4 Lent C

It's just not fair!

4 Lent C - 2010

Transcribed from a sermon given by

Rev. Valerie Hart 

At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Arroyo Grande, CA

It’s not fair!! It’s just not fair!! 

You giggle? 

Sounds like you’ve heard that before, or perhaps you can remember times in which you have said that.

We as children have all had moments where we said “It’s not fair” “I’m the eldest that has to do all the work around here and my younger brothers don’t have to do anything.” Or “It’s not fair, I’m the youngest and I have to go to bed earlier then everyone else does.” Or “It’s not fair, I’m an only child and I don’t have any brothers or sisters to play with.” It doesn’t really matter what the situation was, when I was growing up there was always some way in which it wasn’t “fair.” And of course if you are a parent or a grandparent or a teacher you have heard children say this to you. 

One of the darker days as a parent is when the children learn to say “It’s not fair.” Because it’s always not fair, one kid says that the other got a larger slice of cake. Another says you spent more time with one child than the other. . 

It’s not fair. We know what it feels like to have that feeling inside that it’s not fair. And even as adults, even though we don’t say it out loud, we think it, “It’s just not fair.”

When we look at this Gospel reading, it’s all about fairness. It begins with the Pharisees critiquing Jesus because he is speaking with and eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners of all types. And that’s not fair! Because while they’ve been out having a good time the Pharisees have been following all these rules and laws. And it’s not fair that they get all the attention. They should be being punished in some way and the ones who have been following all the laws should be getting some goodies for it, some acknowledgement for how hard they have worked. 

So Jesus responds to them by telling this wonderful story of the father with two sons. And if we didn’t have anything else from the gospels except this story it would teach us of Jesus’ understanding of the nature of God. 

Now you can understand the older son’s perspective. The younger son has said basically to his father “I’m going to treat you like you are dead, give me my inheritance.” And back in those days inheritance was not split 50/50, the eldest got a large chunk and the younger ones didn’t get as much. So, for a younger brother to be asking for his share before the father even is dead is an incredible insult to his father. And then he goes off, leaves his father, basically abandoning him. You can imagine how angry the older brother was right from the beginning that his younger brother would do this and leave him having to take care of the farm. We can all kind of understand why the older brother was so angry when “that son of yours” returns.

(I love the little nuances in this story, they are so great. The older brother refers to his brother as “that son of yours.” He has pushed him out of the family. “I have no relationship with that one any more.” And the father responds “Your brother.”)

He represents the Pharisees. They were talking about fairness and justice, while what Jesus was talking about was mercy and love. If you have been a parent or a teacher or in other ways work with children you know that you love them all. They are each unique and your relationship is unique with each one, but you love them all. When you pick up a little baby and you feel that overwhelming sense of love you don’t love that baby because it is being so good. That baby is screaming and throwing up and going in its diaper. It’s being a baby. But you love it because that is it’s nature and your nature is to love. And that is the way God is. God doesn’t love us because we’re so good. 

Most of us spend much of our lives trying to make ourselves loveable. You know. if I get one more degree, if I work a little harder, if I lose some weight, if I go to church ever Sunday. Something that we do that we think will make us more loveable. That’s not the way love works. Love is.

It is just like the father in the story who loves both of his sons. There was nothing that the younger son could do that would destroy his father’s love and there was nothing that the elder son could do, being good, that would make the father love him any more. The love was complete. Unconditional, and that’s the love we have from God that Christ is trying to tell us about, to show us, to demonstrate. It’s not about fairness, but about mercy. That we are all loved by God, and God wants to be in relationship with each of us. 

We call it reconciliation, healing of the relationship. God wants each one of his children to come home. And God will run outside to meet us when we decide to come home. And that makes all the difference

This wonderful little passage from 2 Corinthians is just beautiful because it says we regard no one from a human point of view. Think about a family. How the brothers and sisters perceive each other and how the parent perceives them. The parent perceives them with love. The brothers and sisters are in competition. 

What if we were to see everybody else the way God sees them. With the sense of mercy and love and acceptance that God has for them. If we could see the person that’s hurt us and instead of seeing them as an enemy we could see them as a child of God, loved by God, regardless of what they have done. That would change things, wouldn’t it? If we could see one another the way God sees us. That’s what Paul says here, “We regard no one from a human point of view.” Not seeing what’s fair, but seeing with the eyes of love. 

