SETTING THE CONTEXT

In my last sermon, I talked about rebellious children. After the service so many of you confessed to being a rebellious child, I thought we were going to have to turn the wheelchair lift into a confessional. The ushers do give rides to non-wheelchair bound people ($2 for adults, children get them free.) I, of course, was the good child, at least until I got into college, but those friends are sworn to secrecy and living in another state. The good news of Jesus Christ for those with a past is his Sacrament for Failureⁱ with this sacrament what happened in the past stays in the past. For those of you who don’t know about this Sacrament for Failure, let me tell you what it is; it is confession – admitting what you have done, repentance – having a change of heart, forgiveness, and restoration – moving on or as Jesus put it “go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) We have a lot of saints with pasts among us. We have a lot of saints among us. The question put to us today is will we welcome sinners those rebellious children who have messed up their lives, those with bad reputations, the prodigal sons and daughters now. Will they have a place in our church today?

Read Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

THE SERMON

Think about the first two verses I just read. Who was this parable pointed to? Who was the audience? One group the parable pointed to was the tax collectors and sinners who were coming near and the other group was the grumbling religious leaders, the grumbling righteous people; interestingly enough the story Jesus told was about two sons – one who was a sinner and one who was righteous and grumbling about the other. Isn’t that an amazing coincidence? Let’s start with the younger brother, the reckless one. He squandered this extravagant gift, his inheritance, from his father and after he used up everything he had what did he find in the world he chose, after all of his self-indulgent living? Verse 16 says, “and no one gave him anything.” Do you think the drug dealer is going to help you when you run out of money and you’re kicked out of your apartment and you have no food? Is the pornographer going to help you? Is anyone involved in immoral activity; however you may label it going to help you? After all his self-indulgent living, no one gave him anything. As a Jew, the son hit absolute bottom, he wound up feeding and eating with the pigs, an unclean animal to the Jews. But then he came to himself and he began, what I like to call, the Sacrament for Failure. He came to himself and confessed his sin, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…” He repented or had a change of heart, that was evidenced in his apology to his father and when he said “treat me like one of your hired hands.” And while he was far off what did his father do? In our Lectio Divina Bible study on this parable, someone said he pictured the Father standing at the beginning of the path with the house next to him and a tiny speck way in the distance and the father’s arms are spread wide open. There are no strings attached, there are no conditions to be met, no “I told you so’s”, no “your mother and I are so disappointed in you”. There is none of that, no strings just his arms spread wide open and the father is full of compassion. My son was lost and now he is found. My son was dead and now he is alive again. My son was wandering and now he is home. He is forgiven and there is a celebration. He has confessed, he has repented and been forgiven; his past is past and he can now walk into a new future in new sandals in new clothing. Think about how that story sounded to the tax collectors and sinners standing in the crowd around Jesus. God is the compassionate Father with his arms opened wide waiting for the prodigal son or daughter to come home, waiting with a new better future in his hands. Think about what that story would sound like to a person whose life is or has fallen to pieces today. Who are the prodigal children of today? How can we tell them this story so that they will hear it?

But there is another part to this story and it’s targeted to the obedient children. It’s targeted to the church leaders and righteous church people. I don’t know how many of you have brothers or sisters, but if my rebellious sister or brother came home after misbehaving I’d want to see the slipper out for a spanking or the calendar out for a nice long grounding. I’d be like that older brother sitting on the front step madder than a hornet. “It’s not fair.” It’s amazing how a 50 year old can regress to being 5 when it comes to siblings! “It’s not fair. You let her/him get away with anything!” Isn’t that what the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling in verse 2? And how does the father respond. Does he get mad and yell at the older brother? In my mind’s eye, I see him come out the door and sit down next to the older brother. The obedient son pours out his frustration, hurt and jealousy and the father responds, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” You see the older son is in “at-one-ment” with the father day by day. They are always connected, always together and the son reaps that benefit day in and day out. He receives it so much that he doesn’t even notice it any more. “All that is mine is yours.” I wonder if the older son even thought to ask for a young goat to celebrate with his friends. Do the obedient ones even think of such things?

I was in the Walk to Emmaus which is a spiritual retreat weekend for adults. The weekend includes talks about Christianity and the women giving the talks had hard lives and dramatic conversions. They were more like the prodigal son. One woman at my table group started crying toward the end of the second day. She said, “I never had a hard life. My parents always loved me. I will never know God like these women have known him.” I was stunned. She was like the older brother in our parable. I tried to comfort her and I told her how blessed she was to have loving parents. She was blessed to have love modeled for her all her life and to have known God all her life. It was a gift to be cherished and celebrated. Why is it so hard for those of us who have experienced God our whole lives to keep that faith vital and to be excited about God and about the grace of God in our lives?

I think what the older son missed and what the religious leaders missed and what we in the church miss is that the Father loves both of his sons. As I was thinking about my children, I love my children, all four of them, my stepsons, too. There is no MVP- most valuable player or maybe we could say most valuable person, I love each of them and since each of them is an individual I love them differently, but that does not mean I love one more than the other. I know that I am a mere mortal a frail reflection of the divine, so if I love in that way how much more does God love. The father in this parable is God who loves both of his sons with a prodigal love. When I was preparing for this sermon, I right clicked on the word “prodigal” and looked up the synonyms for it: reckless, extravagant. The father loved both sons with this reckless, extravagant love. What I think the older brother in our parable and the Pharisees listening couldn’t grasp was that the Father loved and valued both of them; he did not understand that in the day to day encounters he was also loved with a prodigal love deeply, extravagantly, recklessly. He did not need to be jealous of his brother. It is also a challenge to us today who are the older brothers, the ones who left our pasts behind long ago, God loves the tax collectors and sinners of today and is waiting for them with a new future in his hands, new sandals and a new robe. God is waiting to throw a party for them and my friends we are expected to help host that party. It won’t be easy because our first inclination will be to grumble. They will be rough around the edges. They won’t do things the way we like to do them. They might sit in “our seats”. They might want things done in a different way. They might make us a little uncomfortable. I’ve been doing a little survey in preparation for this sermon. I’ve been asking people who the sinners and tax collectors are today. Now, please, don’t get offended if I call out your name. These are some of their thoughts: politicians, greedy CEOs, drug dealers, homeless people, people who leech off others, unscrupulous lawyers, terrorists, bureaucrats, judgmental people, people who misuse their power, advertisers who peddle products people don’t need, business people who take advantage of others. Who do you think are some of the sinners and tax collectors of today; how can we share the message of the Father with them? Would you be willing to welcome them into the church, into a new future?

The church members were grumbling because Jesus ate with people such as these. As the crowd gathers around, Jesus told them a parable about two sons and a Father’s reckless, prodigal love. Are we willing to follow this Father on his prodigal journey to the cross? Amen.

Sermon delivered by Rev. Nancy Cushman on March 14, 2010.