Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 1:01am
The Top 10 signs of church insiders and outsiders
Column: New Houses from Old Bricks
One of the challenges of preaching is interpreting the Bible in a way relevant to a variety of life situations. Sometimes that's a hurdle to cross, but other times it's a door that opens into a new hearing of an old story.
In church last Sunday, we heard the beloved "parable of the lost sheep." If you've hung around churches much, you might have heard this story from Luke 15: Jesus speaks of a shepherd with 100 sheep who, when one is lost, leaves the 99 in the wilderness to go search for the one until he finds it and rejoices. With God as the persistent and gracious shepherd, Jesus says, "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance."
Of course, if you've hung around churches much, you might identify more with the 99 rather than with the lost one.
It's the grumbling of the 99, so to speak — a group of Pharisees — that inspires this story. As religious leaders of their time — the quintessential insiders — the Pharisees grumbled about Jesus' penchant for hanging out with the outsiders, "tax collectors and sinners." In this parable, Jesus' response seems to have good news for the lost "tax collector" but bad news for the Pharisee.
So was our gathered congregation primarily a group of church insiders or outsiders? If the story's interpretation depends on that distinction, then you'd have to figure out who's who. Borrowing a page from David Letterman, here are
The Top 10 signs you might be a tax collector
10. You've been uncomfortable with your faith at times, doubting that God cares much for you — if there even is a God.
9. You've doubted that people care much for you, feeling ashamed or not good enough.
8. You've despaired of finding God, especially in a bad situation, or just in the busyness of everyday life.
7. You have really, really screwed up at least once. You've dug a hole for yourself so deep that you can't get out.
6. You've realized that something in your life isn't working, and you can't fix it: anger or resentment, a habit or addiction, a relationship, or a particular problem you just can't solve.
5. You can identify with the lost sheep; you've wandered off the beaten track and found yourself alone.
4. Or you've have wandered off the beaten path on purpose — sometimes over and over again, sometimes determined to stay lost.
3. You've felt like you don't belong or are separate from the "flock."
2. You've been certain that things would never, ever be OK again: You could never be forgiven, or you could never forgive, or you could never feel good again.
1. You've prayed the tax collector's prayer in Luke 18: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
And conversely, here are
The Top 10 signs you might be a Pharisee
10. You believe in and follow the rules, having high standards for yourself and others, and generally doing what's expected of you.
9. You pay close attention to how your words and actions appear to others. For instance, you have competed to look or act better than someone else, or commented (even to yourself) that someone else didn't measure up.
8. You are or have been, on the whole, comfortable with your faith: You know you can get close to God if you do the right things. You're on the right track and don't need much turning around — which is what "repentance" means.
7. You believe in self-reliance, and it usually works for you. You have been self-righteous at least once (that is, righteous through your own doing).
6. You believe in fairness and justice: People reap what they sow and should get what they deserve.
5. You once had a hard time celebrating something good that happened to someone else — especially if it didn't also happen to you.
4. You identify with the 99 sheep in the parable. For instance, you have asked, "Why does that one get all the attention/love/help?"
3. You have asked, "Don't I get any credit here?"
2. You have prayed the Pharisee's prayer in Luke 18, which says basically, "God, thank you that I am closer to you than other people."
1. You have grumbled.
Since I fit quite comfortably in both categories (well, rather uncomfortably — I don't really want to be either!), I wasn't surprised to find that many in my congregation identified with both as well. This, we discovered, is the genius of Jesus' parable: It addresses
The Top Five things the Pharisees and tax collectors have in common
5. Like the sheep, they're all wandering in the wilderness; none are safe at home. The shepherd doesn't leave the 99 in a safe, protected enclosure.
4. Both think they have to find their own way to God. Pharisees have confidence they can do that, whereas tax collectors despair that they can't. And they're both wrong, because ...
3. Neither the Pharisees nor the tax collectors search — God the shepherd does. The 99 sheep do not go looking for the lost one. The one sheep does not find its own way home.
2. Joy is fully available to all. Whether we're insiders or outsiders, if we want to be where the joy is, we'd better hang out more with the lost-and-found. (And it just might help also to hang out less with the grumblers.)
