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March 18, 2007
Scripture: Luke 15: 1-3; 11-32
Title: "The Lost Ones"

This is one of the most familiar stories in the bible. Usually as soon as someone reads the first line, then usually we can fill in the blanks of the story because it is so familiar. “Once a man had two sons…” And we can say Oh we know the rest of the story. We have heard it before. You don’t have to read it to us.

That was my thought before I began to prepare this sermon. Before I left on my trip, I took a look at what I was preaching on this next Sunday and saw that it was the Parable of the Prodigal Son. And I thought, “Perfect! I know this story. I know where I’ll go with this sermon. This sermon should be easy to write.”

Now before I go any farther, I have to tell you as I have grown in my faith, my perception of this story changes. As a child, I always thought, “How cool is that! The father welcomed him home without any punishment. And I always was stuck on that picture of the younger son returning home and seeing the father funning down the road, without any regard for decorum or propriety. I could relate to the younger son. I liked the picture of a God who welcomes this son home with celebration and without punishment. For me that was the key: Without punishment!!

And as I have gotten older, my focus has changed and has stayed with the older son. I am not sure that I would have been so happy to hear that my father had run down and hugged my brother who lost everything, who was disrespectful to my father and treated my father as if he was dead. And on top of all that, the younger son gets a party. The older son has stayed and worked for the father faithfully and now the father celebrates the younger one! What kind of work ethic is that! Where is the punishment? Where are the consequences of younger one’s actions? What kind of father is this?

The Story of the Prodigal Son followed me to Beaumont, Texas. It would not wait until I had returned to Midway. It followed me and challenged my perceptions.

We arrived in Beaumont on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, a group of us started to work on the church. The church had a moldy musty, mildewy smell that seemed to be a part of the architecture of the building.

I notice some plans laying in one of the classrooms and I duck in to take a peek. The minister catches me looking at the plans and begins to tell me of the church’s journey. The church was built about 40 years and has always had leaking problems. Every time it rained, the roof leaked and the congregation would just put out 4 buckets to catch the water. All the time, mold and mildew growing in the church.

The church was not getting any new members for some time and then when it did receive new members, they complained of the moldy smell. But the older members said that they couldn’t smell anything and this was how the church functioned. Until hurricane Rita came through.
The church was knocked from its foundations and the church had to decide what to do.

The older members wanted to remain in this building that they have grown to love and ministered in for 40 years and the newer members wanted to leave it all behind and seek out a new location.
The Prodigal Son Parable came to life: The younger son seeking greener pastures, and wanting to explore a whole new world. The older son wanting to stay and work to support the family business. The church became a fractured community of faith. Broken relationships with each other and with the church itself.

The minister let me know that the church had had come to a compromise of some sorts. He said, “In Texas, progress is done one of two ways. Either you move forward and leave people behind or you take it slow and bring everyone along with you on the journey. He said for most Texas churches, they chose the first option but the board felt like that was not staying true to the vision of this church.

So after the hurricane, the church began the long, frustrating, joyous journey of deciding what to do. The church decided to tear down the church to the foundation and original steel beams and then build the church up again, making new improvements while keeping elements of the original design of the church.

There were discussions about the new plans. There was acceptance of the new plans and there were disagreements about the new plans. It wasn’t until one board meeting when a respected elder stood up and helped the congregation see the way on their journey.

This gentlemen stood up and said, “You ain’t for it and you ain’t ag’nt it. You get wit it.”

And then I realized that I had experienced the Parable of the Prodigal Son right there in Beaumont, Texas. In that one phrase by that gentleman, I had experienced the joy of the father running down the road with arms open wide and the sadness of the father begging the elder son to come into the party. The relationships were rebuilt between the younger son and the elder son. Relationships were rebuilt between the father and his sons. Relationships were rebuilt between newer members and older members. Fractured relationships that were tearing up this church were repaired that one night.

“You ain’t for it or ag’nt it. You get wit it.” In others words, I had experienced the grace of God. A heaping helping of Texas sized GRACE!!!

GRACE! That’s what this story is about. Grace. It is about the grace that we show one another in our community of faith and the grace that is God’s gift to grant without asking for our approval. Grace was shown to the lost ones. Grace was shown to the younger son. Grace was shown to the older son. God’s grace. A grace that has no rhyme or reason. A grace that is not logical. A grace that is open for all

When the Pharisees and the scribes come to Jesus, they are reminding him that they have a stake in how things are done. They have been faithful to the law and the way Jesus is doing things is just not done. He is flipping their world around too much.
Sure they think that one can repent but repentance and forgiveness have some guidelines. There is a proper way to accept someone back into the fold.
You don’t throw a party. You don’t give them the finest clothing. You don’t dance in joy. We expect certain things, certain conditions. Sure you can come back into the fold but: Bread and water for you. Sure you can seek forgiveness but we want to see consequences for your actions. Sure we welcome you back to the faith but on our terms.

And Jesus says No. It doesn’t work that way. All are welcome at the table to experience the grace of God. All are invited to the table because we are all lost in some way or form. Some of us get lost on our journeys and wander far away from home. Some of us stay here and get lost because we are so caught up in the work of the church that we forget who we are working for and with.

All of us are lost in some form or another. And all of us are welcomed to the table to experience the grace of God which passes all understanding.
The invitation to the table comes for all God’s children to rebuild the fracture relationships in our lives. The invitation to the table allows us to rebuild our relationship with God.
Grace is not about accepting people after or if they have repented. Grace is about a love that knows no differences, that knows boundaries, that knows no limits.
It is God’s grace to give.

The invitation to the table is an opportunity to work on our relationship with God and to work on our relationship with one another.

Jesus came and taught us that an open table is a gift from God. That an open table is for the lost, the forgotten, for the rich, for the poor, the drug addict, the person infected with AIDS, the folks of Midway, the folks who live on the streets, for all of God’s creation. An open table is for us all.

Jesus leaves us today with a picture to hold onto as we continue our Lenten journey. At the end of the parable, the father has extended grace to both the younger son and now extends it to the older son. We can picture a father standing at the door, holding it open wide, waiting while the older son stands there. We don’t know if the older son goes through that door and joins the celebration. We don’t know if the older son goes in and sits at the open table.

And now, we are left with the same picture today. The father is standing there at the door, holding it open wide, waiting for us to make a decision.

Will we come to the table or stand outside?

May we have the courage and the strength to come to the table and experience the grace of God which knows no end. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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