Coming Up Sunday, February 1

As we continue our study of the parables of Jesus, we come to another often-told one: the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This story, found in Luke 15, follows two other parables, the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, which make clear the central meaning (at least to Luke): this son was lost, but now is found.

But that is only the meaning of the first half of the story. When the older brother is introduced -- and is angry at his father fawning over the prodigal -- he changes the meaning of the story. In some ways, this is a story about the son that was never lost too.

An comparison with another parable makes this clear. In Matthew 20, Jesus tells of a man who hires day laborers for his vineyard. As the day progresses, he hires more and more workers, some at the third hour, some at the sixth hour, some at the ninth hour, and even some at the eleventh hour (yes, that's where that saying comes from) of a twelve hour day. When the day is over, he orders that all of the men, from those that worked one hour to those that worked all twelve, receive a full days wage.

The point of the vineyard story is that God will accept all who come to him, regardless of how much of their "day" -- read life -- they devote to God's work. And no one has the ability to question or challenge God's justice regarding this. When the workers who worked all twelve hours complain, the master replies, 'I paid you a day's wage for a day's work. How have I wronged you?' But in the case of the prodigal son, the point of the story is not just that God can reward people as he sees fit, on an individual basis, but that there might be some rewards that we don't fully appreciate.

BONUS - Here's a bit of information that likely won't be in the sermon, but which you might find interesting about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Considering this story this week, I've realized that Jesus is using a Jewish context, rather than a Greco-Roman context. Under Jewish practice, both sons could receive inheritances from the father, though those inheritances would likely be unequal with the elder son receiving more. Under Roman law, the elder son would likely have inherited the whole estate, leaving the younger son to earn his own way (usually via the military). In the parable, the younger son follows the Greco-Roman practice of leaving his father's house to make his way, but it seems that he receives a Jewish inheritance to do so. (And, to confuse you more, I've slightly simplified the context in my description above.)

This gives some motive for the younger son's request, which might seem to us to be rather presumptuous. It really isn't. In a larger sense, however, it raises questions about the intended audience of this parable (and the gospel of Luke as a whole). Many historians and scholars have speculated that this history -- Luke-Acts -- was meant to explain Christianity to Gentile converts, but this parable (and some others) would have baffled such converts. But for our purposes, such details are probably more distracting than helpful. At least, though, it is probably good to understand that the socio-economic particulars of this story were much more complex in the first century than we recognize today.

Coming up Sunday, January 25

On Sunday we continue our series on Jesus' parables with a look at the Parable of the Two Sons, found only in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 21:28-32). This parable, about a father's request to his two sons -- one of whom says he will, but he doesn't; one who says he won't, but he does -- seems on its face to highlight a lesson which we might call "Actions speak louder than words."

However, I think that the parables have multiple layers and multiples lessons for us. So we will dig deeper on Sunday morning to consider another lesson that this parable might offer (and one which I probably don't talk enough about as the preacher): the significance of our personal, and private, relationship with God. This interpretation of the parable will draw heavily on another passage in Matthew (and again, one that seems to only appear in Matthew) about prayer (Matt. 6:5-8).

Also on Sunday, as part of Sharing Our Faith, we will emphasize the gift of sharing our time with our church family by serving on our standing committees. Bureaucracy is not anyone's favorite subject -- and it's not mine either -- but it is a good way for a church to put faith into action. [I could change the names -- other churches have -- to things like "action groups" or "mission teams," but that's just changing the name, putting old wine in new wine skins. I like to be honest about what things are.]

I hope that you will volunteer to serve on one -- or if you have time and the interest, more than one -- committee this year. Your input and service will improve all of our experiences at Central Christian, and benefit others beyond our congregation. Here is a little about what our committees do:

• Worship: helps to plan the worship schedule, and especially focuses on special worship services during Holy Week and Advent
• Christian Education: directs our education program for all ages, especially focusing on how we share our faith with young people through "Children's Own Worship" on Sundays and Vacation Bible School
• Membership: plans activities that enhance our lives together as a church family; most often this takes the form of planning social activities like dinners, but also thinks of ways that we can be more fully church together
• Evangelism: this is a new committee, formerly paired with Membership, that develops how we share the good news about Jesus Christ with others (since it's new, there's no telling what good ideas may come out of this group)
• Property: oversees the maintenance of the property and church building
• Stewardship and Finance: plans the annual pledge campaign and puts together the annual church budget
• Personnel: also a new committee, formerly under Property, that directs the congregation's professional relationships with its employees (except in some cases, with the pastor); given the growing complexity in tax and employment issues, we need a group of people with experience to deal with these issues

As I've mentioned elsewhere, none of these committees meets monthly, but only as necessary (as determined by the committee itself). You do not have to serve on a committee to offer input and suggestions; also, you do not have to serve on a committee for a committee to ask you to help out (it's a two-way street, after all). But I hope that you will.

Video of National Prayer Service

C-SPAN broadcast the National Prayer Service, featuring the sermon by Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (and also Dr. Cynthia Hale, a Disciples minister from Georgia).

