Compassion | Anger

Please stand as you are able for the reading of the Gospel.

Our Gospel reading this morning comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 3 and then 11 through 32. You can find it in the pew Bibles on some pages, it's in the bulletin.

Hear the Word of God. "All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Jesus told them this parable: "A certain man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the inheritance." Then the father divided his estate between them. Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away. There, he wasted his wealth through extravagant living. When he had used up his resources, a severe food shortage arose in that country and he began to be in need. He hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his fill from what the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have more than enough food, but I'm starving to death! I will get up and go to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your hired hands."' So he got up and went to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then his son said, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate wtih feasting because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. Now the older son was in the field. Coming in from the field, he approached the house and heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. The servant replied, 'Your brother has arrived, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received his son back safe and sound.' Then the older son was furious and didn't want to enter in, but his father came out and begged him. He answered his father, 'Look, I've served you all of these years, and I never disobeyed your instruction. Yet you've never given me as much as a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returned, after gobbling up your estate on prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.' The father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.'"" This is the Word of God for the People of God.

You may be seated.

This is one of those passages that can pretty much preach itself,

but I do want to share a few observations.

The first is that

we have all been both of the brothers.

We have all found ourselves in the position of needing forgiveness when we mess up. And we found ourselves in the position of needing to give forgiveness to someone who has hurt us.

In recent years, a lot of people have talked about the older brother and we focus a lot on the anger that the brother feels.

And I think most of us we can definitely identify with that,

with this idea that, first, this younger son essentially told his father, "I wish you were dead. I want my inheritance now."

And his father did something unthinkable for that time. He gave him his share of the inheritance.

I think a lot of the times we do feel like the older brother. When we see someone who [has] messed up, beyond what we can imagine, and we can't imagine that God could actually forgive them, but we know in Scripture that God does.

There's a part in the parable where it says that the older brother was still in the field. And he was returning to the house. Now, he knows there's a party. He hears music.

He doesn't know that his brother has come back home.

I'm pretty sure he thought the party was for him.

Maybe he thought to himself. This is it! My father is finally going to recognize me for all that I've done, for the loyalty that I've shown by staying here and I've never left. Only to find out no, your brother's come back home.

He's furious and he refuses to go in and the father again comes out. The father leaves the party and now begins to beg with the older son.

We had to celebrate.

This Lent we've been doing a series called "Cultivating and letting go." And we have this display up here

that represents cultivating and letting go. I handed out sheets of paper and invited you to respond with what you desire to let go of this Lent. And then another one with what you desire to cultivate.

And as we continue on towards Easter, I hope that this will be a reminder to yourself what you put down.

Anger is a big one for a lot of us.

But God calls us to have compassion.

We cannot be angry and have compassion.

It's a hard truth, but it's there.

We cannot hang on to our anger

and suffer alongside the one who was lost.

That's what the word compassion means. It means to suffer with.

Not because you have to, but because you choose to. You choose to stand alongside the person who's hurting and struggling and to feel their pain with them.

Jesus died on the cross

not because he had to. Yes, he paid the price for our sin, but I don't think that Jesus died on the cross because he had to. I think Jesus died on the cross because he chose to.

He chose to take on that pain and suffering and, in the midst of it, he said, "Father, forgive them!"

How many of us would be able to say that

when we're hurting that much?

Compassion is not

just a spiritual gift that we're given. It is something that we can cultivate. We can choose to turn to God and to say, "God, help me to see my brothers and sisters the way you would have me see them." Paul writes, "We regard no one from a human perspective anymore."

But we see in each other a new creation.

One that is in the process of being recreated.

For others of us, maybe right now, we feel more like the younger son.

Maybe we feel that there's something that we've done that, if someone were to find out, they would never be able to forgive us.

But there is nothing that we can do to separate ourselves from God's love through Jesus Christ.

But we can choose not to step inside into the celebration. We can choose not to return home. But God is hoping and praying and watching and waiting for us to come home.

And God is actively coming out and begging us to come inside to the party. Come inside and celebrate.

God is reminding us, when we say this "son of yours." He can't even bring himself to remember that this is his brother.

And so his father has to remind him. "Your brother was dead. And he's alive again."

In our anger, we can lose sight of the connection that we have with others.

This morning I hope and pray that what whatever anger it is that you have - cause I'm sure we all have it. I have it. There are people who have hurt me in the past that... there's still that last little lingering bit of resentment.

And every day I have to choose not to let it continue to affect me, not to let it bring me down, not to focus on the past, but rather to focus on the now and the future.

The passage is one that preaches itself.

So, with that, I think it's time to hear our cantata.