Acceptance, Forgiveness and Perseverance
“‘But my child,’ said the father, ‘you are with me always, and all that is mine, everything I have, is yours.’” — Luke 15:31.
What I am about to recite is something I did not write. Part of me says, “Gee, I wish I had written this.” Part of me is quite satisfied to attribute it elsewhere. This is The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F). It was written by Todd and Jedd Hafer and it’s from their book: Mischief From the Back Pew: and you thought you were safe in church.
And, oh yes, once I am finished reciting it, don’t blame me. You can blame The Rev. Dr. Susan Polizzi, late of the First Baptist Church, in Norwich. She sent it to me.
The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F)— Feeling footloose, frisky, fancy-free, a frivolous, feather-brained fellow, Fred by name, forced a fond, fawning father to fork over a fair share of the family farthings. Then this flighty flibbertigibbet offered a felicitous farewell, not at all forced, and fled far afield to foreign fields.
He ferociously frittered away a fabulous fortune, famously feasting among faithless fair-weather friends until, fleeced by his fun-loving fellows in folly, he found himself flinging feed in a festering, filthy farmyard. Flummoxed, famished, forlorn, filled with foreboding and finally facing famine, the frazzled fugitive found his faculties and returned to his father’s farm. (Slight pause.)
“Father, Father!” he forlornly fumbled, “I’ve flunked, flubbed, failed and frivolously forfeited family favor. Phooey on me! Let me be as one of your flunkies. For even a fruitless flunkie would fare far, far better than I have fared. Fair enough?” (Slight pause.)
“Filial fidelity is fine,” the father philosophized, “but, folks, the fugitive is found! Let fanfares flare! Let flags unfurl and flutter! Fetch the fatling, play that funky music, and let’s have some fabulous fun!” (Slight pause.)
As fortune would have it, unfortunately, older brother Frank was unforgiving and fumed furiously. “Forsooth! Father, flee from this folly! Frankly, it’s unfair. That fool forfeited his fortune!”
“Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank,” the father confronted. “Do not fear and do not fester. I am your fan.”
“Your coffers are fairly filled to overflowing, with forty million farthings. But your phantom brother, Fred, is finally and fortuitously back in the fold. For many fortnights, I’ve fantasized about this fabulous and festive feast. So focus on fun for Fred, not funds— and, to be frank, flake off, Frankie.” (Slight pause.)
So, a fatheaded, foolish fugitive found fulfillment. Furthermore, the father’s fond forgiveness formed a foundation for both the former fugitive’s future welfare and the fixations of the sibling fretter. Hence, do not forget: a faithful father loves forever. Well now, that’s finally finished! [1] (Slight pause.)
Remember— blame Susan Polizzi for that. I can give you her phone number. I can even give you her cell phone number. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work commonly called Luke: “‘But my child,’ said the father, ‘you are with me always, and all that is mine, everything I have, is yours.’” (Slight pause.)
Walt Kelly, the late cartoonist, is best known for the classic comic strip, Pogo. In one of the most famous lines ever in a comic strip, the character Pogo the Possum, gazing at garbage all over the ground in what should have been a pristine woodland ruefully says: “We have met the enemy and they is us.” (Slight pause.)
Surely, the wack-er-doodle-ry to which so many have paid attention in the news over the last several weeks and days has, for me at least, reenforced the concept of “We have met the enemy and they is us.” So, what does “we have met the enemy and they is us” have to do with the ‘Parable of the Loving Parent.’ (Slight pause.)
The reason I read a very, very different version of the parable was in the hope that it might be, therefore, heard in a very different way. You see, we get so used to hearing the parables that I think we often don’t perceive their depth.
Indeed, that is one reason these parables have been, over time, named the ‘Parables of the Lost’ when they are not. And, as naming them as the ‘Parables of the Lost’ suggests, too often they are taken in a simplistic way.
Nothing could be much clearer than these are not the ‘Parables of the Lost’ but the parables of the “Faithful Shepherd,” the “Diligent Housekeeper” and the “Loving Parent.” To say they are the ‘Parables of the Lost’ is simply wack-er-doodle-ry.
