The Prodigal Father
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: When Ed first called me about the two Sundays you were needing a priest for, I decided that with my school schedule, I could only do one Sunday. However, when I started to work on sermon preparation for last Sunday I noticed that the gospel for this week is the one I did my Christology paper on. So I called Ed and begged to be able to do this Sunday also.
Many of us grew up hearing this story referred to as "The Prodigal Son"; however, I like to think of the story as "The Prodigal Father." The term 'prodigal' is often meant to refer to someone being wastefully or recklessly extravagant. And certainly, the younger son wasted his inheritance. However, 'prodigal' can also refer to someone being lavishly abundant; giving or yielding profusely. I think that is a wonderful description of God, which of course the Father in the story is showing us.
Each gospel writer has their own unique view of Jesus. The Lukan Jesus was compassionate, and a friend to outcasts. Jesus is shown as the Savior sent to seek and save the lost. Jesus also talks a lot about the rich and the poor. In this section of the gospel of Luke, there were those who were concerned about how many would be saved (13:22-30). When we are concerned about how many will be saved, we are operating out a scarcity model; that there is a limited amount of God's mercy, so we have to make sure "we get ours". However, God is lavishly abundant! In the gospel of Luke, we see many examples of the upside-down values of God's kingdom in which the poor are more important than the rich.
The Revised Common Lectionary for today includes the first few verses of the chapter, which gives us the context in which the parable was told.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Lk.15:1-2)
A rabbinic tradition cautions: "Let not a person associate with sinners even to bring them near to the Torah" (Mekilta 57b on Exod 18:1). Feeding sinners is praiseworthy; eating with them is forbidden. "Hosting" or "welcoming" sinners, as Jesus does here (15:2), makes the Pharisees furious.
Table fellowship was a very important issue in Jesus' day. To eat with another person was a sign of deep fellowship. In addition, one only ate with people in one's own social class. The Pharisees were upset that Jesus ate with all the wrong people. Jesus responded by telling several stories about God who welcomes sinners and eats with them.
The first story is about lost sheep. The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Then we go to the parable about the lost coin. One coin out of 10 is lost. The value keeps increasing. We go from one out of one hundred sheep, to one out of ten coins, to one out of two sons.
The Lost Son and the Prodigal Father
The parable of the lost son is powerful at face value, but it becomes more powerful when the cultural factors are recognized. "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." (Lk. 15:12) For the younger son to request his share of the inheritance was to basically tell his father to "drop dead". This request was totally out of line. The father would have every right to explode with anger at such a request, but instead he granted the request. Honor and shame are the core values in the Mediterranean culture. By asking for his inheritance, the younger son was shaming his family's name since he was basically wishing his father was dead. In addition, the Mediterranean culture is very strong-group. Weak-group societies such as the United States encourage individualism. People are encouraged to stand on their own two feet as distinct individuals. In the Mediterranean culture, the individualism that the younger son was showing was just not done.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." (Luke 15:13) We Westerners usually interpret that to mean he was engaging in immoral living. However, Eastern commentators do not take it to mean a necessarily immoral lifestyle. Certainly the son was spending money excessively. It was the older brother who indicated the lost son was spending his money on prostitutes. How would he know? He had not even talked to his brother yet. So, the younger brother has spent all him money in "wild living", whatever that may have been. In doing so, he finds that when he had money, he had lots of friends. But now that he has spent the money, his "friends" have vanished.
He humbles himself and returns home when he realizes that even the servants on his father's land eat better than he is. The father sees him when he is still a long way off; he then runs to his son, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. The lost has been found. The father had been regularly looking for his son, and sees him when he was still far off. "No other image has come closer to describing the character of God than the waiting father, peering down the road longing for his son's return, then springing to his feet and running to meet him. In ancient Palestine it was regarded as unbecoming - a loss of dignity - for a grown man to run. Yet the father set aside all concern for propriety and ran...The kiss expressed forgiveness." All this happened before the son had a chance to ask for his forgiveness. The father throws a celebration that his son has been found. When the elder son hears the celebrating going on, he becomes angry and refuses to join the celebration. So, the younger son has been found, but now it is the older son who is lost.
Relationships
I am drawn to this parable because of the strong relationship theme. When the son asks for his inheritance, the loving father allows him to use his free-will and to allow natural consequences to occur. Unlike the poem of 'The Hound of Heaven', the father does not pursue the son in his travels, but waits for him to return. When the father sees the son return, he does not have a difficult ritual for him to go through, but runs and kisses him even before the son has a chance to express repentance. Even though the son has already spent his inheritance, the father lets him know he is still his son, and will always be his son.
