Sermon Recording:

I want to begin with a historical footnote that you will recognize is not without contemporary significance. We note that the parables of Jesus recorded by Luke in chapters 13 -15 are all set in the context of disputes between Jesus and the Pharisees. Christians have always read too much into this due to being largely ignorant of the central role of textual argument in Jewish biblical interpretation. We note here the Talmud’s saying – two Jews, three opinions – at least.

That Jesus argued Torah interpretation with the Pharisees was normal. But by the time the Evangelists were constructing their gospel narratives from the oral traditions that had grown up around Jesus and his stories of the Kingdom, the memory of his intra-communal (within the same community) disputes with the Pharisees had become highly colored by the growth of a bitter animosity between emergent Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity – both competing for the upper hand amidst the ruins of the Second Temple.

Thus, the highly intercommunal (between communities) animosity between competing Rabbinic and Christian traditions emerging in the period in which Luke is writing – the late 1st-early 2nd centuries, became easily projected back onto the Pharisees in the earlier time of Jesus’ ministry.

It comes as a surprize to us that Jesus, himself, may well have been a product of the Pharisee movement, a progressive reform movement in the context of Second Temple Jewish religion. The Pharisee movement, whose power base lay in the countryside, not the Jerusalem temple placed a greater emphasis on the teaching of the prophets than the rigidly conservative Temple-based Sadducees. Through the system of local synagogues, the Pharisees ran a network of schools, and it’s probably in one such that Jesus received his education. We should view Jesus, if not as a Pharisee himself, but as someone who was certainly part of the progressive movement. Yet, within the progressive movement, there were tensions.

To use a contemporary lens, we might see the Pharisees as the Democratic-Liberal establishment with Jesus on the more politically radical Democratic-Socialist fringe. I know this comparison might seem somewhat controversial even strained- but I use it to highlight the nature of the tensions between Jesus and his Pharisee interlocutors. For Jesus, the issue is always political – meaning his confrontation with the use of tradition to bind and not to liberate. To stress this point Luke presents Jesus inaugurating his ministry by directly quoting from Isaiah 61 – he sent me to bring good news to the poor etc – signaling Jesus’ donning of the prophetic mantle.

Between Luke’s time and ours, has anything really changed much? The names change, but the dynamic of polarized worldviews stays the same. Luke largely follows Mark and Matthew in presenting Pharisee criticism of Jesus as the projection of late 1st century Jewish-Christian tensions – i.e., code for the ongoing conflict with the rabbis in his own day. However, that as may be, Luke has a bigger point to make. He invariably presents Jesus as an advocate for the have-nots, the excluded, the overlooked. If we look at the situations in which Jesus and the Pharisees get into it, they all concern the refusal of tradition to recognize the needs of the weak, the sick, and the vulnerable.

Whereas Matthew views Jesus as the embodiment of the Torah’s fulfillment, the new and improved Moses, Mark views Jesus from the perspective of God’s identification with those at the rough end of empire power – Isaiah’s  Suffering Servant. Luke whose primary concern is to present Christianity as no threat to Roman order -adds a new socio-political dimension by presenting Jesus’ concern for the outcast and the discriminated against – women and children, widows and orphans, and the sick, in particular. Which is why Luke’s presentation of Jesus has a very contemporary feel.

In chapter 15, Luke offers a wealth of images in three parables original to him. We might best think of Jesus’ parables as stories of the kingdom. In these three parables – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son- Luke presents Jesus’ concern with the theme of lost and found.

Today’s gospel stops short, giving us, mercifully, only the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. As we have other opportunities in the liturgical year to explore the parable of the lost sheep and that of the prodigal son, it’s the story of the lost coin that piques our uncontested curiosity today.

Set between the two male-dominated kingdom stories exploring the theme of lost and found, the parable of the lost coin has a woman as the central protagonist and is therefore usually overlooked. Although generally referred to as the parable of the lost coin, it might better be referred to as the parable of the diligent woman. For it’s not the coin or its value but the woman’s concern and diligence in searching that lies at the heart of this story of the kingdom.

The diligence of the woman who turns her house upside down in what amounts to the spring-clean of spring-cleans in search of her lost coin speaks to us of dedication or diligence. To be diligent means to exert constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. Diligence requires a persistent exertion of body or mind. Perhaps Jesus chose a woman as the protagonist in this kingdom story because he recognized that diligence is a key quality displayed by women and particularly suited to the arena of everyday life.

Diligence is not heroic, nor particularly dramatic. Because diligence is an unobtrusive quality, it’s often overlooked or taken for granted. Diligence involves an attention to the details, taking care in ordinary everyday circumstances. Diligence is a characteristic of the feminine principle in the spiritual life. It’s a gentle competence in ordinary things. Being a feminine spiritual principle, it’s an unsung characteristic of discipleship.

In my experience of the politics of gender, diligence is a quality more often displayed by women than by men. Even in the modern world, where traditional gender divides have been greatly eroded, the parable of the diligent woman symbolizes women’s care for service, nurture, and relationship building. Whether this is in the traditional area of service within the family or today by extension in the so-called caring professions, women blaze the way and are largely unsung in doing so.

Gentle, yet determined competence tends to be a characteristic of women’s experience that is much less evident in the lives of men. Competitiveness, ruthless drive, and ambition are more culturally acceptable in male relationships and it comes as little surprise that in contemporary America, where diligence is undervalued, it’s men who are increasingly lonely and isolated, deprived of the intimacy of peer relationships to support their well-being.

The average attention span in today’s media-driven age is approximately 8.25 seconds, which is shorter than that of a goldfish. This decline is largely attributed to the rapid consumption of content on social media and digital platforms. None of us needs reminding that diligence is less than sexy in the clashing and discordant cacophony of multiple distractions. As a society, we’ve lost our appreciation for diligence in public service as well as private life, preferring instead the peacock display of self-serving egotism.

Diligence, the perseverance to do what needs to be done with the resolution of heart, mind, and body, is the quality we most need to mirror for one another. On Ministry Sunday, there can be no better theme than to reflect on the place of diligence in our communal live.

In the politics of Jesus, as Luke presents him, God does not welcome us into the kingdom; God invites us into the kingdom. We are not to wait within our walls and smile sweetly to those who venture through the doors, although in many parish communities, to do this is to take a much-needed step in the right direction. God sends us out into our lives to display the quality of diligence in our care for family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Ordinary people who faithfully, diligently, and consistently do simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results. Elder David A. Bednar . Happy Ministry Sunday!