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Early Edition (for March 14)

Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

1  Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.
2  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
3  So he told them this parable:
"There was a man who had two sons.
12  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.
13  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.
14  When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.
15  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.
16  He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.
17  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!
18  I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
19  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."'
20  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.
21  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.'
22  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.
23  And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24  for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
25  "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
26  He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
27  He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'
28  Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
29  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.
30  But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'
31  Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32  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.'"

            This is a very unusual story for the people who first heard it.  The father is the one to whom I would call your attention.  We are told he has two sons and so he is a man who probably well respected in the community.  I would suggest that he has raised his two sons to share the same values as he.  In that regard, I suspect that his is not a whole lot different from the other fathers in the community.  This father, in all likelihood, had the same hopes and dreams as the other fathers—his two sons would work hard take over the family business and take care of him as he grew older.

            But there are some things that are very different about the story in the father.  He listened as his younger son spoke when it was not appropriate for him to speak.  He divided his property between his two sons, even though that should have happened only at the time of his death, with the older brother getting a double portion for his inheritance.  The father also acts in some rather unseemly ways in public.  As he sees his younger son walking on the road he abandons all decorum and runs off to meet him.  The father not only runs to meet him but he embraces and kisses him.  This totally beyond social behavioral norms of the day!  In addition, he accepts him back as his son with no questions or comments and then throws a party.  The father also goes out the older brother and invites him to come and rejoice.  This is totally outrageous!  What a father!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

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From the Pastor - March 2010

Here we are again—those days before Easter that we call Lent. What shall we do with them? Are we going to give something up? (I know I will quit snoozing during worship) Are we going to take something on as our Lenten discipline this year? (I will be responsible for eating all the remaining snacks after fellowship time)

Regardless, of whether you give something up or take something on the important part is the discipline of listening to what you God is saying to you in these days, in order to do that we need to be constant in prayer. It is that discipline that is going to be valuable in moving us to a deeper place in our relationship with God.

It is the relationship with us that God is seeking to restore. The gift of the Christ is all about the restoration of the relationship that God formed with us in the beginning. God really does not want any part of creation to be lost. God wants it restore to its original condition.

God has invited us into that ministry with him. God has asked us to join in the task of loving and saving creation. Because of that we are called to be people who listen to what God has for us to do. We are also called to be people who go out and listen to our neighbors. What is it they are saying as well? We means both us as individuals and us as a community of faith. This may mean that we are going to have to do things differently.

What is it that you hearing God calling you to do? What is it you hear God calling Celebration to be doing? It is time to stop and listen to what is being said. It is time to be in prayer.

The Word
by Pastor Paul

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