One of my favorite passages is Romans 8:38 -39. "For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below - there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord."
If God is full of mercy and compassion, why do we not always experience it? In today's parable, the older son separated himself from the father's mercy and compassion. He cut himself off from the relationship. We are not told what the older son decided to do. That's where the decision comes to each us. The younger son was not just "that son of yours!" He was also the oldest son's brother. Both of them belonged to the same family where they liked it or not.
reached at Holy Spirit Episcopal in Eagle River.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Prodigal Father
PThe Prodigal Father
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: When Ed first called me about the two Sundays you were needing a priest for, I decided that with my school schedule, I could only do one Sunday. However, when I started to work on sermon preparation for last Sunday I noticed that the gospel for this week is the one I did my Christology paper on. So I called Ed and begged to be able to do this Sunday also.
Many of us grew up hearing this story referred to as "The Prodigal Son"; however, I like to think of the story as "The Prodigal Father." The term 'prodigal' is often meant to refer to someone being wastefully or recklessly extravagant. And certainly, the younger son wasted his inheritance. However, 'prodigal' can also refer to someone being lavishly abundant; giving or yielding profusely. I think that is a wonderful description of God, which of course the Father in the story is showing us.
Each gospel writer has their own unique view of Jesus. The Lukan Jesus was compassionate, and a friend to outcasts. Jesus is shown as the Savior sent to seek and save the lost. Jesus also talks a lot about the rich and the poor. In this section of the gospel of Luke, there were those who were concerned about how many would be saved (13:22-30). When we are concerned about how many will be saved, we are operating out a scarcity model; that there is a limited amount of God's mercy, so we have to make sure "we get ours". However, God is lavishly abundant! In the gospel of Luke, we see many examples of the upside-down values of God's kingdom in which the poor are more important than the rich.
The Revised Common Lectionary for today includes the first few verses of the chapter, which gives us the context in which the parable was told.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Lk.15:1-2)
A rabbinic tradition cautions: "Let not a person associate with sinners even to bring them near to the Torah" (Mekilta 57b on Exod 18:1). Feeding sinners is praiseworthy; eating with them is forbidden. "Hosting" or "welcoming" sinners, as Jesus does here (15:2), makes the Pharisees furious.
Table fellowship was a very important issue in Jesus' day. To eat with another person was a sign of deep fellowship. In addition, one only ate with people in one's own social class. The Pharisees were upset that Jesus ate with all the wrong people. Jesus responded by telling several stories about God who welcomes sinners and eats with them.
The first story is about lost sheep. The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Then we go to the parable about the lost coin. One coin out of 10 is lost. The value keeps increasing. We go from one out of one hundred sheep, to one out of ten coins, to one out of two sons.
The Lost Son and the Prodigal Father
The parable of the lost son is powerful at face value, but it becomes more powerful when the cultural factors are recognized. "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." (Lk. 15:12) For the younger son to request his share of the inheritance was to basically tell his father to "drop dead". This request was totally out of line. The father would have every right to explode with anger at such a request, but instead he granted the request. Honor and shame are the core values in the Mediterranean culture. By asking for his inheritance, the younger son was shaming his family's name since he was basically wishing his father was dead. In addition, the Mediterranean culture is very strong-group. Weak-group societies such as the United States encourage individualism. People are encouraged to stand on their own two feet as distinct individuals. In the Mediterranean culture, the individualism that the younger son was showing was just not done.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." (Luke 15:13) We Westerners usually interpret that to mean he was engaging in immoral living. However, Eastern commentators do not take it to mean a necessarily immoral lifestyle. Certainly the son was spending money excessively. It was the older brother who indicated the lost son was spending his money on prostitutes. How would he know? He had not even talked to his brother yet. So, the younger brother has spent all him money in "wild living", whatever that may have been. In doing so, he finds that when he had money, he had lots of friends. But now that he has spent the money, his "friends" have vanished.
He humbles himself and returns home when he realizes that even the servants on his father's land eat better than he is. The father sees him when he is still a long way off; he then runs to his son, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. The lost has been found. The father had been regularly looking for his son, and sees him when he was still far off. "No other image has come closer to describing the character of God than the waiting father, peering down the road longing for his son's return, then springing to his feet and running to meet him. In ancient Palestine it was regarded as unbecoming - a loss of dignity - for a grown man to run. Yet the father set aside all concern for propriety and ran...The kiss expressed forgiveness." All this happened before the son had a chance to ask for his forgiveness. The father throws a celebration that his son has been found. When the elder son hears the celebrating going on, he becomes angry and refuses to join the celebration. So, the younger son has been found, but now it is the older son who is lost.
