Moving Daze

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Moving Daze. My text is all three Sunday readings.[1] … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Cindy and I have sold and bought several houses over the past ten years. Our next step is to sell our Illinois house and build a new home in Pennsylvania. When we sat down to close on a house in Oklahoma, we moved from a tract house to a custom-built ranch on a wooded one and one-half acre lot. Now, anyone who’s purchased a house knows you have 60 days from the time you close until you move. But in the 60 days after we moved into our Oklahoma house, we unpacked and gave away boxes, bought and moved furniture, washed windows and burned brush. In addition to moving, we started working for new employers. I went from an international nonprofit to a large Lutheran congregation. Cindy started working for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. In those first 60 days, we even found time to host a wedding and a houseful of visitors. And even though I started working as a pastor for a new congregation, I found myself filling the pulpit in a church about 45 minutes east of us for 25 worshippers. So, sometimes when you think you are about ready to settle down, God has others plans for you. Hence, the title of today’s sermon – moving daze. That’s daze with a z.

Moving is an appropriate title for my sermon as we will move from one reading to the next - first, to see how Jesus moved his disciples’ hearts; second, how three men are moved and dazed by heavenly visions; and lastly, to ask ourselves if we are moved and dazed by God’s love, and if we have moved or dazed others.

First, Jesus moved his disciples’ hearts. Throughout his life Jesus moved people’s hearts through his deeds and words. In today’s gospel the Lord speaks after he washed his disciples’ feet.

Think how those 12 men must have felt seeing their Lord and master assume the role of servant. Who of us would not react like Peter and protest? Imagine someone you love and admire washing your feet, and yet Jesus does this.

When finished, he stated, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” Jesus … glorified … after completing an act of humility. When I think of glory, I think of Cooperstown and Canton, Lombardi Trophies and Stanley Cups, Oscars, Emmys and Grammys, paparazzi and presidents. I don’t think of 13 men in a room and one of them washing the feet of the other 12. But the term “glory” means weighty or important. In other words, love is a serious matter.

He then instructed his disciples to “love one another.” Jesus didn’t plea for them to get along, but instructed them to love one another, meaning “do what I do.” Well, they hadn’t yet witnessed his crucifixion, but they had experienced his humble act of footwashing. … “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

What followed next was Jesus’ farewell monologue interspersed by some unconventional responses. Here is what the dazed disciples said.

When Jesus told them that he was going to prepare a place for them, Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Following his explanation, Philip demonstrated dullness by saying, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Finally, after telling the boys that He will show Himself to those who love Him, Judas asked, “Why show yourself to us and not the whole world?” The entire episode of washing their feet, instructing them to love one another and bidding adieu left the disciples moved and dazed.

From John to Acts and Revelation where three others are moved and dazed by heavenly visions. … Paul Harvey was famous for a series entitled The Rest of the Story which consisted of stories presented as little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story (usually the name of some well-known person) held back until the end. The broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line "And now you know the rest of the story."

If we confine ourselves to 18 verses of Acts 11, we don’t know the rest of the story. So, let’s start with an introduction. In chapter 10, we are introduced to Cornelius. Cornelius was a Roman centurion who had a vision. In spite of how we imagine Russell Crowe in Gladiator, this professional soldier was a devout and God-fearing family man who prayed daily. One day while praying, an angel appeared to him and instructed him to seek out Peter. So, he sent a detail down the coast to Joppa with instructions to bring Peter back to Caesarea. … Imagine telling a group of soldiers that you just got a message from an angel. …

The next day, Peter went up on his roof to pray. He too had a vision. His vision occurred three times. In it, God told him to kill and eat the animals in his vision. Objecting that he would never eat anything impure, God reminded him that He has not made anything impure. And while praying about this vision the Spirit instructed him to go with the men who sought him … By the way, they’re waiting for you downstairs.

The story unfolds at Cornelius’ house. … Until that time, the only people believing in Jesus as the Christ were Jews. A gentile wants to join them, and for Peter to enter the house of a gentile meant that he rendered himself religiously unclean.

As Cornelius explained his vision and how he was moved by God to send for Peter, and as Peter explained his and how he was moved by God to take the Gospel to all people, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and they began to speak in tongues and praise God. They were so moved and dazed by this experience that Peter baptized Cornelius’ entire household.

Later, Peter explained his actions to the apostles, and once they realized that God granted the gift of faith and repentance to gentiles, they praised God, and then sent Barnabas to look for Paul who began witnessing before gentiles in Antioch, which is where the word Christian is first used. … and now you know the rest of the story.

Like Cornelius and Peter, John too had a vision. How better to keep hope afloat for persecuted Christians than to tell them what God revealed. John’s Book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature. Filled with vivid imagery for a persecuted people, its main purpose is to offer hope. John interpreted the signs of the times as the end, and even though God triumphed over Satan, sin and death, he did not want Christians to lose focus on the church’s struggle against evil, false prophets and civil oppression.

In this passage, John envisioned a new heaven and a new earth, and he envisioned the old heaven and earth passing away. Perhaps that means nothing to us, but if you were living under the constant threat of persecution, the passing of the present age and the vision of a new one would be eagerly welcomed.

So, consider this: If you stood to lose your job and your friends, your property and even your family because of your religion what would you do? If you faced prison, isolation and death, would you remain a Christian? Would you renounce your faith or would you choose martyrdom?

Did you know that more than a million Christians chose martyrdom … in the 20^th century? More than a million Christians in Mexico through South America, from Nazi Germany and across the Iron Curtain, throughout China, Vietnam and much of Africa were put to death because they did not renounce their Christian faith.

Well, that’s not going to happen to us because we are citizens who enjoy God-given rights. We don’t live in 1^st century Rome or some 20^th century communist bloc country or Nazi Germany. Our Constitution, Amendments and Bill of Rights guarantee us rights, liberties and freedoms. We can worship together, live our faith and fear nothing. But before you jump to that conclusion, let me tell you how persecution happens here.

When I was living and working in Berkeley, California, Proposition 8 was on the state ballot. The state legislature affirmed same-sex marriage, but ultimately the voters rejected it before the justices of the California State Supreme Court reversed the voters’ decision. During that time, I sent a $50 check to a political action committee upholding traditional marriage. Within weeks I received a letter from an anonymous person who stated that I should be ashamed of what I did and that I should be fired from my job. So, while we may not be in the same danger as some Christians in the 1^st or 20^th centuries, when you proclaim your faith in word and deed, there are those who will hate and persecute you.

Finally, are we moved and dazed by God’s love? Have we moved or dazed others? Are we moved and dazed when we ponder what occurred in the Upper Room when Jesus assumed the role of servant and washed his disciples’ feet? Do we pray like Cornelius and Peter and meditate on the meaning of God’s revelation? Can we envision with John a new heaven and a new earth where God wipes away every tear from our eyes? Are we moved to loving one another – like Jesus? Do we risk loving others or do we prefer to keep love comfortable?

Keeping love comfortable is what we prefer. I’m sure Peter would have chosen fishing over shepherding, living on the coast rather than dying in Rome. I’m certain Christian martyrs of the 1^st or 20^th centuries would have gladly lived their lives in peace rather than persecution, but what about us?

I mean who wants to wash their uncle’s feet? Do teenagers and young adults believe what friends profess or what their faith community professes? When I was my mother’s caregiver, there were humble acts of loving kindness that I would have preferred to be done by someone else, but you rely upon God’s grace to strengthen you to love beyond your comfort zone.

Humble acts of loving kindness are not confined to the nursing home or schoolyard, but they all involve personal interaction. You know, one of the more pleasant experiences I had after I joined the Lutheran Church was when the men who belonged to Our Savior’s in Livermore, California reached out to me, and invited me to join their men’s fellowship. That moved me, and so, I have to ask myself: Does my love move others? Does our love move others into believing in Christ or joining us for worship? Or, have the people with whom I interact fallen into a spiritual daze?

This week, let’s think about how Jesus moved the hearts of his disciples and ask ourselves, “When was the last time my humble acts of loving kindness moved someone else to love?” … Think about what humble act of loving kindness you wanted to do last week but didn’t. Think about what you’d like to do this week. And next week reflect upon what you did to bring one more person to Christ.

Let’s thank and praise God for how He’s loved us and moved our hearts to love more deeply, and when we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Acts 11:1–18; Rev. 21:1–7; John 13:31–35.

The WOW of Easter!

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Debt Free! My focus is our Gospel (Mark 16:1-8). … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Chris and Dana step to the microphone. Four years after incurring $80,000 of debt from student loans, credit cards, two cars and the birth of two kids, they are ready for this moment. In unison, they shout at the top of their lungs, “We’re debt free!” … On the heels of their debt free scream, a line from Braveheart – “Freeeee…dooommm!!!”

Daily, dozens of couples and individuals echo these screams. Relieved that they are debt free, these people tell the world their stories of incurring debt and paying it off by heeding the advice of one man, Dave Ramsey.

Dave Ramsey fans travel to Nashville to tell their story and scream on his syndicated radio show because they are relieved they worked diligently, budgeted income and expenses, ate beans and rice, and lived like no one else. They proudly paid their debt.

We too are debt free. After incurring the debt of our sins and our parents’ sins – Adam and Eve – our debt is paid. The difference between the debt paid by Chris and Dana and ours is that Jesus Christ our Risen Lord paid our debt. Christ was payer and pay, propitiator and propitiation, and His payment warrants a debt free scream from each of us.

Our freedom from debt involved no effort on our part. We did not budget income and expenses, work two jobs, use the envelope system, or eat beans and rice for two years. All we did was believe. Believe.

Mark recorded the disciples of Jesus did not run from the cave screaming, “We’re debt free!” Rather, when they left the tomb, “they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

The thought of Jesus rising from the dead did not occur to them because they did not expect a resurrection. … Think of it. Until this moment, the Bible recounts six people raised from the dead – 3 by prophets and 3 by Jesus. Why would resurrection enter the disciples’ minds? That is why Mark recorded that the disciples fled the empty tomb trembling and astonished, and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.

Resurrection from the dead … furthest thing from their minds. God’s victory over Satan, sin and death … furthest thing from their minds. A debt-free scream … furthest thing from their minds. In other words, Mark pointed out that the disciples realized God’s victory comes not from an experience of an empty tomb, but from an experience of the Risen Lord.

For Mark, the empty tomb in itself is not proof of the resurrection, but simply a source of wonderment. Faith in the resurrection springs from the actual experience of the risen Lord. Only then did the first Christians understand what the empty tomb meant – that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

The Lord has risen indeed! God indeed conquered Satan, sin and death. Christ paid our debt. We are indeed debt free. Alleluia! Amen!

Unchecked excitement ran through the disciples’ veins and down their spines when the risen Lord appeared to them. They saw Him die. They saw His empty tomb. Then, they witnessed Him alive. The unparalleled experience of witnessing Christ alive impelled them to tell the world of the great Paschal Mystery – Christ’s willful suffering, death and resurrection, and what He taught throughout His life on earth. Peter and the disciples remembered and shared their experiences of Jesus the Christ with greater zeal and zest than any Dave Ramsey disciple.

Today, more than 2 billion Christians around the world celebrate Easter. More than 2 billion people share their own experiences of the risen Lord. More than 2 billion people share their debt free screams with others. More than 2 billion witnesses.

Are we among them? When did we last witness? When did we last share our debt free screams? When did we last share our experiences of the risen Lord with zest and zeal? Or are we still silently wondering what happened?

Is it because we have not pondered how the risen Lord has appeared to us? Is it because it is more difficult to believe God is present in bread and wine, in baptism and confession, in the Word proclaimed and preached by ordinary human beings than it is to believe Jesus rose from the dead? Indeed, God is present to us today, at this moment, but we do not always feel it or cannot articulate what we feel.

Let me share the brief articulated expression of a woman named Sally who became a baptized Christian 30 years ago. During the Easter Vigil 1989, Sally – then 62, frail and legally blind – was baptized and received into the Church. Several days later, when asked to share her experience of Christ’s death and resurrection symbolized in baptism, Sally, whose facial expressions and voice reminded one of Carol Channing, exclaimed, “WOW!”

Wow! Wow, Christ is risen and is present to us right now. Does the wow of that experience impel us into the streets like apostles with tongues of fire to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed? Does the wow of Christ Risen sustain me when I return to the humdrum of life’s work? Does the wow of Easter stay with me at home or hospital, in classroom or lunchroom, at the office or the in-laws? Do I feel the freedom of being debt free? Do I feel Victory even when I feel like a loser?

The wow of Easter should take all of us into the world because the world, America, Illinois needs Christians who know Christ’s Victory and the deeper meaning of being debt free. John’s Gospel says that the truth will make us free - not comfortable and not respected, but free in the real sense of the word: able to see and do what is right.

In the Christian tradition, freedom is to be used in the service of others. Working to defend the dignity of human persons and the dignity of the human family is an obligation of our freedom. As debt free Christians we are obliged, are we not, to protect the unborn child, the immigrant, the disabled, the elderly. If Christians are not involved in ensuring the dignity and rights of others, then we risk living in a state governed not by justice but by thieves. Bi-partisan thieves at that.

