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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Tue, Mar 5, 2013 9:39 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Lent 4C<br>
<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “The TWO Sons” or “My Father’s Heart”
and deals with the gospel (Luke 15:11-32). Here it is:
“Sons, both of them?” you’re thinking!? I thought there was just one-
the prodigal son, the sinful adventurer. Just wait- we’re getting
ahead of ourselves. This parable has many life lessons for us. You
just heard the story: The younger son was sick and tired of the same
boring routine and all the work that went along with farming. He
wanted some excitement big time, so he went to his father and asked
for his inheritance now, instead of waiting until his dad was dead.
As you probably remember, in that society, the oldest son got a double
portion of the family inheritance, so the younger son got one-third of
the father’s belongings. Since the father wasn’t dead yet, we would
have been talking about livestock and the tools for making a living.
This means that the father made a great sacrifice in his own standard
of living, because some of those livestock would have gone on to
reproduce. In our time it would be like giving your child investments
from your 401 k- the source from which your retirement comes. Not
only was it a real sacrifice, it was extremely disrespectful. In that
culture, as in ours, you just didn’t do that! It was almost like
telling his father to “drop dead!” Well, in spite of the rude
request, the father gives the youngest son what would be his share of
the father’s belongings, and off the son goes.
You know what happens next. The younger son parties away all his
money; then the economy goes bad, and the only kind of work he can get
is caring for pigs- animals considered by Jewish people of that day 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. He comes to his senses and makes a plan for how to go
home. He knows his father treats his hired servants fairly, so he
figures he can go back as one of the workers, save his wages, pay his
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 him
home, won’t listen to any of his “hired servant” scheme; and throws a
gigantic welcome-home party. You notice- there is nothing said about
the son getting more inheritance. This is where we usually end the
story, but we have so far only met one lost son. Here comes the
other, because the elder son is furious when he finds out what
happened! He won’t go in the house to join in the celebrating, so the
father comes out and entreats him. We never do find out what
happened.
That’s the story Jesus told. Each character speaks to our lives
today. Let’s look at the younger son first. Did you hear about the
man who lost his gas cap at the gas station when he filled his tank?
Instead of going back to the gas station and meticulously retracing
his path, he figured that other people had done the same thing, and
their caps would be along this very road, so he looked in the ditch
and found a gas cap that would fit. “In fact,” he figured, “this
one’s even better than the one I lost- it locks.” Considering himself
very lucky, he put it on his car. MISTAKE! That gas cap worked
really well- until he needed gas again, and then…….He got what he
wanted, but the trouble was, he didn’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 lucky when his father fell for his request.
He got just the freedom he wanted, but he really didn’t know what to
do with it after he got it! Dr. Tony Evans reminds us 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:
4) Did you notice he went to a far country where he could be
anonymous? Don’t fall for that. 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 both know. Unconfessed sin will poison your
spirit.
5) Thinking, “My sin is so terrible that it can’t be forgiven.”
Hogwash! The blood of Jesus Christ is stronger than any sin! Confess
it; if possible make restitution for it; and you and God turn your
life around. If you fail, continue the process until you succeed and
also do number three (next item).
6) Thinking, “My sin is a habit- I can’t change.” Again- hogwash! If
necessary, make a formal confession to your priest; get professional
help; don’t miss one Sunday of the input of the Word, your Holy
Communion, and the support of your Christian friends. The power of
God is stronger than anything the devil can throw at you.
The other lost son was the older one. Did you notice how his jealousy
and self-righteousness separated him from his father? Have you ever
looked at someone and thought- “How could he or she do that? And now
they want MY forgiveness?” Here are four thoughts about forgiveness
that will reduce our tendency to become like the lost older son:
4) 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 hate you for hurting me.” (Anonymous)
5) Forgiveness- how often? When Peter asked Jesus how many times he
had to forgive, the answer was seventy times seven, in other words the
whole thing (seven) times ten (the whole thing) times seven (the whole
thing).
6) Forgiveness- why bother?
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.
We don’t forgive others for their benefit. They probably don’t care
if we forgive them or not. Jesus tells us to forgive for our own
benefit. Bitterness is a heavy load to bear and ruins lives.
We don’t know what’s ahead in our own lives. We may do something
worse (or meaner) than the person we’re mad at.
The father is the other character in the parable. You know how often
people comment about how a baby has her father’s eyes, her mother’s
smile, etc. We are called to have our father’s heart, and you know
who our father is! We may have our Father’s heart, but only God can
judge our neighbor. No one is unredeemable. No matter how evil they
are, we can pray for them, love them (i.e. wish what is best for
them), and reach out to them when possible. The problem is, sometimes
when someone has caused special pain, it’s so easy to say- “I can’t, I
simply can’t forgive them.” Let me close with a story. “A holy man
was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose roots
stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed
that the river was rising, and a scorpion caught in the roots was
about to drown. He crawled out on the roots and reached down to free
the scorpion, but every time he did so, the scorpion struck back at
him. The man finally flipped the scorpion safely on the grass. An
observer who had been watching this whole process said to the holy
man, ‘Don't you know that's a scorpion, and it's in the nature of a
scorpion to want to sting?’ To which the holy man replied, ‘That may
well be, but I’ve got my Father’s heart, and it is our nature to love
and to save. Must I change my nature because the scorpion does not
change its nature?’” (adapted from Joseph B. Modica) Brothers and
sisters- we have our Father’s heart, and it is in our nature to love.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements either is or will be posted on our parish web site.
The address is: <a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</a> .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan
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