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Trinity Episcopal Church Hattiesburg, Mississippi Fourth Sunday of Lent March 18, 2007 Go To Trinity's Home Page

Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 75 th General Convention of the ECUSA

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus 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.’“ (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32)

Love from the Past and Hope in the Future
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop

     I have a practical fashion tip for you guys out there. Wear pants that fit well when running from the police! That way you won’t be the subject of this kind of police band broadcast, heard not too long ago in Lynwood, Washington: “White male, running east on Elm Street! No pants! In handcuffs!”[1]

     As it turns out, a young man named Jason had been arrested after allegedly trying to access a bank account that wasn’t his. He was handcuffed and being escorted by a police office to a patrol car when he wriggled free and bolted. At the time of the crime, Jason was wearing those low-slung baggy pants so popular with young males these days.

     According to Nancy at The Lipstick Chronicles, an on-line site for fashion, baggy pants did not begin with the plumber who clunked away at the pipes under the sink or with the glowering hip hop artists of MTV.[2] “Low slung britches spring from that deep well of fashion waters – the state penitentiary. Prisoners aren’t issued belts, and their prison issue jeans aren’t exactly tailor made. So their jeans tend to hang south of the border of good taste. And because our young people are always looking for fashion inspiration, this sartorial detail is one that young men have chosen to prove they’re as tough as anyone who ever served time in Attica.”

     In addition to the low slung jeans, the secondary fashion accessory necessary to complete the fulsom look is colorful plaid or paisley boxer shorts. Top off the ensemble with a loose fitting, oversized shirt and you have the tough guy haute courtier look currently favored by hip-hop performers, skateboarders, and rapper wannabes.

     It was Jason’s fashion choice that led to his downfall. After he escaped from the policeman, with his hands still in the cuffs, he ran west while his pants went south. When they ended up around his ankles he took a header. He wriggled out of his pants and headed toward – where else – a nearby mall. When he got there, a 61 year-old grandmother grabbed and held him until the police arrived.

     In case you think this is an unusual occurrence, let me assure you it is not. Dressed in his hip-hop attire, twenty-four year-old Noah came into a North Carolina sandwich shop to rob it. When he attempted to jump over the counter, his baggy bebop pants caused him to fall flat on the floor in front of the people he had been waving a gun at just seconds before. Noah ran out of the store, but when trying to climb over a picket fence, his pants got caught, and when the police got there, they found Noah hanging upside down with his pants around his ankles. They had to use a knife to cut him down. The policeman remarked that he was glad that Noah was at least wearing underwear.

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 stuffed it into the pockets of his cargo pants, and traveled to a distant country. The weight in his pockets kept pulling his pants down and tripping him up until finally he was left in just his underwear, with all of his money gone. After trying for a long time to earn a living or buy food, he finally realized that he could not make it, and that he was desperately hungry and totally alone.

     We may leave places, jobs, or relationships for all kinds of reasons. I have often thought that when faced with a decision between staying and leaving, we actually move away from a known place or situation rather than toward a fully understood destination. That is, we devote most of our energy to listing all of the reasons why we should leave where we are. When it comes to a job choice for example, we quickly come up with a list of the things we don’t like about our current situation. And then, when making the decision about a new job, we compare that list of known things with a list of largely unknown or imagined or rumored things that seem attractive at the moment about the new position.

     In my talks with the parents of teenagers and college students, it is pretty common to hear a worried mother or father tell me that their son or daughter used to be very active as an acolyte and never missed an EYC event, but that lately their child seems to have “dropped out.” They went to college and seemed to have lost interest. As a college chaplain, I used to hear from the children that they didn’t really feel like they “left,” but were rather seeking something on their own. They learned the whys and wherefores of their faith from their parents and their faith community, but now sought to learn something about its meaning. And the only way to do that is to live life their way. And while they sought to define their own vocation, identify a partner to share their life with, and seek their own unique pathway to God, the best we can do is stand and look to the horizon for their return.

     When the prodigal son realized that he had spent all that he had taken with him, and had reached the bottom of his despair, he took stock. There was a long list of reasons to leave that place. He made up his mind to leave. But to go where? Instead of going further away, to yet another country, where rumor had it that incomes were high, taxes were low, and there was inexpensive, good food, readily available luxurious housing, free medical care, and perfectly seasonable weather twelve months of the year, the prodigal chose to go home.

     Why would he go back? He knew that he had broken his father’s heart when he left, and he probably imagined that his father had grown cold toward him. If his father ever found out that he had squandered all that he had on dissolute living and ended up eating pig food, his father would probably disown him. After all, he had brought serious dishonor on the family through his bad behavior.

     I think the prodigal went back instead of striking out to find another green pasture because of what his home had meant to him; what values it had instilled in him; what his father had taught him. The memories of the place and his father’s substantial love for him, led him to believe that if he went back – even in this wretched condition – his father would take him back. He might scold him; might make him sleep in the servant quarters, but in the end, he would take him back. The love he knew from his past convinced him of the hope in his future.

So he set off and went to his father. But while he was 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 fresh pair of pants – the best ones – and put them on him; put a ring on his finger and Nikes on his feet. And get the standing rib roast we’ve been saving, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”

     Although the father had divided his property between his sons, the portion promised to the older son still belonged to the father. But when the older son complained about the party the father was about to throw for the prodigal, the father reminded him that “all that is mine is yours” assuring him that his original promise would be upheld. The attitude of the older son toward his brother is similar to the Pharisees who criticized Jesus for cavorting with the less desirables of society. To their way of thinking, unconditional acceptance and forgiveness condones bad behavior. But the actions of the father toward both sons show that unconditional love is always eager to embrace those who were lost.

     The father had created a special place that his one son wanted to remain in and that the prodigal wanted to return to. All of us find ourselves “lost” from time to time. But the promise and assurance of Jesus is that God will always be there – arms open and ready to embrace us when we are ready to come home.

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The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Psalm 32 Beati quorum

1 Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
and whose sin is put away!

2 Happy are they to whom the LORD imputes no guilt, *
and in whose spirit there is no guile!

3 While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *
because of my groaning all day long.

4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *
and did not conceal my guilt.

6 I said,” I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” *
Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

7 Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

8 You are my hiding-place;
you preserve me from trouble; *
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

9 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; *
I will guide you with my eye.

10 Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *
who must be fitted with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you.”

11 Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *
but mercy embraces those who trust in the LORD.

12 Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the LORD; *
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus 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.’“

Collect of the Day

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] Timothy F. Merrill, Exec. Ed. “Prodigal Pants.” Homiletics19(2):26-30, 2007.
[2] http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2006/08/droopy_drawers_.html

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Copyright © 2007, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
15 March 2007

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