I remember the first time I heard the motto of the US Army Rangers. It was in a movie and in a heroic moment one soldier said to another that they could not retreat to safety until they were able to get their fellow injured soldier to safety with them. The one soldier said to the other, ‘We leave no-one behind.’ This saying is actually a part of the Rangers motto but it is very historic and is attributed to the Spartans who in a war risked the safety of 300 soldiers to rescue the body of their leader. The expression ‘Leave No-one Behind’ is meant to mean that when you evacuate, you take your dead and that in battle, you get your wounded out. Not only does the expression give a sense of honor to the military, but it must give those in the armed forces security knowing that they are all for one and one for all. They will be taken care of… they have each other’s backs. However last year the U.N. adopted the phrase in a pledge that as they work towards 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Their goals state that no country will be left behind and the UN will ‘endeavor to reach the furthest behind first’.
I thought of the phrase ‘Leave no one behind’ when I read the story on today’s lectionary Gospel Lesson which includes the story of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. In it, Jesus states that he did not come for just those who are deserving and are perfect, but that no-one is to be left behind. Listen now to Luke 15:1-15.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So 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? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And 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.’ 7 Just 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,[a] if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When 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.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Jesus is at it again… spending time with the not so saintly and the righteous Pharisees and Scribes are a bit put out that Jesus is eating, wasting his time with sinners and tax collectors and not the good Jews like them. They look down their noses at him saying, there he goes again….
So Jesus tells them stories about a shepherd and a woman who go to great lengths to find something that is lost. Both individuals do not just give a perfunctory once over in retrieving their lost items but they go to extreme measures. The Shepherd does not make excuses about having turned his back for just a second, he searches every valley and every hill for the missing sheep. The woman did not yell at herself to be more careful with her possessions or ask how she could possibly lose her precious gold coin. Instead she sweeps under the tables and shakes out the blankets until she finds her coin.
It makes us feel secure to know that we are not left behind. It allows us to know that we are loved and cherished. I remember when my sister was recently divorced and visiting me. Running long 1/2 and full marathons had become a passion to cope with her ex-husband leaving her. While visiting she went out on a run when a huge electrical storm suddenly came through the area unexpectedly. I went out in our car in the storm to find her and when I did I asked her if she had panicked at all and she said at first she did and then she began to list the people who loved her, and it gave her great comfort. By listing those who loved her, she knew that she was not forgotten. She might be in a storm, but people loved her and would come and find her. What a beautiful thought and something we all should try.
Author Melissa Earley wrote in her exegesis on this text in The Christian Century magazine that the stories were like the rescue effort for Amanda Eller in Maui. You might remember this story as it was on all the national news this past late spring and early summer. On May 8th, Amanda went on what was to be a short hike and got turned around. She went deeper into the forest and on day three of her being lost she fell off a cliff and fractured her leg. The next day she lost her shoes in a flood. Official searchers suspended their work on May 12th, 72 hours after the search for Amanda had begun.
Paul Anderson, a retired 42-year veteran of the National Parks Service told Outsider Magazine, that suspending a search is one of the most gut wrenching experiences you can go through. And in this case, the volunteers persisted. They searched ravines and caves, they climbed, repelled, hiked and even searched the waters. They killed wild board and searched their intestines for human remains. The man who coordinated the search was fired for his job for missing work. And on May 25, day 17 of Amanda’s ordeal, helicopter rescuers spotted Amanda 7 miles from the central search area. She was injured, dehydrated, but alive.
And, to those who called off the original and official rescue efforts, I am sure there was very good reason. But to those who loved Amanda, there was no ending the search until she was found. And Jesus’s message is like this story. God does not stop wanting and searching for us. God is the volunteer search party that just does not give up.
And dear Riviera friends, this is such really really good news for us. Because when we are honest about ourselves, we know that none of us is perfect. That prayer of confession we say in unison each week is important for us and we all know that the silent confessional part could go on much longer than the half minute it does. You see, we all are the Pharisees and the tax collectors and even are those haughty people who look down on others thinking we are more ethical or moral than the rest.
This week after our wonderful art installation was put up in our front, Barbie and I received hate messages from one woman that escalated to the point we had to call the police and make a report. A SWAT team member arrived and after listening to a message of this woman who condemned and spewed hatred towards us, told Barbie, ‘She doesn’t sound very Christian’. And all I could think was this woman, who was so sure of our sinfulness, would be welcomed with open arms here as the beauty of this church is that we welcome everyone. You see….Yes… we are sinners…. Yes we are all sinners…. but we, we are also sought out and loved by God.
The message here is that in spite of all that, in spite of the many, many imperfections on our lives, we are very loved. Yes, we might frequently be lost, but we will always be found. In fact we know that we have been lost, sought, found, restored, and then finally celebrated. And because of that, it is our calling that we move forward sharing that love with the world. Amen.