Party On!

(Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32) Lent 4c, March 14, 2010

 

How many of you like to celebrate, dance, sing, eat and make merry? What a question, eh – and at church too!

 

I tell you 2 stories: there was another little boy. He had always dreamed of having a dog, a puppy. When he was 5 years old, his parents had taken him to different kennels to look at dogs. He had picked one out – at least the mother of his pup. Some months later his dog arrived. His dog was a fox terrier. The boy named his pup LUCKY. You see he felt very lucky to have his own dog. But there was one problem. Even though Lucky loved his family, Lucky also loved to wander. They would keep Lucky on the leash but sometimes Lucky would get away and not return for minutes, or for hours. One day Lucky disappeared and didn't come back at all that day. Nor did he return the 2^nd or 3^rd day. The boy was heartbroken. His parents had looked everywhere. They had put posters up in stores and schools. They had even taken ads out in the local newspaper and on the local TV station. But no Lucky. No Lucky for 1 week, 2 weeks, 6 weeks. But then, when the little boy had almost given up hope of ever finding Lucky, the phone rang about 10 o'clock at night. The little boy was in bed. But he could hear some of what his mom and dad were saying on the phone. Then he heard the door slam, the car leave. In about an hour, he woke up to the bark of his dog. Lucky had come home. Let me tell you, there was some celebrating in that house that night, lots of happy tears, milk and cookies and a treat for Lucky. In fact in the midst of the celebration I don't know who was happier, the little boy, the mom, the dad or the dog. THERE WAS A WHOLE LOT OF CELEBRATING GOING ON.

 

A second story: In my last congregation there was a woman whom I came to know and appreciate. Over time I learned a bit about her life. She was one of 4 girls in her family. 3 of them were doing well. Not that they didn't have some struggles. All human beings have struggles. But the 4^th sister had major struggles. This sister would not be heard from for months at a time. The family had learned that in the midst of all of this daughter's struggles - financial, emotional and mental, that she had moved to the Lower East Side of Vancouver. Now she doesn't even have a telephone. She would rarely if ever call home. Her family was becoming more and more worried. They had tried many things over the years. Earlier on, when she was much younger one or more of her family would make unannounced visits. For years her parents regularly sent money and gifts. At times she would demand or politely ask for money from her parents. It was never paid back even though she had promised. As time went on this daughter's life continued to spiral downwards, out of control. When I left that congregation the family had not heard from her in over 4 months. Can you imagine what it would mean for them if she were to come home, get whatever help she might need, allow them to again become part of her life? Can you imagine the joy that would flow into their lives, particularly the life of her father and mother? Do you think that everyone in the family would then rejoice?

 

I tell these stories to push us into the middle of Jesus' parable. It's so familiar! Do you identify with any of the people in the parable – or perhaps even more than one?

 

In some ways the younger son can't wait for his father to die. He wants everything that he can have from his father not later but right now. This younger son wants the future without waiting, freedom without relationships, rights without responsibility. Amazingly, surprisingly, perhaps even foolishly his father gives him his inheritance. We need to know this would come at a price for the father.

 

Immediately the younger son leaves home. He is the life of the party. He spends everything he has. But then unforeseen circumstances arise. Who knows:  perhaps the price of housing escalates, or the job market crashes, or there is a recession. We are told that most certainly there is a famine. Now the younger son needs to work. He feeds pigs. For any Jewish person this would be the lowest of lows. But this younger son is so famished that he is sorely tempted to eat even the pig's food. But then he comes to his senses. He remembers his father, the life his father provides for any in his father's employ. The younger son decides to return home, apologize to his father, see if his father will hire him. His only hope is to live as his father's employee. He knows that His father's hired hands have a better life than he now has. So, this younger son carefully (manipulatively?) rehearses his speech as he heads toward what was once his home. 

 

The older son seems to be so responsible. He works hard. He never lightens up. He probably isn't overly close to his father. But one day he will be the boss! I wonder if this first-born son is close to anyone, if he is capable of ever truly celebrating, dancing and singing? He has his nose to the grindstone. Others probably respected him, at some level. I mean compared to his younger brother?

 

One night the older son is returning from his day of work. As he nears the house he hears the loud sounds of a HUGE PARTY. It is unusual. So he asks one of his father's employees, "what's going on?" The man tells him. Your  "lost" brother has returned.  Your father has welcomed him back with open arms. The best animal on the place has been killed. Everyone has come to the party. They are all dancing, singing, and drinking!

 

The older son is …FURIOUS! He refuses to partake in any such party! How could his father throw a party for that other "son", that irresponsible ****** jackass?

 

Through all of this we also see the father. When the younger son first approached him demanding his inheritance, the father had divided his very "living" between his sons. This is an extremely unusual action for a Jewish man of that time and place. But he does it anyway. Immediately the younger boy goes his way. For a long time there is no word from him. The father longs for that boy to come home. In fact everyday the father shields his eyes from the sun looking to the horizon. How he aches, how he misses his son!

 

Then one day it happens. The younger son appears on the horizon. In that instant the father forgets himself. He hikes up his long robes and begins to run. His eyes are burning. He stretches out his arms to his son. The younger one is mumbling some confession. But that doesn't matter. What matters, what is most important, is that HIS SON, has come home. The father hurriedly makes ready a party for the entire community even as he  restores his son from shame to full sonship. Everyone will share in the father's joy!

 

Yet as the party begins the older son will not join.  Now this father loves both his sons. So he goes outside to plead with the older one. Do we hear his pleading, the ache in his voice: "Son. All that I have is yours. But now your brother who has been lost has come home. He is found. Come let's celebrate together!"….

 

Whom do you identify with?

 

In so many ways it seems that the father is a fool. He has given his living, his property, all that he has worked for, to his 2 sons even before he dies. In this he would have forfeited some of his reputation in the community. But neither of his sons understands nor appreciates their father. Neither of them lives as if they are truly sons. The younger boy lives with a "gimmme, gimme, gimme" approach! Even after this younger son has lost everything he approaches his father in manipulative ways with a rehearsed speech and a hope to somehow earn his way into the father's good graces. Those of us who have lived a little bit know that there isn't any guarantee that this younger son has changed at all.

 

The older son may have never realized who he is. Remember that the father divided his living among his 2 sons. All that the father has is also the older son's. Yet the older son chooses instead to see himself as a slave: a very good and faithful slave but a slave nevertheless. The older son is bitter and resentful of his father's graciousness to that son who continually abuses his sonship. The older son may have wondered about the old man's mind. By the end of the parable the older son refuses even to acknowledge that  he has a brother. As this older boy reproaches his father he says to the father, "That son of yours".

 

In these 2 son's lives there is both tragedy and hope. Neither one of them appreciates nor lives within the love that their father has for them. Such is tragedy!

 

But, and here is the hope, the father doesn't give up on them. As the parable ends we wonder what will happen in the lives of these 2 sons. There isn't a definitive answer. 

 

Today we gather around a symbol that speaks of the heart of our Father and Mother, God. This symbol is the cross of Jesus. God reaches out to all people, to all creation, to love and care for them, to restore and rescue them from our broken relationships with God, with each other with the rest of creation. God wants to restore us our relationships with each other, to a future that has promise where we are not alone.

 

We have been and probably are at many different places in our lives. Sometimes like the younger son we may have tried to live with a "gimme, gimme, gimme" attitude. We may even attempt to manipulate those who love us, including God. How tragic to not realize whose we are!

 

At other times we may be like the older son – feeling pretty darn good about ourselves. Surely we deserve what we have. But do we ever truly experience the  joy of being loved by God, the excitement of seeing others being loved and found by God? 

 

Don't we see? God the Father and Mother of all, our Father and Mother is the one who gives all of their being for us. Because of God's actions in Jesus we can live now in caring relationships with God and with each other, with the rest of creation now and forever. It's not either or. It's not us against them.

 

Such living is not easy. In fact it is anything but possible if left to our own devices. Look at our track record individually and collectively. There has been a whole lot of excluding, a whole lot of fear, hatred, envy, jealousy and strife going on.

 

But God, our Father and Mother through Jesus wills to change us. Even as the father in the parable rejoices, so too, God rejoices when any of the children return to God, regardless of their motives. When the lost is found, when one who has been dead in their awareness of God, experiences new life, what can any of us do but be thankful and celebrate! God loves this crazy world. 

 

So, will we go from this place to live, to love and celebrate the reality of our God the Father's, God our Mother's amazing love? Or will we miss the party? Amen.

Trusting A "Hen"?

 

Might God have wings? The Gospel lesson raises a possibility that one of the images that is quite appropriate for God is not as a chicken or even a lion or an eagle but as a mother hen, with wings.

 

To help us with this I share a story that appeared several years ago in National Geographic magazine.

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.

 

Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, the ranger knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and then gathered them under her wings. Instinctively knowing that the toxic fumes would kill her offspring, that the greatest chance for survival for her chicks were under her wings, near a huge tree she had set her mind. She could have flown to safety but she refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived the heat had scorched her tiny body, but she had remained steadfast.

 

Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings now have the opportunity to live.

 

Jesus is steadfast. He sets his face to go to Jerusalem. Jesus goes there to die. Not because He is somehow "into" martyrdom. Not because He would enjoy being crucified. Christ is neither insane nor sado-masochistic. Instead Christ moves onto Jerusalem out of a compelling concern, a passionate love for all humanity, for all creation. There are other forces that would suck the very life from people and from creation. Christ knows those powers. He is willing to take them on despite the personal cost to himself.

 

Just as the mother bird knew the cost of protection for her wee brood, the power of the fire and its toxic fumes, so too Jesus knew. He knew and would fully experience the flames of hatred, greed, fear, ignorance, jealousy and envy. These flames are at least as powerful as any forest fire – for they consume not only those in their path but have the ability to spread into the far distant future, affecting people not yet born.

 

Jesus knows the broken realities of humanity. This is a brokenness that we also share. See the gaps between so many gay people and so many so-called "straight" people. See the pain and divide between men and women, once married now separated or divorced. See the brokenness of children who have been abused, beaten, neglected. What will children become, when those that God has intended for them to be able to trust and be nurtured by, hurt them so deeply?

 

There is brokenness on a much larger scale too. There are those who have homes and food, education and health care, nearly endless possibilities. There are also those who have none of the above and probably will never have access to such. There is brokenness between people of different religions, those who claim to believe or trust in "God" but then degrade, demonize or exclude others who also claim to believer or trust in "God".

 

Jesus is going to Jerusalem to gather up the vulnerable people, "children" under his wings, whatever their age. He does so to protect them from the forces of all the toxic flames that abound. We people do not have to hate each other. In Christ we can lovingly care for each other, wisely employing God's bounty. Scarcity can be overcome. Don't we know? Haven't we seen?  There is enough for all! We do not have to hoard.

 

So, God sends His Son. That Son is on his way to Jerusalem, not for a stay at the Jerusalem Hilton, but to die. To accomplish His mission, like the bird in the National Geographic story, He refuses to save Himself. He dares to go to Jerusalem into the very eye of the fire.

 

Today we hear him speaking while he is on that journey. He speaks employing hen imagery. He speaks to all the people of Israel but also to us. Are we listening?

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing."

 

Do we hear Christ's pain? He wails because He loves the people of Jerusalem, but they refuse the overtures of His love. He is willing to die so that they might live and experience entirely new lives. But they reject Him. They scamper away from that loving but oh, so vulnerable "hen".

