important than the other 99. The majority does not win in Jesus' eyes for every person has importance and worth. Every single person has purpose and meaning and a mission in this world, and once we understand that we understand why Jesus made the choices he did; why Jesus chose not to support the unspoken opinion that one group was less worthy than the other group.

We are called to stop thinking that we or anyone else are better than others. We all have prejudices. We all have little walls in our minds that we seem to come up against at times in our lives. For some of us we have a hard time being patient with children that misbehave. For some of us we do not understand people of different cultures and their customs and we dismiss them as odd or strange. For some of us we cannot stand people that label themselves liberal or conservative because we have the opposite view. For some of us we do not like other church denominations and we find ourselves making little remarks or jokes about the differences. For some of us we have no patience for someone that has been in prison. For some of us we think homeless people or people on welfare need to just "get a job". For some of us we cannot stand women that dress in a provocative manner or men that wear flashy jewelry or baggy pants and we tell each other they must not have been raised right. For some of us we think that people with mental problems, no matter how severe or mild, makes them people we shouldn't associate with.

We're no different from the people back in Jesus' time. If Jesus was spending time with the people we have a distinct dislike of we would be looking at him the same way the Pharisees looked at Jesus. We would be saying the same remarks, "Why does he sit with THEM?! Doesn't he know that all Muslims are terrorists?! Doesn't he know that all ex-convicts are hardened criminals waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of you?! Doesn't he know that those are bleeding heart liberals who want to ruin our country with their socialism?! Doesn't he know that those are those hard-hearted conservatives that only know how to love guns, money, and power and not people?!"

Jesus looks back at them calmly and reminds the people that they are not the only ones in the world. Their views are not the only ones that matter. They are not the only people Jesus has come to spend time with, the only people Jesus wants to save. Jesus challenges us to remember that not only do we need to welcome those who are different and those we may not understand, but he challenges us to rejoice in the welcoming.

You see, the biggest part of the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin is that at the end, the person who has found what was once lost rejoices in finding it. They have a big party! Both the man and the woman call up their friends and gleefully say, "Come party with me because I've found my sheep! I've found my coin and we need to give thanks!" Jesus is trying to show the Pharisees that in their judgment of others they have condemned themselves to a life without joy.

They have judged others less and judgment brings no one any happiness - not the judged or the judge. Jesus is saying we need to let go of this kind of attitude and instead accept that every person is loved by God and when they walk through the doors of this church or they walk into your life that they are there FOR A REASON! God has placed them there, and it's not for you to belittle them or hurt them with your cold indifference or make quiet remarks to your neighbor about them.

When Jesus chose to NOT choose between the two very different groups of people he was making a quiet, powerful statement. "I love every single one of you. Every one of you have flaws and you make mistakes and you're not perfect at all, but I am here for you. There is no choice to be made except to say I died for all of you."

While in seminary, I attended a very liberal church one Sunday and heard a sermon on homosexuality and accepting the many differences God has created in each of us; the pastor reminded us to rejoice in our differences because it takes all types to make the world work. Afterward, I was introduced to a woman who towered over me in her high heels. She had to be 6'3 and she wore a tan dress with light blue swirls in it and her makeup was flawless and her nails were painted a light blue to match her dress. As I shook her hand, I realized this woman had been born a man, and for a moment I didn't know what to say or do. What did I have in common with this .. (And that's when my mind stopped and I thought "do I call her a woman or a man now that I know?!" and so I settled with) person? My thoughts swirled in my head and then she smiled at me and she said, "Tell me about yourself. It must be hard to be a student in seminary, I know, because I have a daughter in college."

And just like that I realized no matter her appearance and no matter that I thought I had nothing in common with her, suddenly she was just another parent worried about all these college kids trying to make it in the world. We talked for a good 15 minutes and it was one of the best conversations of the day. I knew that a Christian accepts everyone, but this was something I had never considered: HOW do we treat those that are different and who startle us in their differences?

Not by ignoring them. Not by making fun of them. Not by going along with what the rest of the world does. We look to Jesus. We remember how he sat with the sinners and he sat with the saints of the day and he loved them all. He talked to each of them like they were a person because they ARE people. They love and laugh just like us. They fight with their siblings and their spouses and they worry over their children. They wonder what the world is coming to and they hurt when they are treated as less just like we are hurt when we are rejected.

We treat those that are different from us like they aren't different at all. We accept their differences not by ignoring them, but by educating ourselves and asking questions and treating them just like we would the person that looks just like us or thinks just like us. Jesus didn't understand the Pharisees' attitude because what Jesus saw is that these supposed saints had no joy in their life because they were too busy being judgmental. It's time to stop judging others and start learning about them and through learning we will understand them and through our understanding we will love them - that is what Jesus calls us to do - to love everyone no matter their differences from us.

Amen.