Come to the Table
Luke 15:11-32

When I was in grade school, the Parable of the Prodigal Son was the one parable that I understood completely. I am the oldest child with two younger brothers. I was very very good—I have NEVER been grounded—whereas my brothers progressed from mischievous to naughty to even bad. I knew the anger of the older brother in the parable was spot on: it was about time someone set parents straight about their wayward offspring.

Then, when I was a little older, I actually listened to the sermon that followed the reading of this parable.

Convicted.

I realized that there are TWO brothers in the story, and that BOTH of them cause their father grief, and that the best title for the parable was not “The Prodigal Son” but “The Forgiving Father.” I was horrified to see myself in the older brother as he revealed his true heart. The older brother has been obedient and helpful to his father, but in his heart, he has been calculating and cold. Now he is angry, judgmental, and resentful that there is rejoicing that “this son of YOURS,” as he calls his lost brother, has returned home. He will not even claim his brother as his own.

The Older Brother

I reddened as I remembered a trick that I played on my brothers constructed to strictly avoid being grounded for my obvious meanness. I had gone to the plant nursery earlier that day with my mother, and she had bought an ornamental pepper plant. We were warned that the peppers were ornamental only, strictly NOT for eating. They were too hot and could even make someone sick.

Our parents went out to dinner later that night, and when we three were alone, I said to my brothers, “You think you are so great—you think that you can eat anything no matter how spicy. But you would not be able to eat THESE peppers. The man at the store said no one can eat them: they are too hot. But you think you are so great.” Of course my brothers dove for the peppers, and the first to get a pepper into his mouth started screaming and ran for the ice tray. He held ice on his tongue and by accident touched the skin near his eyebrow. A blister formed on his skin.

When my parents came home, my mother asked my brother what had happened to him. My brother started to say, “Nothing…” but I interrupted and said, “I TOLD him not to eat those peppers, I TOLD him that they were too hot—but he wouldn’t listen. I TOLD him that the man at the store said that they could not be eaten.”

Devious. Manipulative. Cruel. And convicted.

That led me to think about one of my recurring fears, a fear ever since I had learned about the Holocaust. I had wondered about all the German women who during the Nazi regime kept their heads down, their children’s clothes clean, prepared dinner, and did their best to ride out the storm—even when they lived just down the road from a concentration camp. I have always feared not seeing the signs, of being afraid to address the danger of the moment. When I recognized myself as the older brother in the parable, I realized that I am a person who hides behind apparent “goodness,” making sure that by following rules, I cannot be blamed for doing wrong. And I realized that this kind of “goodness” is in fact a sin: it can harm others, and could crush my very soul.

Lent for Older Brothers

One of the challenges that Lent presents is to take an honest, hard look at your life and to admit your wrongdoing, however innocent it may appear. Admit to yourself that your luxuries take precedence over others’ necessities. Admit to yourself that you have come to believe that you are a good person, and then come to believe that everything you do must be okay—because you are good, after all. To stray from the connection with God by thinking that the good things in your life are all earned by you, and to come to see being “good,” however construed, as a substitute for being beloved.

Our Rite I liturgy is a Lenten resource that is the discomfiting and strange and even disturbing. The Prayer of Humble Access is a challenge to many of us:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own
righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as
to gather up the crumbs from under thy Table.

Me? Not righteous? Not worthy to gather crumbs? This is shocking!

It’s not that righteousness isn’t something to be sought. It’s that we should not trust that we older-brother-types are quite so righteousness as we have come to tell ourselves. The Prayer of Humble Access is a call to reconsider the self that has been crafted and shown to the world; to compare that constructed self to the whole self which is more complex, more fragile, and most certainly one that hurts God and neighbor.

The Younger Brother

There is another brother in the parable. It’s easy to see that his life is a mess. He has gotten to the point that he feels completely unworthy of even being considered his father’s son, and he’s willing to work as a slave simply for food and a place to sleep.

