{"id":679569,"date":"2025-02-17T18:59:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T23:59:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-17T15:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:40:37","slug":"two-sons-lent-4-c-march-30-2025","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/two-sons-lent-4-c-march-30-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Sons, Lent 4 (C) \u2013 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=DFMS2868791410&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/L4-2025-Cover-FB-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-329583\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[Today\u2019s sermon is presented in the format of a spoken-word poem. \u2013 Ed.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was a man who had two sons.&nbsp;<br>So our story begins.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA man with two sons,\u201d<br>is how a lot of stories begin,&nbsp;<br>if you think about it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That first man, expelled from the garden<br>had those two sons&nbsp;<br>named Cain and Abel.<br>Later followed by those other famous<br>brothers, Ishmael and Isaac,<br>the duo Esau and Jacob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There have been many men&nbsp;<br>with two sons.<br>And the younger of the sons,<br>those second born:<br>Abel and Isaac and Jacob\u2026<br>well, you know how it goes.<br>They are beloved,<br>the ones born to&nbsp;<br>their fathers<br>late in life,<br>the ones born of the favored wife;<br>not the concubine\u2019s children, but<br>the righteous ones,<br>the ones to inherit<br>the promises of God.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We expect the second son<br>to be clever and righteous,<br>savvy and faithful to his father.&nbsp;<br>We don\u2019t expect the second son&nbsp;<br>to squander away his inheritance.&nbsp;<br>That is not how the tale of two sons goes.<br>And so, it would seem<br>our story instantly veers off&nbsp;<br>course.&nbsp;<br>We find ourselves surprised,<br>intrigued by the journey we are on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This younger son,<br>heart of his father\u2019s heart,<br>takes off for a distant country<br>to live his prodigal life<br>squandering away all that he had been given,<br>a narcissistic lavishness&nbsp;<br>that we can\u2019t help but frown upon.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>Such is not proper living, after all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, as if a self-appointed Joseph,<br>in an Egypt-like place,<br>this younger son<br>finds himself&nbsp;<br>facing a famine,<br>imagining his father\u2019s<br>servants eating their fill<br>of daily bread.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, he puts on a repentant posture,<br>rehearsing his speech of remorse.<br>But does it even matter?<br>He can barely get it out of his<br>mouth, his father doesn\u2019t seem<br>to even hear him,<br>it doesn\u2019t seem to matter<br>what he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because his father is<br>far too busy running<br>rushing<br>hugging<br>kissing<br>putting a robe around him<br>perhaps one that resembles<br>a coat of many colors,<br>Ordering his servants&nbsp;<br>to kill a fatted calf.<br>The opposite of a famine<br>awaits him,<br>not because his repentance<br>was perfect or his posture<br>flawlessly humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The feast awaits&nbsp;<br>not because we say the right things<br>or put on a good show of remorse.<br>The feast awaits because his father,<br>his yearning, adoring father was waiting<br>for him to come home<br>and come home he had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this would\u2019ve<br>been a startling image<br>of the kingdom of God<br>in and of itself;<br>a depiction of a radically generous<br>and lavish God.<br>It is far too much mercy<br>for any of us to absorb&nbsp;<br>in a single day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It would\u2019ve been a<br>sufficient and scandalous<br>tale of grace and forgiveness<br>all by itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this is a tale of two sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so now<br>we join that elder son \u2013&nbsp;<br>the Cain, the Ishmael, the Esau, the one&nbsp;<br>our ancient stories so rarely shine a light on,<br>letting them slip off into the sidelines of history.<br>But here, we have a moment<br>to see his world,<br>to know what it\u2019s like&nbsp;<br>to be the son who stayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We join him<br>on his way in from the fields,<br>tired from the sun,<br>thirsty and longing&nbsp;<br>for respite, for a warm meal, for the coolness of night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Had he counted the minutes<br>the hours, the days<br>that he had worked the fields,<br>since his younger brother had left,<br>his hands bearing the evidence<br>splintered and calloused,<br>had he counted those days?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Had he kept track \u2013&nbsp;<br>a long tally of bitter triumphs \u2013&nbsp;<br>of the number of goats and calves&nbsp;<br>he had raised from birth to slaughter?&nbsp;<br>An offering of sustenance for the whole family,<br>laced with a dose of indignation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Had he silently seethed his way through the house<br>sucking the air out of the room as he walked in<br>or had he been exceedingly gentle with his father<br>tiptoeing on eggshells<br>too afraid to further shatter a delicate heart?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Had his sense of fairness<br>and budding self-righteousness<br>ever put a boulder in front&nbsp;<br>of his joy before&nbsp;<br>this moment, here and now?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We witness his father come toward him<br>pleading him to come inside<br>to join the feast.<br>The father, yet again, makes<br>a pilgrimage from the house<br>with urgency and sincerity<br>toward a wayward son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This elder son\u2019s waywardness<br>was marked not by opulent abandon<br>but by a thriftiness,<br>a stinginess of heart.<br>His stinginess morphed<br>into being,<br>with the good-intended<br>ingredients of<br>justice and fairness<br>mixed<br>with those nagging<br>thoughts that he had never been properly<br>thanked<br>or appreciated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A deadly recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has exiled himself from his own home<br>and stands there enraged<br>unable to cross the hurdle<br>of his own hardened and bitter heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This elder son,<br>embodies what<br>poet Jack Gilbert&nbsp;<br>warns about in his poem, \u201cA Brief for the Defense\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo make injustice the only<br>measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gilbert is not telling us<br>to stop our ears or close our eyes<br>to the heap of sadnesses<br>we find ourselves witnessing or complicit in.<br>He\u2019s not saying to ignore the wrongs<br>actually done against us or others.&nbsp;<br>That will be impossible.<br>We live in a land of ruins<br>and with hearts that pang<br>with indignation and sorrow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gilbert, instead, earlier in the poem<br>is pleading with us: Don\u2019t let the sorrows<br>and injustices,&nbsp;<br>the wrongs wronged and the deeds done,&nbsp;<br>the sins of our brothers and the sins of our own hearts<br>be the only things that get our attention,&nbsp;<br>don\u2019t let all of that&nbsp;<br>keep us from \u201crisk[ing] delight.\u201d&nbsp;<br>Don\u2019t let them become immovable boulders<br>on your path toward a party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because, Gilbert writes later in the poem,<br>\u201cThere will be<br>music despite everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And music there is &#8211;&nbsp;<br>A joyful and raucous celebration<br>in the house right beyond his father\u2019s silhouette.&nbsp;<br>Even after his younger brother<br>wastes his precious worldly goods,<br>even after the sorrow of watching his father<br>grieve a beloved son<br>and even after years of working<br>in the fields alone, abandoned,<br>the music begins again.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And here, the parable, this tale of two sons,<br>does its final magic.<br>It ends.&nbsp;<br>It does not narrate<br>the choice of the elder son.<br>It does not say he turned around<br>and walked away, toward the empty fields<br>all alone, with his righteousness as his sole companion.<br>Nor does it tell us that his heart<br>miraculously<br>thawed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It does not tell us what the elder son chooses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For he is us. And we are him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it is our choice to make.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will we join the great feast&nbsp;<br>where sinners of all kinds<br>gather,<br>welcomed home from their various<br>prodigal journeys?<br>Will we nurse our resentments<br>and self-righteous complaints<br>to the end of our days<br>alone in our castle on a hill?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will we get out of our own way,<br>and let God\u2019s love thaw those bricks<br>of bitterness?<br>Will we come back to<br>the only home we\u2019ve ever known?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is our choice to make.<br>No one will force you through the door.&nbsp;<br>The father stands there,<br>arms extended,<br>eyes hopeful<br>and expectant,<br>grace abounding<br>for you and me,<br>a mercy that is&nbsp;<br>hard to receive,<br>but what else<br>is there to do but<br>receive it?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The music is playing.<br>The fatted calf is ready.<br>Will you risk delight?<br>Will you keep the feast?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Kellan Day<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-e409cd7e-4d97-4dd7-93d0-4470dd2e0cdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-4-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Lent 4 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-4-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-e409cd7e-4d97-4dd7-93d0-4470dd2e0cdf\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-1e9d3963-491c-42ee-9b00-cf85c64359d4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-4-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Lent 4 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-4-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-1e9d3963-491c-42ee-9b00-cf85c64359d4\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 [Today\u2019s sermon is presented in the format of a spoken-word poem. \u2013 Ed.] There was a man who had two sons.&nbsp;So our story begins.&nbsp; \u201cA man with two sons,\u201dis how a lot of stories begin,&nbsp;if you think about it.&nbsp; That first man, expelled from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,43,52,3],"tags":[308],"class_list":["post-679569","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","category-lent","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-4c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":51,"label":"Lent"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":308,"label":"Lent 4C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/679569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/679569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3478449,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/679569\/revisions\/3478449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}