Relationships
I am drawn to this parable because of the strong relationship theme. When the son asks for his inheritance, the loving father allows him to use his free-will and to allow natural consequences to occur. Unlike the poem of 'The Hound of Heaven', the father does not pursue the son in his travels, but waits for him to return. When the father sees the son return, he does not have a difficult ritual for him to go through, but runs and kisses him even before the son has a chance to express repentance. Even though the son has already spent his inheritance, the father lets him know he is still his son, and will always be his son.
One of my favorite passages is Romans 8:38 -39. "For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below - there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord."
If God is full of mercy and compassion, why do we not always experience it? In today's parable, the older son separated himself from the father's mercy and compassion. He cut himself off from the relationship. We are not told what the older son decided to do. That's where the decision comes to each us. The younger son was not just "that son of yours!" He was also the oldest son's brother. Both of them belonged to the same family where they liked it or not.
reached at Holy Spirit Episcopal in Eagle River
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: When Ed first called me about the two Sundays you were needing a priest for, I decided that with my school schedule, I could only do one Sunday. However, when I started to work on sermon preparation for last Sunday I noticed that the gospel for this week is the one I did my Christology paper on. So I called Ed and begged to be able to do this Sunday also.
Many of us grew up hearing this story referred to as "The Prodigal Son"; however, I like to think of the story as "The Prodigal Father." The term 'prodigal' is often meant to refer to someone being wastefully or recklessly extravagant. And certainly, the younger son wasted his inheritance. However, 'prodigal' can also refer to someone being lavishly abundant; giving or yielding profusely. I think that is a wonderful description of God, which of course the Father in the story is showing us.
Each gospel writer has their own unique view of Jesus. The Lukan Jesus was compassionate, and a friend to outcasts. Jesus is shown as the Savior sent to seek and save the lost. Jesus also talks a lot about the rich and the poor. In this section of the gospel of Luke, there were those who were concerned about how many would be saved (13:22-30). When we are concerned about how many will be saved, we are operating out a scarcity model; that there is a limited amount of God's mercy, so we have to make sure "we get ours". However, God is lavishly abundant! In the gospel of Luke, we see many examples of the upside-down values of God's kingdom in which the poor are more important than the rich.
The Revised Common Lectionary for today includes the first few verses of the chapter, which gives us the context in which the parable was told.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Lk.15:1-2)
A rabbinic tradition cautions: "Let not a person associate with sinners even to bring them near to the Torah" (Mekilta 57b on Exod 18:1). Feeding sinners is praiseworthy; eating with them is forbidden. "Hosting" or "welcoming" sinners, as Jesus does here (15:2), makes the Pharisees furious.
Table fellowship was a very important issue in Jesus' day. To eat with another person was a sign of deep fellowship. In addition, one only ate with people in one's own social class. The Pharisees were upset that Jesus ate with all the wrong people. Jesus responded by telling several stories about God who welcomes sinners and eats with them.
The first story is about lost sheep. The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Then we go to the parable about the lost coin. One coin out of 10 is lost. The value keeps increasing. We go from one out of one hundred sheep, to one out of ten coins, to one out of two sons.
The Lost Son and the Prodigal Father
The parable of the lost son is powerful at face value, but it becomes more powerful when the cultural factors are recognized. "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." (Lk. 15:12) For the younger son to request his share of the inheritance was to basically tell his father to "drop dead". This request was totally out of line. The father would have every right to explode with anger at such a request, but instead he granted the request. Honor and shame are the core values in the Mediterranean culture. By asking for his inheritance, the younger son was shaming his family's name since he was basically wishing his father was dead. In addition, the Mediterranean culture is very strong-group. Weak-group societies such as the United States encourage individualism. People are encouraged to stand on their own two feet as distinct individuals. In the Mediterranean culture, the individualism that the younger son was showing was just not done.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." (Luke 15:13) We Westerners usually interpret that to mean he was engaging in immoral living. However, Eastern commentators do not take it to mean a necessarily immoral lifestyle. Certainly the son was spending money excessively. It was the older brother who indicated the lost son was spending his money on prostitutes. How would he know? He had not even talked to his brother yet. So, the younger brother has spent all him money in "wild living", whatever that may have been. In doing so, he finds that when he had money, he had lots of friends. But now that he has spent the money, his "friends" have vanished.
He humbles himself and returns home when he realizes that even the servants on his father's land eat better than he is. The father sees him when he is still a long way off; he then runs to his son, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. The lost has been found. The father had been regularly looking for his son, and sees him when he was still far off. "No other image has come closer to describing the character of God than the waiting father, peering down the road longing for his son's return, then springing to his feet and running to meet him. In ancient Palestine it was regarded as unbecoming - a loss of dignity - for a grown man to run. Yet the father set aside all concern for propriety and ran...The kiss expressed forgiveness." All this happened before the son had a chance to ask for his forgiveness. The father throws a celebration that his son has been found. When the elder son hears the celebrating going on, he becomes angry and refuses to join the celebration. So, the younger son has been found, but now it is the older son who is lost.
Relationships
I am drawn to this parable because of the strong relationship theme. When the son asks for his inheritance, the loving father allows him to use his free-will and to allow natural consequences to occur. Unlike the poem of 'The Hound of Heaven', the father does not pursue the son in his travels, but waits for him to return. When the father sees the son return, he does not have a difficult ritual for him to go through, but runs and kisses him even before the son has a chance to express repentance. Even though the son has already spent his inheritance, the father lets him know he is still his son, and will always be his son.
One of my favorite passages is Romans 8:38 -39. "For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below - there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord."
If God is full of mercy and compassion, why do we not always experience it? In today's parable, the older son separated himself from the father's mercy and compassion. He cut himself off from the relationship. We are not told what the older son decided to do. That's where the decision comes to each us. The younger son was not just "that son of yours!" He was also the oldest son's brother. Both of them belonged to the same family where they liked it or not.
reached at Holy Spirit Episcopal in Eagle River
Monday, March 8, 2010
When Bad Things Happen To Good People
Preached at HolyWhen Bad Things Happen To Good People
Luke 13:1-9
Exodus 3: 1-15 Psalm 63:1-8 I Corinthians 10:1-13
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: As always, it is a pleasure to be with you again today. This week is Spring Break at UAA, so I have a chance to get more caught up on my studies this week. Otherwise, I would not be able to afford to take the time off from studies to work on sermon preparation to be with you today.
When calamities happen, there is a fine balance between asking "why"
questions, and just dealing with what needs to be done. Asking "why" is good if we are asking if it can be prevented in the future, but if we are asking "Why did God allow this" or "Why did God cause this" then we are asking unanswerable questions. Lots of times, we are asking "why" because we feel powerless, and want to feel more in control. Some of you may remember that when the huge earthquake happened in Haiti in January, Pat Robertson from the Christian Broadcasting Network said that the earthquake happened
because its people "made a pact with the devil". "Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson said. "They were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French." "True story", he continued. "And the devil said, "OK, it's a deal.' Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. It was forced to pay France 90 million francs - a huge sum- over the course of decades under the Royal Ordinance of 1825, in which French King Charles X demanded restitution for the loss of France's colony in change for diplomatic recognition. The country was long oppressed by dictators and corrupt leaders. (Google)
When people are saying a whole country devastated by a natural disaster is because they made a pact with the devil, it is using OT thinking. It isn't even Jewish thinking.
In today's gospel, the people told Jesus about a group of Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No indeed!...What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No indeed!"
Jesus then tells the people that even though those who were killed were not worse sinners than we are, it is still important for us to repent. Some people think we need to repent in order to get "fire insurance". Christianity is about a RELATIONSHIP with God. In order to have a healthy relationship, we need to continually make the decision to listen to God, and to the best of our ability, follow what we hear God telling us what to do. In a marriage, the wedding is only the beginning. We need to regularly renew our relationship with our spouse, listen to our spouse, and regularly choose to remain married to and in relationship to our spouse. However, unlike a marriage, our relationship with God is not between two equals. God is all powerful, all knowing. God is the perfect parent. As the perfect parent, God wants us to do the right thing, but also gives us free will to decide whether or not to follow God's way, and to be in relationship with God.
It is horrible theology to believe that our diseases and handicaps are direct punishment for our sin or someone else's. Punishment for sin is not the same as having logical consequences as a result of our behavior or someone else. An example is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. The damage to a baby as a result of the mother's drinking is a consequence, and not a punishment by God. In addition, it is important for the mother to know, so that she can stop drinking and not put any other future babies at risk for FASD.
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered them, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." (John 9:1-3) Instead of looking for who we can blame, it is often more productive to ask, "What good might God reveal through this affliction?"
During Lent we are to focus on self examination, which is not the same as flogging ourselves. Instead of wallowing in guilt, we are to repent. That is, we are to change our behavior - to turn 180 degrees and do something different.
Repentance is not the same thing as a careless expression of "My Bad" or "Sorry 'bout that". It means a change of behavior. I means confessing one's sin before one is caught. Several Christmases ago, a young man accidentally broke an ornament when he was decorating my tree. He had come from an abusive background so was real scared about how I would react. I told him, "That's OK, I know you didn't mean to break it.." He responded "That's right, it was an accident, which means it's not my fault." WRONG ANSWER! He was not repenting. When we repent, we take responsibility for our actions.
When we look at ourselves, we need to also ponder on how our behavior affects our community. Our behavior affects other people. Both within the body of Christ, and in witnessing to people who are not believers. In the parable about the fig tree, the tree was not bearing fruit. Christians are supposed to bear fruit. Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self control." Being in community is one way to develop the fruits, sort of like rocks in a tumbler. The rough and tumble of being community is what knocks the edges off and polishes us up to become gemstones.
Spirit Episcopal Church in Eagle Riverp
Luke 13:1-9
Exodus 3: 1-15 Psalm 63:1-8 I Corinthians 10:1-13
Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: As always, it is a pleasure to be with you again today. This week is Spring Break at UAA, so I have a chance to get more caught up on my studies this week. Otherwise, I would not be able to afford to take the time off from studies to work on sermon preparation to be with you today.
When calamities happen, there is a fine balance between asking "why"
questions, and just dealing with what needs to be done. Asking "why" is good if we are asking if it can be prevented in the future, but if we are asking "Why did God allow this" or "Why did God cause this" then we are asking unanswerable questions. Lots of times, we are asking "why" because we feel powerless, and want to feel more in control. Some of you may remember that when the huge earthquake happened in Haiti in January, Pat Robertson from the Christian Broadcasting Network said that the earthquake happened
because its people "made a pact with the devil". "Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson said. "They were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French." "True story", he continued. "And the devil said, "OK, it's a deal.' Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. It was forced to pay France 90 million francs - a huge sum- over the course of decades under the Royal Ordinance of 1825, in which French King Charles X demanded restitution for the loss of France's colony in change for diplomatic recognition. The country was long oppressed by dictators and corrupt leaders. (Google)
When people are saying a whole country devastated by a natural disaster is because they made a pact with the devil, it is using OT thinking. It isn't even Jewish thinking.
In today's gospel, the people told Jesus about a group of Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No indeed!...What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No indeed!"
Jesus then tells the people that even though those who were killed were not worse sinners than we are, it is still important for us to repent. Some people think we need to repent in order to get "fire insurance". Christianity is about a RELATIONSHIP with God. In order to have a healthy relationship, we need to continually make the decision to listen to God, and to the best of our ability, follow what we hear God telling us what to do. In a marriage, the wedding is only the beginning. We need to regularly renew our relationship with our spouse, listen to our spouse, and regularly choose to remain married to and in relationship to our spouse. However, unlike a marriage, our relationship with God is not between two equals. God is all powerful, all knowing. God is the perfect parent. As the perfect parent, God wants us to do the right thing, but also gives us free will to decide whether or not to follow God's way, and to be in relationship with God.
It is horrible theology to believe that our diseases and handicaps are direct punishment for our sin or someone else's. Punishment for sin is not the same as having logical consequences as a result of our behavior or someone else. An example is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. The damage to a baby as a result of the mother's drinking is a consequence, and not a punishment by God. In addition, it is important for the mother to know, so that she can stop drinking and not put any other future babies at risk for FASD.
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered them, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." (John 9:1-3) Instead of looking for who we can blame, it is often more productive to ask, "What good might God reveal through this affliction?"
During Lent we are to focus on self examination, which is not the same as flogging ourselves. Instead of wallowing in guilt, we are to repent. That is, we are to change our behavior - to turn 180 degrees and do something different.
Repentance is not the same thing as a careless expression of "My Bad" or "Sorry 'bout that". It means a change of behavior. I means confessing one's sin before one is caught. Several Christmases ago, a young man accidentally broke an ornament when he was decorating my tree. He had come from an abusive background so was real scared about how I would react. I told him, "That's OK, I know you didn't mean to break it.." He responded "That's right, it was an accident, which means it's not my fault." WRONG ANSWER! He was not repenting. When we repent, we take responsibility for our actions.
When we look at ourselves, we need to also ponder on how our behavior affects our community. Our behavior affects other people. Both within the body of Christ, and in witnessing to people who are not believers. In the parable about the fig tree, the tree was not bearing fruit. Christians are supposed to bear fruit. Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self control." Being in community is one way to develop the fruits, sort of like rocks in a tumbler. The rough and tumble of being community is what knocks the edges off and polishes us up to become gemstones.
Spirit Episcopal Church in Eagle Riverp
When Bad Things Happen To Good People
Preached at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Eagle River,Alaska.
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