Sermon Archive
Readings for 18 March 2007
Third Sunday in Lent
Year C
Joshua (4:19-24);5:9-12
[The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. Those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal, saying to the Israelites, "When your children ask their parents in time to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children know, 'Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."]
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.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
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 15:11-32
Jesus said, "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.'"
Sermon
The Rev. Susan B. P. Norris
“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’
Then you shall let your children know,
‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here, on dry ground.’
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you . . .
As the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, . . .
In nomine . . .
“Letting our children know” is one of the great tasks set before parents and Godparents and before this Household of God.
Psalm 78 enlarges the picture of this duty:
“That which we have heard and known,
and what our ancestors have told us,
we will not hide from their children.
We will recount to generations to come,
the deeds and the power of the Lord.
. . . That the generations to come might know, . . .
that they in their turn might tell it to their children;
so that they might put their trust in God . . .”
So that they might put their trust in God . . .”
This witnessing to the trustworthiness of God was the first task
of the newly re-constituted people of Israel
after they had crossed over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land
They were commanded to set up a pile of twelve stones at Gilgal
[i.e. – they built an altar (not as fancy as ours)]
so that every time a child (or any other newcomer) saw the stones
they would ask, “What are those and why are they here?”
By telling the story of how the altar at Gilgal came to be,
the Israelites would be telling both strangers and children
a story of the wonderful, saving love, power and grace of God.
God’s people have always answered questions about who God is
and what God is by telling stories –
I’ll bet most of you can finish any one of these beginnings:
“In those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . . .
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray …
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell among
robbers and . . .
Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed
him to her home. Now Martha had a sister named Mary . . .
Jesus said to them, “There was a man who had two sons . . .
People were bringing their children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples reproached them for this . . .
Over and over and over again, we explain and pass our faith on,
not by logical arguments,
but in the stories and poems of our ancestors,
stories of people who did this -or experienced that-
and in the process met the living God.
Are these stories always factually accurate? – No!
Are they true stories – Absolutely!
Today’s story – the man who had two sons – is a kid’s favorite
second only to the eleven brothers who left little Joseph in a pit
in the desert, because their dad had bought a really cool coat
only for the “baby” of the family.
Few, if any of us, have much trouble understanding why a person
might want to murder their sibling/s,
or run away from home.
Today’s father – usually seen as the God-character (although I vote for the unmentioned Mom who had to live with those guys!)
tells us, in ways we can understand, what genuine
love and forgiveness look like and feel like.
Our story promises that God is like that father–
overwhelmingly forgiving and generous past all believing.
The older and younger brother characters offer other perspectives
within the story - ways to understand how we personally feel
about our relationship to God and to God’s human family.
We must let our children know this story, . . .
so that they may put their trust in God.
Yet there is a longer, and far greater story on the way.
Today is the fourth of five Sundays in Lent.
Two Sundays from now we begin the drama that is written from
the great story – more accurately the great storybook - of “Holy Week”
It also tells of a Son who left his home,
and wandered far into the world – a world which often treated him badly.
Christian faith is about more than believing that a God probably exists
And that we are all supposed to lead ethical lives to please that God.
Christian faith is about knowing for real that Our God is
like the father who had two sons,
willing to give up anything and everything
to have us as part of the family,
willing to love in the face of our hurtful and destructive actions,
willing to forgive even the most hopeless messes we make in our lives.
Paul, being theological in today’s second lesson said, ”This means that through Christ, the world was fully reconciled again to God, who didn’t hold our transgressions against us, but instead entrusted us with the message of reconciliation.
In Holy Week you shall let your children know what this means,
Then bring yourselves back for the Saturday Evening Vigil -
(By the way, it’s just as important for us to hear the old story
as it is for our children to learn it.
How else can we help them tell it to generations to come?)
This Holy Week and Easter – bring a child – or a stranger,
and come live through the story.
It talks about arguments with friends, with the political system
with the religious authorities, and with an emotionally swayed crowd.
It explains why be built this altar – indeed this church.
It tells us how it is that we personally walked over the Jordan.
This makes us Christ’s ambassadors . . . “
Not by theological debate, but by living a story.
Walk in the Palm Sunday crowd,
have your feet washed,
stand around the table of the Last Supper,
pray in the darkness of the garden,
stand at the foot of the cross as the world goes black.
and mourn at Jesus’ tomb.
to the campfire, at which one after another of the old stories are told.
To the baptisms that tell all of us what our baptisms were like.
And finally to the beauty, the bells, the food and the flowers which tell us that Jesus is not in the grave, but is alive and here with us.
So that when your children – or anyone at all ask you,
“What do these things mean?”
“What do we believe about God?”
You will let them know . . .
Of the greatness, the glory, the power, the presence and the incomprehensible loving forgiveness of God . . .
in whom we may put our trust,
and
To whom be might, majesty, glory and dominion
now and forever.
Amen
For past week's readings and sermons, please visit the archive of sermons