He goes on to say “So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation, everything old has passed away. See everything has become new.” This new creation comes when we realize that we are dependent upon the mercy and love of God and when we are reconciled to God. When we know that love, that totally underserved love of God that fills us and heals us, we become a new person. We see things in a new way. It becomes much harder to hold on to our resentments of other people when we know how much we have been forgiven by God. 

Paul goes on to say, “All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Has given usthe ministry of reconciliation. Once we are reconciled to God, God empowers us to be instruments of God’s love in the world - the ministry of reconciliation. Our jobs once we know that we are forgiven and loved is to help others to know that they are forgiven and loved by God. To help others to be reconciled to God. And to help others to be reconciled to each other. 

It all begins with us. It all begins with us acknowledging the fact that we have not lived a perfect life. We do not deserve God’s love, no one deserves love, love is given as a gift. And when we acknowledge that and accept God’s mercy and forgiveness, we then do the hard work of acknowledging how we have hurt other people –  working to forgive others and be forgiven. Those who have gone through the 12 steps know that process very well. We become a new creation – instruments of reconciliation. That’s our job, or ministry. 

Our job is not to make the world fair, our job is to bring people together and to bring people to God through Christ.

Paul continues and says, “so we are ambassadors for Christ because God is making his appeal through us, we entreat you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” First step is to be reconciled to God. That is why in almost all of our services we have a confession, we have a way in which we acknowledge we need to be healed and reconciled to God. That is the foundation upon which we are sent out to be ambassadors for Christ and to bring reconciliation, love and mercy to the world.

Amen

Fourth Sunday in Lent

It's just not fair!!!

4 Lent C - 2010

Transcribed from a sermon given by

Rev. Valerie Hart

At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Arroyo Grande, CA

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

It’s not fair!! It’s just not fair!!

You giggle? How dare you laugh at me when I say it is not fair?

Sounds like you’ve heard that before, or perhaps you can remember times in which you have said that.

We as children have all had moments where we said “It’s not fair” “I’m the eldest that has to do all the work around here and my younger brothers don’t have to do anything.” Or “It’s not fair, I’m the youngest and I have to go to bed earlier then everyone else does.” Or “It’s not fair, I’m an only child and I don’t have any brothers or sisters to play with.” It doesn’t really matter what the situation was, when I was growing up there was always some way in which it wasn’t “fair.” And of course if you are a parent or a grandparent or a teacher you have heard children say this to you.

One of the darker days as a parent is when the children learn to say “It’s not fair.” Because it’s always not fair, one kid says that the other got a larger slice of cake. Another says you spent more time with one child than the other. .

It’s not fair. We know what it feels like to have that feeling inside that it’s not fair. And even as adults, even though we don’t say it out loud, we think it, “It’s just not fair.”

When we look at this Gospel reading it’s all about fairness. It begins with the Pharisees critiquing Jesus because he is speaking with and eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners of all types. And that’s not fair! Because while they’ve been out having a good time the Pharisees have been following all these rules and laws. And it’s not fair that they get all the attention. They should be being punished in some way and the ones who have been following all the laws should be getting some goodies for it, some acknowledgement for how hard they have worked.

So Jesus responds to them by telling this wonderful story of the father with two sons. And if we didn’t have anything else from the gospels except that story it would teach us about the nature of God.

Now you can understand the older son’s perspective. The younger son has said basically to his father “I’m going to treat you like you are dead, give me my inheritance.” And back in those days inheritance was not split 50/50, the eldest got a large chunk and the younger ones didn’t get as much. So, for a younger brother to be asking for his share before the father even is dead is an incredible insult to his father. And then he goes off, leaves his father, basically abandoning him. You can imagine how angry the older brother was right from the beginning that his younger brother would do this and leave him having to take care of the farm. We can all kind of understand why the older brother was so angry when “that son of yours” returns.

(I love the little nuances in this story, they are so great. The older brother refers to his brother as “that son of yours.” He has pushed him out of the family. “I have no relationship with that one any more.” And the father responds “Your brother.”)

