Now that's a HOME*

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Psalm 32

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

No matter how many times I hear this parable

It always seems to have something else to say

Ten days ago 

When we gathered for our Soup & Supper Evening

We began with the previous 2 parables

...the Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin

We talked about how they both culminate in rejoicing

The first two are resolved…NICE. NEAT. TIDY.

Even if there is plenty of strangeness

A shepherd doing something a shepherd would never do

And 

A woman throwing a party that cost more than the value of the now found coin

There is Lost. Found. Rejoicing.

NICE. NEAT. And TIDY.

The third…not so much.

Traditionally it has been called the parable of the prodigal son

But even though all of our Bibles are punctuated by such titles

They aren’t actually part of scripture

And they are like leading questions

They turn us toward a certain focus 

This title leads us from the outset to hear the story

With our focus on the younger son.

But lately, I’ve heard other titles 

The parable of the forgiving father…or the lovesick father

The parable of the self-righteous/pissed off older brother

But the one I landed on this week is

The parable of the Lost Sons 

They are both lost!

And I believe that what they are lost in
is RESENTMENT

They are both eaten up with resentment
It’s easy to notice the older son’s resentment

It is so obvious in his speech

He catalogs all the commandments 

he has never…not once…broken
and as he does he betrays 

how he has been keeping a careful account

He resents the father’s over the top reception toward 

“this son of yours”

TRUE

The father isn’t being fair…he just ISN’T

And there is more
Note what the older son says:

“I have SLAVED for you…
What does that say about how he understands his place in the family?

He thinks of himself as a slave!

The younger one’s resentment is less obvious

His immature idiocy is clear enough

But below the surface I see resentment

When he asks his father for his inheritance 

He is basically saying 

“Sorry pop, I just can’t wait until you are dead”

He resents

He resents having to be attached…

He resents having to be connected…

He asks for his substance…the greek word is ousia

Ousia…the ground of his being
…that upon which he stands…his tradition…his family heritage

…his identity

He doesn’t want the ‘ground of his being’ 

attached to anything but his own desires…

In a nutshell

HE DOESN’T WANT A LORD

When I think back 

When I was younger…in my 20’s -  30’s

I might call them my Frank Sinatra days

“when I did it my way”

I was soooo smart…you could have asked me;)  

I can see 

(I know…hindsight is 20/20 and all)

that it was a kind of youthful immature resentment

It was a ‘younger son’ resentment

It was the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden

“It’s been swell God 

You’ve done just a spectacular job here

So far…but you know

I think I can take it from here!” 

I wouldn’t have said it in these terms

But I didn’t want a Lord

And I certainly didn’t need a Lord…

Now… the Older son’s resentment

His is the kind of resentment that creeps up on me

Even today
It is sneaky
I don’t notice it…UNTIL

Until it rears its ugly head 

-in a comment I wish I could take back

-in the consequences of a decision I made for all the wrong reasons

-It surfaces when I hear myself talking like that older son

…When I am defensive and judging and stubborn

Underneath it all 

There is, I feel quite certain…resentment

Things just aren’t fair

And let me show you the ledger book!

I can prove it!

Instead of not wanting a Lord

This is more like
you know…come to think of it

I think I can do a better job at this Lordship thing

I feel comfortable guessing that all of us have experience with that demon--resentment

SO…all that I’ve said so far is bad news

But there is another character in the story

If you can

Call to mind a time when you have experienced mercy

God’s mercy

--we do it here ritually in the penitential rite--

And often, for me, 

The Mercy of God comes through 

The healing of a broken relationship

In the story of the two sons and the father

We are of course like the sons

We are, from time to time

Either demanding of our substance our ousia

…thank you God, but I think I can take it from here

OR

We bury our faces in our careful calculations of fairness

And comfort ourselves by thinking what a wonderful LORD we would make

But then there is the crazy, indulgent, father 

With his questionable parenting skills

We are invited to live in the world of that father

We are invited, in fact, to become that Father

Everything…almost everything 

In the Word of God today

Is asking us to contemplate

And not just contemplate…but to celebrate

The Mercy of God

Psalm 32 with its vivid description of

Living without coming clean before God

And Paul…who reminds us that reconciled we become a new creation in Christ

Over and over again

But the Mercy of God takes on weight…

It shows up the brightest when it is part of life's rhythm 

It is brightest when next to our contrition and sorrow

But we mustn’t forget that Mercy is always first
God doesn’t need to be coaxed into being merciful

It is simply who God is
God’s name is mercy

It is always there…always on offer
there is simply no accounting for it

God is apparently not good with equations

We celebrate the Mercy of God

Because it restores us to life…to the unburdened life

To a NEW CREATION

Partnering with a Lutheran Pastor friend

My sister who is a Therapist and Grief Counselor

Visits a women’s prison in Denver 

We talked a couple days ago

And she was telling me how she grieves for these women 

who have so many stumbling blocks to overcome
along the way to experiencing mercy 

Forgiving themselves…so very hard

Forgiving those who have so hurt them 

betrayed them throughout their lives…so so hard

One reason it is so hard
is that it is almost too good to be true
Do I dare believe?

The Father in the Story

Is to me…HOME

The younger son needs to learn to say ‘Father’ again

And the older son needs to learn to say ‘Brother’ again

The Father longs for both his sons to be HOME

HOME is where his arms can reach around them both

Where they can both-together be in his heart

HOME is the large embrace

HOME is the celebration 

We are at times both sons

But we are also, especially after we leave this place, 

ever more like that Father

We are HOMES

open wide 

making good room
ready to forgive

having left our ledgers behind

Every Sunday 

We confess and are absolved
sometimes it may seem just too rote

It happens without our focused attention
but it lays in
years and years of praying that way

Changes us

And when we are sent from here

We go as ‘the father’ in the story

We go as a warm and welcoming HOME

And in our way

We contribute to building a society 

A whole society

A whole culture even

Worthy to be called 

HOME

A HOME where it is true
There is no running out of Mercy or Forgiveness or Welcoming or Celebration

For every sheep, every coin, every son and every daughter

HOME