Fathers and Sons

Luke 15:11-20 (NRSV)

“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 withb 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.

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Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you

Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry (don't you cry no more)

"Carry On Wayward Son" written by Kerry Livgren recorded by Kansas on "Leftoverture" (1976)

The story of the Prodigal is one of the most beloved in scripture. But often we forget what "prodigal" means. Prodigal means generous. We talk about the prodigal son when we talk more about the wayward son and his progigal father.

The younger son wants what is due him, he wants his share of the family estate. The father is under no obligation to give it to him, yet he does. This most likely left the family cash strapped since the father had to liquidate one-third of his holdings, the traditional division for a younger man with two sons.

The younger son leaves the family home, and takes up with fast women and hard living. It's the makings of every trust-fund baby sob story you've ever known. The young man finally is forced to feed pigs-the opposite of kosher. He isn't even allowed to eat the pods he's using to feed them.

He sucks up his pride and goes home where he will say to his father "I have sinned against heaven and before you." He's just hoping to get a job from the old man.

But his father sees him from far away and meets the son along the way. His father runs to him and hugs him. Then the young man says his piece, "I have sinned against heaven and before you."

Here's the amazing thing-the moment the young man was forgiven was when his father ran to him and hugged him. The father moving to the son was the moment the father bestowed his forgiveness. The apology and remorse had nothing to do with the Father's forgiveness! The son was forgiven before he even opened his mouth.

God offers us, the wayward children of creation, forgiveness before we even know to ask for it. Nothing equals the splendor, life is no longer empty, heaven waits. Heaven waits not for the day we leave the earth, heaven waits on the hill waiting for the son. Heaven waits and runs to us when we turn toward the Father in faith.

Like the Queen You Are

Esther 7:1-3

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me--that is my petition--and the lives of my people--that is my request.

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Well I'm gonna treat you like the queen you are.
Bring you sweet things from my candy jar.
You've got tricks you ain't never used.
Give it, Give it to me, it won't be abused.

"Wrap It Up" recorded by The Fabulous Thunderbirds from "Tuff Enuf" written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter

One of the ways to understand the story of Esther is that is shows how the Lord protects his own people, even without God's name being uttered. It's true, in the entire book of Esther God's name is never uttered, but all of the Jews in the story know that what happens is by the will of God. Folks who read it thousands of years later are to understand that nothing happens except by the hand of God too.

This makes Esther one of the most unique books in the canon of scripture.

The Jews are in danger, Haman wants to kill the Jews because Esther's guardian, her cousin Mordecai, insulted him. To kill the Jews Haman must convince the king to allow him to execute a horrendous plan. In an earlier thrilling turn of events, Esther becomes Queen. Mordecai convinces Esther to save her people, but that's not so easy either. Seeking an audience with the king can be dangerous, even for the queen.

As the old saying goes, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," so Esther takes that route. Her work is met with success and the king asks "What is her petition." She asks the king to save her people from Haman's wrath.

The king grants Esther an audience because she did what she needed to do to get that audience. He grants her wish because her request was just and because she treated her king with honor. Because she treated him with honor, he did the same. He treated her like the queen she is. Because she treated him with honor, her honor was not abused, it was returned in kind.

She and her people were saved.

Showing honor to the honorable brings honor. Giving God the honor brings honor too.

Not One, Not Two, But Three

Matthew 3:16-17

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

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One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one

"One" by Harry Nilsson recorded by Three Dog Night from their self titled first album

This reading is usually read on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, but today it has a message for Trinity Sunday. This is the first time in scripture that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are found together in scripture.

In this moment, when Jesus joins in our plight through the waters of human earthly baptism, in this moment the Spirit descends like a dove and the voice from heaven proclaim "this is my son." In this moment, literally all is right in the world. In our world it won't stay that way for long, but in this moment all is right.

Even in the place where God lives, one is the loneliest number. Even in the place where God lives two can be as bad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one. But when the three-in-one come together, something special happens. God is lonely when God is one, it takes the eternal Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, to make God complete. Yet, even in Godly perfection, God wants more. God's overflowing love longs for a recipient. That's where we come in.

God has a plan for us. That plan begins in the creation story. God is so filled with love that the only way to make love complete is to share it. This is where creation comes in, God created everything so that love could be shared. God created humanity to share that love, to dance eternally with the three-in-one God. God created us to share the love.

God cannot exist alone and neither can we. One is truly the loneliest number. We need one another in community as the Lord needs the three persons of God. All of us together, we all need one another. That's the glory of the Trinity, and the glory of our place in God's creation.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Genesis 35:16-21

Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.” As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to phrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

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And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain,
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

"November Rain," by Axl Rose recorded by Guns N' Roses from "Use Your Illusion I"

Jacob loved Rachel. She was beautiful and he was in love. Joseph loved her enough to work as what we might call an indentured servant for fourteen years so that he might have her for his wife.

Fourteen years, what have you done in your life for fourteen years. Not public schooling, that was thirteen if you went to kindergarten. Not college unless you're a medical doctor or professional student. Jacob worked for fourteen years so that he might have the love of his life.

Of course, the star-crossed nature of their love is what makes their story memorable. Rachel's father Laban insists Joseph work seven years before marriage, then he gets Leah, the older sister, not Rachel because "giving the younger sister in marriage first, that's not the way we do things in this neck of the woods." Laban insists Leah have her wedding week, then he can marry Rachel... for another seven years service. It goes from bad to worse.

Then Rachel has difficulty giving conceiving a child. Finally, she conceives a son, Joseph. Then she conceives another, but this would be their earthly undoing. Rachel dies in childbirth. As she passes, she names her son Ben-Oni, child of my sorrow. Jacob renames him, Ben-jamin, son of my right hand. What is horror and sorrow is turned to joy.

