Lost Without Your Love

Lost Without Your Love

Luke 15:1-10

When I was in high school, David Gates released a song that was practically the anthem for anyone dealing with the aftermath of a break-up – not that I remember this because I needed it all that often. The lyrics include this plaintive cry that “I wander through the night and search the world to find the words to make it right. All I want is just the way it used to be, with you here close to me. I've got to make you see that I'm lost without your love. Life without you isn't worth the trouble of. I'm as helpless as a ship without a wheel, a touch without a feel. I can't believe it's real.”

There is no doubt that the singer’s heart is broken. I think we have all felt that sense of being lost and broken at some point in our lives. Sometimes, it might be because of a break-up of a relationship. Or, it might be that our hearts get broken by disappointment, either in ourselves or by someone whose opinion we care about. It might even be that we are disappointed when someone doesn’t return our love for them. I sometimes think that this is how Jesus felt when he wept over Jerusalem, when he declares that all he wants to do is love us but we have turned our backs to him.

And while some people seem to like wallowing in that feeling of being lost, most of us eventually will find a way to cope. If we are healthy, we find a way to let it go so that we can seek a new love, a new relationship that can satisfy and sustain us. But sometimes, all we do is push it down, cover it up, gloss it over, and try to ignore that we are hurting. The hurt and the pain and the loneliness lie waiting just beneath the surface, until something triggers its release. And because we haven’t dealt with the loss, it can come pouring out of us in anger or tears or a stunned silence.

Tony Campolo, a sociologist and American Baptist preacher, tells of a time when he was speaking at a conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.Campolo lives on the east coast of the United States, so his body-clock was six hours ahead of Hawaiian time. That helps explain why, at three o’clock in the morning, he was wandering the streets looking for something to eat. Awake and hungry for breakfast, he found himself in one of those 24-hour "greasy spoon" cafés.

As he bit into his donut, eight or nine prostitutes walked in. They had just finished for the night. Their talk was loud and crude, and Campolo said it was difficult to avoid listening in. He heard one of them tell the others it was going to be her birthday the following day. “What do you want from me? A birthday cake?” was the sarcastic reply from one of the other women. “Why be so mean?” she replied, “I was just telling you. I don’t expect anything. I’ve never had a birthday party. I’m not expecting to have one now.”

Even though this woman was part of a group, you can still hear the loneliness and heartbreak in her words. When Campolo heard this, he made a decision to do something about it.

When the women left, he went over to the café owner, a guy called Harry. Campolo asked, “Do they always come in here?” “Yes,” said Harry. “Including the one who sat next to me?” “Yes, that’s Agnes. Why do you want to know?” Campolo then shared his idea: “Because I heard her say it’s her birthday tomorrow and I thought we might throw her a party.”

There was a pause, as Campolo waited for a response. You never know how someone might take it when a stranger suggests taking over your place of business for a party for a prostitute. Some people might think that would be a bad idea. But a smile grew across Harry’s lips. “That’d be a great idea.” Harry said something to his wife, and she agreed to help.

So, at about half past two the next morning, Campolo had brought decorations to put up in that café, and Harry’s wife had baked a cake. Word had got out and it seemed as if every prostitute in Honolulu was in the café – plus Campolo. When Agnes entered with her friends, she was flabbergasted. Her mouth fell open and her knees wobbled. As she sat on a stool, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

“Blow out the candles,” people shouted, but in the end Harry had to do it for her. Then he handed her a knife. “Cut the cake, Agnes, so we can all have some.” She looked at the cake, tears in her eyes. Then slowly Agnes asked, “Is it alright … would you mind … if I wait a little longer … if we didn’t eat it straight away?” “Sure. It’s okay,” said Harry. “Take it home if you want.”

“Can I?” Agnes asked. “Can I take it home now? I’d like to show the cake to my mother. She just lives two doors down. I’ll bring it back in just a few minutes.” And with that she left, carrying her precious cake out of the café.

There was a holy silence that filled that place. After a few moments, Campolo said to this assembled group of prostitutes, “What do you say we pray?” And they did. Campolo led a group of prostitutes in prayer at 3:30 in the morning. He gave thanks for the gift of Agnes, a child of God. He asked for her healing from all the terrible things that had broken her heart, all the things that had happened to her that had led to this point in her life where selling her body seemed like a good idea. He offered thanks for the promise that Jesus loves us all, and redeems us in that love. And then he asked that Agnes and her friends come to know this promise for themselves.