Who are the younger brothers among us? They are the ones who have learned that because they didn’t follow the rules, because they slipped, because they have not preserved the veneer of righteousness, because they have been sullied by life, they are not worthy. And the “logic” that follows is the mistaken idea that they are neither able to be forgiven or loved. Father Greg Boyle, a priest whose parish is a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles, has story after story of prodigal moments—of people in his parish who come to realize that by the world’s standards, they are disposable, unworthy, irredeemable:

• Sparky, a twenty year veteran of gangs and prisons, with a menacing façade and bulging muscles, tells his story and ends with sadness: “I have spent twenty years building a reputation—and now I wish I didn’t have one.”

• Carmen, who joined gangs, became addicted to heroin, engaged in sex work, became homeless, and became known as a neighborhood hothead who screams and fights on the street. Carmen recounts her life and then stops, tries to collect herself, and says, weeping, “I…am…a…disgrace.”

• The nameless woman, dressed to the nines, who comes to Mass, kneeling at the rail. She sticks out her tongue so that she can receive the bread without touching it. When Father Greg tells her, “It’s better to receive in the hand,” she at first refuses, teary as she mutters, “I am dirty.” Why does she feel too dirty to touch the communion bread? Did she have an affair? Embezzle money from work? What if she was she raped? Abused or assaulted over years by a family member? Was she tormented and cowed by others who told her that she was worthless until she came to believe it?

“Sin” is what separates us from God—and so Lent is for the younger-brother-types to take a careful look who they really are down deep, to see that whatever they have done and whatever has been done to them is not going to keep them from being God’s beloved. Praying the Prayer of Humble Access, they first hear the words “…not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table,” which is what they already think about themselves. But what they hear next is the message that they need to have engraved on their hearts:

But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.

Always to have mercy. Always. The older brother is granted mercy without regard to his sins committed under the guise of righteousness; the younger brother is granted mercy without regard to his sins committed in disregard of righteousness. Both are God’s beloved, both are gathered in, both are invited to the table.

The Invisible Brother

The parable has a third brother lurking in the wings, a brother who is invisible in this story. I will call him Francis, and his story is told by Brian McLaren. Francis was from another country, and he attended a communion service where McLaren served him communion. As he took and ate the bread, he began weeping uncontrollably even with a huge smile on his face. He said that it was the first time in his life that he had received communion.

McLaren was shocked. “Aren’t you a life-long Christian?” “Yes—but you see I am the son of my father’s third wife. In our culture, only the children of the first wife may receive communion.”

The invisible brother is the one who doesn’t even know if he belongs in the tension between the younger and elder brother. He is the one who fits in as best as he can, not sure if he is in or out, a part of the family or only sort of or only sometimes. Sin is separation from God. Lent is for the invisible brother to turn away from his formlessness, his homelessness, and to join the family at the table. The Prayer of Humble concludes with the prayer that we may be one with God—and one with each other.

Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and
to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

The blunt language from the 16^th century may make slow us down, but when we take a minute we can translate the images into a more modern idiom: “DINNER’S READY!! Come to the table, y’all. Supper’s waiting. We’re all together, and we’re all waiting for YOU so we can eat together.”

The Forgiving Father

It takes time and focus and honesty, and often tears of both despair and joy, to see ourselves honestly. It takes time and focus to repent—to turn—in order to fully claim a bewildering, wonderful truth: we are each of us beloved children of God.

• We may follow paths of righteousness—but not to earn God’s grace which can’t be earned, only given.
• We may fall from paths of righteousness—but forgiveness is God’s promise, always.
• We may not know where we belong—but the Holy One wants us to know that we belong at God’s Table.

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs from under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

God is the Forgiving Father who leaves the party to go upstairs and coax the son to Table, the child who slammed the bedroom door shut in a cold, aggrieved rage; the Father who welcomes to Table the daughter who has cruelly manipulated her brother into doing something stupid he would have never done otherwise.

