Sermon Written By Rev. Dick Stetler – June 21, 2020
On the occasion of church’s closure due to COVID-19 Virus
Centenary United Methodist Church Proverbs
3:1-8; Luke 15:11-24
Father's Day
If there is one illustration in the Gospels that
paints a near perfect picture of God's nature, it is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Jesus' description of this son's father is remarkable.
If we have ever wondered why God chooses not to intervene
in the affairs of human beings, we may have an answer. To our way of thinking God is the most powerful
Being in the Universe.
God's love is universally applied to everyone on their level of
awareness. The
mysterious Will of God, contrary to many beliefs inspired by the
Church, is the same for everyone. Each
of us is given the opportunity to pursue our dreams during our
brief lifespan to see how creative we can be. When we were born, we came into this world like a
blank canvas that comes alive when we begin to create from the various
colors of paint on our palette. The adventure of living begins
when we start to connect-the-dots that we believe will give our
lives meaning and purpose.
The material world offers us attractions and
opportunities that tease our senses and imaginations inspiring us
to choose certain paths while bypassing others.
What entices us is an individual motivation that is unique to us.
Not all people are inspired by the same pursuits. We become what
our choices mold and shape. Wise parents do not do the homework for their
children even when that involves observing them suffering with
frustrations as they struggle and fail and run-down blind alleys that
cannot possibly serve their growth.
Why would God try to block or guide any of these opportunities to
learn? Both success and
failure are remarkable teachers.
God is the architect of the universe. Each of us is the
architect of our own lives.
If God chose to intervene during
troublesome or inconvenient circumstances in our lives, the entire
purpose for our being born would be thwarted. This is
our drama not God's.
God's Will has been the same for each of us since we developed our crude
technology associated with what we could accomplish with the wheel.
People learned to worship the sun which caused their wheat to grow. They
discovered that the spear and the bow and arrow made it easier to secure
meat to feed themselves. The father in Jesus' parable owned a farm which was
the money-maker for his family.
Along with his two sons, the farmer had a staff of workers who
helped farm the land. The one son had no idea how secure he was with life
on the farm. All he knew
was that he was bored with his life and he imagined what he could
experience if he had wealth.
The grass looked greener elsewhere.
When he had enough of his life on the farm, he asked his father
if he could have his future inheritance while he was young enough to
enjoy it. His father allowed his son to follow his dream and
gave him his inheritance early. The inexperienced son could have gotten
a job on a sailing ship. He
could have gone into a business like becoming a carpenter. However, his
dream was to feel important and he spent his instant wealth
lavishly to attract friends.
He enjoyed the attention and his pleasurable experiences. These
feelings that he never had before caused him to spend even more money. Soon his wealth was gone along with all his
friends. With his
artificial prop no longer serving him, he had to assume responsibility
for himself. The young
man's father never interfered with his son's choices.
As can easily happen, the influence of his father's love came in
a form that went unrecognized.
Sometimes we have to admit that we are so concerned about
ourselves that we may not recognize all the forms of God's love. The faith that Christians have developed
often causes them to assign all kinds of activities to God. Many people
believe that God will heal the family member or a personal friend
because they plead for God to do so. They become disappointed when their
requests appear to be denied.
We know we are born and that we eventually die.
Sometimes the choices that people make can hasten their own death
as was the case with Jesus.
(Matthew 26:39) Because of the way the Scriptures read, his
followers ever since have assumed that it was God's Will that
Jesus should die. An
entire theology has grown around that one assumption including a belief
that our personal salvation was at stake. Are we to assume that had
Jesus escaped to Galilee to continue his ministry, that God's Will
for humanity would somehow have been blocked?
How could such a thing happen? God, who created the universe, certainly does not
need our help to accomplish anything. We are the ones who have to
connect-the-dots by understanding that life is totally our
drama. (Acts 17:25)
Father's Day is an ideal time to consider Jesus'
parable of the Prodigal Son. The father knew that his son could lose his
life by engaging in activities that his instant wealth would make
possible. However, the son came to his senses and escaped his having to
eat the slop that was fed to the pigs. The Prodigal Son did not pray, "Not my will but
thine be done," rather he left where he was and came home to his father
who was waiting for him with open arms.
His choice produced an entirely different future.
Dare we ask where the Church would be today had Jesus fled to
Galilee where he knew loving people could be found? An entirely
different narrative would have developed.
Was it really God's Will to have his son
murdered in such a savage way to save us from our sins? This was clearly
Jesus' choice, not God's. Jesus chose to stay and wait for his arrest.