They have now posted the video online and you can view it here. It was a good service, and Watkins sermon was quite appropriate for the occasion.

General Minister to Preach at Inaugural Prayer Service

Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has accepted an invitation to preach at the traditional inaugural prayer service on January 21. The new president and vice-president are scheduled to attend.

Here is a DisciplesWorld article about this service.

David and Bathsheba in the News

At the Cabinet meeting on Saturday, I encouraged those in attendance to think about the specific sermons that they remembered from the previous year. Lots of sermons were remembered (which suggests many positive things), but one was assumed to be remembered by all, even by those who had not been in the sanctuary to hear it. I remember it as the sermon on David and Bathsheba, but it is generally referred to as "the sex sermon."

I was reminded of this sermon again on Monday reading my email. Every week I receive "Sightings," which is an email essay by the well known (and ultra-well published) church historian Martin Marty (retired from the University of Chicago Divinity School). This week he writes about a report co-released by the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing and Union Theological Seminary encouraging theological schools to require students to take courses dealing with religion and sexuality.

Marty quite rightly recognizes that many socially active groups wish that seminaries would teach more courses that deal with their pet issues and the impossibility of teaching resources stretching far enough to cover all the current curriculum fads.

But then he goes on to suggest that it would benefit students who would be pastors, rabbis, educators and other religious professional to study sexuality in relationship to ethics, scripture, theology, and culture. Unlike the institute, he is not merely interested in LGBT issues and sexual violence, but the whole gamut of issues that face religious people despite a large groups fervent wish that such divisive (or repugnant) issues would just go away. As he writes, "It is hard to get around the observation that, overall, sexual issues -- be they biological, theological, or moral -- are the most controversial subjects in religion today."

And Marty concludes his essay with this comment:

In this half-century, like it or not, understandings of human sexuality combined with issues of authority -- who decides about practices? -- concern every body from Mennonites to Greek Orthodox. Clerical abuse scandals have undercut trust relations in parishes and denominations. The press, understandably, "eats this up," knowing how little anyone knows about how to handle sexual themes and incidents and how hungry elements in the public are for stories about ethical lapses in matters sexual. The Institute's report may not please everyone, but it is an important wake-up call.

This is not the only wake-up call I have heard in the past months. At the Pastor's Conference I attended in September, a discussion of the challenge of the multiple generations in congregations quickly morphed into a lengthy discussion of the need to talk about sexual issues in churches and the significant challenges to doing so. The discussion was frank and probing, though not (sadly) decisive.

Matters of sexuality will need to be discussed in the context of faith, which means in the churches. Some people remember "the sex sermon" because they were appalled; some because they were challenged; some just because it seemed so controversial. I believed at the time that it was a very real step in figuring out how to incorporate this difficult and uncomfortable matter into the discussions of the church. (I would say "the life of the church," but the issue is already a central issue in the lives of those in the church, whether we admit to it or not.) Nothing has really shaken my belief that it was a faithful step in that direction. Perhaps this blog entry is another faithful step.

Reflections on Worship, January 11

Several people have mentioned to me how much they enjoyed worship on Sunday morning, and I agree with them. It seemed to me to be an uplifting and spiritually filling time with lots of good things.

I've listened to the sermon a couple of times, and I must confess that I am impressed by its honesty. For better or for worse, what I said is basically what I believe, warts and all. Probably it was a very appropriate (though unintentional) sermon to preach on my birthday. As I said, it is my great privilege to make studying the Bible a central part of my life and my career, and it is a challenge and a fulfilling task that I really enjoy.

Some people may be under the impression that I pick passages to preach on based on an underlying agenda. My agenda tends to be quite open -- this series of sermons on Jesus' parables seems a natural component of a year-long study of faith stories. Aside from that, I tend to read around and pick passages that I think will be "fun" to dig into. (I am well aware, from my youth, that my ideas of "fun" are not always -- or often -- shared by others.) Next Sunday I will preach on "The Good Samaritan" which is a beloved parable; I picked it because I would be expected to preach on it. I picked "The Growing Seed" because I thought it would be a challenge; nobody would have noticed if I had picked another parable (and that's not an exaggeration).

Often it's that simple -- I think "that'll be fun for me and interesting for the church" and I put it on the schedule. So far, the process has worked pretty well. But occasionally I'll find that the passage requires a lot more work -- frankly, more than a week -- to adequately prepare a sermon. Because my definition of "fun" almost never means "easy."

Back to Sunday's worship. Lots of stuff just seemed fitting on Sunday. Wiggle Time was meaningful for all. The recognition of my birthday and my one year anniversary of service to the church was good -- and I meant every word that I said about Central Christian. While it is my job to work to be part of the continual transformation that is necessary in any growing church, I believe completely that Central Christian is a healthy congregation filled with loving and faithful people. And I believe that we are growing in our faith together. It is my great privilege to be here serving.

Video of Brooks

As promised, here is the video of Brook's singing last month in Nashville. Enjoy!