Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA
6
March. 2016,
Lent 4 Year C: Joshua
5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
What
a radical welcome we see the dad offer in our Gospel as he runs to
greet his once wayward son.
hat radical welcome we see as he hugs
this starving,
surely smelly son.
Notice
how this dad reaches out in love to each of his sons. Notice how the
elder son reacts. What is this “pouty” son thinking? One
commentary offers this insight:
“Of course, let the penitent come home, but to bread & water,
not grain-fed veal; to sackcloth not a new robe; to ashes not
jewelry; to kneeling not dancing. Forgiveness appears to critics very
much like condoning.”
What
difference do we feel between condoning & enfolding?
How deeply
do we feel God's forgiveness enfold us in God's love?
What do God's
forgiveness & love taste like when we gather at God's holy table
& share the bread & wine of Holy Communion?
My
fellow sinners, God's love deeply enfolds you & me. We know God's
love is stronger & deeper than our worst sins. One
preacher shares this insight about the Father's enfolding love in our
Gospel:
“In...a
ballet version of this story the son crawls up to his father,
then...climbs up onto him, & his father,
who is wearing a
voluptuous robe,
embraces his son until he is completely
enfolded in the robe.”
Completely enfolded in God's unfailing love, we can move forward.
What
difference we see between being stuck as the elder son is &
moving forward as the younger son does. We see the difference between
going around in circles & moving forward.
We
hear of moving forward in Paul's letter to the Corinthians & in
our lesson from Joshua at Gilgal, an
important military, political & religious center near Jericho.
Gilgal
means circle of stones,
a circle of 12 stones for the 12 tribes of Israel moving forward from
nomadic life to life as settled people, as
the Jewish Study Bible notes.
Joshua
& the people celebrate Passover to celebrate their new life as
settled people rather than people journeying through the wilderness.
Even
as settled people, like Joshua & his people, like Paul & the
Corinthians, we remain on our spiritual journey, growing in God's
love. Enfolded in God's deep love, we have all we need to share God's
love, to offer God's radical welcome to the smelliest of sinners.
In
Christ Jesus each is the new creation that Paul speaks of when he
says plainly we are ambassadors for Christ with God's reconciling
work to carry on. Through us – through you – God unfolds radical
love. God enfolds us & our Brother or Sister in radical love.
We
see God's radical love, we see God running to meet smelly us as
Jesus' hangs on that cross & dies for us so that we can rejoice &
live fully in God's love. Jesus shows us how to live in radically new
ways, how to welcome our prodigal brothers & sisters in the human
family, how to work in fellowship & see the Light of Christ in
the fire burning up your yard, the fire neighbors accidentally set,
as
one of you shared your story with me yesterday:
You
see the Light of Christ as neighbors of another race jump your chain-link fence to put out the fire, worrying about your beautiful
lawn, apologizing profusely as they rake, shovel & water together
with you to get the fire controlled. God's radical love shines from
you as you say:
“It was kind of cool to come together with them.
Wish the rest of the world could stop fretting
& just work
together.”
You
sound like Pope Francis quoted
in CNN's report of cold blooded murders in Yemen Friday in a facility
for the elderly that was run by Catholic nuns, who were murdered in the attack as were the residents:
"The
Pope 'prays
that this pointless slaughter
will awaken consciences, lead to a
change of heart & inspire all parties to lay down their arms &
take up the path of dialogue.' "
God's
prodigal
children of all races & beliefs stray into the pig-sty life. God
still seeks prodigals to come into God's enfolding Love that Jesus
shows us dying on the cross, saying: “Father, forgive them. They
don't know what they are doing.”
We
know that what we are doing here week by week helps us to celebrate
God's love & to confess our sins. No
matter how many times you rehearse your speech to God [like the prodigal son], God is going
to reach out to you FIRST.
Sometimes God does this through one of us.
In
this holy place we
share life-giving spiritual food so that we can go out those red
doors strengthened to offer God's radical welcome that says: “You
are welcome to come in & be yourself, & we will be changed by
you.”
Notice
what the prodigal son shows us: “Just one action changes
everything...”
One action can change everything for the good.
You
& I are change agents. As
individuals reconciled to God & as the Body of Christ, God gives
us work to do to share this Good News:
God loves you.
No exceptions.
All are welcome.
As
we offer God's radical, loving welcome, we serve as a center of God's
love. At this holy table, God strengthens us to be God's welcoming
arms that enfold God's prodigal children – our brothers &
sisters in the human family.
Bibliography
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: Jams. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary.
General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1985.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Kinman,
Mike. “March 5”. Meeting
Jesus on the Margins: Meditations on Matthew 25.
Cincinnati: Forward Movement. 2015.
Tenney,
Merrill. Handy
Dictionary of the Bible.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1965.
