Sermons for the Month

A World Changed by Prodigals
DATE: March 18, 2007
SERVICE: 4th Sunday in Lent -- Theme: "Amazing Grace"
TEXT: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

This is a day for prodigals. There are three prodigals in today's Gospel lesson. The movie I'm going to talk about is full of prodigals. And, as a matter of fact, all of us are potential prodigals. As you contemplate that for a moment let me remind you that the word prodigal means to be excessive or extravagant.
The actual word is not used in scripture, although the title often is used to label the son of Jesus' parable who insulted his father by acting as if he was already dead and claiming his inheritance. He then wasted it by living in an excessive and extravagant way, ending up in the most despicable of circumstances for a Jew, feeding pigs, so hungry that he longed for their food. He is a prodigal son.
But, the brother in the parable also is a prodigal because when he discovered that his long lost sibling had returned home and a celebration was in progress his anger was excessive and his self-righteousness extravagant. He too insulted his father by refusing to go into the party and implying that he had been abused. So, you see, he also is a prodigal son.
However, the word prodigal best describes the father in the story. He is excessive in the welcome, the forgiveness, the acceptance and the joy that he offers his wayward son. He is extravagant in showing patience to the older son, receiving his anger and yet affirming his devotion to him. He is the true prodigal, showing excessive, extravagant, amazing grace.
The interesting thing about this parable is that we do not know how it ends for the sons; I imagine Jesus intentionally crafted the story in that way in order to make his listeners think. Having received the prodigal love of the father, how will they respond? Knowing that the father in the story represents God, and the sons are people who hear the story, we then might ask, "How do we respond to the extravagant, excessive, amazing grace of God?"
The recent movie "Amazing Grace" asks that very question, "How might one respond to the extravagant, excessive, amazing grace of God?" The title reminds us of the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the film includes the story of the hymn's author John Newton, a former slave ship captain who rejected that life and suffered greatly in conscious due to the part he played in promoting the British slave trade of the 1700s. But the story focuses on William Wilberforce, who was influenced by John Newton, was elected to Parliament as a young man and was close to William Pitt, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Historians report that Wilberforce had a hapless youth and a purposeless early political career. But, while he was yet in his 20's, he began to reflect deeply on his life and experienced a spiritual rebirth. Yet, he struggled with God's purpose for him, should he pursue religion or politics? At the same time he began to be absorbed in, and appalled by, the issue of slavery. By the late 1700s English traders were raiding the African coast and capturing between 35,000 and 50,000 Africans a year, shipping them in un-human conditions across the Atlantic, and selling them into slavery. (1)
There is a scene in the movie that portrays his struggle with how to live out his faith. Wilberforce's friend William Pitt understands the internal battle, but wants Wilberforce to remain a politician and fight the fight of faith in the public arena. He arranges for a dinner at which a group of Anglican and Quaker abolitionists are present, including a former slave and eyewitness of injustice named Olaudah Equiano. He describes the abhorrent conditions on the slave ships and shows the brand that was burned into his flesh and says that the purpose of it is to let the slaves know that they no longer belong to God, but to man.
These abolitionists want Wilberforce to take up their cause, and they know he is weighing whether his work will be in the realm of God or politics. It is then that Hannah More, an author, philanthropist and leading female abolitionist looks into his eyes and says, "We humbly suggest…that you can do both." (Show film clip at 10:30 a.m. worship.)
And so it was that William Wilberforce became their voice in Parliament. He was a prodigal, an excessive, extravagant champion of this cause (as well as others that we don't have time to go into today). It was not easy; the story of the atrocities of slavery had to be told and the battle was against those who had economic vested interests in keeping the slave trade alive. The implications were international in scope. The resolutions against the slave trade that he introduced often were defeated due to fine legal points. Pro-slavery forces targeted him and the opposition became personal and fierce. And, during all this, he battled debilitating illness that was treated with a new drug, opium, to which he became addicted.
Yet, he was a prominent member of the Clapham Sect, a group of devout Christians of influence in government and business. And, he wrote a scathing critique of comfortable Christianity that became a best seller. Finally, 18 years after he introduced that first resolution, in 1807, the British slave trade was abolished. He was indeed a prodigal.
It's interesting to me that this movie is not only being connected to the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, it also is being used to generate a new movement to abolish modern-day slavery. In a DVD that I received in the mail from another ELCA pastor a teenager named Zach Hunter is introduced as the spokesperson for this movement. He speaks of 27 million people in the world who are still enslaved, including millions of children, working in rock quarries, on plantations, in brothels and factories. (If you want to know more about this, I have information to share.)
He announces, "My generation will be the generation that abolishes slavery once and for all," and describes himself and his peers as the new generation that is changing the world, who will bring about the amazing change.
I think this is great, especially since he encourages the viewers to find something to be passionate about, if not this issue, then some way create positive change.
The message is, be a prodigal in the best sense of the word. Be excessive; be extravagant, in response to the amazing grace of God. Join people like William Wilberforce in the grueling business of world changing. Today is a day for prodigals; and we are among them.

AMEN
(1) 131 Christians Everyone Should Know, From the Editors of Christian History Magazine, pgs. 283-285.