The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

The goodness of God continues on to God’s people, even in exile.

 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.  (Jeremiah 29.1, 4-7 NRSV)

 

God’s goodness comes to the outcast through Jesus.

 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."  (Luke 17.11-19 NRSV)

 

“GIVE AND TAKE”

 

            “Where are the nine?”  The first Presbyterian pastor I knew had a story about this phrase.  He had several long and fruitful ministries and for one of those churches, the vote to call him was some large number to nine.  So he used to joke, “Where are the nine?”  It was said with humor, but if you didn’t know him, you could think he meant it as saying, “Take that, you nine, who voted against me, where are you now, ha-ha-ha?”  That is not what the phrase means.

            In the Gospel reading Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, between Samaria and Galilee.  Ten people with leprosy approached him and called out for mercy.  He saw them and told them to go show themselves to the priests.  There, they would be declared healed and fit to return to society.  One came back, praising God, and thanked Jesus.  Jesus asked the question: “But the other nine, where are they?”  Some people think this is meant to scold ungrateful people.  “See the nine, you don’t want to be like them, do you?”  But I don’t think that is what the phrase means either.

            Shel Silverstein has written The Giving Tree.  It is a children’s book.  Well, sort of.  It is the story of a tree which loved a boy.  He made crowns from her leaves and climbed her trunk and swung from her branches and ate her apples and even rested in her shade.  As the boy grew older he did not have time to play anymore.  The boy wanted to go to the city and have fun so needed money.  The tree did not have money and gave him her apples to sell for money.  And so he left the tree.  He returned later when he wanted to build a house.  And the tree was glad to see him.  The forest was the tree’s house, but she gave the boy her branches.  He left again and returned much later, too old to play.  But he was tired of life and wanted to get away in a boat.  The tree gave him her trunk to build a boat.  The boy sailed away.  The tree was happy to give, but not really happy this time.  A long time later, the boy, now an old man, came.  All he wanted was a place to rest.  He could no longer eat her apples, but she didn’t have any more anyway.  She had no braches, but he could not swing from them.  He could not climb the trunk which she didn’t have.  All she had was a stump.  So he sat down on the stump.  And there they were together.  And the tree was happy.

The first time I heard this story I felt some sadness and a little anger because of a boy who only took.  But now, years later, I can also see now that there is another side.  There are those who are fulfilled by giving and as we go through life we are takers, whether we want to be or not.  Living requires that we get what we need.  Blessed, though, are those who know what their taking costs others.  The greatness and sadness of our lives is that childhood comes to an end.  At the end of the book, the boy is with the tree again.  It ends as it starts, and maybe there is not the joy of the beginning—maybe that is replaced by contentment—but the boy and the tree are together again.  But gratitude is missing from the story.

            I think that is what the Gospel reading is about as well.  “Where are the nine?”  They are on their way to the priests.  They have been given the same gift as this Samaritan who returned.  Jesus seems glad to grant this blessing to all ten.  He reminds us that God is generous beyond our imagining.  We can go off on our own way with what God gives us.  God gives us that freedom.  We are not obligated or forced to recognize the gifts.  We do not have to look up.  But the Samaritan, the one of out of ten, knows where the gifts come from.  This awareness leads him to praise God.  And this awareness brings him back to Jesus.  It is not that being thankful heals him and not the others.  Gratitude, we find, is a blessing in itself.  And it connects us with the giver.  The greatest gift is the relationship.  Gratitude, knowing where things come from, it turns out, is very rare.  Rare, but precious.

 

            As we go through life, we are the recipients of much blessing.  God sends us on our own ways, like children, with many gifts.  And it is good when we see where those many gifts come from.  Then we can appreciate them better.  Then we can know who we are.  And then, we see more about God who loves us more than we can possibly know.  That, is why we are truly grateful.  Amen.

The 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.  (Luke 7:1-10 NRSV)

 

“DESTINATION HEALING”

 

            A number of years ago I had a dream.  It was that there was a pain in my head.  Well, it turned out that it was more than a dream.  I woke up and everything sounded like I was under water.  I went to the doctor.  She said, yup, your eardrum ruptured.  Just blew right out.  She prescribed an antibiotic for me.  With time it healed and my full hearing in that ear returned.  When we are sick or injured we want to go to a doctor.  It can be a world-famous medical center that wants many more people to come to it or it can be like my first doctor as an adult, Dr. Guy Carlson, who charged $8 an office visit and did his own lab tests right there in the office in front of you.

The Gospels have numerous stories of healings.  Jesus healed people and word got around.  And so they sought him out.  The Gospel reading this morning is such a story.  A centurion had a slave who was very ill and so he sent people to Jesus.  When he approached, the centurion sent word that Jesus only had to speak the word and the servant would be healed.  The reasoning is simple.  The centurion has great authority.  He commands people and they obey.  Therefore all Jesus has to do is command this illness.  This is no magic.  It is a recognition of the great power Jesus has in the world.  He relies on a greater authority.  That takes faith and so Jesus tells the crowd that it is faith such that he has not even seen in Israel.  The slave was healed.

Why would the Gospels be so concerned with healings? It is because that is where we live.  It is because most of us at some point or other in our lives have the need for it.  But it might be rather risky to do so.  Many want healing and having that as an example might have inspire their faith.  We live, though, in a world with medicine alongside of faith and sometimes that is the route we should take.  It is common sense to go to those who might be able to help us and those people who reject that and rely only on faith, such as the couple in the news whose child died recently when they did that, seem willful, naïve, and abusive, rather than faithful.  And those who reject faith, putting their trust solely in science, seem somehow to be missing something.  Medicine, as valuable as it is, does not have every answer.  We know that part of the reality we live in, whether we use medical expertise or faith, or both, is that some healings do not occur.  A friend of mine was a chaplain in Wisconsin when he met a woman in the hospital whose fiancé just had a massive heart attack.  Things were not good.  The woman, understandably, wanted a miracle.  They prayed.  He did not make it.  But while the outcome was not what she wanted, the idea is not a bad one.  Jesus helps us in the impossible situations in life.  It might just be that the impossible situation is one other than the one we were thinking of.

            The healings in the Gospels are wonders, and they certainly show us God’s power, but they do more than that.  One of the things they show us is the scope of God’s mercy.  Jesus is shown in the Gospels as responding to those who come to him for help.  There is never a time when Jesus says that he can’t be bothered, or that he can’t heal a certain type of illness, or that the people who ask for healing are not the right kind of people.  All those who have had healing, whether from the most ordinary malady or miraculous intervention, have had some of the power that God places in the universe.  The centurion was an important person and even had sent people to Jesus to get his help.  This is a man with influence and God heard him.  And yet, this story can be laid side by side with the other healings in the Bible which have people from very modest means.  Social standing does not seem important to Jesus in who is healed.  And yet for all the importance of the centurion, he has this humility.  He tells Jesus that he didn’t have to come, that he could heal with simply a command, because he is not worthy that Jesus come into his home.  We are reminded that none of us is so important that we can command life.  All of us are in some position at some time to seek some help.

            The centurion is remarkable, too, in that he is seeking this for a servant.  It is not for him.  There are others in the Gospel healing accounts who seek Jesus power on behalf of another person.  That is a wonderful and kind thing to do.  It reminds us that our service is to those around us as much as it is to us.  We become like the Jewish leaders, relaying the needs of others to God.  That is not a bad role to have in a part of life in which there is so much that we cannot do.

 

            The healing miracles demonstrate the faith of individuals.  They show that they have heard about Jesus, and based on that simple faith come to him.  Jesus often comments on that faith.  Faith can continue to direct us to God.  The healing miracles of the Gospels often have a dimension other than the physical healing.  Sometimes the mind and the soul as well as the body are involved.  Sometimes Jesus tells the person that their sins are forgiven as well as their body is healed.  God is more than a doctor.  In all the facets of life, God is present and faith can provide help.  Perhaps the healing becomes part of a greater healing.  Marilyn Morgan Helleberg tells the story of her father, a doctor who had been cheated out of a large sum of money.  Her father had a hard time putting it out of his mind.  One night, this man was brought to the hospital hemorrhaging critically.  He said to her father, “I wouldn’t blame you if you’d let me bleed to death, Doc.”  Her father asked what his blood type was and proceeded to donate the needed blood.  She says that her father felt a peace and closer to God than he had ever before.

 

            The healing stories of the Gospels point us to Jesus.  That is a good direction to go.  Every one of us makes a trip to the doctor or a journey in life to seek healing.  This morning, let us lift up those things we need for ourselves or for others.  We can trust in God’s power and goodness.  We know the One who holds all things in divine hands.  When we come to God, we might find more healing than we even imagined.  For our lives, our whole lives, are in God’s hands.

 

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The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6.6-19 NRSV)

 

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. 15 So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 "The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. 18 "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' 27 He said, 'Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- 28 for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' 29 Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' 30 He said, 'No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"  (Luke 16.9-31 NRSV)

 

“DO YOU SEE THE GORILLA?”

 

            Some things are hard to miss.  Some of them are big things, unusual things.  The Week mentioned that it was a “bad week for going out for a relaxing beer after a National Guard jet accidentally dropped a dummy training bomb into the parking lot of a Maryland pub, barely missing cars and leaving a three-foot-deep crater.  ‘The bomb squad told us we should rename the bar the ‘Bull’s-eye,’’ said the owner of Darlene’s Tavern.”  A three-foot deep crater in a parking lot would be hard to miss and you would certainly want to do so.

            The Gospel reading has a story of something that is also hard to miss.  It is the story of a rich man.  He had much good food to eat, and daily.  He was well dressed.  At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus.  Now, you might think that it would be hard to ignore someone lying at your doorstep, but he did.  And from there, Lazarus saw the rich man eating.  The poor man died and so did the rich man.  The poor man was at the side of Abraham.  The rich man was in torment in Hades.  The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus with a drop of water for his tongue.  It is rather amazing that he ignored Lazarus in life when he needed something and now he needs something and wants to put Lazarus to work on it.  The rich man is still only conscious of his own needs.  Maybe we are starting to understand why he didn’t see Lazarus.  Even right on his doorstep.

            Well, back to the story.  Abraham tells the rich man that this is now fair.  The rich man enjoyed life and now suffers; Lazarus suffered in life but is now in a good place.  Now, this, by itself, is not the point of the story.  Because if the poor will be blessed, then it is better for them to leave them poor and suffering.  No, this is about not ignoring the poor.  Besides, Abraham says, travel between Paradise and Hades is just not possible.  So the rich man does not give up, but still has a favor he wants Lazarus to do for him.  He wants him to appear to his brothers as a warning.  Abraham’s reply is that they have Moses and the prophets and if they do not listen to those, even someone who has come back from the dead will not change their minds.  If they are ignoring Scripture, which means ignoring God, then even seeing a ghost will not matter.

            It is easy to ridicule this rich man.  We, of course, could not miss such a big thing as a man at our doorstep.  There is a now-famous psychology experiment in which people watched a videotape of a basketball game and were asked to keep track of something like the number of points one of the teams scored.  Then they were asked if they saw the man in the gorilla suit who walked right through the middle of the game.  They replayed the tape, yup, he was there.  Many did not see him.  I didn’t see the gorilla.  The reality is that if you are looking at something else, you might miss other things, even extraordinary things.

            The reading from First Timothy is one of the warnings about the danger of earthly riches.  There are many things in life that are that something else we look at and miss other things.  Wealth is one of them.  Paul, or someone writing for Paul, says that the better way is contentment with what you have.  Also, we are to spend our time, our lives if you will, in pursuing good qualities and to remember the gift of eternal life and keep that hope pure.  Lastly, the writer of the letter tells the rich to put their hope on God, not on unstable riches.

            One of the reasons that the Bible has warnings about riches is that it is so easy to fall under their spell.  What do we make of our national obsession with gaining wealth?  Do we listen to the Wall Street Journal more than the prophets?  Do we care what Warren Buffet says more than what Moses says?  Has pursuit of money replaced the spiritual life in this country?  If it has, we are in danger like the rich man and his five brothers.  With greed in our eyes, what possibly can warn us?  Money is all around us, in our daily lives.  The other is that money can blind us.  It can make us increasingly self-centered and blinded to others, or worse yet, make us so we only see others in terms our own needs.

Lillian Daniel writes about things she has heard that bother her.  One such thing was a presentation at a conference.  The presenter made statements like that it was harder for rich people to experience God’s love than the poor. And that the poor have to rely on God’s love so much more.  And that they just seem so much happier.  Her thought was, “I have heard rich people say that ‘the poor are lucky’ before.  But I have yet to hear a poor person say it.”  There are ways of treating the poor like the rich man wanted to, in self-serving ways or in ignoring who they really are.

            Perhaps what we really need to start with is to learn to see again.  And learn not just to see what we want to see or not to see what we don’t want to see.  Maybe we need to start with the world around us.  If we do that, it will not be long before we see people who we did not know were there, or people who need us.  Perhaps we need to learn to see again, not as we see but as God sees, as J. Brent Bill talks about.  He had a dinner guest, his brother-in-law, whom he found annoying.  He thought he knew everything and talked too much.  But because his wife loved her brother, he decided to see him as she did and then had the thought to see him as God does.  The evening went well, because of what the Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián found, “When the eyes see what they have never seen before, the heart feels what it has never felt.”  God sees people with needs where we see the poor, or people in our way, or annoying people.

 

            There are things that we never thought we could miss, but we do.  We tend more to see what we want to see and disregard the rest.  But we have a warning.  We are not to go through our lives unaware of what and who is around us.  It is easy to do that.  We are not to go past those who need us and not touch their lives.  What are we not seeing?  We need to see new things, even the obvious.  Lillian Daniel ended her piece with this prayer: “Dear God, give bread to those who are hungry and thirst for justice to those who have plenty.  Amen.”

 

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The 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

NRSV 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I am grateful to God-- whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did-- when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

 

NRSV Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? 8 Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

 

“WITH OR WITHOUT?”

 

            We eat 20 billion hot dogs a year in this country.  When you have a hot dog, you have a decision to make.  What to put on it?  Mustard is a typical possibility.  There is, of course, catsup and relish, or some may prefer sauerkraut or chili.  Mustard is a perennial favorite.  According to the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, mustard is the most popular hot dog condiment.  They have the largest collection of mustards, the MustardPiece Theatre, a tasting bar, gift shop, and host, on the first Saturday in August, National Mustard Day festivities.  They tell us to mark our calendars—in bright yellow.  How do I know all this?  One of my sisters was once a tasting judge in the annual World-Wide Mustard Competition.

            In the Gospel reading the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.  Now, that is not a bad request, but Jesus’ answer to them is unusual.  If you had the faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to a mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.  It is a startling picture of faith.  The disciples talk about faith like it is some kind of activity, like lifting weights.  Jesus talks about faith like a tiny seed.  Faith is very simple and very powerful.

            The reading from 2 Timothy talks about faith as well.  Paul greets Timothy and praises his sincere faith, which he learned from his mother and grandmother.  It is an essential part of his life.  That part of faith can be passed down over the generations.  And we are reminded about Paul’s faith, too.  It is trusting in God who is able to guard what has been entrusted to him.  Faith, is not only believing truths about God, it is also trust in God.  That kind of faith focuses more on God’s power than our own.

            That is true for Jesus’ reply to the disciples.  They have just been told that they need to forgive others, even seven times, a difficult, but not impossible, thing.  It is a thing requiring effort.  They ask Jesus to increase their faith.  Jesus brings them back to the simplicity of faith.  It is both more simple and more powerful than their question asks.  He tells them if they had the faith the size of a mustard seed they could do incredible things.  A seed is one of the smallest of common things.  A tiny seed can grow into a great bush or tree.  A seed is not an effort, not a project, it is a thing with the potential of life in it.  All it needs is a place to be planted and grow.  A farmer or gardener can’t make the seed grow.  There is no effort that can make it grow.  All they have to do is plant it and care for it.  Faith, while simple, requires us to respond to it.

That is the message of the rest of the Gospel reading, this parable about a slave.  The slave does not come in from work and then the master serves him or her.  He or she finishes the work in the field and comes in and then has to serve the master.  All this seems a bit, well, harsh.  But it is the picture of humility.  The servant works for someone else.  That is the reminder that we receive God’s gifts, faith and what faith make possible, not by thinking we are in charge but by receiving it.  We, like the servant, have nothing to claim our own.  We receive what we need from the Master.  It is also the reminder that faith and what we do by faith really is for someone else.  It is for God.  The kind of faith that Jesus is talking about is not self-serving control of the world, or some kind of showy magic tricks.  It is for how we can advance the mission of God in our world, so it can grow in spectacular ways, like the mustard plant.  Sometimes that requires that we do great things.

            We go back to that idea of the seed.  How do we learn about gardening or farming?  It is often like how we learn about faith, by seeing it in our families or watching or hearing about it.  Louise Stoltzfus talks about growing things in an Amish community, that she learned about it as her grandmother read the Farmers’ Almanac to them.  They loved its wisdom, but also learned that gardening, whether for pleasure, food for the table, or extra income, required hard work. 

            Many times we focus on effort—on what we can do.  In faith we follow God’s will, we do what is needed for following the direction God gives.  The lesson is that we need to plant the seed, but we need to be faithful with what God has given us. 

 

The seed, what we start with, is a gift.  It is from another plant, from another’s work.  No one can make a seed.  It is given to us and reminds us of those words from Lamentation: Great is thy faithfulness, O God.  It is for serving God even as God cares for us.  God cares for our hopes and dreams, for what we need in life.  The seed can be an invitation to dream and a sign that our dreams are God leading us into God’s care for us.

            Think of that mustard seed, it is to remind you to look forward in hope.  It is to let you know you are part of God’s plan, as it grows like the plant, as it unfolds, and blossoms and bears great fruit.  It is to remind you that your hopes are important to God, who will bless them with growth.

 

            If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, great things can be done.  Jesus reminds us of the power of faith.  The power of faith is the power of God in us.  And like the servants, it is not for our desires and whims; it is to serve God.  But we are also reminded that it is a gift and we see again the care God takes of us day by day.  The seed is possibility of things to come, like God’s mercies that are new every morning.  Great faith is possible.  Great things are possible.  Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.

 

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Schedule for Trinity Presbyterian Parish, SE Minnesota:

Palm Sunday (March 24) Worship, 8:30 a.m. at Chatfield, 10:30 a.m. at Lewiston
Maundy Thursday (March 28) Service with Communion, 7:00 p.m. at Chatfield
Good Friday (March 29) Service, 7:00 p.m. at Lewiston
Easter Sunday Worship, 8:30 a.m. at Chatfield, 10:30 a.m. at Utica

Pioneer Presbyterian Church, 206 SE Fillmore St, Chatfield
First Presbyterian Church of Utica, 145 S. Center St, Utica
First Presbyterian Church of Lewiston, 60 W. Main St, Lewiston

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C

 

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable:

15:11b "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe-- the best one-- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied,' Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'” (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 NRSV)

 

“BRATTY KID, ANGRY BROTHER, AND DAD”

 

            Some families have drama, as it is called.  They have conflicts or struggles over power, or money, or position.  There may be favorites and family members may take on certain roles.  There might be familiar behavior or some new wrinkle that has never been seen before.  Many of these conflicts have elements of rivalries.  There might be old hurts that resurface or there might be offenses which need to be forgiven or can’t be forgiven.  There might be harsh words or harsher actions.  There are specialized psychologists who take up the difficulties that occur within families.  These family therapists work by looking at the relationships that are involved with the people who have the problems.  For instance, if little Susie has a problem, what is happening with her mother as it is going on?  If little Susie has a problem, where is her father?  Her brothers and sisters?  What does her relationship with them tell us?  What does their relationship to each other tell us?  To get the right picture you have to see the whole family.

