Wednesday marked the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania – our modern day “date that will live in infamy.” Over 3,000 lives were lost in the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania plane crashes, including more than 400 firefighters and police officers. In addition to the enormous loss of life and property, we as a nation lost a sense of innocence. We were deprived of a sense of security. Like many of you, I’m sure; the events of that day remain vivid in my mind. I recall where I was and what I was doing like it was yesterday. It was as if the world stood still. The country was in shell shock. In the days and weeks that followed this horrible tragedy, we were inundated with tales of heroism and sacrifice in stories surfacing from search and rescue efforts. And while the stories were inspiring, there were very few survivors to be found.
Today’s gospel reading contains two parables of loss – the lost sheep and the lost coin. In both parables, great effort is taken to search for the lost items. In the first parable, the shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep to find one that is lost. Most of us would probably not give much thought to a one percent loss and while devoting so much effort in recovering that one percent may sound ridiculous, Jesus often times uses this sort of exaggerated statement to convey a simple truth – God’s loves everyone equally and ridiculously. In the second parable, a woman lights a lamp and sweeps the house carefully searching for a lost coin. This loss we can probably all relate to. The woman has lost money. Not only that, but she has lost ten percent of what money she had. A ten percent loss is more difficult to swallow than a mere one percent. In both scenarios, there is great rejoicing or celebration when the lost items are found. Now this is not the kind of high five or pat on the back celebration that you might expect. This celebration was more like a dinner party and would have far exceeded the value of what was lost. Some might say that is a little excessive and they would certainly be correct.
A shepherd would spend all of his time with his flock. He would have known each one of them, and they each would know the sound of his voice. There surely would have been created a close bond between shepherd and sheep while he strove to keep them safe from harm. As for the woman and her money, I know I have lost twenty dollars before and I would gladly have spent that money on a good time with my friends than lose it altogether. But these are human attempts to justify the recovery of property. There may be emotional ties to that property, but nothing can compare to God’s love for us. God doesn’t value one over another, but loves each one equally. And the value that is placed on each one is more than we could ever fully comprehend. The shepherd and the woman’s excessive celebrations represent God’s excessive mercy and grace that he gives to us. While there are limits to the goodwill of humans, there is no limit to God’s kindness.
God loves us more than we can imagine and wants us to live united with him. We are called to share the love of God with our fellow human beings. Jesus came into the world to seek out the lost, the impure and imperfect. How might we engage in that search? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed and equipped to bring others to that same transformation. By sharing our stories and experience of our encounters with Jesus, we deliver his message of healing, salvation, and reconciliation. We in turn build up the church, which is his body on Earth. Of all the images of 9/11, I tend to focus on those of survivors and rescue workers around ground zero covered in dust and ashes, making people’s differences indistinguishable. I believe that is how God sees us, but instead of dust and ashes, sin and impurity, we are covered by his grace and mercy. Amen.