God would never deliver his precious son to be murdered. (Matthew 7:11)
Remember how God reportedly spared the life of Isaac?
Abraham's knife was raised to kill his own son when an angel
intervened. (Genesis 22:10) It is clearly our decisions that guide our
adventure while we are here. There is never a need for God to take over
our lives by intervening.
We were created with everything that we need when we were born. (Luke
17:20-21) When people claim that God has guided them, this understanding
comes from their beliefs. However, is a belief the same as being
in possession of the truth? It was the Prodigal Son who came to
the conclusion to return home as humiliating as that might have been.
He knew the qualities of his father. Is this an attempt to define the activities
of God in our lives?
Not at all. God
creates invisibly. We
create from our choices. How our faith guides us comes
from the knowledge that we will never run out of alternatives to
access our potential, to improve our attitudes, and to further develop
our level of life-skills. The other night I was listening to a 77-year-old
black man talk about his father.
This is a paraphrase of what I heard him say about the memory of
his father: My father had to work as a child to help support
his family. He carried
bricks, mixed concrete, and learned to drive a nail without bending it.
In the process of working alongside masters of their craft, he
learned many of their skills.
My Father seldom paid attention to the attitudes of anyone. He
only took responsibility for his own attitudes. My father knew that
everyone's life mattered when others recognize their value.
With a third-grade education, my father bought and
refurbished a number of homes one at a time, much like people do today.
With the profits earned from the sale of those properties, he
started a construction company.
His company developed a reputation with expert craftsmanship and
by delivering a finished product on time.
The advertisement for his company was free because
his business thrived solely on the recommendations by others.
With wise stewardship of his money, he more than adequately
provided for our family, he gave 23 men jobs, and he gained respect
from everyone because he assumed total responsibility for his
success. Did God intervene in this father's life? Again,
such a thought could have been his father's belief, but in this case,
such an understanding did not happen.
His father's faith was anchored in gratitude to God for the
potential he developed.
That potential took form in developing a passion for hard work and a
desire to express attitudes that would serve him and his customers.
We often hear people say, "God has richly blessed
me beyond measure." Yet
this man's father used the treasure he found in his own inner
world and developed it. God has blessed this father in the same way
that God sends each of us into the world with the potential to become
anything that we set our minds to accomplish. When the Prodigal Son was living a life of wine,
women, and song, he was doing exactly what he set out to do.
He was enjoying life without any responsibilities. A time came
when his decisions no longer contained the magic that they once had. He
changed his mind, just as any of us can do, and he came home to where
there was love, acceptance, and an opportunity to earn respect
from the quality of his work. Fathers can have influence over their children by
living a life filled with quality attitudes and by the way they
conducted themselves daily.
The best thing a father can do is to live among others sharing the
wisdom that is packed into The Golden Rule.
Whether it rubs off on others is strictly up to them.
God gave each of us the potential to become
anything we wish. As we are maturing in our growth, do we have the
humility and wisdom to change directions when our goals no longer work
for us? The Prodigal Son
changed his direction because he knew the quality of spirit of his
father. (Luke 15:17)
Because of our understanding of our God's nature, we know that we will
never be without alternatives to continue our growth.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Merciful and always
present God, we thank you that you have given us the healing energy that
comes from laughter and joy. You have shown us how appreciation and
gratitude bring out the best in others. We have learned how listening
without judgment creates confidence in the person sharing. Our
encouragement allows others to feel that we believe in them.
We have discovered that the quality of our values has a
transforming effect when we live them every day. Help us to remember
that we are your children and nothing has the power to separate us from
your love. Amen. PASTORAL PRAYER Loving God, we come to renew our lives amidst a
world that appears to be dominated by headline-grabbers.
We wonder where the place is for people who do not desire to cast
much of a shadow. They
continue to make a difference in people's lives through their
friendship, their generosity, and they're not needing to receive
anyone's approval. We are reminded of your mysterious love that
comes in many different and sometimes unrecognizable forms.
A friend can unexpectedly arrive in our life
to give us an emotional lift.
Our children can express their appreciation for the many
influences we had on them as they were growing into mature adults. The
song of a bird, the beauty of a rose, the smile of a child that hugs us,
and the helpfulness of a friend that goes the extra mile for us
just when we needed it. All
loving surprises are forms that only appear to come from others.
But what inspired their presence in our lives just when we needed
them to support us? They came when we were not asking for anything.
You are so mysterious because you invisibly want all of your
children to be happy and successful by developing their unique
one-of-a-kind potential. Thank you for teaching us how to give away to
others what you have given to us.
We pray these thoughts through the loving spirit of Jesus, the
Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . . |