Partying With God

Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, May 30, 2023

The Week of Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th. D.

Key phrase for reflection in today’s reading:

15:1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ . . . .

“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” . . . .

“Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” . . . .

10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

(You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.)

Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP , 968)

AM Psalm 26, 28; PM Psalm 36, 39

Deuteronomy 4:15-24; 2 Corinthians 1:12-22; Luke 15:1-10

Today we celebrate the Feast of Joan of Arc. (See below.)

David’s Reflections

One Sunday in 2005, I left my Greek New Testament at the school where our new church worshipped each Sunday. I had been using that Bible since 1974, and I cherish it. I searched the house high and low into the week trying to find it before I became convinced that it was at the worship space in the school building. Anxieties at a very high level, I walked out onto the sun porch to get the keys to drive to the school to recover it if possible.

Imagine my delight when I saw it lying on the corner of the glass-top table on the sun porch. Had I simply missed it? Not possible!!! I had searched the sun porch high and low and it had NOT been lying there in such a prominent spot. Some angel in the church had found it, noticed my name on the front cover, and come by the house to leave it there for me.

Today that treasured New Testament sits on my desk at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Glenmore, VA, where I serve as supply priest. Several years after I purchased it, my wife, Nancy, had it bound in leather as a surprise. After all these years, it looks tattered. But, I treasure it as one of the sacramental reminders of her. Though we divorced in 1992, we were at peace with each other. Now that she has died (January 2021), I treasure it even more.

Can I believe that God values me in an ultimate way, far beyond any value I place on another person or object? Can I believe that so long as I have no connection with God, no direct living relationship, that God could not rest until that relationship has been established? Can I believe that in those moments when I ignore my relationship with God that God does not rest until the relationship is restored to an interactive personal connection?

Well, that’s the image of God these two parables in today’s reading portray. God’s love for us is like that of a shepherd who cannot be content until the hundredth sheep is reunited with a seeking shepherd and the 99. God’s love for us resembles that of a woman who loses one of the ten coins of her wedding dowry and raises a dust cloud on the dirt floor of her house in dim light, probing with her broom until that irreplaceable coin turns up. God’s joy is like that of someone so happy at the birth of a child, the marriage of a son or daughter, or the return of a loved one from a distant place of danger. That God throws a party and invites everyone to join in celebrating the recovery of what was so valuable. That God, like the shepherd and the woman, would not desist from seeking until what had been lost was found.

Dare I accept this image of God? It will mean that I flip my perspective. The church does not exist for itself; rather, the church exists for those God continues to seek. If God’s love possesses us, we will have God’s drivenness to join in seeking those languishing apart from that saving love. We will stretch ourselves, rearrange our priorities, invest more time, energy, and money in that seeking process.

And, we will savor each one who returns and live in the glow of shared joy with God. We will party as does God. 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ Can we imagine the angels partying without the triune God’s joining in? In Luke 15, “joy in the presence of the angels of God” and “joy in heaven” are Jewish idioms for “joy in God.” Religious grumbling puts us out of touch with the God who celebrates the recovery of each person.

Collect of the Day, Pentecost Sunday

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Joan of Arc, visionary (died 30 May 1431 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/joan_arc.htm

Collect of the Feast of Joan of Arc

Holy God, whose power is made perfect in weakness: we honor you for the calling of Jeanne d’Arc, who, though young, rose up in valor to bear your standard for her country, and endured with grace and fortitude both victory and defeat; and we pray that we, like Jeanne, may bear witness to the truth that is in us to friends and enemies alike, and, encouraged by the companionship of your saints, give ourselves bravely to the struggle for justice in our time; through Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Collect for Peace

Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)

For the Departed

Almighty God, we remember before you today your faithful servant N.; and we pray that, having opened to him the gates of larger life, you will receive him more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, he may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 253)

A Prayer for Light

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 15:1-10

15:1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ 3So he told them this parable: 4‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer