Lent 4
Sermon
Experiencing Easter
The Lenten Journey of Death to Life
Object:
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So he told them this parable:
Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 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. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 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! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." ' 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. 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.' 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. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate."
-- Luke 15:1-3, 11b-24
Experiencing Forgiveness
A seminary professor taught the Christian graces of love and forgiveness for forty years until he retired. Now in retirement, he began working on delayed home improvement projects. First, he poured a new concrete driveway to his house. While the concrete set, he went to his kitchen for a glass of iced tea. Upon returning later to view his proud achievement, he discovered that the neighborhood kids were putting their footprints in the wet concrete. In a rage, the angry professor chased the kids down the street yelling at them in a very un-Christian manner.
Hearing the commotion, the professor's wife rushed into the yard, saw her husband's tirade, and began to reprimand him. She said, "What a shame! For forty years you have taught love, forgiveness, and self-control. Now look at you. You've lost your testimony."
To which he replied, "That was all in the abstract. This is in the concrete."
A groaner, I know, but the point is valid. Living out love and forgiveness requires more than theory. It requires practice. Jesus modeled it with his life. That is the gospel story. He also illustrated it with the parable that is today's scripture passage.
In the story Jesus told of a man who had two sons. He apparently was a wealthy Jewish landowner. His youngest son was somewhat of a rebel. By law, the youngest son would inherit one-third of the family property. When he was old enough, he asked his father for his portion of the inheritance. This was an outrageous breech of family protocol. But then he sold the property, which publicized the family problems, bringing shame to the father.
The son promptly left home and ventured into exotic foreign lands where he blew it all in a partying lifestyle. The sins of youth.
It reminds me of a true story told by Brady Whitehead, chaplain of Lambuth College in Tennessee. A student's parents were tragically killed in an accident and the student suddenly became the beneficiary of the estate. According to Brady, he started squandering the money on lavish trips. He would even invite other students to go along at his expense.
He was spending the money so fast that Brady called him into his office one day and had a talk with him. He said that as chaplain of the school he felt it was his responsibility to question his spending habits. The student responded: "But what you don't understand is just how much money I have inherited." "Well, that may be so," said Brady, "but even to a large estate there comes an end."
The student did not listen, and Brady revealed that by the time he graduated from Lambuth, all of his parents' money was gone.
And sure enough, in the scripture, the boy's money ran out.
He discovered he had no friends without his money. A famine hit the land and the only job he could find was slopping hogs. The pay was poor and the working conditions were terrible. More importantly, hogs were detestable to Jews.
One day he was so hungry and so despondent that he came to his senses, realizing that even the hired hands on his father's farm received better treatment than what he was experiencing on the hog farm. He quit his job and started for home. He was broken, humbled, and he wanted his father to take him back -- but not as a son -- this time, just as one of the farm hands.
It is at this point of the story that we start to get a glimpse of God's overwhelming forgiveness. We commonly call this teaching of Jesus "the parable of the prodigal son." It's a mistake because the son is not the hero. Instead, it should be called "the parable of the loving father," for the point is the father's love rather than the son's sin.
In verse 20, Jesus says, "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."
The fact that the father saw his son while he was way off in the distance means he was looking for his son. The father must have been waiting and watching for the son to come home. And as soon as he knew his son was taking steps to come home, he ran, which was completely undignified. This tells us that God can't wait to have us back when we have strayed.
David Redding, in his book, Jesus Makes Me Laugh With Him, tells a story about Teddy, his big, black, Scottish shepherd dog. Teddy would do anything for Redding. The dog waited for him to come home from school and slept beside him. Teddy worked with Redding in the fields from sunup to sundown. When Redding whistled, Teddy would even stop eating to run to him. At night, no one would get within a half mile of the house without Teddy's permission. When Redding went off to war, the one he hated telling the most was Teddy.
When Redding returned home from the Navy, he had to walk fourteen miles to the farm from the bus stop. He started walking about eleven o'clock at night and it was two or three in the morning before he was within a half mile of the house. It was pitch dark, but he knew every step of the way.
Suddenly, Teddy heard him and began his warning barking. Then Redding whistled only once. The barking stopped. There was a yelp of recognition. Almost immediately, the big black dog was in his arms.
Redding writes:
To this day, that is the best way I can explain what I mean by coming home. What comes home to me now is the eloquence with which that unforgettable memory speaks to me of God. If my dog, without any explanation, would love me and take me back after all that time, would not my God?1
Let me tell you, no matter how far you strayed away from the faith, no matter what your past was like, God sees you and wants you back in the family. Rodney Dangerfield quipped, "Once when I was lost, I saw a policeman and asked him to help me find my parents. I said to him, 'Do you think we'll ever find them?' He said, 'I don't know, kid. There are so many places they can hide.' "
Isn't it great that God doesn't see it that way? When we are lost in life, God doesn't hide. God waits for our return -- searching the horizon for our shadowy figure. D. L. Moody put it well: "The prodigal's father was looking through the telescope of his love."
We see this through the father's kiss. Notice, he didn't wait until the boy's clothes had been changed from the hog-smelling rags he had on. He also didn't wait until the hog waste was washed off his son's feet and hands. In just the state he was in, the father threw his arms around the boy and drew him close to his heart, and gave him a kiss -- which was the sign of complete reconciliation. The father completely forgave the son before the son could even apologize. His sin was forgotten.
Once, Abraham Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a position of vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away."
That's God's position when we have strayed and run away. If we are willing to come back, then God is willing to forgive. Think about it in relationship to an Etch-A-Sketch™. I'm sure most of us have played with one. You can draw and draw and draw on one. And when you make a mistake or when you just don't like what you've drawn, you just shake the Etch-A-Sketch™ and all the mistakes disappear. Then you start over with a clean slate.
What an example of God's forgiving nature. Sure, we make mistakes -- we sin. We are less than perfect -- sometimes way less than perfect. But God is willing to shake those mistakes out of our lives. God is loving and forgiving. Isn't it great that even if we aren't holy, God is.
David Neil Mosser recalls a sticky situation he faced his first year of ministry. He was called to perform a funeral for one of his church members -- a man who had died in prison. Even those closest to the man couldn't recall any good qualities in his life. How could Reverend Mosser preach an uplifting funeral meditation on someone whose life had been so horrible? Fortunately, one of Mosser's older colleagues gave him some good advice. He said, "Son, if you can't brag on a person ... then brag on God."2
Maybe we can't brag on ourselves -- maybe we can't brag about our lives, but we sure can brag on God -- on God's love and forgiveness. What an awesome God of mercy and grace!
So, how do we experience this forgiveness? Look at what the prodigal son did. He made the decision to come home, and that is our first step as well. We decide to return home to God.
First, we must begin by being honest with ourselves and admitting that our separation from God exists. We must come to grips with who we really are as human beings -- sinners. We cannot afford the luxury of living in denial, ignoring our guilt, or hoping that our guilt will somehow magically disappear. Experiencing forgiveness is initiated through an honest confrontation with ourselves.
Second, we must remember that God is gracious and forgiving and will receive us if we will choose to humbly return. No matter how far we move away, God is there to graciously welcome us back.
Robert Robinson was an English clergyman who lived in the eighteenth century. Not only was he a gifted pastor and preacher he was also a highly gifted poet and hymn writer. However, after many years in the pastorate his faith began to drift. He left the ministry and finished up in France, indulging himself in sin.
One night he was riding in a carriage with a Parisian socialite who had recently become a Christian. She was interested in his opinion on some poetry she was reading:
Come thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace,
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for hymns of loudest praise.
When she looked up from her reading, the socialite noticed Robinson was crying. He asked in a broken voice, "What do I think of it?" But before she could answer, he added, "I wrote it. But now I've drifted away from him and can't find my way back."
The woman responded gently, "But don't you see. The way back is written right here in the third line of your poem: Streams of mercy never ceasing. Those streams are flowing even here in Paris tonight."
With a reminder of God's forgiving nature that night, Robinson recommitted his life to Christ. He went home where he was embraced by God's loving arms.3
Do you want to experience God's forgiveness? From God's side, everything has been done -- complete forgiveness is offered. From our side, some things must still be done to experience forgiveness -- we must choose to return home to God. So it leaves the question ... will we? Amen.
____________
1. Tom Rietveld sermon, "The Everlasting Father," found at http://pastortom.org (Advent 2000-3).
2. The Clergy Journal (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota: Logos Productions, October 2002), p. 37.
3. R. Kilpatrick, "Assurance and sin," Doubt and Assurance, R. C. Sproul, editor (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Publishing, 1993).
So he told them this parable:
Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 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. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 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! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." ' 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. 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.' 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. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate."
-- Luke 15:1-3, 11b-24
Experiencing Forgiveness
A seminary professor taught the Christian graces of love and forgiveness for forty years until he retired. Now in retirement, he began working on delayed home improvement projects. First, he poured a new concrete driveway to his house. While the concrete set, he went to his kitchen for a glass of iced tea. Upon returning later to view his proud achievement, he discovered that the neighborhood kids were putting their footprints in the wet concrete. In a rage, the angry professor chased the kids down the street yelling at them in a very un-Christian manner.
Hearing the commotion, the professor's wife rushed into the yard, saw her husband's tirade, and began to reprimand him. She said, "What a shame! For forty years you have taught love, forgiveness, and self-control. Now look at you. You've lost your testimony."
To which he replied, "That was all in the abstract. This is in the concrete."
A groaner, I know, but the point is valid. Living out love and forgiveness requires more than theory. It requires practice. Jesus modeled it with his life. That is the gospel story. He also illustrated it with the parable that is today's scripture passage.
In the story Jesus told of a man who had two sons. He apparently was a wealthy Jewish landowner. His youngest son was somewhat of a rebel. By law, the youngest son would inherit one-third of the family property. When he was old enough, he asked his father for his portion of the inheritance. This was an outrageous breech of family protocol. But then he sold the property, which publicized the family problems, bringing shame to the father.
The son promptly left home and ventured into exotic foreign lands where he blew it all in a partying lifestyle. The sins of youth.
It reminds me of a true story told by Brady Whitehead, chaplain of Lambuth College in Tennessee. A student's parents were tragically killed in an accident and the student suddenly became the beneficiary of the estate. According to Brady, he started squandering the money on lavish trips. He would even invite other students to go along at his expense.
He was spending the money so fast that Brady called him into his office one day and had a talk with him. He said that as chaplain of the school he felt it was his responsibility to question his spending habits. The student responded: "But what you don't understand is just how much money I have inherited." "Well, that may be so," said Brady, "but even to a large estate there comes an end."
The student did not listen, and Brady revealed that by the time he graduated from Lambuth, all of his parents' money was gone.
And sure enough, in the scripture, the boy's money ran out.
He discovered he had no friends without his money. A famine hit the land and the only job he could find was slopping hogs. The pay was poor and the working conditions were terrible. More importantly, hogs were detestable to Jews.
One day he was so hungry and so despondent that he came to his senses, realizing that even the hired hands on his father's farm received better treatment than what he was experiencing on the hog farm. He quit his job and started for home. He was broken, humbled, and he wanted his father to take him back -- but not as a son -- this time, just as one of the farm hands.
It is at this point of the story that we start to get a glimpse of God's overwhelming forgiveness. We commonly call this teaching of Jesus "the parable of the prodigal son." It's a mistake because the son is not the hero. Instead, it should be called "the parable of the loving father," for the point is the father's love rather than the son's sin.
In verse 20, Jesus says, "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."
The fact that the father saw his son while he was way off in the distance means he was looking for his son. The father must have been waiting and watching for the son to come home. And as soon as he knew his son was taking steps to come home, he ran, which was completely undignified. This tells us that God can't wait to have us back when we have strayed.
David Redding, in his book, Jesus Makes Me Laugh With Him, tells a story about Teddy, his big, black, Scottish shepherd dog. Teddy would do anything for Redding. The dog waited for him to come home from school and slept beside him. Teddy worked with Redding in the fields from sunup to sundown. When Redding whistled, Teddy would even stop eating to run to him. At night, no one would get within a half mile of the house without Teddy's permission. When Redding went off to war, the one he hated telling the most was Teddy.
When Redding returned home from the Navy, he had to walk fourteen miles to the farm from the bus stop. He started walking about eleven o'clock at night and it was two or three in the morning before he was within a half mile of the house. It was pitch dark, but he knew every step of the way.
Suddenly, Teddy heard him and began his warning barking. Then Redding whistled only once. The barking stopped. There was a yelp of recognition. Almost immediately, the big black dog was in his arms.
Redding writes:
To this day, that is the best way I can explain what I mean by coming home. What comes home to me now is the eloquence with which that unforgettable memory speaks to me of God. If my dog, without any explanation, would love me and take me back after all that time, would not my God?1
Let me tell you, no matter how far you strayed away from the faith, no matter what your past was like, God sees you and wants you back in the family. Rodney Dangerfield quipped, "Once when I was lost, I saw a policeman and asked him to help me find my parents. I said to him, 'Do you think we'll ever find them?' He said, 'I don't know, kid. There are so many places they can hide.' "
Isn't it great that God doesn't see it that way? When we are lost in life, God doesn't hide. God waits for our return -- searching the horizon for our shadowy figure. D. L. Moody put it well: "The prodigal's father was looking through the telescope of his love."
We see this through the father's kiss. Notice, he didn't wait until the boy's clothes had been changed from the hog-smelling rags he had on. He also didn't wait until the hog waste was washed off his son's feet and hands. In just the state he was in, the father threw his arms around the boy and drew him close to his heart, and gave him a kiss -- which was the sign of complete reconciliation. The father completely forgave the son before the son could even apologize. His sin was forgotten.
Once, Abraham Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a position of vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away."
That's God's position when we have strayed and run away. If we are willing to come back, then God is willing to forgive. Think about it in relationship to an Etch-A-Sketch™. I'm sure most of us have played with one. You can draw and draw and draw on one. And when you make a mistake or when you just don't like what you've drawn, you just shake the Etch-A-Sketch™ and all the mistakes disappear. Then you start over with a clean slate.
What an example of God's forgiving nature. Sure, we make mistakes -- we sin. We are less than perfect -- sometimes way less than perfect. But God is willing to shake those mistakes out of our lives. God is loving and forgiving. Isn't it great that even if we aren't holy, God is.
David Neil Mosser recalls a sticky situation he faced his first year of ministry. He was called to perform a funeral for one of his church members -- a man who had died in prison. Even those closest to the man couldn't recall any good qualities in his life. How could Reverend Mosser preach an uplifting funeral meditation on someone whose life had been so horrible? Fortunately, one of Mosser's older colleagues gave him some good advice. He said, "Son, if you can't brag on a person ... then brag on God."2
Maybe we can't brag on ourselves -- maybe we can't brag about our lives, but we sure can brag on God -- on God's love and forgiveness. What an awesome God of mercy and grace!
So, how do we experience this forgiveness? Look at what the prodigal son did. He made the decision to come home, and that is our first step as well. We decide to return home to God.
First, we must begin by being honest with ourselves and admitting that our separation from God exists. We must come to grips with who we really are as human beings -- sinners. We cannot afford the luxury of living in denial, ignoring our guilt, or hoping that our guilt will somehow magically disappear. Experiencing forgiveness is initiated through an honest confrontation with ourselves.
Second, we must remember that God is gracious and forgiving and will receive us if we will choose to humbly return. No matter how far we move away, God is there to graciously welcome us back.
Robert Robinson was an English clergyman who lived in the eighteenth century. Not only was he a gifted pastor and preacher he was also a highly gifted poet and hymn writer. However, after many years in the pastorate his faith began to drift. He left the ministry and finished up in France, indulging himself in sin.
One night he was riding in a carriage with a Parisian socialite who had recently become a Christian. She was interested in his opinion on some poetry she was reading:
Come thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace,
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for hymns of loudest praise.
When she looked up from her reading, the socialite noticed Robinson was crying. He asked in a broken voice, "What do I think of it?" But before she could answer, he added, "I wrote it. But now I've drifted away from him and can't find my way back."
The woman responded gently, "But don't you see. The way back is written right here in the third line of your poem: Streams of mercy never ceasing. Those streams are flowing even here in Paris tonight."
With a reminder of God's forgiving nature that night, Robinson recommitted his life to Christ. He went home where he was embraced by God's loving arms.3
Do you want to experience God's forgiveness? From God's side, everything has been done -- complete forgiveness is offered. From our side, some things must still be done to experience forgiveness -- we must choose to return home to God. So it leaves the question ... will we? Amen.
____________
1. Tom Rietveld sermon, "The Everlasting Father," found at http://pastortom.org (Advent 2000-3).
2. The Clergy Journal (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota: Logos Productions, October 2002), p. 37.
3. R. Kilpatrick, "Assurance and sin," Doubt and Assurance, R. C. Sproul, editor (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Publishing, 1993).
