[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Lent 4C: “The TWO Sons” or “My Father’s Heart”

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From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Mar 30, 2019 5:58 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Lent 4C: “The TWO Sons” or “My Father’s Heart”

DearFriends, ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “The TWO Sons” or “My Father’s Heart” and is basedon the gospel (Luke 15:11-32).  Here itis:   “Sons,both of them?” you’re thinking!?  Ithought there was just one- the prodigal son, the sinful adventurer.  Just wait- we’re getting ahead of ourselves.  This parable has many life lessons forus.  You just heard the story:  The younger son was sick and tired of thesame boring routine and all the work that went along with farming.  He wanted some excitement big time, so hewent to his father and asked for his inheritance now, instead of waiting untilhis dad was dead.  As you probablyremember, in that society, the oldest son got a double portion of the familyinheritance, so the younger son got one-third of the father’s belongings.  Since the father wasn’t dead yet, we wouldhave been talking about livestock and the tools for making a living.  This means that the father made a greatsacrifice in his own standard of living, because some of those livestock wouldhave gone on to reproduce.  In our timeit would be like giving your child investments from your 401 k- the source fromwhich your retirement comes.  Not onlywas it a real sacrifice, it was extremely disrespectful.  In that culture, as in ours, you just didn’tdo that!  It was almost like telling hisfather to “drop dead!”  Well, in spite ofthe rude request, the father gives the youngest son what would be his share ofthe father’s belongings, and off the son goes. Youknow what happens next.  The younger sonparties away all his money; then the economy goes bad, and the only kind ofwork he can get is caring for pigs- animals considered by Jewish people of thatday to be filthy, unclean, and not to be even touched.  He was starving- even willing to eat pig food(probably carob leaves- used these days by health food lovers as fake chocolate)- but no one would give him anything.  Hecomes to his senses and makes a plan for how to go home.  He knows his father treats his hired servantsfairly, so he figures he can go back as one of the workers, save his wages, payhis father back, and then be accepted once again as a son.  His father must have been watching for him,because he sees his younger son coming a long way off.  He runs to him; embraces him; welcomes himhome, won’t listen to any of his “hired servant” scheme; and throws a giganticwelcome-home party.  You notice- there isnothing said about the son getting more inheritance.  This is where we usually end the story, butwe have so far only met one lost son. Here comes the other, because the elder son is furious when he finds outwhat happened!  He won’t go in the houseto join in the celebrating, so the father comes out and entreats him.  We never do find out what happened. That’sthe story Jesus told.  Each characterspeaks to our lives today.  Let’s look atthe younger son first.  Did you hearabout the man who lost his gas cap at the gas station when he filled his tank?  Instead of going back to the gas station andmeticulously retracing his path, he figured that other people had done the samething, and their caps would be along this very road, so he looked in the ditchand found a gas cap that would fit.  “Infact,” he figured, “this one’s even better than the one I lost- it locks.”  Considering himself very lucky, he put it onhis car.  MISTAKE!  That gas cap worked really well- until heneeded gas again, and then…….He got what he wanted, but the trouble was, hedidn’t know what to do with it when he got it. That’s just what happened to that younger son.  He must have considered himself very luckywhen his father fell for his request.  Hegot just the freedom he wanted, but he really didn’t know what to do with itafter he got it!  Dr. Tony Evans remindsus that sin is like that- slavery that looks like freedom for a while.  Have you ever been like that younger son-done something REALLY wrong or stupid or both? Here are the temptations that go with being a “younger son” type:1)     Did you notice he went to a far country where hecould be anonymous?  Don’t fall forthat.  Scripture is right when it says,“Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23).  Maybe no one else knows, but you and God bothknow.  Unconfessed sin will poison yourspirit.2)     Thinking, “My sin is so terrible that it can’t beforgiven.”  Hogwash!  The blood of Jesus Christ is stronger thanany sin!  Confess it; if possible makerestitution for it; and you and God turn your life around.  If you fail, continue the process until yousucceed and also do number three (next item).3)     Thinking, “My sin is a habit- I can’t change.”  Again- hogwash!  If necessary, make a formal confession toyour priest; get professional help; don’t miss one Sunday of the input of theWord, your Holy Communion, and the support of your Christian friends.  The power of God is stronger than anythingthe devil can throw at you. Theother lost son was the older one.  Didyou notice how his jealousy and self-righteousness separated him from hisfather?  Have you ever looked at someoneand thought- “How could he or she do that? And now they want MY forgiveness?” Here are four thoughts about forgiveness that will reduce our tendencyto become like the lost older son: 1)     Forgiveness- what is it?  One of the best definitions of “forgiveness”that I’ve ever heard is as follows: “Forgiveness is giving up my right to hateyou for hurting me.”  (Anonymous)2)     Forgiveness- how often?  When Peter asked Jesus how many times he hadto forgive, the answer was seventy times seven, in other words the whole thing(seven) times ten (the whole thing) times seven (the whole thing).  3)     Forgiveness- why bother?  Ø Our Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our sins AS(i.e. the same way) we forgive those who sin against us.”  To be forgiven, we must forgive.Ø We don’t forgive others for their benefit.  They probably don’t care if we forgive themor not.  Jesus tells us to forgive forour own benefit.  Bitterness is a heavyload to bear and ruins lives.Ø We don’t know what’s ahead in our ownlives.  We may do something worse (ormeaner) than the person we’re mad at. Thefather is the other character in the parable. You know how often people comment about how a baby has her father’seyes, her mother’s smile, etc.  We arecalled to have our father’s heart, and you know who our father is!  We may have our Father’s heart, but only Godcan judge our neighbor.  No one isunredeemable.  No matter how evil theyare, we can pray for them, love them (i.e. wish what is best for them), andreach out to them when possible.  Theproblem is, sometimes when someone has caused special pain, it’s so easy tosay- “I can’t, I simply can’t forgive them.”  Let me close with a story.  “Aholy man was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose rootsstretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed that theriver was rising, and a scorpion caught in the roots was about to drown. Hecrawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion, but every timehe did so, the scorpion struck back at him. The man finally flipped thescorpion safely on the grass.  Anobserver who had been watching this whole process said to the holy man, ‘Don'tyou know that's a scorpion, and it's in the nature of a scorpion to want tosting?’ To which the holy man replied, ‘That may well be, but I’ve got myFather’s heart, and it is our nature to love and to save.  Must I change my nature because the scorpiondoes not change its nature?’” (adapted from Joseph B. Modica)  Brothers and sisters- we have our Father’sheart, and it is in our nature to love. For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updatedAfrican-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under“Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org. Blessedpreaching,JudyBoliSt.Paul's Episcopal ChurchSaginaw,Michigan-- 
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