3-31-19
Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our
savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
I wish more people loved Jane Austen as much as I do.
True Jane-ites like myself (yes there is a name for us) know that Austen’s
reputation for being “sappy chick-lit” is completely unfounded. Austen was
actually a revolutionary for her time: a successful published author in a field
dominated by men, and a single woman all her life in a society where most women
needed to marry for survival. Her works have inspired more films, reboots,
adaptations, and spin-offs than almost any other author. There is a REASON we
still read her, and trust me, it’s not just that we all want to ride in
carriages and marry Mr. Darcy… Though that might be pretty awesome. Austen’s
words endure still, because she speaks to us and our human condition today.
Let me give you an example. In her most famed work, Pride
and Prejudice, her protagonist Elizabeth sometimes struggles to navigate her
relationships to her other sisters. While the older sisters Elizabeth and Jane
behave “properly,” their extremely selfish younger sister Lydia – yes, Lydia – is
never really punished for her bad behavior. In the end all of her selfish antic
lands her a husband BEFORE any of her older sisters. And for the moment, at
least, she “wins.”
Now, I think we all have a “Lydia” in our families,
right? There is always that sibling or cousin who, no matter how they muck
things up, always seems to come up smelling like a rose. While the “Lydias” of
the world are continually hungry for more and will do anything to satisfy that
hunger, the dutiful “older siblings” feel the sting of unfairness. So, you see,
even two hundred years later, Jane Austen has successfully described every
family reunion EVER.
Families are always complicated. And the Family of God
across the ages has been no different. At EVERY “family of God” reunion,
meaning worship and holy communion, there are present “oldest” siblings and
“younger” siblings… but, if I had to guess… there are probably far more “older
siblings” present here. I don’t mean by physical age in your family of origin,
but more like the older brother in the parable that Jesus tells.
To be here at this church, toiling away faithfully
despite the “family issues,” rather than leaving to join another church, shows
some of the Older Sibling traits of faithfulness, steadfastness, and commitment.
Family of God Lutheran church would not be here today without their, and your, dedication.
But beware the shadow side of the Older Sibling. Here in
this parable we witness his resentment, anger, and stubbornness, and rigidity. This
is what keeps the older brother in this story out of the party, and on the
outside of the joy of his father and estranged from his family. That’s what
makes the Pharisees and the scribes – the “good, faithful church goers” –
grumble and judge Jesus for hanging out with the lost people on the margins and
IN the margins.
As a Lydia, paradoxically I am an older sibling, but
moreover I am a lifelong Lutheran and a lifelong church-goer, so I “get” the
older brother. I don’t have an amazing “lost” story to tell that gets me
invited to be featured on The Moth or On Being with Krista Tippet. I don’t have
a powerful “conversion” or “born-again” moment. And that’s ok. My story is my
story, and the important things is that I see where God has been present in it.
But... right now, it feels as a significant number of pastors who are also in
their thirties are all publishing books. Not everyone, but enough to notice. Like, it’s
what all the “cool kids” are doing. And sometimes it makes me feel, no one is
coming after ME for a book deal.
But I’ve also noticed something about most of these books
coming out … they are from perspectives that have traditionally been thrust to
the margins, or at least, they are voices from the “outside.” One is about oneAfrican-American pastor who has a deep love for the ELCA, which is the whitest
denomination in the Unites States. Another is from a queer pastor and how she
learned to love the Bible. Another is a pastor who has written in the past about her addictions and her tattoos.
These three authors and many others have something in
common – they have all experienced being on the outside or have felt lost
within the church in some way. I wonder if any of them would trade their book
deals to have the position of being on the “inside,” to have a story like mine
that is boring but advantaged in many ways.
And yet, with Jesus, the church insiders find themselves
on the outside, and the outsiders are let in. That is how Jesus operates…. And
its so maddening! Or at least, it can feel that way... to us “older siblings.”
The truth is, though, that with Jesus, there is no inside OR outside. There
cannot be anyone on the outside if all are truly embraced in the family of
God. There is enough Jesus to go around. The love and grace of God is not going
to run out.
The older son in this story forgot that. He forgot that
he is the OLDEST son in the family and is therefore entitled to the lion’s
share already. But his father has to remind him – the father is always with the
son, and everything that belongs to the father also belongs to the son. It’s
his birthright, his inheritance. Which is language that might seem strange to
us, and make it hard for us to find ourselves in the story.
To engaged this old story, Debie Thomas, Episcopal family
minister, wrote a letter to each of the sons. This is what she wrote to the
older son: “the power in this story is … yours. Your brother is
inside; he's done breaking hearts for the time being. Now your father
stands in the doorway, waiting for you. Waiting for you to stop
being lost. Waiting for you to come home. Waiting for you
to take hold at last of the inheritance that has always been
yours.”
We belong to God, and our inheritance has always been
evident in our baptisms: claimed as beloved children and given abundant life in
Jesus’ victory over the grave. But sometimes we have our heads down, eyes to
the plow, dedicated to the work - so much so that we completely miss the music
and dancing and celebrating happening in God’s house. And God is at the
doorstep, holding out a hand and an invitation to the party… into relationship
with people that we might have judged wrongly in the past, or looked down on. This
invitation summons us to a future that makes us realize that we have we have
been unnecessarily expending our energy in the name of duty and devotion, and
that is why we have missed out this party all along… and makes our hard work
feel like a waste. But hard work is never wasteful as long as we learn
something along the way.
After all, the word prodigal just means “extravagantly
wasteful” “use resources freely.’ and Jesus did not name his parable “The
prodigal son.” That came much later. Perhaps we could also call this parable
“The TWO Lost Son.” Or even, “The Prodigal Father” – because of the prodigal,
wasteful, and extravagant use of resources on BOTH of his lost sons. The father
in the story IS very much like God – God loves us lavishly and extravagantly, throwing
us the ultimate victory feast over death, every… single… Sunday… and then,
coming outside, to where we are to give us a personal invitation.
So, what are we going to do? We can stay outside the
celebration and remain just as lost as the younger brother was. After all, a
sibling turning his back on another sibling is not all that different from a
son that up and leaving his father with his half of the inheritance.
Our other choice is to take the hand of the prodigal
father and go into the party, to take a risk that might make us feel
uncomfortable or scary us a little bit. To welcome our siblings face to face,
and to realize that you both have been lost, but now are found… you both were
dead and now are come back to life, through the same love of Jesus Christ, and
joined together in one family of God – older and younger, parent and child,
dutiful and prodigal, you and them and me. Thanks be God. Amen.
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| Art from the back wall of the sanctuary |
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