17 Pentecost, Cp19, September 11, 2016
Exodus 32:7-14 Psalm 51:1-11
1 Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-10
The Gospels are the literature of the early Christian communities and so they primarily reflect the habits, the teachings, the liturgies, the spirituality and the historical outcomes in the experience of the Risen Christ in the church.
What were the outcomes which were practiced in the early churches? First, the people who were formerly known as sinners ate the Lord's table. Second, the people who formerly had been lost from the blessing of Judaism were found in the blessing of the Risen Christ.
These outcomes and practices of the early church were illustrated in the parables about Jesus. The irony of the Gospels is that they are "parables" about Jesus who also tells parables. In the parable about Jesus in the Gospel that we have read today, what was said about Jesus?
The religious opponents of Jesus criticized Jesus by saying, "He eats with sinners." This may seem like a strange criticism in our day of quite open public eating. When one eats at any public restaurant one is never quite sure whom one is eating with and we don't really care.
Eating with someone in the Judaic context was important during the time of Jesus and afterwards because of the ritual purity practices in Judaism. If Jesus was the right kind of observant Jews of his time he should have been careful about his public behaviors. First, of all, a sinner in the time of Jesus was a code word for people who were ritually impure. If you would eat with someone who was not observing Jewish ritual practices, then you could not be sure that the food had been prepared according to the ritual practices of Judaism. An observant Jew would be very careful about the people with whom he ate.
What is the main composition of the members of the Christian Communities in the cities throughout the Roman Empire? It was Gentiles Christians, formerly known as sinners.
These Gentiles Christians were eating together in the Holy Eucharist. This Holy Eucharist was a gathering of people who believed that Risen Christ was present with them because of the presence of God's Holy Spirit. And in this renewal feast the Holy Spirit was invoked, asked to bless the bread and the wine and to convey through this invocation a renewal in time of another presence of Christ.
The Holy Eucharist was the evidence of the church that Jesus ate with the Gentiles, the ones who had formerly been declared to be sinners and ritually impure. Gentiles were mostly, ignorant of the ritual purity requirements of Judaism.
What is another message which the early church was preaching using this Gospel parable of Jesus? The message was that God cared for and loved more people than those who could be ritually observant Jews.
Many people in the world were "lost" and unimportant to those who were ritually observant Jews. According to those who were observant Jews, most of the population of the world was "lost" from the blessing of what had been received and practiced by observant Jews. Gentile Christianity was trying to promote the view that God could not be locked up within the limitations of ritually pure Judaism.
Gentile Christianity was about recovering what had been lost in strict ritual Judaic practices. The members of the Christian communities looked to the Hebrew Scriptures to find how the lost Gentiles had become could be "found" within the teachings of Judaism.
St. Paul went back to the Pre-Hebrew figure of Abraham to find him to be the father of faith for both Jews and Gentiles. The prophet Jonah was ordered by God to preach to the foreign people of Nineveh. This was a way of indicating that God's love stretched beyond the people of Israel in the witness of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Temple in Jerusalem was at its best to be a House of Prayer for all people. In the Torah, the Jews were instructed to treat foreigners equally under the law. In the Psalms, God is declared to the God of all people.
It was clear that in the time of Jesus that ritual purity practices of observant Jews meant that many believed that God was not able to bless anyone who could not be observant in their ritual purity practices.
Within the early Christian communities were people who believed that God in Christ had found a way to find all of the people who had been lost to ritually pure Judaism.
In the Christian communities, there was a new way to become regarded as clean, pure and holy before God; it was not through ritual purity, it was through the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life.
The ancient Psalmist cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within." The early Christians believe that purity and holiness was not determined by the practice of ritual purity; purity and holiness was determined by the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life. God's Holy Spirit could be the clean heart and right spirit within anyone.
So the Christian communities believed that Jesus came as proof that God saved sinners. Jesus came to prove that God could make holy, people who did not practice the ritual purity of Judaism. Jesus came to say that God had found all of those Gentiles who had formerly been treated as lost to the benefit and the blessings found within Judaism.
The practice of early churches presented the Gospel to show how many people had come to be found by God. The Eucharistic practice of church was a witness that Jesus was present within the fellowship meal of all people. Jesus ate with the people formerly regarded to be sinners and ritually impure and defiled.
The Eucharist today is still a Gospel witness to fact that Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came to find the lost. Jesus came to show that God truly belongs to everyone. Jesus came to show that God's Holy Spirit within anyone is what makes us acceptable to God.
As people who practice Eucharist, we are still sinners eating together. We can like Jesus say, "All of my best friends are sinners and I eat with them." As people who gather for the Holy Eucharist again, we know that what is holy, pure and best about our lives is the very presence of God's Holy Spirit.