Let me close by asking a question that I pray you ponder as you go out from here and make your way home, hopefully not trembling and astonished. You should know that in recording that the women said nothing to anyone, Mark asked the unexpected question to every Christian who read or heard his gospel. Will you announce Christ rose from the dead? Will you demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit in your life as Jesus did in his? Or will you remain silent when you are afraid?

As church, can we remain silent in public and be faithful to Christ at the same time? Working respectfully and firmly to form the public conscience violates no one’s free will. Actively witnessing to our convictions and advancing what we believe about Christian morality in the public life is not coercion. It’s truth-telling.

Let’s tell the world the truth about our faith, about what we believe. Let’s witness to the point that when neighbors see us walking up their driveway, they will no longer say, “Here come those Holy Rollers,” but, “Here come those Missouri Synod Lutherans.” And when we share with them the good news that we are debt free because Jesus Christ rose to free us from our sins, may we be overwhelmed by the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, and may it keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Married Couple Preaches Gospel

This is the presentation Cindy and I made at our Marriage Encounter Community. We discussed how we are both involved in my preaching.

Part I (Paul) - Write

When I am asked to preach, I feel privileged. My privileged feeling is like being a teacher or coach who is fortunate enough to teach young people something new. If my feeling were a color, it would be spring green. And so, I first read the Scripture passages for the day. Lutherans use a lectionary, and for the most part are proclaiming and hearing the same passages as those in mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. Most of the time, I choose to preach on the Gospel of the day, and may use the other readings to support a point in the sermon.

Once I have read the passages for the day, I begin to pray and meditate on them. At times, a strong message protrudes from the text. The raising of Lazarus from the dead prefigures Christ’s Resurrection.

At other times, a subtler message lies deep beneath the surface, and I love to dig around to discover the meanings. Chapters 12 and 13 of First Corinthians expose the not so Christian behavior of the community of believers.

Prayer leads to study. Afterall, the passage I am reading was most likely spoken in Hebrew or Greek and written in one of those languages for a people thousands of years ago in a culture unlike ours. So, I turn to my library and research what Scripture scholars have discovered and written. They offer insights that I may not know. For example, we read in Isaiah 11:1, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Did you know that Isaiah was describing a traditional form of woodland management called coppicing?

Coppicing exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. When we lived in Edmond, Oklahoma, we cut down a number of trees, and surprisingly, shoots sprang up from the stumps. In other words, Isaiah used a traditional form of woodland management and applied it to God’s revealed word so that people might get the message. So, when I read about coppicing in my research, I understood how today’s landowners in Oklahoma or landscapers in Illinois might grasp the meaning of the words of a prophet spoken in a different language for a different people in a different time. Alaskan foresters or Midwest arborists understand what happens when they cut trees and allow stumps to remain. They can also understand how ancient prophecies relate to daily life in the forest or farm, as can accountants, teachers, nurses, engineers and students, which is why I conclude my sermon with a question: What does it mean to us today?

And while questions – “Did you know…?” and “What does it mean to us today?” – serve as bookends for my sermon, three points frame why the speaker spoke this message, why the writer recorded these words, and why the Church linked this passage (Isaiah 11) to the preaching of John the Baptist heard during the Season of Advent. Prayer, study and imagination help me write a draft, yet I often employ a method that helps listeners remember the main points of the sermon by framing my message with three points.

Research has shown that framing a message around three points, three words all beginning with the same letter helps one remember the main points. So, often I frame a message around three B’s – baby, body, beauty, or three P’s – Paul, pink and prayer – to make it easier for listeners to remember the main points of the sermon. Prayer, study and imagination help me write a draft. After I complete the writing phase, it is ready to be reviewed by Cindy, whom I lovingly call The Serminator.

Part II (Cindy) - Review

When Paul gives me his sermon to read, I read the scripture and pray. I do not read Paul’s sermon to challenge his theological points. I read it as a layman and whether or not I understand the points – frankly there are times when what Paul writes is over my head. While there are congregants who are very well versed in the Bible and have much more knowledge that I could ever achieve, sermons need to reach everyone.

When I come across points that I don’t understand, I ask Paul to explain to me what he is trying to say. I keep asking until I understand – then I make a suggestion on a possible way to explain his point. It may take just changing a work or two.

I try to read with a critical point of view. Will the words he uses mean the same thing to everyone, or can a word be interpreted differently?

There are times when Paul does not take my suggestions. I am ok with this.

When Paul asks me to read and critique his sermons, I feel honored. Honored that he trusts and values my opinion. This feeling of being honored is like winning an award or your favorite sports team going to the White House to meet the President. If it were an activity, it would be walking on a trail admiring God’s creation and feeling honored to be part of His creation.

Part III (Paul) – Speak

After Cindy returns the rough draft, I make the necessary changes. I then ask a couple of other people for some feedback and ideas. Once when I preached on Paul’s analogy of athletes competing, I asked our daughter, Jen, to reflect on the passage. Jen was a member of the UCLA Softball Team that won an NCAA Championship. When preaching on a healing passage, I asked my friend, Bill, a cardiologist to offer comments. Two individuals I always ask to offer feedback are my brother, John, and my friend, Wendell. Within a few hours or a few days, they return my second draft with some remarks and suggestions. Fresh eyes lead to fresh ideas. With appropriate changes, I incorporate these suggestions into my sermon.

Next, I run a spellcheck and final reading before printing my sermon. After I print the sermon, I read it aloud. I speak each and every word, marking the paper where further corrections need to be made. I may have to separate or merge paragraphs. I may add inflection marks.

I practice my sermon five or six times, and while I keep the text in front of me when I preach in the church, I am able to add or delete remarks as I scan the congregation. I preach from the script because I have seen others who do not use one lose track of their thoughts or later remind themselves that they should have said something they intended to say. And when I preach from the script, I know that I am not simply reading a sermon, but delivering a prayerfully inspired message that has involved Scholars, family and friends.

Preaching the Word before the congregation is an entirely different experience than writing, revising or reading the sermon. Preaching involves prayer, and, to paraphrase Martin Luther, prayer is much more difficult than preaching. So, before I stand to preach, I pray privately and publicly. My prayer prior to each sermon is this: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

When I begin my sermon with this prayer, I feel hopeful. I know that what I am about to say will be the only sermon most of the people will hear this week. As I said earlier, I feel privileged when I am called to preach. And when I am about to preach, I hope my words will offer hope to men, women and children for at least a week. If my feeling were a thing, it would be spring training. If an event, the sunrise. Sunrise offers the hope of a new day, and I pray that my words offer hope to all who hear.

Part IV (Cindy) – Listen

On Saturday or Sunday when I arrive at church, I pray God will use Paul to deliver His message.

I have read Paul’s sermon and have listened to him practice. But when I am sitting in the pew listening to the sermon, it is like I haven’t heard it before.

It is humbling to see God use Paul to deliver His message. This humbleness is like knowing Christ died on the cross for me and had blessed me even as I am a sinner. I am also humbled that God brought Paul into my life. If it were a color it would be pastels. If it were a scene it would be hiking through a forest and feeling small among the tall trees.

Couple Dialogue: MEQ and How do I prepare for the message I hear from my priest or pastor?

Group Discussion Question: How do we as a couple keep God at the center of our marriage?

People: Audience, Parable and Present

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon title is People: Audience, Parable and Present, and my focus is our Gospel (Luke 1511-32). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

The last time I preached here, I opened with the first line from People from Funny Girl. As I was preparing for today’s sermon, I noticed that there are different groups of people present in Jesus’ original audience, in his parable and in His Church today. That prompted me to wonder how many times the word people appears in titles of songs or movies. The answer? Dozens.

Among songs, artists have recorded Everyday People, Short People, C’mon People, All God’s People, Lonely People, Shower the People, and even more I never heard of: Plastic People, Damaged People, Second Hand People and Broken People.

Directors and producers have given us Ruthless, Ordinary and Used People. There have been movies attributed to animals and people, such as Mole People, Cat People, Alligator and Bat People. Personality traits have been featured in such blockbusters as Secret People, Smart, Fierce, Crazy, Terrible, Superfluous, Civilized, Beautiful and Simple People.

We are extremely interested in people. 91 million Americans read People magazine. 123 million read ESPN the Magazine. That may explain why Luke recorded Jesus narrating a story about three people to men and women who were tax collectors and sinners while scribes and Pharisees grumbled. And so, I begin with my first point about people, the audience.

It is necessary to identify the people in the audience in order to understand properly the point Luke makes.[2] Luke recorded that tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to hear Jesus while Pharisees and scribes grumbled that He received sinners and ate with them. The mere fact that tax collectors and sinners approached Jesus provoked the scribes and Pharisees to complain.

This was not the first time these two audiences gathered around Jesus. We read in chapter five that Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”[3]

Again, in chapter nineteen, when Jesus spotted Zacchaeus the tax collector, and informed him that he must stay at his house, he joyfully welcomed Jesus, which provoked them to grumble, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”[4]

Of course, Jesus was aware of what they were saying about him. In chapter seven, after the disciples of John the Baptist left, Jesus addressed the crowd on the response of scribes and Pharisees to both John and himself. He concluded by saying, “John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”[5]

How were gluttons and drunkards punished in his day? The answer is found in Deuteronomy. “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or … mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.”[6]

With that in mind, Jesus sought table fellowship with sinners. Why? Because the end-time banquet in God’s Kingdom welcomed sinners who turned from their evil ways and towards God. So, while he is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified on a tree, he is unconcerned about anything but people – tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners, that is, the poor, disabled, lame and blind.[7] They came to hear Jesus who said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”[8]

Now, both groups of people heard the three parables which illustrated that the nature of the kingdom is joyous feasting with God. The illustration culminates in the parable of the two sons where the kingdom is a feast for sinners prepared by the Father himself. The older son drew near and heard the music and dancing of the messianic feast prepared for the prodigal son who repented. The older brother is like the Pharisees, who did not recognize the kingdom when they saw it.

The tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus, who received them, ate with them and told them a parable about rejoicing at the end-time feast. The parable’s older brother also drew near to the feast only to be scandalized, and rejected the meal, and the joy and mercy of his father – a reaction similar to the Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus. Thus, Jesus addressed both the Pharisees and scribes and the tax collectors and sinners simultaneously. His comforting revelation of the way of the kingdom is also a loving admonition to the scandalized to join the celebration through repentance.

Now that we recognize who’s who and their reasons for being there, we move from my first point, people in the audience, to my second point, people in the parable.

We are all familiar with the three people in the parable. There is the callous younger brother who demanded his share of the inheritance, squandered it in reckless living, and found himself starving amidst the squalor of pigs. He calculated he would have a better life serving his father as a day laborer, and prepared a speech begging for forgiveness.

We do not know how he wasted his money. The older brother accused him of spending it on prostitutes, but we only know that he lived extravagantly. The real fault is the irremediable loss of inheritance.

Did you know that his planned confession is in harmony with the rabbinic doctrine of repentance? He was required to admit his sin and name the offended person. Even Pharaoh asked forgiveness from Moses and his God when plagued by locusts: “Forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.”[9] Later, in Malachi we read, “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.”[10]

In short, if the story ended here, it would be a good moralistic parable conforming to the Pharisees’ expectations about how outcasts should be restored to the community, but, and there is always a but, the Father is unpredictable.

His father saw him while he was still far away. His seeing is the real act that brought the son near. Now, some translations use the phrase but while he was a long way off. A better translation is yet, for this indicates that the son could not really do anything on his own to reach his father.

The father’s heart went out to his son because he was filled with love and compassion. The father saved him while he was hopelessly lost. In other words, salvation comes from the father. The son is accepted with no further conditions to fulfill. He found the freedom in his father which he thought he would find by leaving him in the first place.[11]

We know what the father does next, but we should note that his compassion is not based on the son’s appeal. He had compassion while his son was still at a distance and hastened to greet him affectionately before he said a word. Just as Jesus received sinners and ate with them without first demanding signs of repentance, so the father accepted his son without waiting for him to first prove himself truly repentant and worthy.

Confronted by his father’s tenderness, which had already forgiven him before any confession of his fault, the son finally reached the point where he could forgo pride and accept the gracious love of his father. Nothing should be added after the words, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He did not speak the last words of his speech because he accepted his father’s unconditional love.[12]

Before I comment on the older son’s role, let me say a word about a similar Buddhist story which begins like Luke’s parable. The boy in that story returns home and works off his guilt over a period of years. How the father in Jesus’ parable treats his son vis-à-vis the Buddhist father illustrates the difference between the principle of Karma and that of grace, free forgiveness and full restoration of one who is undoubtedly guilty. The reason for distinguishing the differences is that the Pharisees would have expected the son to work off his guilt as a common day laborer for the rest of his life. On the other hand, Jesus and his Father would not demand such servitude. Rather, our God offers grace, free forgiveness and the restoration of the guilty.

