We call this “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” so that’s what we’re apt to hear—the depth of the son’s selfishness, the consequences of his waywardness, the character of his repentance, and perhaps the reasons for the older son’s grumpy protests.  That’s all part of the story, but that’s not the heart of Jesus’ tale.  

Today marks the beginning of Hopwood’s Month of Mission…and the question before us is…Why go, why leave, why care? Why should we who live in snug houses care about those who houses were shaken to pieces by earthquakes in Haiti or Chile? Why should we care about what happens to Africans who follow some form of folk Islam in West Africa? Why should we encourage a friend like George to launch out in his retirement years, learn a new language, suffer along with a persecuted church? How can we with good conscience send out parents with young children, expecting them to live for years at a time among people we have never seen or known? Why should we, here… pray and learn, give and go, write and remember?

“I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.” Those words have become the mantra for this generation. What do these words mean? “I’m spiritual.” I’m in touch with powers out there and powers in here? I’m sensitive to the good energy that flows through the world and exists between people? I’m open to be touched by something larger than myself? “…but I’m not religious.” I don’t go to church. I don’t want people cramming rules down my throat. Wherever the answer is to be found, it won’t be in Christianity. “I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.”

We live like people who expect to be around forever. Many have ceased to watch the eastern sky. Many no longer pray “Maranatha—come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Many would frankly be disappointed to see all of this come to an end. We’ve settled in—we’ve bought long term CD’s, built houses and lands, gotten comfortable. We’ve given our place of watchfulness over to conspiracy nuts and book peddlers. But make no mistake—Jesus said there will come a time when the King will appear in all His glory. There will be a reckoning. There will be judgment. The old will be rent apart…all things will become new, and just, and full of life.

President Obama is in trouble again. He has been caught on tape, once again, bowing to a foreign head of State. First to the king of Saudi Arabia, now we find him bowing to the emperor of Japan. An editorial in our local paper opined: “Kings and emperors have been treated with courtesy, of course, but to bow is—yes, I’ll say it—un-American.”....
Imagine how upset the pundits would be if they knew that most of citizens of America bow down to foreign powers every day. Constantly.

Today we find Jesus and his disciples watching money drop into the offering can. Jesus sat with his disciples in the temple courtyard, watching the action in the Court of women, where there were 13 offering boxes known as “the trumpets”—folks put coins into large metal trumpet-shaped funnels and listened to the racket as the coins went down. Each box was designated for a different ministry: Food for the priests, oil for the lamps, pew cushions or weed whackers for use around the temple.