Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3, llb-32

Ann Ferrell Lewis First Presbyterian Church March 18, 2007

In the Father's Arms Ae:ain

Jesus tells this story because it is our story. No matter who you are, no matter what your life experience, you have a place in this story. Perhaps that is why this parable is among the most loved of all. It is a story that holds a mirror up to us, and reminds us that no matter who we are, we are loved. You know the characters well: the younger son, eager to assert his independence, who asks for his inheritance early, then lives it up in the big city; his older brother, the responsible one, who works diligently and patiently, faithfully doing what is pleasing to his father; and the father whose love is beyond reason, who welcomes the prodigal home with an exuberant embrace and caps it all off by throwing a party, with the indignant older brother sulking outside the door. We know that this is a story about sin, repentance, grace and redemption. But I believe that the parable of the prodigal son is also a parable about stewardship.

At the insistence of the younger son, the father divides up his wealth. The older son stays home on the farm, working alongside his father, awaiting the day when his efforts would be rewarded, but the younger son takes his share of the inheritance and heads into the city. I do not think the younger son set out to see how fast he could blow the whole wad his father gave him. It is entirely possible that the younger son set out with good intentions. He would use the money as seed money, invest it, grow it, and make his daddy proud. He would prove to himself and his older brother, and his good old dad that he had it in him to make it all on his own. He would do it without their help, without the farm, without the servants. He would become someone to be respected, and one day they'd look back and see how smart he was, how capable, how fiercely independent and know that giving him his inheritance early was the best thing they could have ever done. Often people do not set out intentionally to destroy their own lives; instead they are sucked into it by the current of the world that holds out false promises ­ lies that tempt us into deeper waters where we end up over our heads and unable to swim.

Hear the voices all around us: Why put off for tomorrow, the things you can enjoy today? Plastic spends the same as cash. If you want to make it in this world, you need to dress for success. The one with the most toys wins. You've got to keep up with technology, or you'll be left behind. The quality of one's life can be measured in square footage and dollars. In order to be a real man, or sexy woman, you need to drink this drink, drive this car, wear these jeans, buy this fragrance, use this shampoo, and have a perfectly sculpted body. You don't have to be smart to get rich, just lucky. Every day we are bombarded with these kind of messages - and in spite of the fact that we know better, if we are truly honest, we will acknowledge that they have a pull on our lives.

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It's not hard to validate this truth. Consumer spending is out of control in our country, with consumer debt rising annually to over 2.4 trillion dollars this year. Savings are on the decline, with more and more Americans reporting that they are one paycheck away from disaster. So what are we spending our money on? Bigger and fancier houses for starters. In 1950, the average home in the U.S. was 983 square feet. Today it is over 2,459 square feet. You see it just as well as I do. Many new homes have three car garages. And you and I know that more often than not, at least one of the cars ends up in the driveway. And still people often end up needing to rent storage units. How many storage units were here in Snohomish in the 1950's? The reality is that we continue to spend more than we have to buy more than we need to fill space we do not have in hopes of satisfying desires that things will never satisfy. Is it any wonder that consumer credit card debt is escalating by drastic proportions and that in recent years bankruptcies have reached all time highs? And at the same time our debt is increasing, our lust for easy money increases - consider the phenomenal growth in the gambling industry. Americans spend more than 330 billion dollars a year on legalized gambling.(as of 1992) Why? Some would tell you it's a form of entertainment - but it's the hope of winning big that drives the business isn't it? But most ofthat money actually slips through the hands of the hopefuls and lines the pockets of the casino owners, doesn't it? With the rise in consumer debt, bankruptcy and gambling - is it any surprise that the percentage of income Americans give to the church is declining? Is it surprising that our denomination has had to make major cuts in its denominational staff and reduce mission personnel? Is it surprising that many small congregations find themselves unable to support a full-time pastor? In the U.S. today, the current of our culture pulls us out into deep water - and many of us are in over our heads and about to go under. As a culture we can relate to the younger son, who ran off to a far country and squandered his inheritance. And until we are back in the father's arms, we are not safe.

It was one of those days when the beach was almost abandoned. A family with seven children pulls into the parking lot and a mass of arms and legs spill out of the van, as the kids head straight for the waves. The parents, obviously newcomers to the area, seem oblivious to the red flag flying near the lifeguard station, signaling rip tide conditions. As the parents meander onto the beach, the lifeguard catches their attention, and they spring into action quickly calling the children out ofthe water. The kids respond reluctantly, and just as the sixth one scampers out of the waves, the seventh child, a little girl, is whisked out to sea by the pull of a rip tide. The lifeguard grabs his boogie board and heads straight into the surf angling his way to the girl. But the little girl is a feisty one. She is mad at the waves, and she is angry with her situation, she is even angry with the lifeguard. She beats at the waves with her arms, and as the lifeguard approaches her, and tries to get her to calm down, she pounds her little fists and beats at the lifeguard. She thrashes about shouting and pounding the water until finally she gives up, and exhausted, her head slips under the surface, at which point the lifeguard scoops her up and pulls her onto his boogie board, then paddles with all of his might back to shore. When at last he pulls onto the shore, and the little girl is wrapped in a towel and placed into her father's arms, the whole family at last reunited - the father raises his voice at the lifeguard, "Why did it take you so long to save her?" "Sir," the lifeguard

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responds. I was with her the whole time, but I could do nothing to help her until she stopped fighting me."l

The lies of our culture sweep us out into deep waters that threaten to do us in. But the One who desires to save us can do nothing until we give up the fight, and surrender ourselves to his control - only when we surrender to the Lord, our Savior, can we be redeemed from those powers that hold sway over our lives. To come to that point, there has to be a moment of truth - a self-awakening to the reality that we are not in control of our lives, that we cannot make it on our own, and that our survival and our hope for a future depends upon surrender to the One who has been with us the whole time, reaching out to us, waiting for us to settle down enough for us to be saved.

It was a moment of self-awakening, when the younger son realized that his life of independence from his father, had only left him stuck in the mud with the pigs - and that the emptiness he felt inside was more than the hunger from not getting enough to eat. It was a humbling thing to admit, but life would be better if he could live among his father's servants, than wallow in self-pity at his current misfortune. So he surrenders his pride, and sets his head toward home, rehearsing his speech along the way.

The reunion takes him by surprise, before he even reaches home, his father comes running to meet him, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. He begins his speech, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son ... " But his father interrupts him - "bring him the finest robe, and a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet, and kill the fatted calf1 For my son who was dead, is now alive again. The one who was lost is found! Strike up the band! Put on your dancing shoes! The party is about to begin!"

I've heard this story my whole life, and I can tell you quite honestly, that the one with whom I identified most in this story has been the older brother, the conscientious worker, the responsible child. Maybe some of you can relate. You have been prudent enough to save for the future, wise enough to avoid out of control debt, generous enough to share what yoU: have. We can relate to the responsible older brother, who in this story is miffed that the father should so graciously welcome his fool of a brother home. But today I realize how much I squander the inheritance God has entrusted to me. I recognize that I use more than my share of natural resources, I contribute more than my share of carbon emissions, I use more than my share of water. I spend too much time busying myself with things that really don't matter, and not enough time with what is most important. I, who have been prudent enough to save, wise enough to keep out of credit card debt, and self-righteousness enough to alienate myself from others, I recognize that I am also the younger brother who has wandered far away from the father, perhaps without ever having left home. In this story, both sons experience alienation from their father­ the younger son in his life far away from home, and the older son whose righteous

1 As told by Eugenia Gamble in a sermon, "Rip Tide," preached on March 12, at Central Presbyterian Church, Denver, Colorado, as part ofthe 1 st National P.C.U.S.A. conference on "Transformational Stewardship."

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indignation prevents him from understanding the father's joy in the return of his brother. The father's response to both is love.

To be in the father's arms once again! Where all is forgiven, where the pain of the past is erased in one embrace. Paul tells us that in Christ we are a new creation, the old has passed away. The old self has given up the fight, it's feisty little head slipped under the water, gone and drowned in the forgotten past. But Christ, arms stretched out upon the cross, reaches out to save us, to scoop us up out of the deep darkness that threatens to destroy us raise us up to a new reality, reuniting us to the father, who is ever ready to welcome us home.

Let us pray:

God your arms are big. Your arms are always ready to welcome us. In our sin we have wandered away from you. And no distance we have traveled is so far away that you have not been able to see us. Help us to give up ego and independence. Help us to relinquish our aim to maintain control. We acknowledge that we can do nothing on our own, and we stand in need of you. Receive us this day, 0 Lord, our Savior, that our lives may be transformed by your grace. Amen.