Sorrow, pain, horror, all in the name of love. Tragedy falls the life of the great patriarch. Still, Jacob finds not the silver lining in the cloud, but the joy that will one day come instead of the pain that is now in his life. He will not dwell on the sorrow. He will not pin his son with a name of sadness. Even as his most favored bride dies, Jacob can remember...

So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

It is by God's presence and strength that the cold November rain will pass beyond the baptism of our tears.

THE I AM

Exodus 3:13-14

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

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I am, I said
I am, I cried
I am...

"I am... I said" written and recorded by Neil Diamond from the "Stones" LP

Proof-texting is a form of biblical interpretation where a verse is taken out of context to make an unrelated point. It's as old as the hills and no matter how irresponsible or how dangerous it is, me just "saying so" is not going to stop proof-texting. This is where I plead guilty to proof-texting myself, but not in the usual way.

Neil Diamond's "I Am...I Said" is the story of a man on his own who is living a pretty good life. He's bi-coastal, he loves LA and he loves NYC, but then he ends up being lost between the shores. In his own way the singer has become a man without a country, a man without a home. He's alone and he's lonely, but into the void that mocks him he cries out, "I am!"

This has nothing to do with The Great I AM.

I mean nothing .

One of the lovely things about the Hebrew Scriptures is that the use of the verb "to be" is limited to the Lord alone. Humans do, God is. Only the Lord is. This is possible because Hebrew has a grammar structure that allows you to say someone is without using the verb "is." English doesn't have anything like that, but Hebrew does. So if we notice there are "I am's" all over scripture for people you're right, but the only time the word "is" is written in Hebrew is when it pertains to the Lord.

Who is the Lord? That's easy, the Lord is. Everything that we can ever associate with being, and more that we can't imagine is wrapped up in the Lord who Is. Neil Diamond's mythological singer is alone in a void--a void of pain, anguish and frustration. For the Lord it's just the opposite. The Lord is in all places and time. The Lord is present. There is no void, the Lord fills the void.

In the Lord we are not as Diamond sings, "I am lost, and I can't even say why." In the Lord, we aren't lost--we're found. We are right where we are supposed to be. We belong to God. We are members of the community of faith. We are right where we are supposed to be.

Thanks be to the Lord who Is.

What We Seek

Hebrews 11:4-7

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.

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I asked Bobby Dylan,
I asked the Beatles,
I asked Timothy Leary,
But he couldn't help me either.

They call me the seeker,
I been searchin' low and high.
I won't get to get what I'm after
'til the day I die.

"The Seeker" written by Pete Townshend, recorded by The Who, released on "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy"

The heroes of the faith not only had faith, they were faithful. They treated their faith as a noun, a thing to be had; and as a verb, a thing to do.

By faith Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice. Even after his death, his faith still speaks. Enoch's faith pleased God such that he did not experience death. Noah was warned by God that of the oncoming flood to build an ark because of his faith. By Noah's faith, a world condemned was saved.

While attributed to Enoch, this could be true of all of these heroes of the faith, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

So who should we ask, what should we seek. Evidently it's not Bob Dylan, or the Beatles, or even Timothy Leary. Whenever we seek the advice of someone here on earth, we get their words, their opinions, their instructions. There are some wise men in this world, but none is without sin. Even Abel, Enoch, and Noah. These three remind us to seek who they sought, God.

Roger Daltry sings that he won't get what he seeks 'til the day he dies. Well, this much is true. It is when we meet our maker that the grand questions are answered, but there is still time before the end of time. This was shown by Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

Of course it isn't always easy and fun. Abel was murdered and Noah was mocked. But by their faith they are still honored by God and their names are still remembered. Have faith that in seeking God alone that the answers to what we seek will be answered. Able, Enoch and Noah received blessing, reward, and vocation by their faith. So too will we.

Sympathy? Sure, why not...

John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

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Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, have some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste

"Sympathy for the Devil" recorded by The Rolling Stones written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from the album "Beggars Banquet"

The Devil doesn't need a press agent. He sings his own praises pretty well on his own. Throughout this song the Devil takes credit for some of the greatest travesties and miscarriages of justice known.

Lucifer takes credit for Jesus losing faith in his father and Pilate washing his hands. He takes credit for the Russian Revolution, the Blitz, and even the deaths of John and Bobby Kennedy. The devil dances with his fiddle while the world burns. There is joy and there is glee as the work of the opponent (the literal translation of "satan" from Hebrew) marches merrily along.

Lucifer loves himself and proclaims his victories. Cops are criminals, sinners are saints, heads are tails--Lucifer is in control and is in need of restraint. So show him some sympathy, show some courtesy, show some restraint, or else... or else sin incarnate, the embodiment of sin in this world will lay your soul to waste.

What the Stones play in ten minutes in this video John the Baptist negates in fifteen words. “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" That's it. John doesn't deny that there is sin, or that sin is a horrible thing. He doesn't even say when or how the Lamb of God will take away the sin of the world. But when he sees Jesus he proclaims  “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Our hope? Lucifer doesn't stand a chance.

Matthew 5:44 says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Does this include Lucifer? Why not? Does this mean we should have sympathy for the devil? Knowing that, as John says, the Lamb of God will take away Lucifer, take away the sin of the world; we can afford to have sympathy. But we can't afford to fall for his tricks. The devil's gonna get his due, Lucifer will be defeated. The Lamb of God will take away the sin of the world.

Let Mick sing. Let him boast today. Tomorrow's gonna be a whole new ball game.