Now, let’s fast forward to the party. The older son’s journey from the fields parallels the younger son’s home-coming journey. The live music he heard signified meal preparations and the arrival of guests. As the oldest he would have been familiar with festive music, and had he been expecting a feast, he would not have gone to work in the fields because his role would be servant-host so that his father could mingle with guests. So, imagine his surprise!

Note that he did not run to the feast, but, oddly, questioned of one of the servants and remained at a distance. In other words, he declined his role as older son.

When his father approached and begged him to join the festivities, he humiliated him by quarrelling and insulting him in front of the village guests. The older son misunderstood his relationship with his father for he believed it to be based on merit and reward.

Like the younger son, whose sin was his prideful will to independence and denial of his own sonship, the older son’s sin was also rooted in pride. His prideful presumption was that sonship was earned, and so he refused to accept his brother because the younger did not “earn” sonship as he had.

Having heard the father’s plea to understand his offer of grace to both himself and his younger brother, Luke leaves us wondering if the older son would share his father’s joy that one who was dead has been raised to life.

As I segue into my third point, let me summarize. The people in the parable symbolize the people in the audience. The younger son represents the tax collectors and the sinners; the older son, scribes and Pharisees; and the father, God. Now, Luke always wrote within a context, not a vacuum. He was always addressing an issue pressing upon his community. So, just as the three people in the parable represent the people in the audience, they also represent the people in the Church – then and today. Hence, my third point, people in His Church today.

A fundamental understanding of any New Testament letter or gospel is that the piece was written for the Church. As Church, the New Testament gave people the story of Jesus, but also instruction on how live as His disciples. Whether we turn to the first piece of New Testament literature, Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians, where he wrote, “you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers…”[13], or to our Gospel today, we are given instruction on how to live as the people of Christ’s Church.

That said, how do we apply today’s parable to our lives as Church? Specifically, how have we responded to reconciled sinners? How have we responded when flagrant sinners have turned to God seeking forgiveness and mercy through His Church? Have we responded like the older brother who distanced himself from the joyous celebration of the younger brother’s return? Have we joined the celebration and joyfully embraced the repentant family member, in-law, neighbor or church member who has sinned against us and our families? How deeply have I expressed my joy at their return? In other words, the parable for people in the Church today is to celebrate joyfully the return of someone who wished us dead, separated himself from us, squandered our family’s fortune, and returned sinful, sorrowful, repentant and reconciled with the family, its matriarch or patriarch. Now, you and I are invited to join the celebration. And you already know that I have a question for you. But before I ask my question, I want to tell you something that happens to me almost every day.

When my wife or I return home from meetings or appointments, the member of our household who greets us with joyful abandon is Travis. Travis is our five-year-old Golden Retriever, and when we walk in the door, he runs to us, and with two tennis balls in his mouth and his bushy tail waving wildly, weaves his way between our legs repeatedly until he collapses in exhaustion onto the kitchen floor. No matter our mood, Travis’ joyful demeanor transforms crankiness to happiness, and weariness to wonder. He shows us how to respond to a prodigal person now returned and reconciled with the Church, with you and with me.

How do we respond? How have we responded? How should we respond? My friends, I will not leave you with a proper closed ending. Instead, I leave it to you to write your own ending. Will you join the celebration or distance yourself from God’s joyful banquet where He embraces and kisses those who offended Him but returned? Do you prefer Karma or Grace? Lifelong punishment or free forgiveness and reconciliation? Do you prefer to embrace and kiss the sinner that God does, that is, you and me? Perhaps today or tomorrow you can question not only yourself, but one another. And when you choose to enter the banquet and embrace a fellow sinner, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.[14] Amen.

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[1] Psalm 122.

[2] Arthur A. Just, Jr., Luke 9:51-24:53 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1997), 586ff.

[3] Luke 5:29-30.

[4] Luke 19:1-10.

[5] Luke 7:18-35.

[6] Deuteronomy 21:22ff.

[7] Luke 14:13,21.

[8] Luke 14:35.

[9] Exodus 10:16.

[10] Malachi 3:7ff.

[11] Herman Hendrickx, The Parables of Jesus: Studies in the Synoptic Gospels (London: Geoffrey Chapman/Harper and Row, 1986), 155.

[12] Ibid., 156.

[13] 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7.

[14] Philippians 4:7.