{"id":686167,"date":"2025-08-06T12:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:46:10","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:55:18","slug":"coming-soon-pentecost-14-c-september-14-2025","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/coming-soon-pentecost-14-c-september-14-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoice in the Finding, Proper 19 (C) \u2013 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=DFMS5803890871&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In these parables, we almost always look at the lost sheep or the lost coin. We imagine ourselves as the one lost and Jesus leaving all the others to find us. Or perhaps we imagine ourselves as part of the obedient flock, the ones who stay put. Sometimes we might even imagine we can point a finger at the wayward sheep \u2013 able to see exactly who the troublemaker is, sure that we know who Jesus is needing to run after. This time, though, consider a different part of the parable: Jesus phrases the question to his followers as a no-brainer \u2013 as obvious \u2013 but let\u2019s take a minute to actually look at what he\u2019s asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhich 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?\u201d Ummm&#8230; me? Me, Jesus. I don\u2019t do that. Do you? Think of what Jesus is actually saying: He suggests it\u2019s clear that any one of us would leave our ninety-nine happy, healthy, obedient sheep \u2013 in the wilderness, no less \u2013 to go after the one who was probably always a pain in our backside anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honestly, would we even notice that one went missing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Pr19-2025-Sermon-Title-FB-EN-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-336325\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His next question is similar: \u201cWhat 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?\u201d Now, I\u2019m not sure why this one is specific to women \u2013 but again, we all might answer, \u201cMe.\u201d We would probably not search the house for one missing coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, there\u2019s much to be said for having an abundance mindset, for looking at the things we do have and feeling gratitude for the many ways God has blessed us. That is one part of stewardship \u2013 a very important part. But today\u2019s parable asks us about the other part of stewardship: What do we have responsibility for, and how do we take care of what we have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus presumes that we would leave nine good coins or ninety-nine good sheep to look for the one that has been lost. And yet, do we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, our abundance mindset leaves us thinking that we should leave well enough alone. And, at times, there is wisdom in that. But here, Jesus is giving us a very different message \u2013 one that says every single individual is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not enough to have a church with an Average Sunday Attendance of ninety-nine. Where is the one missing? Go out and find them! Without that one (or those ones), our pews are not complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not enough to have a loose idea of where you spend your money each month. Track it and find out if there are coins going missing \u2013 if you\u2019re missing money you should have or getting double charged for something, go find that missing piece!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The place where this strikes home perhaps even more viscerally is in our care for creation. There are so many species we have lost to extinction \u2013 feathered beings, furred beings, plant beings, whole species wiped out due to climate change or loss of environment. And we can become callous to it, numb to the disappearance of these beautiful beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus is pointing us toward something really important, something we ourselves have lost. He is pointing us toward <strong>joy<\/strong>. When we don\u2019t look for the lost thing, or maybe don\u2019t even realize something has been lost, we lose a chance to rejoice in the finding. When we leave well enough alone, we don\u2019t just deprive the herd of their missing friend; we deprive ourselves as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In both parables, the one who is lost is searched after because it\u2019s understood how important that missing piece is. It\u2019s understood that the flock isn\u2019t the same without the one, and that each coin is needed and important. Often, the importance of an individual \u2013 the importance of one \u2013 is overlooked. We imagine that we\u2019ll get along fine with one missing, or that another will come to fill its place. But Jesus isn\u2019t like us in this way. He loves with a specificity that doesn\u2019t accept substitutions. Jesus loves you, individually. And her. And him. And each one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that love is what brings him to seek us out, each one. He calls us into loving one another such that we might do the same: seeking out that which is lost until it is found again and brought back. In both of these parables, when those who are lost are found, there is a huge celebration. The one who finds his missing sheep \u201ccalls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, \u2018Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.\u2019\u201d Likewise, the woman who finds the missing coin \u201ccalls together her friends and neighbors, saying, \u2018Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.\u2019\u201d There is a huge communal aspect to these stories and to this celebration \u2013 it\u2019s not a \u201cfinders-keepers, losers-weepers\u201d situation. Instead, this is a joy that grows through sharing. The joy of the finder is multiplied by the community that shares in the celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This pointing us to joy, then, is not only something we are doing individually but something we are doing together. Our joy is not just for us, but for our whole community to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These days, joy can feel hard to come by. And so, the celebration and rejoicing that we can partake of and share with one another takes on an even greater importance. We celebrate and rejoice as a form of resistance, as a form of praise, as a living prayer. Our joy doesn\u2019t belong to us alone, but to our whole community \u2013 to our friends and neighbors, as much as us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This morning, we are invited to again consider these well-worn, well-loved parables. We are invited to see ourselves as the finders \u2013 to remember the joy of finding that which is lost, and to remember the joy of sharing our delights with our neighbors. Perhaps we are neither lost nor found, but reminded of the importance of the finding. And hopefully, we are reminded of God\u2019s joy. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Jazzy Bostock<\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-19c0c8d1-9c41-4d96-8058-72287e04dca3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sermon-Proper-19-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Proper 19 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sermon-Proper-19-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-19c0c8d1-9c41-4d96-8058-72287e04dca3\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-e6c59bb8-7a65-460e-8256-b5a988bfbc0c\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sermon-Proper-19-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Proper 19 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sermon-Proper-19-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-e6c59bb8-7a65-460e-8256-b5a988bfbc0c\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10 In these parables, we almost always look at the lost sheep or the lost coin. We imagine ourselves as the one lost and Jesus leaving all the others to find us. Or perhaps we imagine ourselves as part of the obedient flock, the ones&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[347],"class_list":["post-686167","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-19c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":347,"label":"Proper 19C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/686167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/686167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477365,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/686167\/revisions\/3477365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}