My friends, being that I needed to prepare for two services this week, with Wayne Purtzer’s Celebration of Life yesterday, I opted to use parts of a homily for this Sunday from three years ago.  With the gospel for today then, I used the longer version to include the story of the Prodigals – a son and a father, and what the Spirit and I put together then seems still, most appropriate, and worth a second “listen,” unless you weren’t here three years ago, and then it will be brand new! 

   All the readings today address the virtue of mercy – responding to what life brings us through people and experiences, giving folks a break when bad things happen and trusting and expecting better going forward. 

   The first reading from Exodus today is a curious one in that we see Moses acting more like God than God!  Moses has to plead with God to spare the Israelite people who seem to forget the goodness they have been shown by God who brought them out of Egypt and then, so easily “run after” other gods. 

   In order to understand the actions of this seemingly merciless God, we must remember that the people in the Old Testament saw God as a reflection of themselves – therefore in  their lack of faith, trust, mercy and so on, God must be the same way, was their thinking. 

   This reminds me of a conversation I had this past week with someone who thought she couldn’t ask God to help with a problem that was causing her a lot of stress, “because God probably had too much already to take care of.”  I encouraged her to ask anyway because, as I lifted up, we may be too busy, but God never is, and wants to help us in every way possible.  This was depicted well in today’s gospel of the prodigal parent. 

   This notion of living “mercifully,” is carried through in our 2^nd reading where Paul is writing to Timothy who is his disciple, that he, Paul was shown mercy for his many sins and is instructing his student that when mercy is shown, mercy, going forward must be shown as well. 

   Then we move into the beautiful gospel from Luke who shows us three wonderful images of our merciful God: First we hear about the Good Shepherd who will always search out the lost one, the woman who turned her house upside down looking for a lost coin—which by the way, is the same story as the Good Shepherd, only giving a feminine face to our loving God. (show picture)  The final face of God given us to consider from Luke is probably, in my mind, the most beautiful depiction Jesus gave us of who our God truly is—the story of the “Prodigal Son,” but more so, the “Prodigal Parent.”  The son shows us, “over-the-top” selfishness, and disregard for the mores of his family and community, and the parent shows, “over-the-top” love, and acceptance, regardless of mores, for the errant child, and thus, we, today, get a clear view of how God will look upon us as well. 

   In order for us to truly get a view of what Jesus is saying here about God in using the story of the Prodigal, it is important for us to look at how the people in Jesus’ time and culture would have heard and understood it. An inheritance was given to an offspring at the death of the parent.  In this story, the son asks for it early —  the first custom broken, which shows disrespect for the parent, which the parent dismisses, and gives the inheritance anyway. 

   Now it would have been one thing had the son gone out and used the inheritance wisely, but as the story reveals, this was not the case.  When the son, who eventually becomes penniless and is basically starving, having squandered his father’s gift, comes to his senses and returns, expecting to no longer be treated as a “son,” but as a “servant,” he discovers instead, the over-the-top love of his father. 

   It is good to look further into the cultural mores of this time, to get a better, complete view of the parent’s action.  The story tells us that the father “runs” to meet his son.  This is important because the custom would have been for the “errant one” to be met at the city gates by a representative of the community, who would have broken a clay pot at the person’s feet, signifying that the relationship with the community had been broken, and going forward, “the sin” would always be remembered.  The Prodigal Dad, wanting to spare his son that humiliation, runs ahead, meets him, and lovingly takes him home.  In our time, we would say, this dad “had his son’s back!” 

   So, my friends, because “mercy” is so dominant the theme today, I used some literary license in changing the psalm response to the prayer of the 23^rd psalm, “Shepherd Me O’ God,” and we will use it likewise for the Prayers of the Faithful, because it is the on-going prayer of one who wants God to always show them the way.

   In conclusion then, the heartfelt words of Paul to Timothy, “that he did not know what he was doing in his unbelief,” seem perhaps, a response to much that is wrong in our Church and world today.  We must all pray that the God who loves us so much will show us—shepherd us, into the best ways of being for ourselves and for others.  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, I would like to begin today with a little story that I heard recently to set the tone for looking at this week’s chosen readings.  We have all heard, witnessed, and participated in young people setting up lemonade stands during the hot days of summer to earn a bit of personal spending money.  Recently the news on CBS carried a story on the segment,  On the Road, with Steve Hartman telling of a young boy with a little twist to the familiar lemonade stand.  Rather than offering a cold drink on a hot day for a price, a 9-year-old boy set up a stand in his neighborhood offering “compliments” for free.

   At first, he didn’t get too many takers, but over time, more and more people stopped and even came from a distance to receive a compliment.  When Hartman asked the boy why he was doing this, and especially for free, he simply said that he thought people needed to hear good things and that he wanted to be the one to do that.  In speaking with his parents, Steve found out that their son just came up with this idea on his own. 