 

Jesus continues to speak, often necessarily to lament. He loves the people of Richmond, Vancouver, Delta, the lower mainland. He laments because He loves the people of the Lower East Side, the peoples of Haiti, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, the US and Canada. But so often we refuse or rebuff his overtures. We think that we know best. We attempt to survive in the midst of the fires on our own. In some ways we tell him to "take a hike", to "leave us alone".

 

But even now, the suffering, dying, rising Christ comes calling us. Sometimes His voice is soft, barely a whisper. At other times His voice is loud. Whatever the level of His voice He longs for us to turn to Him for life, to receive His body and blood, to be gathered under His wings, to listen for His voice.

 

ARE WE WILLING? Or with the Jerusalem of old, will Christ say of us, "You would not!"?

 

The fires around and within are real! They are powerful in both their toxicity and heat. But Jesus who sets his face to Jerusalem refuses to abandon us. Even now he comes as a "hen", spreading her wings, wanting to cover us, to nurture us, to move us through death to new life. Will we or will we not trust Him?

 

I can smell the smoke. Amen

Voices: Disregard or Obey?

 

(Luke 4:1-11) Lent 1c, February 21, 2010

 

How many of you hear voices? You may hesitate to answer. What does he mean? Does he mean, "Do we hear the voices of other people in our lives, people like our friends, our parents, our neighbors, our children, our spouses, even those others who irritate us?" Or does he mean, "Do I hear internal voices – voices that cause us to wrestle with decisions – should I do this or shouldn't I?" 

 

There are both external and internal voices. Upon hearing these voices, it is important to be intentional about which ones pay attention to, which ones we will obey. These voices may be audible to our ears or audible only to our minds, our inner beings. These voices may be loud, coming to us in ways that are difficult to avoid. Or these voices may be quieter, seeming almost like a whisper but still very present. We may hear such voices, caught off guard when we least expect them. Or we may hear these voices when we are actually seeking guidance, as we face major decisions. However frequently or infrequently, however loudly or softly these voices are to us, they are important.

 

Did you notice that Jesus heard voices? In today's Gospel we are told that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returns from the Jordan where he was baptized and is led by the Spirit no less into the wilderness.  There for forty days, which may have been a literal 40 days or a very long time, Jesus is tempted by the devil. He eats nothing at all during that time. Understandably then he is famished. It is in that moment of his vulnerability, that Jesus is tempted. He hears a voice, "If you are the Son of God", or perhaps more slyly, "Since you are the Son of God … command this stone to become bread."

 

Now, what could be wrong with Jesus feeding himself? He is hungry! He had not been eating. Perhaps he had been fasting in order to focus himself in prayer. In any case there is nothing in the wilderness to eat. Wouldn't God want him to eat? What could be wrong with turning a stone into bread, having a little bit of magic to ease the pain of his stomach? That's what this devil, the evil force wants him to do. Never mind trusting God! Jesus take things into your own hands right now.

 

But Jesus answers, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Oh, really?

 

Still, Jesus is hungry and therefore vulnerable. His temptations are not over. Who wouldn't want power over others, over things? Many people want Jesus to exercise that kind of power – to just wipe out things or people they don't like. The devil leads Jesus up to some high place. There the devil somehow shows Jesus all the powers of the world. Wow, what would that look like?

 

The devil promises Jesus all of that power and glory, if Jesus would just bow down and pledge allegiance to the devil. This is the promise of instant power and gratification without any mention of personal suffering or sacrifice. Nor is the cost for such power first delineated. But later in what the devil may have hoped was the small print it is spelled out: to receive this, Jesus must bow down and worship the devil. This would be to fundamentally deny who Jesus is, the Son of God, one who does not grab at power, but instead one who humbles himself and therefore shows a different way than most attempts of humans to exercise power! Thanks be to God: Jesus refuses to submit to this temptation. Instead Jesus answers the "devil", "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

 

But Jesus; hunger remains. So, the devil leads him out of that wilderness, back now to the temple, the place where many people experience God's presence, the place where people may be deluded into thinking that they are safe, that here there will not be temptation. At the temple the devil seeks to use Scripture to tempt Jesus. Basically the devil tells Jesus, "to jump". The devil reminds Jesus that the Scripture says of the promised One of God, that God's angels will protect you no matter what, not allowing you to be hurt in any way. The devil is saying to Jesus, "If you really trust God, if you truly are the Son of God you will be able to do this." The devil is calling into question Jesus' very identity.

