Sermon: "Connected" (Luke 15: 1-10)

Bob Goff is an author who wrote a whole book full of stories about unreasonable, illogical, over-the-top love. The book is titled, Love Does.

The first story he tells is autobiographical. It takes place when he’s in high school.

As he describes it, he decided to quit high school and move to Yosemite, find some part-time work, and spend his days rock climbing. It was his dream, and he was going to make it a reality.

On his way out of town, he stopped to tell Randy, his youth leader who wasn’t much older than him. “You’re leaving right now?” Randy asked.

“Yeah.”

“Just a minute,” Randy said; “I need to check on something…”

Randy disappeared into the house, then reappeared with a backpack. He said, “Bob, I’m with you. You wouldn’t mind if I caught a ride with you?”

“Uh, sure…”

So, together, in Bob’s old VW, they drove to Yosemite. Once there, Bob realized he hadn’t arranged a place to stay; so he and Randy snuck into one of the platform tents set up at one of the pay-per-night campsites. The next morning he tried to find a job.

No luck. No one was hiring. He spent several days trying to find a job. He ran out of money.

Randy stayed with him. Eventually Bob said to Randy, “You know, you’ve been great coming with me, but I think what I’ll do is head back and finish up high school.”

Randy just said, “Whatever you decide, I’m with you.”

They drove back home.

When they arrived back at Randy’s house, Bob followed Randy in through the front door. Randy’s girlfriend was there, and on the floor were stacks of plates, wrapping paper, a coffeemaker, some glasses…Bob was confused; but then he realized: Randy and his girlfriend had just gotten married! When Bob had knocked on Randy’s door a few days ago, he had disrupted the very beginning of their marriage!

He felt terrible.

Why did Randy give up spending the first few days of marriage with his wife, and instead accompany Bob on a crazy trip to Yosemite, sneaking into the back of tents?

It was because Randy loved Bob.

It was a crazy, unreasonable thing to do, but love isn’t always reasonable. Love goes crazy sometimes. Love is extravagant, and the extravagance isn’t always logical.

It’s like a shepherd who has lost a sheep, one out of a hundred, and he leaves the 99 to go and search for the one that is lost. That in itself seems a bit unreasonable to me. But then, when he finds that one sheep, he calls together all his friends and neighbors. “Rejoice with me!” he said; and he threw a huge party. And what do you think was on the menu? It seems doubtful to me that he or any of his friends were vegetarian. I think they ate lamb.

That doesn’t even make sense, right? It’s ridiculous. It’s extravagant. It’s unreasonable. It’s over-the-top-crazy!

Love is crazy. It’s like a woman who lost a coin. She spent a great amount of time searching diligently for that coin; and when she found it, she was so happy, she called together her friends and neighbors for a party to celebrate. “Rejoice with me!” she said.

How much did she spend on that party? How many coins did that party cost? Does this even make sense?

No! Love doesn’t always make sense. Love goes too far. It is ridiculous. Extravagant. Unreasonable.

Luke tells a third story, about a lost son. The son leaves, and takes half his father’s fortune with him, which he promptly squandered away. He returned home in shame, yet his father threw him the greatest welcome home party you’ve ever seen.

The lost son’s brother was critical of the celebration – and rightly so. It doesn’t make sense. It’s ridiculous. Extravagant. Unreasonable. Illogical. Crazy. Over-the-top.

But that’s just how love is sometimes.

Have you seen the movie Parenthood with Steve Martin? Steve Martin plays Gil Buckman. His father, Frank, is played by Jason Robards. And then there is brother Larry, played by Tom Hulce.

Brother Larry is the irresponsible one. He’s always travelling, doesn’t keep in contact, and when he does show up, it’s because he needs money.

When I first saw the movie, many years ago, I thought: why does the father keep welcoming back brother Larry? Why does he keep giving his son money, when his son continues to act irresponsibly?

I guess… I guess I’m the older brother in the story of the lost son, questioning the display of a love that is too generous, too extravagant, too ridiculous. Reading the story of a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find one, then throws a big party to celebrate; or a woman who finds one coin and then throws a big, expensive party to celebrate; or a father who welcomes back his irresponsible, ungrateful son by throwing a big, expensive party… None of this has ever seemed logical to me.

Yet God has never given up on me, and God continues to work on me, and the older I get, the closer I get to understanding that kind of love.

Here is another example of love shown in a ridiculous, extravagant way. Jesus was full of God’s love, and he consistently demonstrated that love, especially to those who had known so little love in their lives. They were disconnected from society, pushed to the sides by the rulemakers and policy enforcers.

Most thought it wasn’t logical to show love to those at the bottom of society. It would be love that is wasted. After all, what could they give in return? You give them your love, and what do you get back?

But Jesus believed in the power of love so much, that he was willing to give his life for it. His life! That’s everything! Now that’s ridiculous and illogical! But he did it. His love was so complete, so extravagant, that he gave his life. He gave his all – everything he could possibly give; and 2,000 years later, the power of his love still gives life.

Jesus saw the connection. He couldn’t ignore or discount anyone, because God created us to live in connection: we are connected to one another, and connected to God. We are all one, in ways that we can’t even fully understand. We are one. We are connected. And love is what holds that connection together.

But so many forces leave us feeling disconnected. And we become lost sheep. Lost coins. Lost children.

We’re disconnected, but we have this longing to re-connect. And it’s a deep, desperate longing. The number one reason people use social media is to connect. Sometimes people go online searching for a relationship. Other times people go online, they post things about themselves, and all they want is for someone to say: “I hear you. I get it. I understand.”

Either way, they are searching for a connection.

Religion is supposed to connect. That’s what religion is all about. The word religion comes from re-ligio, which literally means “to reconnect.” That’s literally what the word means!

So religion that is done right is religion that connects people to God and to one another.

And the only way that connection is going to happen is through love. Radical, extravagant, over-the-top love.

We at Bixby Knolls Christian Church are on a journey toward that love. It would be foolish to claim that we have already arrived there, that we are perfect in love, that we perfectly embody the generous, radical, extravagant love Christ talks about.

But we’re working on it.

One of the things that’s helpful to us is having a mix of ages in our congregation. We’re not big, but we have people here representing every generation. Grandparents and great-grandparents, and grandchidren and great-grandchildren.

I think this helps us learn a lot about love. I think it helps us learn a lot about being connected. In just about every way that people gather in our society, we are separated by generation. Even some churches are like that.

But here, at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, the generations come together and connect.

That’s something I am thankful for on this Grandparents’ Day…

In addition to being Grandparents’ Day today, you probably know that this is also the 15^th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And since September 11, 2001, we’ve been at war. We’ve been fighting, somewhere in the world, every single day since. War has become the new normal.

Do you know what will really end terrorism in our world?

Not more bombs, more weapons, stronger defense, or more restrictive security measures.

What will end terrorism is love. What will end terrorism is making connections.

I don’t think it’s possible to wage war on someone with whom you’ve connected.

And to make those kinds of connections, we need to develop friendships, show hospitality, have conversations, demonstrate compassion – all those things that our faith teaches us to do.

We need to do that with each other, and also with strangers, people from foreign lands, people who speak different languages and practice different religions.

That’s what religion teaches us. It teaches us to re-connect.

We are trying to build those connections here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church. We’re trying to build bridges that connect, instead of walls that divide. We’re working on manifesting true religion: a religion that connects people to God and to one another.

If you are not formally connected with us here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I would be happy to talk with you about that. I am an introvert – it’s not always easy for me to start conversations. But I am overjoyed anytime someone comes up to me and says, “tell me how to get involved,” or, “tell me how to become a member,” or, “tell me about baptism.” These are things that help connect you to the church.

I may not be very good at starting conversations, but if you ask me about things like this, at some point you’ll probably have to shut me up. Because as your pastor I really do want to help you make a connection with God. It is the most important connection you will ever make. It’s the connection that will help you find wholeness in the midst of this fragmented world.

So if you want to know more about finding a connection rooted in the most wonderful, extravagant, over-the-top love the world has ever known… let’s talk. Let’s connect.

Make a connection with us here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and learn with us about God’s radical, extravagant, over-the-top-crazy kind of love.