When they were done praying, Harry said, “Hey! You never told me you were some kind of preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” Campolo admitted later that the answer he gave just popped into his head, and in that moment he thought he was just being clever. He said, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties forprostitutesat 3:30 in the morning.”

Harry waited for a moment. Then he kind of sneered, “No, you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that.”

In our passage, Jesus tells two parables. One is about a shepherd who unwisely leaves 99 sheep alone in the dangerous desert in order to find a foolish sheep that has gotten itself lost. Among the scribes and Pharisees present, there is not one of them who thinks that this is a good plan. In fact, if there was a proposal to conduct such a search, I am sure that they would oppose it vigorously. They know the wise thing to do is to minimize your losses, to push it down, cover it up, gloss it over, and try to ignore that it ever happened, and move on.

The other parable is about a woman who cleans every corner of the house searching for one small coin that is lost; and when she finds it, she throws a party that would cost more than what anyone would have thought that one coin was worth. The scribes and Pharisees mighthave agreed with the necessity of looking for lost money, but they would have had a tough time justifying a party to celebrate the finding of the coin. After all, it would have been cheaper and easier to just let the coin stay lost.

One of my favorite definitions of a parable is that it is an imaginary garden with real toads in it. Jesus told about a shepherd looking for the sheep because the Pharisees were being real toads about seeking and saving the lost. The Good Shepherd, Jesus says, comes looking for us when we are lost. That explains the first parable. But then, there are some people who worry about the second parable, where it is clear that a woman represents God. And that raises for them this question: why would Jesus portray this stand-in for Godas a woman? It’s because a guy who had lost a coin would simply stand in the center of the room and say, “HONEY, HAVE YOU SEEN MY COIN?”

There is still a problem with this passage, though. We are told that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents – and that is the problem, because neither sheep nor coins can repent. Jesus has just told us stories of looking for and finding the lost. Jesus did not just tell usstories of sheep and coins repenting. If the sheep and the coin represent the lost, and they do, then Jesus is telling us that repentance is something that depends on God.

Repentance usually evokes images of sorrow for offending God, and making a commitment to turn away from sinful acts. We know someone has repented when they have a firm resolve to live in the ways of righteousness. But it is hard to imagine a sheep living with a firm resolve to do anything other than eat grass and grow wool. And it is impossible to imagine a coin having a will to do good or ill.

It turns out that the Biblical concept of repentance is much richer and deeper than simply what we do after we know that we have sinned before God. Repentance is not all about us and our ability to finally make a good choice. The Hebrew word we translate as “repentance” suggests a return to God by a person who has already experienced God’s goodness and compassion. It is the Greek word that carries the sense of taking a second look at our lives and making necessary changes. The Hebrew word points to what God is doing for us. The Greek word points to our responsewhen we know what God has done.

“Prevenient grace” is what we call God doing something for us even before we know that we need God to do something done for us. Prevenient grace is God looking for us when we are lost without God’s love. Jesus tells us that when we are lost the Good Shepherd comes looking for us. Jesus tells us that when we are lost the nurturing God will look in every nook and cranny of life until we are found again. And this is why there is more joy in heaven – there is more joy in the heart of God – because the one who has been lost is now found, and has been given the new life worth the trouble of.

That’s the kind of church that Jesus wants us to be, a church that celebrates when the lost are found in God’s love. Jesus wants us to be a church that doesn’t just wait for the lost to wander in.Jesus wants us to be a church that knows that there is nothing cheap or easy about letting some people stay lost. Jesus want us to be the kind of church that knows that people can be found when we are building a park together, or when we are staining a porch together, or even when we are grabbing a donut at 3 o’clock in the morning and a group of prostitutes walk in. I’d join a church like that – in fact, I did.

Jesus came to bring celebration and joy to people who knew they had no reason to celebrate, and who had every reason to be without joy. He came to lift up those who were broken down, and to give new life to those who are working so hard to push it down, cover it up, gloss it over, and trying to ignore that they are hurting. He came to find those who had strayed their way into getting lost, and those who became lost because of the careless actions of others. But most of all, Jesus came to invite us all to sing with the angels the joy of God’s grace and love!

Jesus has found me, and it makes me glad. If you are feeling lost without God’s love, if you are not sure that life is worth the trouble of, if all you want is things the way they used to be, with God here now with me, the good news is that Jesus has come to find us, and it is time to celebrate our being found! So, let’s stand and sing our joy! UM Hymnal 380 “There’s within my heart a melody.”