There will be a long preamble today. Probably followed by another long post. I know it’s a challenge to wade through all of this stuff. 🙂

I’d like to open with a message from our friend, Patty. She sent me the loveliest email this morning … as many of you have done. Along with beautiful words of encouragement for Diane and me, she also spoke of joy. She says the sanctified person refuses to substitute happenings of the world … happiness … for real joy. She goes on to quote C.S. Lewis who says “I wonder if all the world’s pleasures are not substitutes for joy?” Thank you, Patty, for the reminder and an incentive to look for that source of joy and how that changes our lives.

Continuing with the preamble:

I begin every Monday morning with a short trip to a small church about ten minutes away. Most of the year, about eight or nine other guys and I get out of our cars in the dark in order to begin our meeting at 6:15. We’ve been doing this every week for nearly ten years. In that time, some of the faces have changed but our host, Rex, as well as Geoff and I, have been aboard since the beginning. For the first five or six years, we met from 6-7:30am but backed off, eventually to the hour starting at 6:15. We started the group in the short aftermath of the suicide death of the only child of dear Rex and Connie. We chose to go deep into The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard. I had tried to read it once, but couldn’t get traction. About six months later, I took another shot and soon found myself so absorbed that sometimes I just started laughing at the beauty of the truths. It was simply the best book I’d ever read and that’s saying something. Not long after, our little group formed and it took us two years to work our way through it, as I read it fully for the second time. Since then, we’ve taken on other books, year long devotionals, and one hundred most profound passages in the Bible. We start by sharing life, including joys and struggles. All of us have joys and struggles, some of the latter of which are pretty enormous. We then sit in silence as we greet the day and lift up our prayers aloud. At the end, we pray again, offer words of encouragement, and head out to begin the week. My office staff at school always felt I walked into work in an especially good mood afterwards. To Geoff, Rex, Gary, Tony, Jarratt, David, Hank, Mark and Justin, you are a true blessing.

In the years that followed that beginning, I found myself in a regular 6:30am breakfast with Fred and Gary, two “covenant partners.” For the last eight years or so, Diane and I have spent two hours on Wednesday evenings with six other couples. And, as I’ve mentioned previously, Diane and I are part of a 7:30am Friday morning prayer group at Susan’s home. Of course, we also attend regular worship services at our home church on Sundays.  All but the time at Susan’s were part of my weekly life while working full time as a principal and at the district office. You could never have convinced me a couple of years before that any of this was possible, not to mention desirable. All have led to a transformation in who I am and how I live my life, beyond anything I could have imagined. People who have lived and worked alongside me say I’m more loving, giving, patient and forgiving, although I feel I have a very long way to go. Is that an accident?

So, what motivated me to bring this up, other than it’s Monday?

One word: Grace.

I’ve come to believe that the most significant force in all of creation is grace. Love gets a lot of play and deservedly so. I wrote about that a few days ago. And love is a universally recognized feature of life. Most, but not all, people would say they’ve experienced some kind of love. Love is everywhere and used to describe lots of things from mundane to deep. Many people who believe in God say “God is love.” To which, I say, “Yeah, but …”

Does love conquer all? Does love make the world go ‘round? Perhaps. But we get distracted by the platitudes. We give up responsibility for diving more deeply into love in its purest form. If love is the character of God or love is the most significant feature of our lives, then what are the attributes of love that call our attention?

Like most things profound, I often find myself out of my depth. I feel called to consider and learn but feel sometimes I’m just traveling on the periphery. The periphery allows enough of a glimpse to really get my attention but it leaves me yearning for more. I read, listen, and contemplate and then on occasion actually try doing something to implement my awareness. Do some of you struggle with that as I do?

As reading comes easily to me, I’ve had the fortune of learning from some really gifted people.  And, some of them have really helped me to understand grace and to interpret my own experiences through that remarkable lens.

