The Dance Year C, Lent 4, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

Standing there.

Waiting.

Longing.

Looking.

Running.

Embracing.

Such is the love of God.

Such is Jesus’ love for you, and for me.

It searches us out.

It finds us.

God embraces us.

“I don’t care what you’ve done,

I don’t care where you’ve been.

I’m just glad that you’re home.”

The lost have been found.

God’s throwing a party.

A celebration.

Will you join it?

Will you put on your party clothes and join in the singing and celebration?

A man had two sons.

One wandered far from home and there he lost himself.

He had sought the good life.

He didn’t find it.

One thing led to another.

With each passing day the distance between himself and his home grew farther.

This is the story of many of us.

We have lost our way, until that day when we come to our senses and realize how far off we are.

And then somewhere from deep within we heard the call of our God to come home.

And while we were still far off, the Father ran to greet us, embrace us, and welcome us home.

‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

We who once were far off and been brought near.

Let the party begin.

And out in the fields, working diligently and faithfully, is the other son.

This is the son who always knew who he was.

He stayed home.

He was obedient.

Hardworking.

Faithful.

The kind that you can always count on to be there.

On that day he returned home after a hard day’s work.

And there was a party going on.

A party to which he had not yet received an invitation.

“What’s happening?”

Learning that his brother had returned home, and that his dad was throwing a party, he became angry.

Now he was the one who was far off.

Hearing that he was standing outside, the Father went out to invite him into the party.

But he remained angry.

'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him! '

And he stood outside, looking in.

God’s throwing a party.

·         Some will rejoice and join in the dance.

·         Others will remain outside, angry.

A man had two Sons.

One wandered off, and eventually came home.

The other faithfully worked through the day, but then stayed outside and refused to come home.

And God simply wants to throw a party for all of us.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

On the night before my Father died, he asked me what my favorite bible verse was.

I quoted these words from Paul.

Dad asked me to back up and read verse 15 because that was his favorite verse.

And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

There had been a distance that had grown between my Father and I.

In that moment though, I who had been far off, was brought near.

I had spoken of our ministry of reconciliation as God was busy reconciling me to my Father.

Grace surprises us in that way.

To a certain extent I was also the obedient Son working in the fields.

Out of the six of us, I had been the child that had followed my dad into the ministry.

And when the time came, Karla and I welcomed Dad into our home to care for him for those few weeks before he died.

Because of that experience, I believe that in some ways we can be both the child who was afar off, and the one who remained home.  At one and the same time.

But regardless who we are, the one who was lost and then found, or the one who remained at the Father’s side all those years, or both, there is now a party going on.

• Some will rejoice and join in the dance.
• Others will remain outside, angry.

That’s how we respond to the grace of God.

We celebrate with God.

Or we get angry.

The first issue the Christian Church was forced to deal with was the question of the Gentiles and whether they could become Christian.

The Holy Spirit moved where it willed, and one Gentile after another, those who had been far off, were brought near by the blood of Christ.

But those who had been faithful Jewish people all their lives were not so sure about this.

God was throwing a party for those who had been lost had come home, but those who had been the faithful obedient children of Israel, were angry.

The Bible had not even been written  yet, and Christians had already been divided between the Prodigal ones and the faithful obedient ones.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

With every passing generation the same issue remained.

Whenever God threw a party to celebrate the lost who had been found, there were those who chose to remain outside, angry.  How could you welcome those people home?

That’s the tragic twist of Grace.

Grace embraces the lost and wayward but offends the obedient ones.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

And in our sinfulness, too often, those who have been near are now far off, for the offense of grace has separated them from the party.

God wants to throw a party for all his children, and we object to the guest list. . .

There is a reason why Christians have become so divided over the centuries, with hundreds of different denominations and groups.

I think it is this simple.

It has been nearly impossible for God to get both Sons in the party at the same time.

I ask you this.

In this parable of the Prodigal Son, who was the rebellious one?  Who separated himself from the Father’s love?

Who?

The answer is that both of them did.

·         The younger son when he left home and journeyed to a foreign land.

·         And the elder when he remained outside consumed by his anger.

And then there is grace.

God counts neither one’s trespass against them.

He just wants to have a party and celebrate being a family.

That’s what it means to be the Church.

It means joining in the party God is throwing. 

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

That, my friends, is cause for a celebration, not indignation. 

And God won’t be happy until both Sons are dancing.

Amen