God is the Forgiving Father who stands at the edge of the driveway every day, peering at the horizon, hoping for a glimpse of the child staggering across the fields frightened, defeated, shamed.

God is the Forgiving Father who insists that the WHOLE family be at dinner together, including the child who is the son of the new girlfriend, or the stepchild of the blended marriage, or the kid down the street who has been crashing on the sofa because he can’t go home and has nowhere else to go right now. God’s prayer is that we all may be One, and that we may feast together at the Table of joy and abundance.

Come. The celebration will be incomplete without you, beloved of God.

Amen.

Jen+

Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day.

LENTEN SERIES

We have a range of services and gatherings for Lent, including Wednesday Lenten Series at 12:30 and 6:30 each Wednesday. Each week will begin with a different form of the Stations of the Cross. We will then discuss prayer practices and concerns. Each meeting will be 45-60 minutes long. Use the on-line newsletter and a printed sheet outlining Lent and Holy Week to fill your calendar for this wonder and moving season. Click here for a full listing of all the Lent and Easter services being offered this year.

LENTEN CRAFTS

If you’d like, make beautiful Ukrainian pysanky eggs for the Easter budding branches in the sanctuary or take home to enhance your home’s Easter egg tree. Those materials are set out through this Sunday, April 6.

EASTER SUNDAY BRUNCH

There is a sign up sheet in Hamilton Hall for the April 20 Easter brunch so please be sure to sign up to bring your favorite side dish!

NEW PICTORAL DIRECTORY

We have chosen Universal Church Directories to help us with our new pictoral church directory. Our photography date will be this Tuesday, April 8 from 2:00 – 8:30 p.m. in Hamilton Hall. We want everyone included so if you haven’t already signed up, please do so. You can go online to ucdir.com and use the Church Code: in2012 and the Password: photos. This will take you to the online signup page. Karen Hirt Mannon will also be signing people up on Sundays before and after the service. You may call Karen at (765) 720-2402 to find out what slots are available now. Each family will receive a complimentary 8 X 10 photo and and a free directory.

NON-FOOD PANTRY AND PANTRY COALITION HELP NEEDED

The Pantry Coalition needs volunteers to help work 2 hour shifts at Kroger on Monday, April 14 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for Kroger Sweeps Day distributing shopping wish lists and answering questions, and someone to pick up our part of the collection the next morning, Tuesday, April 15 before 9:00 a.m. Pick-up is easily done with a car. If you can help in any way, please contact Fred Vallowe at vallowef@gmail.com. April 30, Wednesday, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Ashley Square Cinema the Putnam County Pantry Coalition will be showing two short films on food insecurity in Indiana. A panel discussion on the complexity of these Hoosier issues will be included. Admission is free, but the donation of a pantry staple would be appreciated!

EASTER FLOWER REMEMBRANCES

Easter Flower Remembrance Forms will go out this Sunday, April 6. Please have those back along with your payment by Monday, April 14 in order for your remembrances to be printed in the Easter Sunday service sheet. This is a free will donation.

TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY

The Book and Bible Group has begun again, meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays with Evening Prayer celebrated at 4:00 p.m. NOTE: No Book and Bible Groups on April 8 and April 15.

ALTAR FLOWER CALENDAR

An altar flower calendar is posted in Hamilton Hal. Sign up to sponsor the altar flowers to commemorate a birthday or anniversary, remember a loved one, or in thanksgiving for an important event. We ask a donation to help offset the cost of the altar flowers and other worship expenses. Be sure to tell the office your dedication so that it can be printed in the bulletin. Please make checks payable to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and in the memo field please put this information: Altar Flowers, person’s name, occasion, Sunday date you’d like for the flowers to be on the altar.

VESTRY MEETING MINUTES

If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the top of the piano in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!

THIS WEEK’S SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY

Please add baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, and Adult Depends (any size) to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of April. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, April 26 from noon – 2:00 p.m.

KROGER COUPONS

If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!

FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL

We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.

ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL

We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.

We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!

Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.

Your prayers are asked for: