Copyright © All Saints Memorial Episcopal Church

Lent 4  C
 

I have been sick this past week. There is some kind of cold of flu or something going around--I know that many of you have gotten it too. And it’s a serious one--it really lays you out.

I’m not used to this. I’m not used to feeling this tired for this long. From the time that I realized that I was sick to now, it has been a week and a half. And I’m still tired--that’s why I’m up here in the pulpit, instead of preaching without notes from the crossing.

I’ve been running right up against my limitations, this last week and a half. I haven’t been able to play with William in the way he’s used to. I haven’t been able to come into the office--I tried coming in last Thursday, and felt so tired that I basically just turned around and went home.

Now, whatever this bug is that I’m hopefully now getting over is, in the broader scheme of things, pretty small potatoes. I mean, It’s not cancer, or diabetes, or major surgery. It’s just a bug of some kind, more serious than many, perhaps, but not actually that big of a deal.

And still, it has made me reflect. I have limitations. I can’t do everything. Sometimes, I can’t even do very much!

And really, I think it’s good for us to come up against our limitations every now and then, although it’s certainly not any fun. But coming up against our limitations can remind us of who we really are in the grand scheme of things: we are just ourselves. We are not as strong, smart, rich, powerful, or
invincible as we may think we are, or wish we were. We are just ourselves. Nothing more.

And that is enough.

Because who we are, ourselves, just ourselves, is beloved children of God. We don’t have to be rich or powerful or strong or smart or whatever else it is we may think we have to be. It’s okay. We are God’s beloved children, no matter what.

Most of us are like the older brother in the Prodigal Son story, aren’t we? Proud of how hard we work, how loyal we are, what we have built. And there’s nothing wrong with that—not really. God wants us to be able to do God’s work here on earth, and that takes effort, just like staying home and working on the
family farm does. Someone has to grow those potatoes, or else people are going to be hungry!

The problem comes when we exchange our true identities as beloved children of God for our self-made identities as people who do this, or do that, or have some particular attribute, or skill, or whatever. Now, again, it is good to have a degree of self-knowledge, to know what our gifts are, how we can contribute
to building up God’s Kingdom. But that kind of self-knowledge can never replace our core identities as beloved children of God. Then we become like the older brother, resentful and angry, feeling that we haven’t been treated as we deserve, separating ourselves from God and from God’s love and abundance.

Think about the younger brother for a moment. He grew up with everything he could want, and he was full of himself. One day he decides he wants to take his future inheritance and get out of town. He thinks he’s invincible. He thinks that the money he has makes him special. Maybe he also has one of
those personalities that is just somehow inherently attractive-- you know the kind. The ones everyone likes to hang around with. One way or another, this boy thinks he’s pretty cool.

Strong and sexy, flush with money and a good partier, very popular and fun to be around.

And then he runs up against his limitations. The money runs out. His friends turn out to be less interested in him than he thought. He has to face the fact that he is broke, friendless, and far from home.

At first, he tries to continue to depend on himself. He hires himself out to do dirty work that most people don’t want to do. He has sunk low, but not hit bottom yet. But then, then it turns out that even the work that he can still do isn’t enough. He can’t even feed himself. This is the bottom. This is the absolute
end. His limitations have him backed into a corner and are staring him in the face. This time, he can’t get away from them. He has hit absolute bottom.

Embarrassed, chagrined, beaten down, he remembers that his father is a good employer--maybe his father would have pity on him enough to give him a job--it could be the lowest-level job, but even that would give him food to put in his stomach.

With fear and trembling he heads toward home, and suddenly sees his father running toward him, telling the servants to prepare a party, bringing him fine clothes to wear and assuring him of his love. Somehow, the younger son has done the right thing at last. He has come home where he belongs--running into his limitations has forced him back to his true home.

His true home, like ours, is in God’s heart. His true identity, like ours, is as a beloved child of God. We are not what we have, what we do, what we give away, what we avoid. We are God’s beloved children.

Without our true identity as God’s beloved children, all we have is our limitations. Our true identity must be at our core. When we remember that we are God’s beloved children, we can reach for God’s kingdom.

Remember your identity. Reach for the kingdom.

Remember and reach.