Paradoxically, one of the things I think we miss in the in the story of so called ‘Prodigal Son.’ is the wack-er-doodle-ry contained therein. Now, let me be clear on at least one of the things I mean by wack-er-doodle-ry. Wack-er-doodle-ry is the making of poor choices— the making of poor choices. (Slight pause.)
As must be evident, this story feels as if it is drawn from the life experience of family dynamics, a life experience with which most folks can identify. In real life, family dynamics often contain wack-er-doodle-ry— people making poor choices. Relatives cannot often change those choices. The choices are lived with.
In this case, the son who is footloose, frisky, fancy-free, frivolous and feather-brained clearly makes some very poor choices. Then the same son starts making good choices. In a reversal, the son who has made some good choices at the start suddenly becomes unforgiving, fumes furiously and makes some very poor choices.
Even though his coffers are fairly filled to overflowing, something his father has given him, he blames his father because he has not used what is his. Perhaps his real problem is he never claimed it for himself— also a very poor choice.
Well, what’s the lesson here? Many times, when these two siblings look in a mirror, they have met the enemy. They are their own worst enemy because they make poor choices— wack-er-doodle-ry. (Slight pause.)
So, do people make poor choices? Yes, people make poor choices all the time. And what can we do with that?
We can react in the way the loving parent reacted. We can offer some acceptance. We can offer forgiveness. But there is a final attribute here, I think not often noticed. I believe it to be the most important attribute the parent exhibits.
The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F) says (quote): “the faithful father loves forever.” But what makes that love so steadfast is that (quote): “For many fortnights, I’ve fantasized about this fabulous, festive feast.” In short, the father never gives up hope— never gives up hope.
To be clear: hope dies when we surrender to wack-er-doodle-ry. Hence, hope has two equally important qualities. Hope, real hope, is not some pie-in-the-sky good-will-happen in a sweet by-and-by dream world. Equally, hope, real hope, is not imposing an agenda on others. Where I come from imposing an agenda is not called hope. It’s called violence.
All of which is to say, perseverance is the prime attribute of hope. Hope comes alive when persistence is involved. Perseverance, persistence— working with someone until they understand how to, for themselves, make good choices, that defines real hope. Perseverance, persistence matters. (Slight pause.)
I, personally, know this truth: there are times we feel despair. Surely, as the father waited for his son, those times must have presented themselves. Surely, persistence is not an easy road. And surely those times when one’s patience is tested are the times we need to rely on God.
There is a hymn in our hymnal, one we will not sing today— Let Us Hope When Hope Seems Hopeless. The last verse reads: “Like a child outgrowing childhood / setting childhood things away / we will learn to live in freedom / in the light of God’s new day. / Now we see as in a mirror. / Then we shall see face to face / understand how love’s compassion / blossoms through amazing Grace.”
Indeed, I think one of many points in these ‘Parables of Hope,’ these ‘Parables of Rejoicing’ is that the maturity found in perseverance can define hope. (Slight pause.)
I try not to show this or to talk about this much. September the 11th is always a hard day for me. And the Sunday nearest, it is always a hard day to preach. As most of you know, I am a native of New York City. And I worked in the World Trade Center.
It went down and a part of me died. But I know that a mature response needs to be one of hope and, therefore, one of persistent love. Hope— [the pastor pauses and holds a stone over his head used at the Children’s Time with the word “hope” etched in it] persistent hope is not the only response we can have in the broken world in which we live. But it is the mature response. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
09/12/2010
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “I earlier mentioned that Pogo’s famous line, ‘We have met the enemy and they is us.’ It came as the possum gazed at garbage all over the ground in what should have been a pristine woodland. Kelly was making a comment about how the environment is often treated. That is a good example to illustrate the need for mature persistence. We need maturity to realize that preservation of resources is important. And we need persistence because each and every day resources need to be preserved. And, if we lose hope, we will be neither mature nor persistent.”
[1] Excerpt from Todd & Jedd Hafer’s Mischief From the Back Pew: and you thought you were safe in church, ©2003, Bethany House Publishers
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