1. God loves both Pharisees and tax collectors. God wants all 100 sheep in the fold — God doesn't stop at 99.
And for those of us who relate to both the insider's grumbling and the outsider's isolation, it's joyful news that God loves the Pharisee and the tax collector in each of us, too.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Schlatter.
In church last Sunday, we heard the beloved "parable of the lost sheep." If you've hung around churches much, you might have heard this story from Luke 15: Jesus speaks of a shepherd with 100 sheep who, when one is lost, leaves the 99 in the wilderness to go search for the one until he finds it and rejoices. With God as the persistent and gracious shepherd, Jesus says, "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance."
Of course, if you've hung around churches much, you might identify more with the 99 rather than with the lost one.
It's the grumbling of the 99, so to speak — a group of Pharisees — that inspires this story. As religious leaders of their time — the quintessential insiders — the Pharisees grumbled about Jesus' penchant for hanging out with the outsiders, "tax collectors and sinners." In this parable, Jesus' response seems to have good news for the lost "tax collector" but bad news for the Pharisee.
So was our gathered congregation primarily a group of church insiders or outsiders? If the story's interpretation depends on that distinction, then you'd have to figure out who's who. Borrowing a page from David Letterman, here are
The Top 10 signs you might be a tax collector
10. You've been uncomfortable with your faith at times, doubting that God cares much for you — if there even is a God.
9. You've doubted that people care much for you, feeling ashamed or not good enough.
8. You've despaired of finding God, especially in a bad situation, or just in the busyness of everyday life.
7. You have really, really screwed up at least once. You've dug a hole for yourself so deep that you can't get out.
6. You've realized that something in your life isn't working, and you can't fix it: anger or resentment, a habit or addiction, a relationship, or a particular problem you just can't solve.
5. You can identify with the lost sheep; you've wandered off the beaten track and found yourself alone.
4. Or you've have wandered off the beaten path on purpose — sometimes over and over again, sometimes determined to stay lost.
3. You've felt like you don't belong or are separate from the "flock."
2. You've been certain that things would never, ever be OK again: You could never be forgiven, or you could never forgive, or you could never feel good again.
1. You've prayed the tax collector's prayer in Luke 18: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
And conversely, here are
The Top 10 signs you might be a Pharisee
10. You believe in and follow the rules, having high standards for yourself and others, and generally doing what's expected of you.
9. You pay close attention to how your words and actions appear to others. For instance, you have competed to look or act better than someone else, or commented (even to yourself) that someone else didn't measure up.
8. You are or have been, on the whole, comfortable with your faith: You know you can get close to God if you do the right things. You're on the right track and don't need much turning around — which is what "repentance" means.
7. You believe in self-reliance, and it usually works for you. You have been self-righteous at least once (that is, righteous through your own doing).
6. You believe in fairness and justice: People reap what they sow and should get what they deserve.
5. You once had a hard time celebrating something good that happened to someone else — especially if it didn't also happen to you.
4. You identify with the 99 sheep in the parable. For instance, you have asked, "Why does that one get all the attention/love/help?"
3. You have asked, "Don't I get any credit here?"
2. You have prayed the Pharisee's prayer in Luke 18, which says basically, "God, thank you that I am closer to you than other people."
1. You have grumbled.
Since I fit quite comfortably in both categories (well, rather uncomfortably — I don't really want to be either!), I wasn't surprised to find that many in my congregation identified with both as well. This, we discovered, is the genius of Jesus' parable: It addresses
The Top Five things the Pharisees and tax collectors have in common
5. Like the sheep, they're all wandering in the wilderness; none are safe at home. The shepherd doesn't leave the 99 in a safe, protected enclosure.
4. Both think they have to find their own way to God. Pharisees have confidence they can do that, whereas tax collectors despair that they can't. And they're both wrong, because ...
3. Neither the Pharisees nor the tax collectors search — God the shepherd does. The 99 sheep do not go looking for the lost one. The one sheep does not find its own way home.
2. Joy is fully available to all. Whether we're insiders or outsiders, if we want to be where the joy is, we'd better hang out more with the lost-and-found. (And it just might help also to hang out less with the grumblers.)
1. God loves both Pharisees and tax collectors. God wants all 100 sheep in the fold — God doesn't stop at 99.
And for those of us who relate to both the insider's grumbling and the outsider's isolation, it's joyful news that God loves the Pharisee and the tax collector in each of us, too.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Schlatter.