Homily for Proper 19 C - September 12, 2010

My brothers and sisters, God is both forgiving and just. This may not make since to us but it is a genuine blessing.

In our reading from Exodus we see the people of Israel turn to sin wile waiting at the foot of Mount Sinai. They enrage God but Moses convinces God to relent and forgive. This image of God as wrathful is common in the Old Testament but we also have the reminder that people can move God to relent.

In our reading from First Timothy the author has reminded us to believe fully that God came into our world to offer salvation to sinners. The Gospels testify to it and Paul’s own-lived example dramatizes it. Mercy and forgiveness are real!

Earlier the author has warned against false teachers who indulge in elaborations on, and deviations from, the faith. Love should be the basis for Christian conduct – lived through personal integrity. Now the author promotes the simple doctrine that Christ came into the world to save sinners.

In today’s gospel God welcomes the repentant. Jesus depicts God as not merely accepting the repentant sinner but actively seeking them out.

The Pharisees and Scribes have chastised Jesus for keeping company with “tax collectors and sinners.” Apparently godly people like the Pharisees avoided and despised such people. Their complaint begs the question: are any beyond God’s mercy? Jesus’ answer is a resounding NO! He defends associating with these people, using parables. He also explains these two parables: God is the shepherd or housewife. The lost sheep or coin represent people who repent. God not only accepts them but seeks them out and rejoices when they are found.

This gospel image of God is strikingly different from the Old Testament image. In Jesus’ teaching God does not express wrath at the sinner but seeks opportunity for reconciliation. In other passages Jesus also teaches that there will be judgment and consequences for those who do not repent and return to doing good. However, there are no New Testament threats to destroy a whole nation and start over.

Jesus presents to us a tender God who can be approached by all of us, not just by a Moses. When we have done wrong and need to make a fresh start we will find God waiting for our return. All of us have experienced forgiveness in some manner. Some of us have seen the unrepentant punished. Some few of us may have even been around when God mysteriously dealt out both in the same situation . . . I once ministered to a man who both accepted judicial punishment for his crimes and God’s forgiveness for his sins. Though it was truly hard on him, he went on to be a much better man because of it.

My sisters and brothers, let us not shy away from God when we need forgiveness and the blessing of a fresh start. Instead, let us take God up on the offer Jesus presents before us today!