   And because good stories are the easiest way I believe to connect us to “hard sayings” in the Scriptures, I will share another story from this past week.  This one from PBS introduced viewers to, The Tiny Chef – a little green person who speaks as through he/she may have been born deaf, and had to learn to speak without hearing.  The Tiny Chef  was seen for several years on Nickelodeon until recently canceled.

    The creators of  The Tiny Chef, two women, thought it important to show “someone” not necessarily perfect offering easy recipes for people to follow, along with good advice – wisdom really, and even common emotions that are part of life, basically, as this little green person said, “Feel the feels” – when the show was canceled, supporting the fact that life isn’t always easy, he had a “good cry” before moving on to what might come next.

   Our Scriptures for today flow right into these stories:  The Wisdom writer tells us, “The perishable body presses down on the soul,” and “clay houses weigh down the restless mind” – poetical ways to say that our human bodies often get in the way of “doing our best,” when it comes to daily life and our encounters with others.

   I have mentioned before that I am reading, Freeing Jesus, by Diane Butler Bass, and in a section, I was reading this past week where she was recounting her own, personal faith-walk, she made a statement that I thought, was really compelling!  She said, [those who go to the seminary are taught] “to ignore the promptings of your own heart, and that your experience does not matter.  Theology is a matter of submission to ideas shaped by men smarter than you.”

   Now Butler Bass and your pastor would have to disagree with this type of teaching, because if, “the promptings of our own hearts, and our experiences in this life don’t matter,”  in the ways we live our lives of faith, then what does that say about the psalmist’s words in number 104 that, “the Spirit is continually renewing the face of the earth?”

   The Wisdom writer today continues, letting us know that “wisdom” or the Spirit, shows us the way, and that through other sources, we have come to know, that this wisdom, the Spirit, comes through our hearts. I always give credit for my homilies to the Spirit, and have said to some of you, “it is what she (the Spirit) and I do together each week. 

   The less known letter to Philemon today places its writer, Paul, in prison, and he is trying to let Philemon, a slaveholder, know that by the baptism he shares with his unnamed slave, Onesimus, the two, slave, and slaveholder, become equal.  In other words, Paul says, even though it was common practice at this time to hold slaves, you can’t say that you believe in Jesus and are his follower and do so – that is just wrong.  Knowing this piece, that it was common to hold slaves, Paul’s earlier words about our “perishable bodies” and “clay houses” getting in the way of doing the good we could and should do, makes more sense, and Paul seems to be saying if his convert Philemon, would lay this issue, “on his heart,” the solution would be more clear.

   And finally, the gospel message today from Luke seems rather harsh at face value and if we come at it through our hearts taking a broader view, than through our minds alone, its true meaning is more understandable. 

   Exegetes often explain away Jesus’ apparent harshness in this reading suggesting his belief that his time on earth was short and that he wanted his hearers to know the importance of once accepting belief in his message, there should be no turning back – it was and is that important! 

   Now, does that literally mean leaving family and loved ones behind? No, especially if we keep in mind, and heart all of Jesus’ words of how important each person is to God. 

   Following Jesus’ “way, truth and life” certainly meant caring for all people, family included.  Where the “rubber meets the road,” so to speak, is when the challenge to be true to Jesus’ call is pitted against our family’s wishes to live in an alternate way.  I always give my own personal call to ordination as an example of this, as many of my family of origin did not support that decision and felt they couldn’t attend this event – but regardless, I knew God’s call had to take precedence.

   So, my friends, there you have it – following Jesus isn’t always easy, and sometimes when we do the “hard thing” we may have support, and sometimes not, but the fruits will tell us if this is of God, or not.  If peace, love and joy, for the most part are present, then, it is of God.  If we can answer the question, “Is love being served,” by what I am about to do, then again, we know we are doing the right thing. 

   The boy with the “compliment stand” somehow sensing that he was fulfilling an “unmet need,” and the two women who created The Tiny Chef,  serving up not only good food, but wisdom for living a wholesome life, “feeling the feels,” as the little green person said, could honestly say, “Love is being served here.” 

   And what about us – life is short, and as Sister Joan Chittister says, reflecting Jesus’ words to do our part, “If not us – now – who will answer – and when?”  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, this Sunday brings us to the reality that we live in a country where little kids can be shot while going to church.  There really aren’t words to express the sadness and grief that we feel when such a reality is the truth, and this is probably why I haven’t addressed this latest, senseless taking of life with you.  I realized my inaction when I read Pastor Danielle’s bulletin this past week where she said basically the same, “that there aren’t words!”  So, my friends, I wanted to begin here today with my omission and my commission to once again say that we as a country must follow other countries and put into law that arming our population with weapons of war is wrong, and simply must stop! 

  The mayor of Minneapolis said as much in addressing the vice-president of our United States’ comments uplifting, “thoughts and prayers.”  And again, this issue is bigger than politics—it is about humanity, about our deep spirituality, our values, Christianity among them.  It is bad enough that there are individuals out there who are so wounded, that they are filled with hatred for seemingly, “everyone;” but worse that we as a country give them “the right” to purchase and use weapons of mass destruction to express their woundedness, basically, no questions asked. 

   Let us turn then to today’s Scriptures to find some direction, some hope going forward.  The prophetic words of Sirach today are a guide to follow: he instructs us to “be gentle,” to “behave humbly,” and to “listen to our teachers.”  The writer to the Hebrews seems to be saying to turn toward God with our troubles that at times can seem insurmountable – we do have a God who is “touchable.”  And finally,  in the Gospel from Luke our brother Jesus encourages us to come to know who we are and who we are not – “those who exult themselves will be humbled, and so on.”

   So now, let’s look deeper…I believe Sirach in encouraging gentleness in our lived actions, humility in considering who we are and who we are not, knowing our place in all of creation, and listening to those more learned than us, speaks to the preparation that we must take before we act. 

   Sirach continues along this vein – “our hearts [are called] to discern the parables.” In other words, listening to others to find our way, must necessarily go through “our hearts.”  As someone said, “the heart is wiser…”  As we ponder the issue of  the “gun epidemic” in our country, it seems it will take, “all of our hearts,” united, to find a solution that we can literally, live with.  To that point, one of the parents, a dad who has children at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis, who weren’t injured, spoke to a reporter, and was in tears over the grief he felt for the families of the dead and injured children, expressing the confusion he was experiencing in never expecting someone to target children in a church. 

   My friends, I think “the hope” that we each look for at such a time of bewilderment has to come from a bigger place, from forces stronger than us, whether we call that “God” or some other, and from each other to keep choosing what is best in all of us.

   Our brother Jesus has shown us the way in his own personal, human life, speaking truth to power, even when he knew it might bring his physical downfall.  We can look  to our nation’s capital in the past few days to see examples of folks doing just that – speaking their truth to bring change. For those of you who have written Congress people about your disgust over detention centers for innocent victims whose only crime seems to be that they have the wrong color of skin, one such center, jokingly named after flesh-eating animals, appears to be closing soon due to your advocacy and that of many others across our country. 

   Again, the words of Sirach come to mind, and hopefully, to heart also – know who you are and who you are not – “the greater you are, the more you should behave humbly.”  Being “humble” seems to me to have a sense that, “I am not in control” – I, like others, have a part to play, but all is not in my hands.  In other words, this is not about “dictators” but about “being servants,” for all.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus and following his way seems the best “way” to go. 

   Looking back once more to the letter to the Hebrews, we read that the people needed to be reminded that their God wasn’t “untouchable, nor gloomy,” but in fact, just the opposite.  We may wonder why the people had this negative view of God, that the writer of this letter, one of Paul’s disciples, would have surely shared, was one they could confidently turn to for help. 

   The truth is no doubt a situation that many believers, us included, find ourselves in from time to time.  The Hebrews had made their bountiful God in their own image, perhaps not very “approachable,” even “gloomy” at times.  If their God is “less than approachable,” that gives them permission to be “less” too in their actions with others.  But if indeed, our God loves us in an over-the-top way as described by Jesus in parables such as The Prodigal and the Good Shepherd, then we are called to much more as well. 

   My friends, in the times in which we live, the words of the psalmist today in number 68, are especially compelling, letting us know that “our God has a special interest in the poor and downtrodden.”  Our brother Jesus reflected this interest of his Abba God to care for the “poor and downtrodden” and we as Jesus’ followers must do the same with love, mercy and justice.  The Scriptures can’t just be “nice stories,” but as our call for truth, when we hear lies, our call for humility in those who are in positions to lead, and our call to expect moral behavior, whether in Church or State. 

   In conclusion, friends, we humans, I believe, for the most part, strive to be our best, but sometimes the sheer immensity of problems we face, can be overwhelming.  So, just for today, I want to share some wise advice that our grandson Elliot and his class heard from their third-grade teacher, Mrs. Ratz a few years back – that seems good advice for today, for all of us as well.

   When you think, “I can’t do this, I don’t want to do this—or in groups, we can’t, they won’t—any of these negative, defeatist words, invite in the word, “yet” to help bring growth.  So, when you feel like, “I can’t make a difference in all that is wrong in our world, think, “yet!”   We are always called to more my friends, and together, with God’s help, we can do it!  Amen? Amen!