A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 30 July 2023, by Rev. Bud Carroll. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 105:1-11 and Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52.
This past week, thanks to Google, I’ve discovered that in the English Standard Version of the Bible, the words joy, joyful and rejoice appear 40 times more often than the words happy and happiness. Furthermore, there are more Biblical references to singing than to prayer. So…… does this mean rejoicing and singing are more important than happiness and prayer? No, but it does suggest that in our Judaic/Christian faith journeys, it is important – yeah imperative for us to “Sing to the Lord”.
Two good examples of this come from the Book of Psalms – Psalm 13 from our July 3rd Revised Common Lectionary readings and today’s Psalm 105. Both are timely and timeless.
The first two verses of Psalm 13 include four agonizing “How Long” questions. Some Biblical scholars call them lamentations; others say complaints; petitions, pleas or requests. These questions are more than personal. They’re a reflection of the history and faith journeys of the people of Israel.
1. How long will you forget me Lord? As if God would ever forget any of us. Why would God ever do that? Yes, there are times we may feel God is not listening. But who is really forgetting – God or us?
2. How long will you hide your face from me? Strange, because in the Jewish tradition, no one would ever expect to actually SEE God. Life is not a game of trying to play “hide and seek” with God. Then, as now, if you don’t feel the presence of God in your daily life, guess who’s moved!
3. How long must I bear so much pain and sorrow? When did God ever promise us life would be free of pain and sorrow? Never. Only that amidst such difficulties God is with us – Immanuel!
4. How long will my enemies make fun of me? I can just hear God saying to the Psalmist and the people of Israel – and to you and me!, “toughen up my children life is full of enemies, problems, difficulties and dangers. Some we create, others we endure. Deserved or unearned, they are real.
Then the Psalmist makes a 180 degree turn from “poor, poor Israel” to these affirming words “… sing to the Lord who has dealt bountifully with us”.
Psalm 105: also records the many ways the people of Israel experienced God’s faithfulness – through thick and thin; storm and safety; disaster and delight; peril and protection. It both begins and ends with an invitation to praise God in both word and action: give thanks to God; make known God’s deeds among the people; tell of God’s wonderful works….
In many ways these two Psalms are “selfies” – pictures of our own lives; our own day and time; many similar experiences both sweet and sour. So how can we best ”Sing to the Lord”? First, let’s be clear this “singing” has nothing to do with music. It’s about how we live; how like the Psalms, we praise God in both word and action. Let me suggest two or three possibilities;
Sing with determination. You’ve probably heard this story a dozen times: a woman told her office friends she was going on a diet that night. The next day she came to work with a HUGE chocolate cream cake. “Wow, what happened to your diet?” they all asked. “Well, when I drove by the bakery this morning, I saw this cake in the window. So I asked, ‘Lord if you want me to have this cake, let there be a parking place right in front of the bakery’. Well, you know what? I drove around the bakery fifteen times and finally there was a vacant parking place right in front of the bakery!” Well yes, she was determined, but maybe not too wise.
I love that old Gospel hymn “No Turning Back”. “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back”. The Psalmists learned this and their lives grew beyond fear, loneliness, pain and sorrow to great joy. It’s the same for you and me – it’s takes courage, persistence, patience and determination to follow Christ. But sing we will. Sing we must for God continues to deal with us bountifully.
Sing with gratitude. Martin Rinkart, a pastor in the German Lutheran church was born in the late 1500s in a small town in Germany. During the Thirty Years War, the town suffered untold religious, political, physical and economic turmoil. Famine and disease were rampant. In English we describe this as “The Plague”. Rinkart was the sole surviving pastor. During the War’s latter years, in one year alone, he conducted some 4,000 funerals including that of his own beloved wife! And yet Rinkart could pen these unbelievable words of gratitude that we sang at the beginning of today’s worship:
Now thank we all our God, with
heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
in whom this world rejoices…
O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us
And ending with these words: All praise and thanks to God…whom earth and heaven adore; for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
Whether you sing with music, through daily actions, attitudes, thoughts, feelings or prayers – sing. Sing to the Lord with grateful hearts.