He represents the Pharisees. They were talking about fairness and justice, while what Jesus was talking about was mercy and love. If you have been a parent or a teacher or in other ways work with children you know that you love them all. They are each unique and your relationship is unique with each one, but you love them all. When you pick up a little baby and you feel that overwhelming sense of love you don’t love that baby because it is being so good. That baby is screaming and throwing up and going in its diaper. It’s being a baby. But you love it because that is it’s nature and your nature is to love. And that is the way God is. God doesn’t love us because we’re so good.

Most of us spend much of our lives trying to make ourselves loveable. You know. if I get one more degree, if I work a little harder, if I lose some weight, if I go to church ever Sunday. Something that we do that we think will make us more loveable. That’s not the way love works. Love is.

It is just like the father in the story who loves both of his sons. There was nothing that the younger son could do that would destroy his father’s love and there was nothing that the elder son could do, being good, that would make the father love him any more. The love was complete. Unconditional, and that’s the love we have from God that Christ is trying to tell us about, to show us, to demonstrate. Not about fairness, but about mercy. That we are all loved by God, and that God wants to be in relationship with each of us. It’s called reconciliation, healing of the relationship. God wants each one of his children to come home. And God will run outside to meet us when we decide to come home. And it makes all the difference

This wonderful little passage from 2 Corinthians is just beautiful because it says we regard no one from a human point of view. Think about a family. How the brothers and sisters perceive each other and how the parent perceives them. The parent perceives them with love. The brothers and sisters are in competition. What if we were to see everybody else the way God sees them. With the sense of mercy and love and acceptance that God has for them. If we could see the person that’s hurt us and instead of seeing them as an enemy we could see them as a child of God, loved by God, regardless of what they have done. That would change things, wouldn’t it? If we could see one another the way God sees us. That’s what Paul says here, “We regard no one from a human point of view.” Not seeing what’s fair, but seeing with the eyes of love. He goes on to say “So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation, everything old has passed away. See everything has become new.” This new creation comes when we realize that we are dependent upon the mercy and love of God and when we are reconciled to God. When we know that love, that totally underserved love of God that fills us and heals us, we become a new person. We see things in a new way. It becomes much harder to hold on to our resentments of other people when we know how much we have been forgiven by God.

Paul goes on to say, “All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Once we are reconciled to God, God empowers us to be instruments of God’s love in the world - the ministry of reconciliation. Our jobs once we know that we are forgiven and loved is to help others to know that they are forgiven and loved by God. To help others to be reconciled to God. And to help others to be reconciled to each other. And it all begins with us. It all begins with us acknowledging the fact that we have not lived a perfect life. We do not deserve God’s love, no one deserves love, love is given as a gift. And when we acknowledge that and accept God’s mercy and forgiveness and we then do the hard work of acknowledging how we have hurt other people, working to forgive others and be forgiven. Those who have gone through the 12 steps know that process very well. We become a new creation - instruments of reconciliation. That’s our job, or ministry. Our job is not to make the world fair, our job is to bring people together and to bring people to God through Christ.

Paul continues and says, “so we are ambassadors for Christ because God is making his appeal through us, we entreat you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” First step, to be reconciled to God, and that is why in almost all of our services we have a confession, we have a way in which we acknowledge we need to be healed and reconciled to God. Then that is the foundation upon which we are sent out to be ambassadors for Christ and to bring reconciliation, love and mercy to the world.

Amen

A man who had two sons - Luke 15:11

This week I am sharing some thoughts about the parable of the prodigal son. In particular I am exploring what it tells us about the role of Christian community in welcoming people home to a relationship with God.

‘There was a man who had two sons.” - Luke 15:11

This quote introduces one of Jesus’ most famous parables. Sometimes called the story of the Prodigal Son, I prefer to think of it as being about the extravagant father. If only this story remained of Jesus’ teachings he would still be seen as a wise spiritual leader who transformed our understanding of God and the human relationship with God. Lets take a look at the parable in some detail.

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.”

The story begins with the younger son wanting his inheritance NOW. He is not willing to wait until his father is dead. He has no concern for what need his father may have for this wealth during his lifetime, he has no concern for his elder brother and he shows no love for his father.

