3rd Trinity III, 2022, Road Homeward

 3^rd Trinity III

Luke 15:1-32 

Tissot

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: 

"Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until they find it? And when they have found it, they lay it on their shoulders rejoicing. And when they come home, they call together their friends and neighbors and say 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 their mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance. 

"Or

Tissot, Lost Coin

which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and carefully search 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 their 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. 

Tissot

"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 of being 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 of being 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. 

Welden Andersen, Older Brother

"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.'

However, the father 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 7, 2022

Luke 15:1–10 

The gospel reading speaks of lost things. The caretakers and owners are concerned. The shepherd brings the lost sheep back because it is in danger of losing its life. The woman searches for the lost coin because otherwise, it cannot exercise its value in supporting life’s necessities. 

It is not for nothing that in both cases, the parable stresses that what is important is the one, the single unique individual. It is not primarily belonging to a group, the herd, or collection that is important. What is stressed is singularity. 

The Pharisees and lawyers are concerned with belonging to the group and abiding by its rules. Anyone not abiding by the group’s rules is shunned. But that is like expelling a sheep from the flock for an imperfection or taking a coin out of circulation because it is tarnished. 

Julia Stankova

From where the angels stand, it is the unique value of each individual human spirit that is important. Tarnish, imperfections are accepted as a matter of course. It is the way we were made—incomplete. It is the survival of the human spirit that is the important thing. 

In Jesus’ time, the rising individuality of the human spirit was endangered by being forced to serve group cohesion. Those who inhabited the shadowy borderlands of the group, such as Jews who collected taxes on behalf of the hated Roman oppressors, were strangely on their own. They were souls working on being independent, becoming single individuals. And Christ accepts them and eats with them because they seek to be close to him. 

The spiritual world has enormous respect for our freedom. We are free to wander away, free to live in denial of the spirit. 

Christ came down from heaven to look for, to gather together lost and endangered souls. He and his angels seek after those who have wandered away from awareness of the spirit. They don’t want to lose us. They are concerned for the life of our spirits. 

They seek after us until we find them. 

Our shift of awareness, our turning to see who is following us, and our change of heart result from their spirits seeking ours. 

Allowing ourselves to work our way toward spirit consciousness is our choice.  

And there is great joy in the world of the angels over every unique individual who manages to notice that they are being sought after. The Good Shepherd rejoices when our awareness broadens, our hearts enlarge and open, and we turn and set ourselves on the road homeward.

www.thechristiancommunity.org 

 

 

3rd Trinity III, Slide Past Trouble

 3^rd Trinity III

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!" 

Tissot

So he told them this parable: 

"Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until they find it? And when they have found it, they lay it on their shoulders rejoicing. And when they come home, they call together their friends and neighbors and say 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 their 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 carefully search 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!' 

Tissot

"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 their 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 of being 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 of being called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].' 

Kathryn Doneghan

"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.'

However, the father 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 8, 2021

Luke 15: 1-32 

In this series of stories, Christ frames the human condition. He is describing human souls as 'lost,' as having fallen 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* describes this way of being lost: 

Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason,

…you accept

the way of being lost, cutting loose

Bosch

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, way back. 

The journey back requires that we acknowledge that it is we ourselves who have wandered off course through our own choices.  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 lookout for us. He senses that we have come to ourselves and recognized our situation. And when we turn our face to Him, move toward Him, He runs to greet us with great joy and celebration. 

 

---

*William Stafford, “Cutting Loose”, in Dancing With Joy, ed. By Roger Housden

3rd Trinity III 2020, Alone Together

3^rd 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:

Julia Stankova

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until they find it? And when they have found it, they lay it on their shoulders rejoicing. And when they come home, they call together their friends and neighbors and say 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 their 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 carefully search 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 their 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.

John Macallan

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 of being 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 of being 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.

Charalambos Epaminonda

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 Trinity

August 9, 2020

Luke 15:1-32

Our effectiveness, both in the earthly and in spiritual matters, often comes down to one point. That point arrives when we recognize our own responsibility for the results of our actions. That point arrives when we finally realize that the consequences of our actions will require us to make compensation; when, as in the story of the lost son, we come to ourselves.

The parable emphasizes the joy that the father feels upon his son’s return. He expresses it as his dead son coming back to life. Implied is a rebirth, a new beginning. In realistic fashion, the story also expresses the anger the father’s joy arouses in the older self-righteous son.

The story assures us that despite our errors and weaknesses, that despite our

Kathryn Doneghan

grand failures and horrific mistakes, the divine world rejoices when we come to ourselves and to our desire to take responsibility for making compensation. And although the story ends on this note of rejoicing, we might imagine how things developed after the celebration. For although it is implied that the lost son won’t have to resort to being a day-laboring servant, we cannot imagine him wasting his new beginning, that precious moment of self-recognition and the opportunity to make compensation. Likely he went on to work hard to rebuild his father’s diminished estate. Perhaps his experiences in the world gave him the ability to find creative new ways to manage the estate and repay what he had squandered. And we can hope that he will be able to repair his relationship with his brother. In any case, we can be sure that his father’s love supports him in his efforts to make good. The story encourages us to begin again. For as the poet says:

….Every beginning is a promise

born in light ….

Begin to the loneliness that cannot end

since it perhaps is what makes us begin,

begin to wonder at unknown faces

alone together while making good.

 

Though we live in a world that …

always seems about to give in

something that will not acknowledge conclusion

insists that we forever begin.*

 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

*Brendan Kennelly, “Begin”, in Do Not Go Gentle

3rd August Trinity 2015, Polestar of Laughter

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!’

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.

Lost Drachma, Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

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

Return of Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, Wiki

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 9, 2015

Luke 15:1-32

Losing something that belongs to us means of course that we are separated from it. Being lost ourselves, losing our way, means having lost our own orientation, not being able to find our goal. Perhaps we don’t even know what it is.

The stories in today’s readings are about both losing and being lost. And yet each narrative ends in rejoicing. Through the human being’s diligent searching, the lost coin and sheep were found. And the son, who himself was lost in the far country, turns himself around and makes his way home.

We search for what we have lost, whether it is a precious thing of value, or it is our own orientation and goal. For this is what it means to be truly human: to be aware of separation, to seek and to find, even when searching and finding are arduous and painful. Searching and finding are basic keys to our humanity.

We ourselves are all a bit lost, separated from our own true being and our home in the divine world. We are separated from our true selves and thus from our own real future. At the same time, the good beings of that world, like the son’s father in the story, are on the look-out for us. They cannot go out and search for us (though One did). They cannot drag us back. The return is our own choice, accomplished through our own efforts. But our heavenly Father and the whole angelic household are watching and waiting for us. They are sending out their love, as a golden guide home. And they greet our return with great joy, celebration and laughter. The poet Hafiz says:

Laughter is the polestar

Polestar (North Star)

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!*

Having once found the way, we can always return. And both we and the good beings rejoice, even if we can only stay for an hour.

* Hafiz, “Laughter”, in I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 125.

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