The first time I was ever really introduced to the concept of grace was as an eighth grader. I decided to read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. I’m not sure what motivated me but the copy I picked up was the unabridged version and it was close to 1500 pages long. That year also happened to be 1968 and I found myself immersed in the raw political environment that surrounded my home. The book and the time were the first major turning point in my life. I was changed forever and am the man I am today in some part because of those two experiences. I learned from that great story, of the human condition, of good and evil, of love and hate, and most importantly … of forgiveness and redemption. In short, not really knowing this, I first learned of grace.

As a theologian (having a graduate degree in theology always cracked me up as I worked in the very secular world of public education!), I can speak for a bit on the different kinds of grace. But I won’t here. They’re all basically the same thing.

A gift, freely given, undeserved.

Jean Valjean was transformed because of grace.

I was transformed because of grace.

I have experienced grace in many ways. Twice it was an experience so powerful and immediately following desperation, on the one hand, and complete surrender on the other, that there was nothing before or since that could compare. Imagine being under Yosemite Falls on full pour, except it’s not crushing water but cleansing and redeeming love. I think God really wanted to get this obstinate guy’s complete attention. For the most part, though, I experience grace in less earth shaking ways. Nevertheless, they are just as important.

As I basically said a moment ago, people get love. Or, think they do. But, people don’t naturally get grace. It’s actually pretty counterintuitive. It’s actually very radical. It makes no evolutionary sense. And, since the so called Enlightenment, that philosophical force that has ultimately elevated man above God, grace is sidelined and even ignored. I could no more fully understand grace than I could the deepest aspects of love, before I was confronted with the reality of unconditional love. And, I mean REALLY unconditional love. This kind of love is the precursor of grace. It’s probably true that many or even most of us have some sense of what this all is. I’m just bluntly saying that I didn’t really get it until about eleven years ago, although maybe thought I did.

Now, this is the air I breathe. I can no longer imagine living in a world not infused with unconditional love and grace.

Philip Yancey wrote a wonderful book with the title, What’s So Amazing About Grace?  Yancey has quite a way about him. He writes simply and honestly. He doesn’t preach and asks questions in the most humble manner. He writes as if we’re just a couple of folks, trying to make sense of it all.  Let’s leave all of those religious trappings aside as distractions. He writes as a pilgrim, not the wisest of men. Perhaps I want to be like Philip Yancey when I grow up. His book on grace was one of two books eight or nine years ago that helped me make sense of my experience. If you haven’t read it, you might give it a try.

But, the book that truly helped me get grace was Henri Nouwen’s, The Return of the Prodigal Son. I have spoken for hours at a time on the truths contained in this little book. Nouwen lived with grace at his core and he describes how he came to be able to do that. The centerpiece was his call to look at a painting and to reflect upon its significance. The painting currently resides in The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. I would welcome the chance to see it someday. A print hangs on our bedroom wall, many times the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning. Rembrandt did a masterful job of depicting what I believe is at the heart of the Gospel. If the Bible is the story of man’s relationship with God, then the Gospel, as expressed in the New Covenant, is the Good News about a reality that is not of this world, while still in this world. The scene in this painting is, foremost, a window into the very essence of who God is and who we are.

What is happening here and how is any of this helpful?

The God I know, the life I know, the reality I know, is contained in a little parable … a story that makes us think. A parable is kind of a riddle. Jesus was a master of creating cognitive dissonance. I learned of this component of teaching and learning very early on. I studied it as a student of epistemology (an esoteric discipline that focuses on knowledge). Jesus was called Teacher. He was a Rabbi, or teacher whose job it was to help students go to deep places. Hopefully, we’ve all had at least one or two of those. The only way we go to deep places is to “repent,” which really means rethink. We need to dive deeply into our assumptions, examine our “obviouslys” (as our friend Dawn says), and consider alternative ways to shape our understandings. No one was better at this than Jesus. People craved his wisdom and he gave them parables. These are not easy answers. They cannot be read in passing. They cannot be dismissed easily. Well, they can, but then we miss out on oh so much.