Sing with worthiness. On Easter Sunday 1975 at Wesley Village Methodist Church on Tai Hang Road, I baptized 75-year old Granny Chen. . As I served her Communion that day, I noted her gnarled and twisted fingers. I thought “oh me how can I tuck a communion wafer into those hands.” The same with the communion cup. As she consumed the wafer, crumbs fell like snowflakes and the juice dribbled down her clothing. I was reminded of the Communion ritual, “We are not worthy to gather up the crumbs under this thy table oh merciful Lord”. But she was so worthy. A highly valued daughter of God! A few Sundays later back at the church, I was again looking over my sermon notes when I heard a voice, “Pastor Bud how can I help you?” It was Granny Chen. My ugly, selfish thoughts? “Just leave me alone while I look over these sermon notes.” Then I said, rather unkindly, “Take these bulletins and fold them”. Unworthy me! My ugliness remained. I really wanted her to take the unfolded bulletins and go as far, far away as she could – just leave me alone. Before you could say “KUC” she was back with the “folded” bulletins. They looked like this [show]. I started to say, “you folded them the wrong way.” But then the bounteous love of God’s Holy Spirit cut through my own unworthiness and I replied, “Wow, Granny Chan, nobody in the world can fold bulletins the way you do”. That was true!! Her smile stretched from Jordan Road to Macau – and back.
In one of today’s Gospel parables, Jesus told his hearers a tiny mustard seed – hardly visible - grows into the “greatest of shrubs”π . From seemingly nothingness to something of great value, great worth.
Granny Chan was one of God’s mustard seeds. And no one could fold bulletins Granny Chan style. My sisters and brothers, no one can sing to the Lord like you! Each of you has or her own style. Mustard seeds we all! But sing you must. Sing with determination. Sing with gratitude; sing, sing to the Lord. Amen.
I am so honoured to be back here at KUC.
It is always good to be invited to speak at a church. It is even better to be invited back!
Today we consider the Parable of the Prodigal Son, perhaps the most beloved of all the parables Jesus told.
When I told a friend this week I was preaching on the parable of the Prodigal Son, he raised a question: “Who is the most stressed out in this parable?”
I thought the son….. the father, …..and the older brother were indifferent ways rather stressed.
But I was wrong………….My friend said the one most stressed out of all was the fatted calf! (Funny picture)
This story, called “the Gospel within the Gospel “ and “the world’sgreatest short story”, is the climax of three stories of lost things: “a lost sheep”, “a lost coin”, and now “a lost son”.
The sheep is lost, perhaps, through careless wandering or inattention.
The coin is lost through no evident reason.
The heartbreak…….is the son who is lost through deliberate, rebellious choice.
Look at the heading in your Bible — it almost certainly highlights this lost, prodigal son.
But make no mistake — this story is primarily about……. a father.
And it comes from mouth of Jesus, a Son, who knew the Father, and wanted lost people to know the Father.
This parable dramatises four characteristics of the Father.
Let’s read a few verses to kick off
11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.
We see the first characteristic of the Father is……..
1)The Father Gives Us Freedom to Choose
The father allows his younger son to leave.
Sometimes the worst thing God can do is to give us what we want--to show us that our desires can't bring satisfaction.
The prodigal got what he wanted, but lost what he had. (repeat)
When we rebel against God's will….. He sometimes says, "All right you win, YOUR will be done
Those who are parents, do you want your children to make good choices? Of course, you do
Do you say “no!” when they ask for something foolish or dangerous?. Of course, you do
An observation…..,
It’s easier when they’re young, and so much harder as children grow up. [As a parent. I’d often wonder what God was thinking of when he dreamed the blueprint for teenagers!]
BUT let’s not go there…..
The first characteristic of this father is that he allows his children freedom to choose, whether the choices are wise or foolish, selfish orloving.
The father’s assets would not have been in cash, in the first century equivalent of HSBC , but would have been in land and livestock. Illiquid we would say today…..
Deuteronomy 21:17 tells us: By Mosaic law , a younger son’s portion was one-third. Thus, his selfish demand would have required the father to liquidate a significant portion of all he owned.
Notice the son’s demand in v12 : “give me the share of property that is coming to me” (Luke 15:12b).
Both the son and the father knew that his portion was to pass to him only when the father died.
He was in reality, and in Hebrew culture saying: (voice) “Father I now choose to regard you as though you are DEAD”. That is the seriousness of what we are talking about here!
And yet……… and yet the father freely gave of his possessions to the young son who had no assets of his own.
Doesn’t this remind us of the cries of our society?
The voice of our age is the voice of entitlement
(voice)
Don’t tell me what to do. I want to do what I want to do. I deservethese things.
I am owed these things.
I depend on myself.
God tries to control me and just wants me to follow His rules.
Sounds just like the younger son, doesn’t it?
But think for a moment of the heavenly Father who is pictured in this earthly story.
It is all His. He has made us.
All we have comes from His gracious hand and His loving heart.
Yet as we so often selfishly demand our rights, our desires, and ourwants - our heavenly Father gives us the freedom to do as we want and choose what we will.
He allows us to spend our time, our assets, our skills, and our gifts in the way we choose.
His love allows us freedom, even if our freedom leads to loss and waste.
But it is our choice, and it is the freedom a loving Father gives, for He will have no slaves or puppets, whatever the cost to Him or to us.
(Pause….)
The second characteristic of the Father is……..
2) The Father Suffers
Clearly in this story, the father grieves over his young son’s wrong decision. This is the second characteristic I want us to understand about the father.
He is hurt by his son’s choice.
Imagine the loss of possessions, the loss of reputation, and more than anything else, the loss of relationship with the son he loves.
He feels the pain of rejection (loud voice) — "I don’t care about a relationship with you; I care about what I can get from you,” shout the actions of the son.
But remind yourself again, this story is first about the father.
And many of us have a wrong image of God the Father, perhaps shaped by our own experience of our own human fathers
Have you not met those who, even if they do believe in God at all, imagine Him cold, uncaring, uninvolved?
Is that how YOU see God the Father? ……Be honest
I need to tell you….. that’s a LIE told by an enemy who wants to keep us “in a far country”, wasting our lives and trying to provide meagrelyfor ourselves.
From Genesis to Revelation, we see a loving God….. grieving over the very ones who rejected him.
God grieves over his own rebellious people who had turned their backs on him to turn to other gods Look at these passages
Jesus in Matthew 23:37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”
God the Father in OT
Hosea 11:8"Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? .... My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.”
I am sure that some of you today are thinking, “I know exactly how that father feels. I have a child, I have a loved one who has also gone to a far country.
She’s so distant from me. He’s wasting the precious things he has been given. She’s throwing away her life. He thinks he’s really living, but he’s really dying.”
You need to know that God the Father who grieves for those who are like the lost son also has deep compassion for your pain too,……….,, more than you know.
Could you be a better parent? Of course!
But even the perfect Father himself had children who turned their backs on Him and chose what they wanted over relationship with a loving Father. But note in the parable…..
The Son Also Suffers (repeat)
There are two sons in this parable, so consider with me, for a moment, this younger son. So vividly portrayed are the consequences of the ‘supposed’ freedom he “enjoys.”
14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in 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 into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:14-16
The rebellious younger son suffers, too. The first days of freedom are heady and glorious — full of “wine, women, and song” …….to use a common phrase.
Only when he has wasted all…. do the consequences of his choices begin to bite.
Only when he has spent everything he has been given is there a severe famine in that far country.
