3rd August Trinity 2008, Lessons

3^rd 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!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

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].’

Kathryn Doneghan

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.’

3^rd August Trinity

August 10, 2008

Luke 15

When human beings come to themselves, they remember their origins in the divine world of the Father. The angels rejoice when we find our way back home to them again.

Westly

The Father is always watching for our return. We have gone away; we have sallied forth to experience the richness of the sense world. The Father, as the story of the lost son stands, was complicit; for the Father did not withhold the measure of his inheritable wealth when the son asked him for it. One could say that the Father enabled his son to squander an inestimable treasure; but this in fact also brought about the moment of deep need and painful self-awareness, the awareness of guilt and of his own responsibility, an awareness of how far he had strayed from home.

Once the distractions of the world subside, one is left with one’s own (impoverished) self. But in that moment of aloneness, we can also recognize that we are indeed at the same time deeply connected; connected with all the wonders of the world; connected with all the people whom we love and who love us; connected with the Father’s rich love.

Rumi expresses something of the quality of this feeling of coming to oneself:

Return of Prodigal Son, Chagall

Last night my teacher taught me the lesson of poverty,

Having nothing and wanting nothing.

I am a naked man standing inside a mine of rubies

clothed in red silk.

I absorb the shining and now I see the ocean

billions of simultaneous motions

moving in me.

A circle of lovely quiet people

Becomes the ring on my finger.[1]

I was dead, then alive

Weeping, then laughing,

The power of love came into me

And I became fierce like a lion

Then tender like the evening star.[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Rumi, “I Have Such a Teacher”, in The Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks, p. 133.

[2] Ibid, “Sublime Generosity, p. 134.

3rd August Trinity 2009, Find Myself

3^rd 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!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

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.

Charalambos Epaminonda

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.’

3^rd August Trinity

August 9, 2009

Luke 15:1-32

God created the world with a certain economy in mind. There are two forces at work in us. One is the burgeoning force of life. It is that in us which is warm and, ever-changing, generating the new. The other force is a cooler preserving force. These two forces are meant to work together in balance. Too much new, too much life, overwhelms awareness. Too much preservation gradually destroys life. Working together in balance, they help us along our path.

The Prodigal Son, John Macallan Swan

In today’s reading, when his second son asks for his share of the estate, the father generously gives it to him, even though it means diminishing his own goods. Those goods the son seems to have squandered. But in fact they have bought something very precious—they have bought experience. They have purchased the indelible experience of both the limits of “the good life” and the value of want and need. They have made possible the highly prized moment of the experience of ‘coming to oneself’. They have purchased a keen self-awareness, combined with deep humility, and the desire for reconciliation, to work off indebtedness.

The elder brother, in his narrow, small heartedness, worked to preserve and accumulate only outer wealth. He never even threw a small party for his friends. The prodigal son, through his dearly purchased experiences, is ready to become truly responsive and responsible to the father in an open-hearted way that the elder brother could never be.

The theme of the story is generosity. It demonstrates the evolution and the workings of great-heartedness. The prodigal son may have been wasteful, but he spent freely on others. The father is lavishly magnanimous with both his goods and his forgiveness.

This is the picture of the Father of us all. Our Father has sent us all out into the world, loaded with His riches. He recognizes that we are all purchasing our experiences, partially at the expense of our relationship with Him. He feels our misery. He hopes with all his heart that we will one day come to ourselves. He waits for the moment when we can pray this traditional prayer from Ghana:

Journeying God,

pitch your tent with mine

so that I may not become deterred

by hardship, strangeness, doubt.

Show me the movement I must make

toward a wealth not dependent on possessions,

toward a wisdom not based on books,

toward a strength not bolstered by might,

toward a God not confined to heaven.

Help me to find myself as I walk in other's shoes.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] (Prayer song from Ghana, traditional, translator unknown)

3rd August Trinity 2010, Lost and Valuable

3^rd 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!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

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].’

Price

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.’

3^rd August Trinity

August 8, 2010

Luke 15: 1-32

One of the poets famously wrote, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”[1] The three parables in today’s reading are like a love poem from God to us. They are three different ways Christ uses to show us how much the divine world values us.

We are each of us like a lost sheep; yet our individual value is greater in God’s eyes than that of the rest of the safe flock; valuable enough to be sought and rescued.

We are each like a lost coin, that golden condensate of the value of our human labor. Our life labors, even if misguided, have value to God.

For we are all like the lost son. We have taken what was given to us in life and squandered it in selfishness. And yet, to God, the most precious thing of all is the awakening of the human heart. In the pigsty the lost son ‘comes to himself’. Luke 15:17  Indeed it was his risky behavior that led to his heart’s awakening to love. The heart of his older brother, the safe one, only awakens to self-righteousness and anger. But the father would have him awaken to love. And the Father of us all pleads with us to come and rejoice with Him.

For as the poet says:

Laughter is the polestar

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

"Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way towards Me and Love!

….O what is laughter,…?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up![2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

[2] Hafiz, “Laughter” in I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

3rd August Trinity 2012, Impeded Stream

3^rd 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!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

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.

Westly

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.’

3^rd August Trinity

August 5, 2012

Luke 15: 1-32

How worrisome it is to lose an object of value. How many anxious moments do we spend looking for our keys, or our glasses. For these things are extensions of ourselves. They allow us to work effectively in the world.

Each of us has both a masculine and a feminine side to our human nature. Our masculine side has an affinity toward the more static, mechanical material world. Our feminine side wants to nurture living, growing, changing beings.

Today’s reading of course has to do with finding lost things. Yet in this narrative, it is the man who is concerned with a lost living creature. Is this itself not a picture of the exercise his own feminine side? A turning of the masculine toward a more feminine, nurturing way?

Similarly the feminine side of our nature has a stronger relationship with the realm of living, changing beings. Yet in the story, it is a silver coin, the earthly metal abstract for the value of human work, that she is to seek. The coin represents a kind of objectivity, achieved through her own diligent work of lighting the surroundings and sweeping the floor. She becomes literally grounded in the earthly, developing of a more masculine, grounded way of being.

Taken together, these two stories show us a way to integrate the two sides of our nature. Our perhaps one-sided attention to the static and material needs to also turn toward nourishing and guiding the developing processes of living beings. And on the other hand our perhaps one-sided attention to emotional, artistic and spiritual events needs to be brought to completion by our work in and with the physical and the earthly. And losing things is perhaps a call to change. As Wendell Berry says,

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Wendell Berry, “The Real Work”, in Collected Poems

3rd August Trinity 2013, Glad to Be Lost

3^rd 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!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

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:

Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason,

Rembrandt

…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