The Radical Economics of Divine Love A Reflection on Luke 15:1 10 on the Daily Bible Refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller hello good people.

Welcome to Daily Bible Refresh.

My name is Dr.

Brad Miller.

Thank you for joining me in this effort that we have to put the audible word of God, the voice of God daily into 2 million ears.

That's a million people by 2020.

We do so by a daily reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

That's the selected verse of Scripture for this very day.

It's a three year cycle.

We're in Year C, the Lenten season.

We like to make the Bible understandable by reading from the message version, relatable by giving you some points to ponder and applicable by giving you an action step to take.

We have a prayer.

We do all of that in under 10 minutes or so.

It's all brought to you by our website versus voiceofgoddaily.com which is the home of the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.

Let's get into our reading for the day from Luke 15:1 10 reading from the Message the Story of the Lost Sheep by this time, a lot of men and women of questionable reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently.

The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased.

Not at all pleased.

They growled.

He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.

Their grumbling triggered triggered this story.

Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one.

Wouldn't you leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?

When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing.

And when you got home, called into your friends and neighbors saying, celebrate with me, I found my lost sheep.

Count on it.

There's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over 99 good people in no need of rescue.

And there's a story of the lost coin.

Or imagine a woman who has 10 coins and loses one when she lights a lamp and scours the house, looking everywhere in every nook and cranny until she finds it.

And when she finds it, you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors.

Celebrate with me.

I found my lost coin.

Count on it.

That's the kind of party God's angels show throw every time a lost soul turns to God.

We're really here talking here about the the radical economics of divine love, Jesus's subversive parables that challenge assumptions about worth and belonging and what truly matters in our spiritual and social life.

So let's get into some points to ponder about.

That one is the politics of the table.

The opening scene here is politically charged.

Jesus is eating with people of questionable reputation, it says.

In this context, sharing meals wasn't just about food.

It was.

It was a powerful statement of social inclusion and dignity.

When religious authorities complain about Jesus treating them like old friends, they're really protesting his dismantling of the social hierarchies of the day.

So today we might ask, who are we excluding from our table?

Whose dignity are we failing to recognize?

Here's another point to ponder.

It's about the divine economic foolishness.

Both of these parables we have here today present what seems like economically irrational behavior.

Leaving 99 Sheep to find one, for instance, throwing a party, refining a single coin.

This divine foolishness challenges our capitalistic logic of efficiency and profit.

It suggests that in God's economy, no one is disposable, everyone has inherent worth, and celebration of inclusion trumps financial success.

This has profound implications for how we approach issues like health care and immigration and social services.

One more point.

It's the woman's wisdom as sacred trust.

Jesus deliberately pairs a masculine story about the shepherd with a feminine one about the woman who lost the coin, which elevates the domestic labor to a level of sacred metaphor.

In a patriarchal society such as this, this was revolutionary.

The woman searching her home become as an image of divine pursuit, suggesting that God's nature isn't exclusively expressed through masculine imagery or through public roles.

Let's talk about an action step.

I would invite you to practice holy inefficiency.

That is, choose one action that makes no economic sense but perfect spiritual sense.

So spend an hour with someone society says is not really worth your time, for instance, or give away something valuable.

Advocate for a cause that seems like a lost cause.

Document how this challenges your ingrained assumptions about value and worth.

These are some things that you can do.

What you can also do is join me for prayer here in just a minute.

We're going to do so after I share with you that we have a biblical study resource for you to pick up.

I really want you to go over to voiceofgoddaily.com that's our website and we have a free resource called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Guide.

It's gonna help you to read the Bible in your own accord.

Just as simple, straightforward as ABC 1, 2, 3.

Use it in complement to the daily hearing of the word that you notably here on Daily Bible Refresh.

Let's pray.

Oh God, we are seeking you and we search tirelessly for each of us.

Help us recognize the ways we've internalized systems that assign different values to different lives.

When we're tempted to calculate worth in terms of productivity or status, remind us of your persistent, wasteful, beautiful love.

Thank you for seeking us out in our own lost places.

Give us courage to dismantle the tables of exclusion and build bigger tables of welcome.

Help us celebrate the found ones without judgment about where they've been.

Make us foolish enough to leave our comfortable spaces in search for those pushed to the margins.

May we become agents of your holy inefficiency, valuing each person as precious beyond measure.

Amen.

You are precious beyond measure to me.

My friends and I thank you for joining me each day here on the Daily Bible Refresh.

We have over 800 episodes as you can check out at our website, Voice of God Daily.

That's also where you can pick up the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Guide.

And we hope that you join me again tomorrow.

You're here every every day and we really would like for you to come and bring a friend this time.

Until then, remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.