Rev. Wesley Menke
27 March 2022
Fourth Sunday in Lent
You know the other day I went to Death Valley with Sheri. It’s quite a unique place to go to. Some people say that it is the hottest place on Earth. It turns out that what that means is that in 1913; they recorded a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit. What the heck is the deal with Farenheit at non-metric units? You have to consider that for every other day in the year someplace else is just as hot if not hotter than Death Valley. We are not the center of the universe. You are not the center of the universe.
Take for example the Prodigal Son. He realized as he was eating pig slop. Do you know how they get pig slop? Rotten food from restaurants. It’s actually a good way to deal with food waste. But you don’t want to eat. So the young man realizes that if he wants to better himself then he has to go apologize to his father at home. The Prodigal Son understands that he is not the center of the universe. So he humbles himself and he has faith. It took an act of faith to go home. His faith leads to his salvation.
The Prodigal Father accepts his son; because of grace. The Prodigal Father really loves both of his sons. I wonder if there were daughters? Love can be practical and emotional. A Father’s love doesn’t exist to be reciprocated. The Father realizes that he is not the center of the universe. He must love his children unconditionally. Do you know that that is what it means to have children. It means to love them as God would love them. It is very nice and comforting when that love is reciprocated; it is a blessing of the highest order. But for better or worse a parent is to love their child unconditionally. Prodigal means in excess. The Prodigal Son lived in excess through self destructive behavior. The Prodigal Father loves and forgives in excess and so is also called Prodigal; the Prodigal Father. God is Grace.
Then there’s Big Brother. He is the rule follower; but he’s also a bit selfish. Big Brother is watching you. Big brother thinks that he is the center of the universe; because he fears his loss of an inheritance. He saw that fatted calf as belonging to him. He is angry that his father didn’t consult him. The father reminds big brother that he is not the center of the universe.
So the food in Death Valley was amazing. We ate at a bar. They had really good french fries. We checked out the buffet. It looked kind of; medium. But it was okay, because we had it for free the next morning in the breakfast burritos. We were at a golf course and there was a shotgun tournament happening. It was kind of interesting to see golfing with breakfast burritos in the hottest place on earth.
My favorite meal that we had there by far was the pizza. We wanted to know if it was good or not. So I asked the bartender how the pizza was? He said it was about 14 inches. So we got a pepperoni. It had a 14″ diameter, and that’s all you could really say about it. It had probably been frozen, but it was actually very good!
The thing is; you know you are going to eat differently when you are traveling. That is why the food got so much better when God’s people entered into the promised land. When they were in the desert they ate WhatsThis or Manna for 40 years. That’s a long time. That’s a lifetime. But you eat whatever it takes to survive. You do that when you know that you are not the center of the universe. But now they were able to eat off of the land: fresh fruit and vegetables, and milk and honey. This is God’s grace. It is helpful for us to remember that we are all visitors here.
That is Paul says that we don’t evaluate others on external criteria. God makes us new creations. Even our current self will change into something else. Jesus changed when he died for us on the cross. He changed from a living person to a dead person. He died. He died because of our sins. What does this mean? It means that I am a part of a broken world; and that I am complicit in the suffering and death of others. I am not perfect and I am not the center of the universe. So God calls us to repent. To repent means to work for peace. We must do what we can to have more faith. We must have faith in God’s grace to intervene and make things better. You are saved by grace through faith; and not by works. Amen.
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