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"When The Student Is Ready…" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler
– March 10, 2013 Centenary United
Psalm 32; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-24 This morning we are
going to be examining Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son, an epic that has
universal application for most of us. Initially,
the lesson does not connect with us because we would not do what this
young man did. This
would be true if we looked only at the information in the story.
When we look at the much larger lesson Jesus was teaching, a
greater understanding emerges. For example, if we
have ever experienced boredom during our daily routines and wished that
we were elsewhere, this parable applies to us.
If we have heard the
calling of a restless spirit that beckons us to venture in to places
we have never been, this is our story.
If we have known feelings of wanting to be like someone else,
e.g., being more attractive, popular, educated, confident, articulate or
financially secure, we realize that Jesus was speaking to all of us.
Having any of these
thoughts will give us access to what may have been going on inside this
young man’s mind. He
probably felt that staying on the farm with its steady stream of
must do chores would prevent
him from experiencing the world.
He possibly felt that life was passing him by and he was stuck
managing crop rotations and milking cows.
Being dissatisfied
with his life, he asked his dad for the share of inheritance that would
eventually be his. The
father realized that this is something his son had to experience for
himself, so with great reluctance he gave it to him.
The boy was young
and had no experience in how to manage instant wealth.
He began to embrace a life-style
that he just knew he would have missed otherwise.
He was now alive in the world
his dreams had anticipated.
The world he left behind was his father’s.
It never entered his mind that he had just walked away from what
had been the source of the wealth that he was now spending.
If all he wanted to
do was to see the world in order to learn how other people lived, he
could have gone to work in a port city.
There he could have joined the crew of a cargo ship and learned
to live off his earned income.
However, when people have a need to feel important and
successful, they frequently have little motivation to develop a strong
work-ethic and the qualities of character that would help them become
that person. The young man had
little trouble spending his money.
He definitely had a good time.
Life became an endless party, an illusion a number of
inexperienced people have today.
However, with nothing flowing into his
financial pipeline, soon his
assets were gone. His
whirlwind party was over.
Suddenly his good time
friends were no where to be found. There is an old
wise saying: “When the
student is ready, the teacher will come.”
The young man’s father could have lectured him and warned him of
the lurking dangers in the world.
However, when someone’s imagination is focused on finding
happiness by being with a particular person, living in different setting
or securing the ideal job, they are not ready to hear anyone’s advice.
Why? Nothing in the
material world can give happiness to anyone.
It is we who must bring happiness to our world. Our daughter, Sue,
called us last week. She
said,
Dad, I have a
colleague in my office that is seeking advice for a friend.
His friend’s daughter is 18 and she is seeing a man in his 30s.
He has a new baby by a woman that is currently in prison.
He has been divorced a number of
times and appears needy and unsettled with his life.
Her parents know that she has been intimate with him but she
cannot see herself as being just another woman in his life.
They have tried to talk to her, pointing out the flaws in this
man’s character and lifestyle, but she will not hear any of it.
She feels that they are typical protective parents who do not
want her to become the responsible woman she believes she is.
What advice would you give to parents that find themselves in
this situation? I told Sue that
there is very little anyone can do.
The girl’s parents have to let her go because right now she is
not ready to understand anything other than what she wants to do.
I indicated that what the parents can do is to reassure her that
she will always be loved by them if her dreams do not work out.
This is exactly what the father of the prodigal son did with his
son. As we return to the
young man in Jesus’ parable, we learn that he had finally
hit bottom and now was more
than ready to learn that his idealism of what the world could offer him
had failed. He found himself alone having to face the consequences of
following the guidance his
clouded judgment had provided.
He realized that in
a short period of time, he had squandered assets that his father had
spent years accumulating.
Matters got worse. He could
only find work on a farm that did not provide for his needs.
He had to eat the slop
that he was feeding to the farmer’s pigs.