 

But once again Jesus responds with a quotation of Scripture, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

 

Luke then tells us that when the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time. 

 

There are a number of parts to the confession of our faith, to those experiences of God in Christ that have been handed down to us by others. One of these is that Jesus was fully human and at the same time fully divine. This is a paradox. Both parts of this statement are absolutely true while at the same time seeming to be mutually exclusive. 

 

In these temptation accounts of Jesus we see that Jesus is fully human. He is famished. In his vulnerability the power of evil comes, seeking to dissuade him from the call God places upon his life.

 

Are there times when you are hungry?  You may be hungry for food, for purpose, for status, for power, for acceptance, for understanding, for an easy life or an easier way through life.

 

We need to know that in and through Christ God promises to provide for our needs. This DOESN'T MEAN that there won't be times when are short of food or status, when we don't feel or experience another's love, when we may have doubts about our purpose or even our acceptance by others. The temptation then may be to seek to end our hunger immediately, in this moment. Take the easy way. Grab quick gratification! Do our own thing. We may be tempted not only to listen to those voices that invite us into all these things but to actually follow their advice: DO IT! NO ONE ELSE WILL EVER NEED TO KNOW. YOU DESERVE IT!  YOU'LL FEEL GREAT THEN!

 

But when we yield to such temptations the results are often disastrous. From global climate change, to broken promises that harm our children, friends, neighbors, and ourselves, the relationships in our lives become broken as we seek to manipulate others so that we may have control, status, and or self-gratification. In such actions we also fracture our relationship with God!

 

Observing Christ's refusal to give into the temptations that he experiences as a human being, we begin to glimpse his divinity. He is not promised nor does He look for success or power. Instead, especially in His vulnerability, Jesus remains focused on his mission. Jesus' mission in Luke is delineated only a few verses after this temptation account. Jesus comes to this world to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He is about doing this not by feeding himself in some magical way or by worshipping other forces while getting a share of the power for himself. Nor does He need to prove himself to be God's Son by doing some magic. NO! NO! NO!   He says no to all of those.

 

Instead He chooses to listen for the voice of God. He steeps Himself in hearing the words of Scripture. He makes time to pray to God. From that foundation He continues His journey on to where He first grew up. Only later does He make His way to Jerusalem. This way, His way of seeking to obey God, involves suffering and sacrifice. But ultimately Jesus' obedience to God leads to new life, a whole new way of being not only for Himself but for all who will hear His voice and trust Him.

 

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is that season of the Church year when we are specifically invited to pause and listen. Listen for the voices in our lives.  With the help of God sort them out. Discern which of these voices are coming from God. How might we hear and obey them. Concerning the remainder of the voices, just as Christ did, we too can say, "No". No, to the easy way out! No, to thinking of ourselves exclusively first. "No", to the avoidance of sacrifice and suffering that often accompanies following Jesus, as we seek to be part of good news for the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, release to the captives. On the other hand we say, "Yes," to making time to hear God, to be intentionally with God.

 

Did you notice that it is only the devil in Luke's gospel that promises success and power without any suffering or sacrifice? We need to be assured that our identity as God's children is a gift, is a promise. Yet being God's children does not exempt us from suffering or sacrifice. What is promised in this, is that God will walk with us. May we then seek to hear God's voice and obey. As we do so, God's good and gracious will, may be done even through us. Somehow, someway this results in a reflection of what Christ has done and wills, new life with God for all. Amen.