Some of you know me extremely well. Some less so. And, some, perhaps, not at all. Like Yancey and Christian (the central character in the 17th century classic, Pilgrim’s Progress), I’m just a pilgrim. But, I cannot state more boldly that I believe there is no more clear a portrait of who God is and who we are than is contained in the little parable as related in Luke 15:11-32. To me, this is the heart of reality. And, as the heart of reality, it lies at the core of who I think I am, who I think God is and how I should live my life.

And, its message is Grace.

Some of you know the story very well. Some may have heard of it and some have not. But, you’re getting the sense that at least there’s one guy who thinks this story just doesn’t explain his (my) reality but is the overarching reality for everyone.

Oh, how to get through this quickly because this post is already soooooo long!

Simply, there is an audience of two groups Jesus is speaking to. This sometimes gets lost in the telling but it’s extremely significant. The two groups are sinners and religious leaders. Put a little different, the two groups are law breakers and law keepers. Or, let’s look at them as people who know they are broken (despite any outward appearances) and people who know they are not broken.

And, there are three characters in the story. The younger rebellious son. The elder righteous son. And the father.

Two audiences. Three characters. In this moment, reality unfolds.

Many people who are very familiar with this famous parable believe it’s about forgiveness. The wayward son leaves the home, does bad stuff, ends up in squalor, comes home and is forgiven by his kind father. The Prodigal returns and is accepted. The end.

Whoa! Who or what is the prodigal and what is happening?

Yes, the younger son squandered his inheritance, did bad things and ended up eating with pigs. In other words, he was in the gutter, desperate. He decided to crawl home in shame, hopefully to enslave himself to his father to make up for his bad decisions (sins). He had nothing. No Thing Left.

The elder son did everything right. Followed all of the rules. Expected to receive his inheritance because he was a really Good Boy, unlike his younger brother. He deserved his rightful inheritance.

The father had all power, yet had been deeply hurt and shamed by the actions of his younger son, who had abandoned him for all the world to see.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and had compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.”

Way too much is going on here for me to get into. Suffice that this goes beyond forgiveness, although that’s a major feature. It goes beyond the realization and admission that the son (we) lack pure hearts and can behave badly. The ring, robe, the fatted calf and celebration are all symbolic of complete inheritance. Lavish expense. Wastefully extravagant. Giving freely.

And, who complains? The elder brother in the verses that follows. “But, he didn’t follow the rules!” “How can you be giving away what belongs to me?” Rembrandt shows him starkly standing there in judgment, as the father’s hands embrace the ragged son. The father replies to his elder son, that he’s always had everything the father had to offer. We want the elder son to have compassion and to rejoice. We’re hopeful he’ll come to this senses. He doesn’t realize that his hardened heart masks the brokenness that the younger son’s experience made visible. Jesus ends the story there. He left us hanging.

I identify with the younger son most clearly. I have felt the extravagant and undeserved gift of loving grace. This is the God I know and the framework under which I live my life. However, I also know that my heart can be judgmental and that I do not spend on others lavishly as God as spent on me. But, I can say I’m very aware of brokenness, even when living in abundance. In me. In others. And, I feel sorrow when I see the “religious” spirit bury the beauty of grace. I try to guard against that in myself and that’s one reason I am called into communion with other pilgrims who seek to journey deeply into these truths. Yes, Jesus leaves the story without the ending we want. But, it is the ending he wanted. He leaves us to consider who he is, who God is, who we are and what we do about that. Of course, we can play each character and see how that fits our perception of reality.

Dear Lord, thank you for all of your gifts. Your gift of unconditional and boundless love. Your faith in us, even when we don’t have much faith in you. Thank you for teaching us. Thank you for calling us to you. Please help us to listen to that call and not the false voice that says we are alone and that this is all there is. Help us to see ourselves as both broken and, unfortunately self-righteous. Thank you for your extravagant spending. As we come to walk more closely with you, we see better what that extravagance looks and feels like. Even when we are grieving or afraid or filled with doubt. May we be your eyes, heart and hands and learn to see others and the world as you do … and act upon it.  Help us to be extravagant with our gifts. Lord, thank you for Grace, the most beautiful gift of all.  Amen.