March 10, 2013
Known
- Luke 15:1-3
- Dr. Teri Thomas
We can't hear this story too many times. There is a place in it for each of us.
Can you remember a time when you felt like the younger brother?
Wanting to get away from your life and start fresh?
Or a time you took the wrong path and came groveling back, shamed and humbled.
Or do you recall a day you behaved like the older brother,
standing in tears of rage, uncomprehending and exasperated.
Resentful…jealous
Or maybe the time you were the loving parent scanning the horizon watching for the impossible and then embracing it in your arms.
Some days maybe you feel like revelers in the far-away town,
or the servants in the father's household, or the pigs in the field,
or even the unmentioned mother or sister watching from the kitchen door.
We all have a place in the story.
And it may be a different place every day or each time we hear it.
So during this season of lent we listen to the story yet again and look for ourselves within it.
Lent gives us time to find ourselves- our true selves- for better or for worse, and usually both.
Lent gives us time to work on habits that alienate us from ourselves, lead us to a distant land
take us away from God, and from our loved ones.
Lent is a time when we learn to see ourselves for what we really are and when we turn from the place we no longer wish to be and head toward the Loving Presence who is watching for us.
Lent is about being known.
Frederick Buechner wrote-
It is important at least to tell from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are—even if we tell it only to ourselves—because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. (Telling Secrets)
In the parable that Jesus told we have a variety of characters all known in a variety of ways.
The younger son, how do you know him?
Do you call him adventurous, curious, a risk-taker?
Was he brave and creative for taking a chance and following his dream?
Or was he spoiled, demanding, impatient?
Was he an ungrateful, screw-up or daddy’s favorite?
Do you know him as a pig farmer or as the son of a wealthy man?
How about the older brother?
Do you know him as faithful, loyal, hard working, devoted, obedient?
Or legalistic, jealous, cranky, pouting, up-tight and envious?
Was he taken advantage of or simply unable to share in someone else’s good fortune?
Did he need to loosen up and learn how to party or did he have a legitimate complaint?
How do you know dad?
Was he a loving father, a forgiving father acting like we think God will act?
Was he a wealthy land owner with more money than sense?
Or was he an enabling father, too lenient in how he treated his younger son?
Was he the generous father or not too bright for giving away half the business?
Was he oblivious for taking the younger son back or was he obtuse for not seeing the older boy just needed some affirmation and appreciation?
We know them in different ways. But what about you? How do you know yourself in this story?
Have you headed off for a distant country, tried an unfamiliar path and made some pretty bad mistakes? Have you lost confidence in yourself or the trust of others?
Have you come to yourself and realized your mistakes and tried to set things right?
Are you someone who had done the right thing all your life and you are still waiting to be appreciated?
Are you brooding about someone else’s success, or your own loneliness, or the way the world treats you?
Are you daydreaming about being rich or powerful or famous?
Are you the person who forgives at the drop of the hat and forgets other’s past mistakes?
Do you keep looking for love in places where it will never be found?
Or are you the child who never got what you really needed from your parents?
Are you the parent continually disappointed in your children?
Do you hear other voices calling you to prove you are really worth something?
Do you fear no one will love you unless you earn it through hard work and extra effort?
Do you find yourself wandering and thirsting and continually coming up empty?
How do you know yourself in this story today?
How does God know you in the story?
This parable isn’t really about a rebellious son or a resentful son- even though they are both there for sure. The story is first and foremost about the inexhaustible, unlimited, everlasting love of God. The love that always welcomes us.
A love that runs out and greets us on the road when we are dirty and discouraged and ashamed.
A love that hugs us and holds us when we return repentant.
A love that even comes to us when we stand outside full of resentment and jealousy.
A love that welcomes us to the party no matter what we have done,
no matter what we thought,
no matter how we feel.
A love that comes to us where ever we are
a love that says- you are mine and I love you and that is worth celebrating.
But unlike a fairy tale, this parable doesn’t have a happy ending.
It doesn’t really have any ending at all.
What does the younger son do after the banquet?
Is he changed?
Does he stick around as part of the family?
What does the older son do?
Does he stay outside pouting?
Do he go in and welcome his little brother?
Does he take a goat and go have his own party somewhere else?
In the end each character is left with a choice.
In the end we are left face to face with a tough spiritual choice.
Do we or do we not trust in God’s all forgiving love?
Do we or do we not trust in God’s all forgiving love
a love that comes to us,
welcomes us home
and wants to celebrate.
Do we?
Amen.