Only when he has wasted everything he has been given does he begin to be in need.
He spent his father’s resources without his father.(repeat)
Here's a truth we need to know.
Whenever we try to use the resources and provisions of the Father independent of the Father, we will always run out.
Oh, we may be fine for a time, life is going well, life is good—but sooner or later a famine will arise, and we will begin to be in need.
And like the young son in the far country, we try fruitlessly to provide for ourselves, but we’ll still be hungry because it is only in the Father’s house, in relationship with the Father, that we will be satisfied. Repeat
The third characteristic of the Father is……..
3)The Father Waits
The father gives freedom to choose. The father hurts and grieves over his son. And here’s some good news—the father is waiting (repeat). He hasn’t locked the gates, and he hasn’t disowned the young scoundrel of a son who has brought sorrow and disgrace to the family. The father is waiting for him. He had been standing on that porch every day since his son left…. Just in case
How do we know that?
17 "But when he [the prodigal] came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise 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 as one of your hired servants."' 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Luke 15:17-20
The father was not only waiting, but he must also have been eagerly looking for that son of his because he saw him “while he was still a long way off….”
Think with me. How long does the father wait? Is it days? Months? Years? How long does the father wait?
He waits as long as it takes. repeat
He doesn’t give up on the young son.
He doesn’t write him off.
He waits — until the lost son comes to himself.
When the son comes to himself, he sees clearly — both his father and himself. He now understands the blessing and generosity of his father’s household — there’s more than enough for both sons and servants.
And painfully…… but honestly, he realises he is unworthy.
He is unworthy of grace, unworthy of forgiveness, unworthy of relationship.
Oh, that should speak to our hearts!
We were as unworthy and dirty as that prodigal son, stinking of the pigpen, but Jesus took care of that with his life and death for us in our place. And that is why we are children of praise and gratitude and thanksgiving.
What we see next is……
The Lost Son Follows Through
Now, before we look at one final characteristic of the father, consider something about this prodigal son who has shown himself quite worthless up to this point.
When he comes to himself at his lowest point, (hungry and dirty and homeless with the pigs), he realises he has believed lies about his life and his father.
He says to himself, (voice) “I will get up out of this mess I’ve gotten myself into and go to my father, and I will openly repent and humble myself.” That’s my understanding of his words at any rate. And that is exactly what he does.
It’s not enough to have a moment of insight.
It’s not enough to realise how low you’ve sunk and how far you are from the Father.
It’s not enough to realise you’re miserable and hungry in the pigpen.
It’s not enough to spray on a little cologne to cover the smell of the pigpen. Over the years how many have I talked to and prayed for who said they were going to, but they never followed through?
If this is you today….
It’s time to follow through. It’s time to get up and return to your waiting Father and tell him, “I’m not worthy, but here I am, just as I am, without one plea.”
And here’s the best news of all: the father forgives. This is the last characteristic I want you to see today.
4) The father forgives.
21 And 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 servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.Luke 15:21-24
Don’t you love that?
The father doesn’t ask for an inventory, he doesn’t twist any screws by talking about how much he himself has lost or suffered.
He doesn’t even put the son on probation, which, let’s be honest, most of us think he deserves.
He doesn’t even take the prodigal’s sincere offer of servitude in place of sonship.
Instead, he immediately forgives, he immediately accepts, heimmediately restores relationship (that’s what the robe, the ring, and the shoes signify)(pic), he immediately rejoices.
What a picture of our loving heavenly Father who forgives. He doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, no inventory, no grudge, no probationary period. That’s your Father in heaven—and aren’t you glad?
As we close, I want you take a little time to think of this simple, vivid story of an earthly father with two sons—giving freedom to choose, suffering, waiting, forgiving.
And then think of God, your heavenly Father.
Do you know Him in this way?
See Him in this way?
He wants you to.
Jesus, the Son, said, this is what His Father is like.
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