Sermons
"It's a River Not a Pie"
Gracious God,
break open our hearts
so that we may know
the expansiveness of your love;
in your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Good Morning!
IT'S A RIVER-NOT A PIE.
It's a river-not a pie.
I invite you to remember that.
Did you zone out
when I started reading this morning's gospel? Heaven knows
if I hadn't been reading it
-I'm sure my mind
would have gone somewhere for a while.
It's not like
we don't know
how this particular story ends.
The prodigal son-"Oh yeah."
The story
of the prodigal son
is to Christianity
what the Yankees are
to the world series.
"Oh-hmmph-them again."
Yet-this story
is the essence of Christianity.
Christianity.
Not the Christianity
that some would have us believe.
It's not
the narrow,
moralistic, judgmental,
provincial ideology
that some purport it to be.
It's not
the constitutional amending,
gay marriage-banning,
if you love another adult
that somehow wrecks
who I love--theology
that some claim it to be.
The scriptural reality is
that Christianity is first and foremost
-not about
keeping people out,
it's not about
sending people away,
it's not about
saying, "You can't play."
Christianity in its finest form
is an open door
and a warm hearth.
It is
a gracious host meeting us at the door
and saying,
"I've waited so long to see you.
I am so happy you're here.
You know-I was hoping you'd stop by."
******** * ********* * ************
Even though
we know the prodigal son story
-let's just list out the basic facts
so that they're fresh in our minds.
1) Younger son
-blows off family responsibilities
-by rudely asking for his inheritance
-before his father is dead
-and skips town.
Promising, in words
each of us has probably,
in one form or another,
uttered under our breath,
"That's it! I'm blowing this clam-bake
and never coming back."
2) Younger son
-commits some very stimulating sins.
3) Younger son
-wakes up one morning,
his head nestled next
to a pig's tail,
a hangover permanently etched in his brain.
4) Younger son- through the fog
remembers his life before all the fun
-recalls that at least then
he had food
and his best friends
weren't pink with hooves.
5) Blown off father
walks down
to the end of his driveway every day
-scanning the horizon for his lost one
-praying for his return.
6) One day
Blown off father's prayers are answered
-the lost one returns.
Before the sinning son
can even say how sorry he is
-Dad has the whole house in an uproar
-getting a mid-morning
-mid-week party all put together.
7) The Blown Off father
-is now the Dad overflowing with emotion- because all he knows
is that his son has come home.
His son is alive.
He smells a bit
-looks a bit haggard around the edge.
But he's kicking, breathing
and he's alive.
8) Which of course
brings us straight and unavoidably
to the big brother;
that overworked,
fragile man;
a man with whom I deeply identify.
A man who knows
right from wrong,
good from bad,
and most especially
work from play.
A man who is the good son.
He comes back from the fields
and what does he smell?
Barbeque
-tasty-savory-
tangy--beef barbeque
-wafting through the air.
Why is this he asks?
Your brother has come back.
He's come back and they killed the fatted calf?
Your dad is overjoyed.
But my brother's scum.
Your dad loves him.
A party? What has Dad ever done for me?
He gets the calf? And I get calluses.
Here's a man
kinesthetically and ontologically
- a man who
- in his very sinews and bones
- believes
that there is a limit
to his father's love
-that his father
only has a limited amount of love.
That somehow
-whatever the "loser" son gets-
- will vastly diminish
what, he,
the deserving son will receive.
"If you love him this much
-and give him all these things
-what in Heaven's name will be left for me?"
And I know
-I know how the older brother feels.
[I'm an oldest sister
- believe me it only makes the condition worse.]
Have you ever had that experience? (pause x2)
- The experience of slowly realizing
that you are quietly
and not so subtly
becoming very annoyed
and maybe even angry
that someone else
- who has screwed up big-time
has just been forgiven.
Forgiven and offered another chance
-or in this case-
forgiven and then seemingly
granted a party and a promotion.
Have you ever wondered
-now why am I busting my rear-end?
When there are others
who seem just to coast along
on other people's graciousness?
How is this fair?
How fair is it?
Two thoughts.
The first. It's not fair.
And we might do well
to get down on our knees and say, "Thank you Jesus."
It's not fair-and that's okay
because we are constitutionally
incapable of always
being the big brother.
I may identify with him.
But that's only because
it's easier for me to feel righteous
then to remember all of the times
that I
like the younger brother
have been in desperate need
of unmerited,
completely unwarranted forgiveness.
It's not fair. And that's good news.
My second thought
--IT'S A RIVER-NOT A PIE!
God's love for us
is not a 9-inch
deep-dish
strawberry, rhubarb pie
-as delectable as that might be.
God's love for us is a
raging,
roaring,
rain forest fed,
class five
river of grace.
It is an ever-flowing stream
of abundant love.
God's love for us
is not limited.
God's love is not finite.
It is not a pie
that is whacked up
and given out parsimoniously
to the deserving.
God's love,
God's welcome,
God's grace is distributed recklessly
-washing over all in its path.
God's love is a river-not a pie.
That was good news for the prodigal son.
And it's even better news for us.
Amen.