Luke 15:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Luke 15:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 15Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. Verse 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." Verse 3So he told them this parable: Verse 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? Verse 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. Verse 6And 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.' Verse 7Just 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. Verse 8"Or what 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? Verse 9When 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.' Verse 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Devotion
Janet Hagberg has written (1994) about six stages of personal power, the second of which is Power by Association. I took several courses about women and history during college and think women and marginalized people have long been expected to be satisfied with a proximity to power instead of power itself.
It is from this perspective that I wonder at the ways Jesus inverts our patterns of Power by Association. He does not decide to marry beyond the social capacity of a carpenter or get cozy with the religious leaders. Instead of grasping for power by holding court, gathering cronies, or shunning the nerds, Jesus offers the power he already has as God's Son by associating with "tax collectors and sinners," and others who are powerless. And doing so makes him strangely powerful. Go figure.
Prayer
Almighty God, in Jesus you humble yourself and come near to our powerlessness. Fill us with your power and presence, and make us associates of those who have no power. Amen.