So he divided his property between them.

One would expect the father to be insulted by such a request and to say “absolutely not.” But this father is different. He in extraordinarily generous and gives his son freedom to do as he wishes.

A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

The son is a complete failure. During his time away he has wasted his inheritance and fallen to the bottom of the social ladder. He now has nothing.

But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father.

The son has reached such a low point that he “came to himself.” He realizes the mistake he has made and is ready to go home. He does not go home a hero, but rather, humbled. There is still no indication here that he truly cares about his father. Yes, he plans a speech in which he acknowledges his guilt, but his motivation appears to be a desire for some bread and security.

But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

The father’s motivation is clear. He is filled with compassion. He runs to his son who had insulted him and wasted his money. One should note that in the Middle East during this time period a wealthy man would never run. That was undignified. Yet this father’s extravagant love for his son compels him to such a warm greeting.

Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

The son is unable to say his entire prepared speech because the father is more interested in welcoming him home then listening to a confession. What matters to the father is the well being of his son. And by having the servants put a ring on his finger he is making it clear that he is still his son. Even though the son treated the father as dead, even though the son denied his relationship with his father, the father has always considered him his child.

This could have been the end of the parable. It is in fact all that most people know about it. The point is clear. God loves us like this extravagant father. God is waiting for us to return. When we have walked away from God’s love, at the first sign of our desire to return to a relationship with God, God comes to us.

This is a strong and powerful message. It is at the heart of Christianity, that God is anxious to forgive us and return us to our place as children of God. Many struggling souls have found solace in this story and found the courage to renew their relationship with God because of it.

But Jesus did not end the parable at this point. There is more, and the more is not about the one who has left God, but about those of who remain in relationship with the Father.

And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

Suddenly it is not just between the father and the son, there is an entire community to welcome the son home. When the son left, he left not just his father, but a community made up of the entire household, including his father’s servants. The return home of the son is a time of celebration for everyone. Well, almost everyone.

‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in.

The elder brother is angry, and refuses to celebrate the return of the younger son. He is the “good son”. He represents those who have remained faithful to God and worked hard for the church. Let’s hear his side of the story.

His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!”

Most of us can sympathize with the elder brother. Here he has been “good” and worked hard while his brother, at least from the elder son’s perspective, was having fun. Also, since his brother already got his inheritance, where is the money for the party coming from? Shouldn’t the one who has stayed, been faithful, and worked hard be the one to receive the rewards?

I took a course in seminary on bringing biblical humor to life and we were assigned as groups to take some passage from scripture and act out an alternative approach to understanding it. One of the groups had a trial scene before a judge where the elder brother is trying to have the judge declare his father legally incompetent to handle his monetary affairs because he gave his younger brother so much of his estate and is now giving him more - even though there is every reason to believe that it too will be wasted.

But that is not Jesus’ point of view.

Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

From the father’s perspective, from God’s perspective, a son has found his way home, so of course we celebrate. By including the story of the elder son in his parable Jesus is making an important point. Those who consider themselves to be followers of Jesus, those who would be his disciples, are the servants of God. It is their job to celebrate the return. It is the servants who bring the robe and the ring. It is the servants who put on a feast and party with music and dancing. God forgives and accepts the child who has strayed and is ready to return, but it is the members of church community, who are responsible for the celebration. They are the ones who put flesh on the extravagant love of God. The return to God is a return to a community, and it is up to the community to provide the welcome home celebration.

Think about this - when a new person walks through the door of a church, does the entire congregation celebrate as if a brother was dead and has come to life? Is there rejoicing that someone who was lost has been found? Or is the reaction a little like the elder son who resents this person coming into “my” church? Or even worse, does no one notice or care?

Half of the parable of the Extravagant Father is about the church community and how the community is to respond to a fellow child of God who is attempting to return to a relationship with God. If Christ’s primary message of God’s extravagant love is summed up in first half of this parable, then the second half of the parable sums up his message to the community of his followers - love one another (especially those who have just come home).

This is the responsibility of the community of faith - to welcome people home. It is the church's primary responsibility. It is the reason for the church’s existence - to welcome people home to God and support one another is staying in relationship with God.