The Gospel reading this morning is the familiar story of the Prodigal Son.  It has been called that for many years and to hear that you might think it is just about one son.  It is not; it is about the whole family.  It is one of Jesus’ parables and was told when the Pharisees and scribes complained that he was associating with sinners.  He even eats with them.  So there is this story.  There was a father with two sons.  There was the younger son who did everything wrong.  Not wrong as in inept or without skill, wrong as in bad.  He asks his father for his share of the inheritance.  It is as if he says that he cannot wait for his father to die.  That is incredibly rude.  He is offensive.  He leaves home, cutting off his relationship with his family.  He takes the money, goes far away, and lives far beyond his means.  That is why churchy folks call this the Prodigal Son; “prodigal” means extravagant.  He wastes it all on what churchy folks call dissolute living.  This means he was up to no good.  Only when there is a famine and the money runs out and he has to find work and in that work he sees the pigs are eating better than he is does he start thinking of returning home.  He has at least enough sense to know he has offended his father.  He has enough sense to know that he can’t continue on how he was going and has to do something different.  And he knows that he can’t have things the way they were.  So his plan is this, he will ask to become one of the hired hands, he will no longer be part of the family.  And he has enough sense to actually do it.

He returns home and is met with a surprise.  The father runs out to meet him.  While he was far off yet from home this happens, which can only mean that the father was watching for him, waiting for him day by day, hoping for his return.  And he wants him back in the family.  He calls for the best to be brought and a great celebration.  The father throws him a party, a heck of a party.

The older brother has a problem with this.  The father asks him to join the party.  He feels the offense the bratty kid has made to the family.  And beyond that, he holds up his behavior.  He has never done anything wrong.  (So he says.)  He has never been given anything.  (So he says.)  He is the good son, not this kid.  (So he says.)  Yet, he can’t accept his brother back.  He does not want joy.  He cannot see love.  Joy is not in his life.  The father says that he has always been with him.  Everything was his all along.  It was all around him and he did not know it.

The father wants his whole family back.  Both the one who has never done anything right and the one who thinks he has never done anything wrong.  The younger son would not know joy except for his return.  The older son sees it all around him and can’t take part in it because of his attitude.  This story has some very unexpected turns.  It was told when people criticized Jesus.  The story is about who God is.  It is about who Jesus is.  It is also about who we are.  It turns out, the Father is the extravagant one in the story.  The Father, who had given to younger son everything he asked for, had even more to give, and it was better than that first share of the inheritance.  The son who lost everything gained even more.  He started out looking for fun, but ended up knowing love, and forgiveness, and joy.  The return of the younger son is nothing less to the father than that son returning to life.  The older son could be a part of that, too.  Until he changes his mind, he puts himself on the outside.

This comes to us as we think about Easter coming up.  The characters in the story Jesus told should make us look at our lives.  Who do we see?  What catches our attention?  As we look at our families, what do we think, especially about our place in them?  As we look at life, what is our place in it?  The danger is that we might never trust the father enough to return, or that something will keep us from seeing ourselves and seeing the father and being a part of it all.  Susan Schefflein tells the story of when she had a bite to eat in a restaurant between meetings.  She was feeling resentful and frazzled when a little boy came in and walked right up to her table.  He said, “Boons!” twice and when she still did not understand, he pulled her sleeve.  When he pointed she saw that she all this time had been under a picture of a rocking horse with brightly colored balloons.  Then she could laugh with the child.  Sometimes it takes a child to let us see what is good.  Sometimes it takes coming in from outside to see joy.

In this season of Lent, let us continue to seek joy.  It is not found in self-indulgence, but in returning home to find forgiveness which will last us through all our days.  It is not found in smug self-satisfaction, either, being too proud or resentful to join in.  It is found with the Father who waits for us, whoever we are, whether we are coming home from far away or just waiting to join the party.  It is found by seeing the Father as in Wendy MacLean’s poem:

God, we are yet at a distance

still too far off

to see that open gate.

Still not close enough

to hear the noise

inside the kitchen.

Yet you see us

and come

with open arms

welcoming us home.

Tender Father

we are afraid

of the last steps

we are weary

from the long walk

we are heavy

with the shame

of our distance.

But you do not let anything stop you

from coming to us

to bring us

to you

with celebration and gifts.

Holy One

may we welcome

your welcome.

Amen.

 

Looking ahead forTrinity Parish (Pioneer Presbyterian Church, Chatfield, First Presbyterian Church, Utica, and First Presbyterian Church, Lewiston, Minnesota):

Wednesday, March 13, Lenten Supper (potluck) at 6:00 p.m. Prayer and study of the Fifth Great End of the Church--the Promotion of Social Righteousness at the Utica Church.