Luke: the Lost the Last and the Least

For those of us who follow the Sunday lectionary cycle Year C is quickly coming to a close. Year C is a time where the church has paid a special attention to the evangelist Luke. When Advent begins on November 28th the lectionary will move on to Year A and to a focus on Matthew. Before we move on though, I thought it might be a good idea to look at one of the major themes that have been highlighted by this years evangelist.  Luke makes a special effort to demonstrate that God's initiative in this world, the Missio Dei, is concerned with the lost the last and the least. This is clear from the first chapters until the end. Luke is always causing drawing attention to the ways in which, as Mary puts it in the magnificat (found in Luke 1), God casts down the proud and lifts up the lowly. Looking over some of the texts we recently read in chapters 15-19 the themes come out strong here are just a few:

• Jesus gives us three parables that point to God seeking the lost (chapter 15)
• The Lost Sheep
• The Lost Coin
• The Prodigal Son
• Jesus turns a poor beggar into the picture of one who dwells with Abraham in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31)
• Jesus heals the unclean lepers them (17:11-19)
• Jesus uses a tax collector to show a proper attitude toward God (18:9-14)
• Jesus uses children as the paradigm of those who receive the kingdom (18:15-17)
• He says it is VERY difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom (18:25)
• He saves a tax collector, calling him lost (19:1-10)

The list could go on and on. God is concerned with those of low estate. Elsewhere in Luke, if you recall, Jesus blesses the poor and promises "woe" the rich (6:24).

Luke reminds us over and over that the God we serve is not a God who allows his transcendence to keep him detached, but condescends to become eminent. The movement of God in the person of Jesus Christ is a trajectory of humiliation. God's initiative has always reached out to those in the same trajectory. From the women at the well in John 4, to the widow God sends his prophet to in 2 Kings 4, From the Shepperd king David, to the babe in Bethlehem, God shows up in unexpected places by the worlds standards. Truly we find God moving in the least, the lost, and the last.

Are we going there?