“The Power of Grace”

Fourth Sunday in Lent C 2007

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

              We have a reason to rejoice today, and every day for that matter, because we worship a God of love and grace.  God’s gracious love is for everyone, for you and me, for sinners and saints, for those who deserve it and for those who don’t.  It is by the grace of God that God brings us into a saving relationship with Godself, and into good and healthy relationships with one another.  The good news is that God loves us, forgives us, and accepts us, just as we are.  The power of God’s grace changes us into the kind of people God wants us to be, making us whole and complete.   The Apostle Paul shares with us this word of grace:  “In Christ you are a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, everything has become new.”

              There once was a young couple who provided a foster home for a young teenage boy.  They were really excited about this opportunity to share their home with someone who didn’t have a home.  Well, this couple discovered that it wasn’t going to be all that easy.  The young boy had lots of problems and had been sent from one foster home to the next.  He got into lots of trouble and did things deliberately to get his foster parents angry and, perhaps, even send off to his next foster home.  One day he committed the worst offense.  His foster father came home from work and noticed the garden hose in the front window of the house, turned one, flooding the living room.  There inside stood the young boy.  His foster father, angry, looked at him in the eyes and said, “When will you realize that we will love you no matter what you do?”

              The patience and love that this father showed toward this boy is probably much more than any of us could ever put up with.  It illustrates, however, the kind of patience and love and determination that God shows toward us as rebellious, sinful people. God is a God of grace.  The power of grace creates life.

              In our gospel lesson for today, we hear another story of grace.  It is a powerful story, a story we know best as the Prodigal Son.  It is about two brothers who show their need for grace and a father who offers to them grace beyond all expectation and what either of them deserve.  First, there is the younger brother.  His desire is to escape the routine and boredom of the family situation.  He wanted to go to the excitement and action of a far away country.  He felt there had to be more to life than his small circle of family and friends.  He goes to his father and demands his portion of the inheritance.  Already we see the evidence of his father’s patience and love, as he gives to him what his son demands, knowing that his son’s intentions are not in his son’s best interests.  The son will have to learn the hard way.  It doesn’t take long, however, for the younger brother to “squander his property in dissolute living.”  His dreams of greener pastures are dashed in despair as he finds himself worse off than the pigs he is hired to feed.  It is in the midst of this despair and desperation that “he came to himself,” realizing what he had done, wanting to return home to seek forgiveness.

              The world we live in is quite productive of prodigal situations.  There are many who reject the comfort and security of home in order to experience life on their own.  Rejecting authority, they look for excitement, for acceptance, for success.  There are those who search for meaning and purpose in life, those who try to fill the emptiness of their lives or dull the pain of unfulfilled dreams with drugs, alcohol, sexual gratification.  The pressures of life often send people down that road of the prodigal son.  Perhaps you know people like this.  Perhaps you are a person like this.

              On the other hand, there is the elder brother.  At first glance, he seems to be the better of the two boys.  He’s settled, dependable, hard working, stays at home and gets the job done. Yet, when we hear how he reacted to the news of the return of his long-lost brother, we see that his character is also flawed.  He, too, is sinful.  He disliked his wayward brother so much because of what he did that he bitterly resents his return home.  He complains to his father about his un-rewarded faithfulness.  He’s unhappy about the celebration given to his undeserving brother.  He doesn’t understand the love and generosity shown to “this son of yours.”  He refuses to share in the joy of the celebration.

              That elder brother is alive and well in many people today.  There are those who have worked hard, who are up-standing, productive members of society.  They meet all the requirements of family, job, and church.  For them it is often hard to accept the good fortune of others who don’t deserve it.  It doesn’t seem right or fair when the rules of the game aren’t played right.  The theory that often prevails for these people is “Let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.”  “He made his bed; now let him lie in it.”  Perhaps you know people like this.  Perhaps you are a person like this.

              Two brothers; two situations.  The younger brother is self-indulgent; the elder brother is self-righteous.   And there is the father, the waiting father, who does what neither of the two brothers expect, offering what neither deserves.  He goes out to each boy and offers his love, the gift of grace.

              To the younger brother, the father offers his forgiveness and acceptance.  Though the young brother hits bottom, his father lifts him up.  Though he squanders all that he had, his father welcomes him back.  Though he left and disowned his family, his father restores his place in the community.  “Rejoice,” the father proclaims.  “for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

              As for the elder son, the father showed patience and love for him as well.  Even though he refuses to go in to the party, his father comes out to him and invites him to come in.  He reminds his son that his love and care has always been there for him.  “Rejoice,” the father says, “because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

              This story reveals to us just what kind of God we have, a God of love and grace, a God of second chances, a God who wishes for us to “have life, and to have it abundantly.”  Do you know this God?  God comes to us, each of us, no matter who we are or what we have done with his acceptance, love, and grace.  For those of us who have left and wandered away, we are welcomed back and restored to membership in the family of God.  For those of us who have stayed to do our duty faithfully, our hearts are softened by the love shown to us, grateful for the blessings we have received, motivating us to share those blessings with others.  This God rejoices over each sinner who repents.  It is the nature of God to show mercy, to offer forgiveness, to grant grace. God invites us to join in the rejoicing.

              We are reminded today of the gracious love of God.  It is given to us in Jesus Christ, the One who came to seek and save the lost and to give his life on a cross for our sins.  Jesus makes it possible for those prodigal sons and daughters to return home.  Jesus makes it possible for us to receive and welcome all people into our family no matter who they are or what they have done.  The power of grace changes us and makes all things news.  “In Christ we are new creations; the old has passed away; behold, everything is new.”  This is our God, the God’s of amazing grace.  Amen.