3rd August Trinity
Luke 15:1-32
Now many customs officials, despised by the people,
who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be
close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the
law however were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats
with them!”
So he told them this parable:
“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and
loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking
for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and
neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that
was lost!’
Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and
loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully
until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends
and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had
lost!’
In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among
the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the
spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “
And he said further: “A certain man had two sons.
The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which
falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth
between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered everything
together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in
the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine
came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself
to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd
swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were
eating, but no one gave him anything.
Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my
father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger.
I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me one of your hired men [workers].’
So he rose up and traveled along the road to his
father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran
toward him, embraced him and kissed him. And yet the son said, ‘Father, I have
sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’
But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly!
Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on
his feet, and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For
this my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And
they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile the older son was in the field. When he
returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him
the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy your father has
slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’
The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go
in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He however reproached his
father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never
neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I
might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten
up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’
The father however said to him ‘Child, you are
always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be
glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has
been found again.’
3rd August Trinity
August 11, 2013
Luke 15: 1-32
In this series of stories, Christ frames the human
condition. He is describing human souls as ‘lost’; as having fallen away like
the coin, or as having wandered off, like the sheep. In these cases, the owner
searches until ‘the lost’ is found.
And then, there is the lost son. A poem by William Stafford[1]
describes this way of being lost:
…you accept
the way of being lost, cutting
loose
from all else and electing a
world
where you go where you want to.
Arbitrary, a sound comes, a
reminder
that a steady center is holding
all else. If you listen, that
sound
will tell you where it is and
you
can slide your way past trouble.
Certain twisted monsters
always bar the path -- but
that's when
you get going best, glad to be
lost,
learning how real it is
here on earth, again and again.
Christ adds another element, another aspect to being
lost. In the story of the lost son, He shows us that we need not passively wait
to be found or rescued. We are not coins; we are not sheep. There is a third
way; we ourselves can recognize ourselves as lost and hungry and far from home.
And we can make our own, sometimes difficult, journey back.
The journey back requires that we acknowledge that it is
we ourselves who, through our own choices, have wandered off course. We need to be willing to apologize and to
make amends. This means we are willing to take responsibility for developing an
active, healing relationship with the divine world.
That is the good news. And the even better news is that
God is willing to meet us more than halfway home. He is on the look-out for us.
He will sense that we have come to ourselves and recognized our situation. And
when we turn our face to Him, move toward Him, He will run to greet us with
great joy and celebration.
www.thechristiancommunity.org
[1]
William Stafford, “Cutting Loose”, in Dancing
With Joy, ed. By Roger Housden
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