UCC Wider Reach

Sunday, March 14
Fourth Sunday in Lent

Focus Theme
Embracing Love

Weekly Prayer
Eternal lover of our wayward race, we praise you for your ever-open door. You open your arms to accept us even before we turn to meet your welcome; you invite us to forgiveness even before our hearts are softened to repentance. Hold before us the image of our humanity made new, that we may live in Jesus Christ, the model and the pioneer of your creation. Amen.

Focus Scripture
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable:

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.'So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, '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!' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, '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!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

Reflection
by Kate Huey

When journalists asked Prince Charles about his ascending to the throne of England, he stopped the conversation cold by saying, "Gentlemen, you are speaking of the death of my mother." The younger son in our story from the Gospel of Luke exhibits no such sense of respect or even affection for his father. Perhaps he was always impetuous, as second sons often are when they follow a responsible, hard-working firstborn who will inherit the lion's share of the estate anyway. The older son would receive two-thirds of the estate, with the rest divided up between the other heirs, injustice enough to turn a boy's mind toward other pursuits than working for his big brother. This young man isn't just impetuous--he comes across as a master manipulator, and we never quite feel confident that his repentance is "true"; as Margaret Aymer points out, his conversion is more stomach-driven than heart-felt. There seems to be no end to the shame brought on his father and his family by the self-centeredness of the younger son, who apparently also has no regard for the suffering of the wider community that would have been affected by the sale of land held by a family that no doubt contributed to the surrounding economy. No wonder the father throws a party for the whole town, to ease the anger and resentment of the community toward this wayward, irresponsible son. Jesus' story about a precious son lost and recovered was a response to self-righteous religious authorities who questioned the company he was keeping--tax collectors and other sinners, but it's also appropriate for Lenten reflection on our own lives. Where do we find ourselves in this story? How are we counted among "the lost"? Why do we so often identify with the older brother? Are we, like that older brother, perhaps stuck in scarcity thinking, when we'd be much happier, much freer, operating in abundance mode? Rodney Clapp describes abundance thinking particularly well: "Every time God's active, stretching, searching, healing love finds someone and calls that person back home, it does not mean there is less for the rest of us. It means there is more. More wine. More feasting. More music. More dancing. It means another, and now a bigger, party." Another, bigger party: abundance, indeed.

For further reflection

Peter Ustinov, 20th century
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

Abraham Lincoln, 19th century
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 20th century
[The one] who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.