So let us become today a part of God's search and rescue team. Let us find people who have been made to believe that they are lost from God's love, care and grace. Let us go forth to let people know that they can be made to feel holy and accepted by knowing the presence of God's Holy Spirit within their lives. Amen.
These outcomes and practices of the early church were illustrated in the parables about Jesus. The irony of the Gospels is that they are "parables" about Jesus who also tells parables. In the parable about Jesus in the Gospel that we have read today, what was said about Jesus?
The religious opponents of Jesus criticized Jesus by saying, "He eats with sinners." This may seem like a strange criticism in our day of quite open public eating. When one eats at any public restaurant one is never quite sure whom one is eating with and we don't really care.
Eating with someone in the Judaic context was important during the time of Jesus and afterwards because of the ritual purity practices in Judaism. If Jesus was the right kind of observant Jews of his time he should have been careful about his public behaviors. First, of all, a sinner in the time of Jesus was a code word for people who were ritually impure. If you would eat with someone who was not observing Jewish ritual practices, then you could not be sure that the food had been prepared according to the ritual practices of Judaism. An observant Jew would be very careful about the people with whom he ate.
What is the main composition of the members of the Christian Communities in the cities throughout the Roman Empire? It was Gentiles Christians, formerly known as sinners.
These Gentiles Christians were eating together in the Holy Eucharist. This Holy Eucharist was a gathering of people who believed that Risen Christ was present with them because of the presence of God's Holy Spirit. And in this renewal feast the Holy Spirit was invoked, asked to bless the bread and the wine and to convey through this invocation a renewal in time of another presence of Christ.
The Holy Eucharist was the evidence of the church that Jesus ate with the Gentiles, the ones who had formerly been declared to be sinners and ritually impure. Gentiles were mostly, ignorant of the ritual purity requirements of Judaism.
What is another message which the early church was preaching using this Gospel parable of Jesus? The message was that God cared for and loved more people than those who could be ritually observant Jews.
Many people in the world were "lost" and unimportant to those who were ritually observant Jews. According to those who were observant Jews, most of the population of the world was "lost" from the blessing of what had been received and practiced by observant Jews. Gentile Christianity was trying to promote the view that God could not be locked up within the limitations of ritually pure Judaism.
Gentile Christianity was about recovering what had been lost in strict ritual Judaic practices. The members of the Christian communities looked to the Hebrew Scriptures to find how the lost Gentiles had become could be "found" within the teachings of Judaism.
St. Paul went back to the Pre-Hebrew figure of Abraham to find him to be the father of faith for both Jews and Gentiles. The prophet Jonah was ordered by God to preach to the foreign people of Nineveh. This was a way of indicating that God's love stretched beyond the people of Israel in the witness of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Temple in Jerusalem was at its best to be a House of Prayer for all people. In the Torah, the Jews were instructed to treat foreigners equally under the law. In the Psalms, God is declared to the God of all people.
It was clear that in the time of Jesus that ritual purity practices of observant Jews meant that many believed that God was not able to bless anyone who could not be observant in their ritual purity practices.
Within the early Christian communities were people who believed that God in Christ had found a way to find all of the people who had been lost to ritually pure Judaism.
In the Christian communities, there was a new way to become regarded as clean, pure and holy before God; it was not through ritual purity, it was through the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life.
The ancient Psalmist cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within." The early Christians believe that purity and holiness was not determined by the practice of ritual purity; purity and holiness was determined by the presence of God's Holy Spirit in one's life. God's Holy Spirit could be the clean heart and right spirit within anyone.
So the Christian communities believed that Jesus came as proof that God saved sinners. Jesus came to prove that God could make holy, people who did not practice the ritual purity of Judaism. Jesus came to say that God had found all of those Gentiles who had formerly been treated as lost to the benefit and the blessings found within Judaism.
The practice of early churches presented the Gospel to show how many people had come to be found by God. The Eucharistic practice of church was a witness that Jesus was present within the fellowship meal of all people. Jesus ate with the people formerly regarded to be sinners and ritually impure and defiled.
The Eucharist today is still a Gospel witness to fact that Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came to find the lost. Jesus came to show that God truly belongs to everyone. Jesus came to show that God's Holy Spirit within anyone is what makes us acceptable to God.
As people who practice Eucharist, we are still sinners eating together. We can like Jesus say, "All of my best friends are sinners and I eat with them." As people who gather for the Holy Eucharist again, we know that what is holy, pure and best about our lives is the very presence of God's Holy Spirit.
So let us become today a part of God's search and rescue team. Let us find people who have been made to believe that they are lost from God's love, care and grace. Let us go forth to let people know that they can be made to feel holy and accepted by knowing the presence of God's Holy Spirit within their lives. Amen.
