A Hunger for Home

Luke 15:11-20For the last two weeks we have been reflecting on unity and connectedness. Inthe sermon two weeks ago and in communion last week we witnessed how the Gospelcalls us to join with the broken body of Christ so that we can share in his resurrection.And so this morning as we look to living in God’s blessing we see that our path is inmany ways already set out before us. Living in God’s blessing means walking withChrist. This is correct enough as a theological statement but likely unhelpful in itself for the paths we are called to walk down daily.This morning we are invited to hear a story of one particular path that leads intoGod’s blessing. This is the parable of The Prodigal or Lost Son. This is one of the mostwell known stories in the Bible. It is a story of rebellion, brokenness, bitterness, graceand forgiveness. Now why is it that a story would be more helpful to us than simplyaffirming the statement that

living in God’s blessing means walking with Christ

? What isit about stories that engage us and capture our imagination? What was the last story thatheld your attention? Perhaps it came from reading a book, watching a movie or listeningto a friend.On Friday I attended a conference on family and sexuality in Mennonite history.There were some who thought the conference worthwhile just we could know that at onetime all those words were said together in one sentence. Throughout the day we heardseveral family stories. Some of the stories happened years ago in a far away place andothers were unfolding in the speaker’s life.Theology is not a universal language but stories are. Encountering a meaningfulstory is like finding someone that talks your language in a strange land. It identifies with

2us. If it is a story close to our own we wonder how they handled the situation. If it isnew story we wait anxiously to find out what happened. Stories help us to know that weare not alone. When Chantal was working in mental health I came to realize that if someone was struggling with a mental illness for the first time it was often significant for them to hear the story of other people’s experiences. It would both help them understandthemselves and know that they have been people who walked before them. Now whatdoes it mean for us to walk with Christ in this story? Or perhaps more accurately whatdoes it mean to ask Christ to take this story and walk with us in our lives?Our story this morning begins like many do. This story begins with an image of wholeness,

a man had two sons

. These are the main characters of this story and they all begin together. There is no reason to think that this family is perfect or that everyonegets along but this family is together. What does it mean in your life right now to think about wholeness or being complete? What does it mean to you to think about things being ‘as they should be’? Is wholeness a memory or a present reality? We carry with usimages and memories of events or times in which wholeness was experienced in our self and in our relationships.But it seems to be a law of human nature that wholeness is never permanent,things are not always as they should be, and so we find in our story that the younger sonapproaches his father and says,

give me the inheritance that is coming to me

. Why is itthat we cannot preserve our image of wholeness? Why can’t we keep things exactly theyway they are?It seems to be a common tendency of parent’s to idealize a certain time in their children’s or family’s life and wish that it or they would just stay that way forever. But

3 before you know it they start exploring their sexuality, using words that they probablydidn’t learn from you, hanging out with friends you don’t approve of or perhaps becoming a friend you would not approve of. Then as they grow up at least some of them start forming very different views about their future then what you were thinking of.And so at some point a parent begins to hear their child asking for their inheritance.Perhaps they are not looking for money but they are asking to have possession of the lifethat you were holding in trust for them. Until then you had a strong level of control over how that life was being managed or ordered but no more. All that you have sacrificedand given to them is suddenly transferred into their account and you have little say in thematter.I am not sure if I have shared this already [I have been here that long already!] butI can remember clearly when I was around 13 years old that my father finally realizedthat I had no interest in entering the family business of farming. Now I did not knowthen that I was essentially asking for my inheritance at the time. The question of farmingwas never one that I had to make; in my mind it simply was not an option. I doremember being downstairs and some how knowing that they were talking about me.That image of wholeness that my father carried with him that had been passed along for generations in his family was being taken from him. His inheritance, his image of wholeness, was being taken from him.To have this story walk alongside our own life we must begin by acknowledgingour own images of wholeness. This image may be past or present wherever we find thatimage our life and this story tells us that life does not always allow it to stay the same.