What awakened him during a moment in time when others might have
easily plunged into unfathomable depths of depression? Fortunately, the
boy had memories of his farm, personal security, plenty of food and a
family that loved him. Having
lost everything, he realized that he could return to his father
completely embarrassed and repentant, confess his lack of good judgment,
seek forgiveness and assume the responsibilities of a hired hand on his
family’s farm. We should take note here of the
complete reversal in the direction of his flow of energy.
During the moments when he was gratifying his desires, life was
all about pleasuring himself.
Later, after he let go of his passion for self-indulgence, he
began thinking about extending his energy outward by assuming
responsibilities around the farm.
As the young man
headed home, our lesson says that while he was still some distance away,
his father spotted him coming.
This dad’s heart became so filled with compassion that he ran to
greet him. He threw his
arms around his son and kissed him.
The celebration of his return began. Jesus was teaching his listeners how God responds to people whose spirits have awakened from sleep walking in a world filled with illusions that are constantly changing. Think of what happened to the boy’s spirit when he could once again experience unconditional compassion from his dad who honestly loved him. There is a story
about an English medic named Albert that was assigned to a battalion of
British troops during the Second World War. He had listened to
Churchill’s speech about how Albert had grown
very weary of seeing his comrades die. He did what he could for
many of them, but in far too many instances, all he could do was hold
their hands. He would softly speak to them when both he and his patients
knew that their wounds were so severe that death could come any moment. When the war ended,
the young man finally made his way back to his home in As he turned into
the half mile lane that led to his family’s farm, the young man’s big
black Scottish shepherd dog began barking his warning to strangers that
were entering his domain, particularly at night. Albert was so
pleased that Toby’s hearing was still keen. When he got closer to
his home, he let out a whistle, a whistle that only he and Toby knew.
That whistle was their signal. Instantly, Toby’s
barking stopped. Suddenly, Toby let out a yelp of recognition.
Even though the dark, moonless sky was only illuminated by the stars
darting in and out from the clouds, Albert knew that the big black form
of his friend was hurtling towards him at breakneck speed with vision
far sharper than his. The
weary medic wrote the following words in his journal:
Almost immediately
Toby was in my arms, jumping up and down and licking my face, squealing
with the happiest delight I have ever known. I knew then that I
was really home. My nightmare of being at war was a
chapter of my life that had ended. It does not surprise me that
dog is
God spelled backward.
With Toby’s greeting of unconditional love, I now know what the
experience will be like when I enter Heaven. This story of the
prodigal son illustrates
resurrection from our being
dead. All our
missteps, our use of poor judgment and our wandering lost in a world
swirling with the consequences caused by our ignorance become like
stepping stones to our
awakening to the presence of a different world. When we become connected
once again to the vine, we
experience the peace that passes all understanding.
There
is nothing in the world that can validate us with love as God does.
What is so profound
about the parable of the prodigal son is that it reinforces a
truth about God’s creation.
In spite of how violent, dark and gloomy
a storm is, it eventually
dissipates. In spite of how long wars last, all of them eventually end.
People that know this
truth while entering a dark phase of their lives have something that
informs them that this, too, shall pass.
There is always an Easter
morning following our
crucifixions. Our lives
are constantly changing, even our darkest times. This parable of
Jesus is not about a farm boy who sowed his
wild oats and returned home.
This is a story about how
life teaches us from experiences that do not work, suffering for a
while, experiencing resurrection
and being welcomed home as
a student
of life that is far more
informed.
How wonderful it is
when a thought is triggered within us that God has always been very
patient with us. God knows that
when the student is ready,
the teacher will come. That
teacher can come in many
forms. We long to feel the
instant validation and love of a Toby that enthusiastically welcomes us
home, or the comfort and peace from knowing that we are being carried
home by the
Good Shepherd who went in
search of a
sheep that had lost its way. In the final
analysis, we will learn that life is unfolding just as it should.
When we try to direct life’s path by searching for greater
wholeness in a world that cannot give it, we will lose our way from time
to time as did the prodigal son.
The good news is, he made it home and so will we.
We can never underestimate the power of God’s grace. |