St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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Death and Dying: Old Dreams Die Hard

Luke 15:11-32

March 18, 2007         (Click the date to see the bulletin)

1. We know this story. And, even though we don’t actually find the word "prodigal" in it, we call this "The Story of the Prodigal Son." Prodigal a Latin word, and it means someone who left home to live extravagantly, and finally returned. When I was growing up, we were that prodigal. We were not rich, by any means, it’s just that every one in my mother’s family lived in Dallas Texas. Everyone, that is, except us. We lived in Rawlins, Wyoming, then Houston, then Fort Worth, then Midland, then Casper, Wyoming, and finally Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where we stayed long enough for my brother and me to graduate from High School. Every year we went ‘home" to Dallas, and my aunt would proclaim "the prodigals have returned, and we will kill the fatted calf." They would all have a party for us. We felt deeply loved. Even though we were not around for the day-to-day involvement in family responsibilities, even though we had gone away to "seek our fortune" (such as it was), they nevertheless welcomed us home with open arms. My aunt always loved me, always welcomed me home, even when my dreams of "fame and fortune" died for one reason or another.

2. My aunt was like the father in this story which is a witness to the extravagant love of a father for his children. Much to our surprise, it is not a moral story. After Jesus finished, he did not ask, "Which son was the better son?" That would have been easy. It was the elder son, the responsible son, the one who stayed by his father and worked hard. Jesus didn’t ask which son was the better. And he did not ask, "What is wrong with this story?" We are left with our mouths hanging open and our eyes bulged in wonder as we hear the father speak the punch line: "We had to celebrate and rejoice because what was dead has come to life; what was lost has been found." It borders on the unbelievable!

3. Our own stories border on the unbelievable, too! In fact, there are two points in this story that parallel own lives and the life of this congregation. One point is the dream, and the other is the death of that dream. All of us have had big dreams that never came true. So did our congregation. Fifty-two years ago, the Presbytery bought several acres on this corner and gave it to us to build a church. Our organizing pastor had big dreams. This room that we call the "sanctuary" was going to be the chapel – the little worship space. The sanctuary, the BIG worship space, would be up there, on the hill. For a while, it seemed as if it might happen. But it didn’t. The dream of being a huge Presbyterian Church on the corner of 36^th and Yale began to die. It didn’t happen all at once. We cannot point to one single event and say, "That did it!" It was more like "A Series of Unfortunate Events," which is the sub-title of some children’s books by Daniel Handler. He writes as Lemony Snicket who experiences one disaster after another. Lemony Snicket’s unfortunate events are fictional. Ours, however, are real. We endured the decline of mainline denominations, nation-wide, beginning about 1970; a couple of pastors who seemed good at the time they were called turned out to be not as good as we thought; some people got mad and left, others died. Little by little, our series of unfortunate events left us with a large building which needs equally large amounts of money to repair and maintain. Lemony Snicket’s unfortunate events ultimately stripped him of several awards, including Honorable Mention, the Grey Ribbon, and First Runner Up. Our unfortunate events stripped us of the money we need for staff and mission AND building.

4. Our dream of being a huge Presbyterian Church on this corner is dying. We are losing our dream! Old dreams die hard, don’t they? We wanted to be big and very successful, but it didn’t happen, did it? If we did not have this story in the Bible, we might think there was no more hope for us than there was for this younger son! But we do have this story, and there is hope for us! God loves us as much as this father loved his sons! Like this younger son who turned to his father for help, we turned to God. And God seems to have a new life in store for us! God seems to have found someone who wants to buy this property. And God even seems to have found a place for us to live and grow. We don’t know for sure and certain, and we don’t know when. We don’t know any more about the next chapter in our life together than we know about the next chapter in this story. All we know from the Bible and our own experience is that today, March 18, 2007, God loves us even when our dreams die, even when things don’t turn out the way we planned! God loves us and needs us, and seems to be providing a way for us, even though for a while it looked like there was no way at all. Next Sunday we will vote on whether or not to sell our corner to The Little Light House. Six days later, people from Southminster, and St. Giles and St. Andrew’s will begin exploring how it might be possible for us to become partners in ministry together in Southminster’s building at 35^th and Peoria. God has left those decisions to us, but God can be counted on to help us as we live our way into the future together.

5. Next Sunday we will discuss and vote. Next Sunday is also the Last Sunday in Lent, and the last sermon in this series on Death and Dying. It will be based on the Lectionary reading from the Prophet Isaiah:

"Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters: ‘Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:16, 18-10).

When I planned this series last August, I did not know that the Little Light House would want to buy our property. In fact, at the time I planned these sermons, they had just told us they were thinking this might not be enough room for them. In December, they finally made us an offer. We decided to get an appraisal, but the appraisal was delayed by the ice and snow. I kind of wanted us to be able to vote on their offer last Sunday, at the Annual Meeting, because the meeting was already scheduled. But we received a summary of the appraisal on Thursday before the Annual Meeting, which really wasn’t enough time to think and pray about it. And even though we could have legally brought it before you last Sunday, it seemed rushed, and the Session didn’t want that. It seemed better to wait until the next opportunity, which was two weeks away. So we will meet after worship next Sunday to discuss it and to vote, after we hear again those words the Prophet Isaiah said to the devastated people of Israel.

6. What I want you to know is this: I had absolutely no way of knowing that we would vote whether or not to sell our property on the same day we heard God’s promise to do something new! This is only one in a series of very fortunate events that have happened this past year, events which remind us that God is alive and well, and working hard to make us feel loved and wanted and needed. Thanks be to God!

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