“Full to the Brim: Prodigal Grace”
Preached Sunday, March 27, 2022
People of Grace - what is grace?
It is easier to define Grace when it’s considered our congregation - Grace is this building. But Grace is much more than that - as we know from the children’s song - the church is not a building, the cheer is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place - the church is the people! We are a joyous and caring people. We are a Christian community. That is Grace - capital G.
But what is “grace”? This Christian term we throw around a lot. It’s harder to define. Grace is certainly central and important to our faith but it’s harder to pinpoint what it is because we can’t hold it. It’s completely intangible. And unlike other intangible forces in this world - love, hope, joy - grace gets a lot less press. It doesn’t garner the same attention. You can’t wrap it up and sell it like people try and do to love. There aren’t the same amount of songs written about it. Grace is less quantifiable.
We know what love feels like. We know what hope feels like. We know what joy feels like. But what about grace? Grace doesn’t always feel like the same thing. And yet, grace is central, key, necessary in our lives and faith.
But what really *is* grace?
Before we dig more into attempting to define grace - do any of you have a definition of Grace you want to offer up? (*answers*)
Now, let’s start with the Methodist definition of grace - Grace, and how John Wesley defined it, is one of the hallmarks of Methodism. Our focus on grace is what makes Methodist theology unique. Not that other Christians or other denominations don’t believe in the same thing - but it’s the focus placed upon it.
In his sermon “Salvation by Faith” “John Wesley defined grace as God's ‘bounty, or favour: his free, undeserved favour, ... man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was free grace that ‘formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,' and stamped on that soul the image of God, and ‘put all things under his feet.' ... For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God's hand.’”
So I am not sure that definition really helps us based on it being in 18th Century speech so to summarize: Grace is God’s favor. I think of Mary, Mother of God, who was told she had found favor by God. Favor means that God looks upon us with love, that we are favored as children - a special place in God’s heart. Bounty as in a sum given or a bounty is something given generously. Indeed, Wesley says that Grace is free, given to us at our very creation, breathed into us in the from of the breath of God, a soul - a gift generously given before we could have done anything to deserve or earn it - indeed, there is nothing we can do to deserve the gift of grace - it is just given.
In Methodism we have a term for this, a term you have heard many times from me and one that I will never not bring up no matter how many times I’ve said - it’s that important: prevenient grace.* That is the grace that comes before we even know there is grace to be had - before we know there is a God who loves us unconditionally, grace is still present and at work in our lives. I think of it as the Holy Spirit constantly tapping our shoulders and whispering, “Hey! I love you!” Even if we don’t hear it.
Of course, grace doesn’t stop there. As Methodists we also talked about Justifying and Sanctifying Grace. Justifying Grace is that moment or moments - when we hear the Holy Spirit - when we KNOW there is Grace to be had - and we respond to God’s grace with a yes.
And sanctifying grace is that grace that helps us, moment by moment, day by day, to grow to better love God and love neighbor. That constant force of God in our lives that shapes us and forms us.
Of course, John Wesley isn’t the only person who has tried to define Grace.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, defines Grace as “‘the 'x' factor.’ It knits families, friendships and countries back together after betrayal, hurt and even violence.”
“Theologian Dorothee Sölle, who grew up in Nazi Germany, called” grace “‘borrow[ing] the eyes of God.’” It can remind us of our reading from 1 Corinthians this morning: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view.” Seeing people with the eyes of God is us practicing grace.
So Grace is God’s favor.
Grace is generously given.
Grace is something we can never earn.
Grace is there before we know there is Grace to be had.
Grace is there when we come to know God.
Grace is there shaping and forming us throughout our lives.
Grace is the x-factor.
Grace, when practiced by us, is seeing people through the eyes of God.
…but we still haven’t really defined Grace! This is what we do as Christians. We talk about grace but it’s this concept that’s just kind of floating down there, that we can’t quite pin down, and we don’t even always realize that.
So another definition. The Book of Discipline, and that’s *our* book as United Methodists - it has our theology, our principles, our structure - all laid out. The Book of Discipline defines grace as: "the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit."
What I want to focus on is “the…action of God.” Once a minister I admire once defined grace as “any way that God acts in this world.”
My first thought was: doesn’t that seem so simple? Can that really be GRACE? My second thought was, woah. No wonder grace is so hard to pin down - because how is God NOT acting in this world? No wonder we have all sorts of categories of grace. No wonder we talk about it in so many different ways. And no wonder it’s hard to pin down - no wonder we all experience grace differently and at different times and grace feels different to each of us as we have varied experiences of Grace throughout our lives.
Grace IS the undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable, actions of God in this world towards us.
Now, with this definition in mind, let’s turn, briefly, to consider our Gospel lesson this morning and the idea of prodigal grace.
The parable of the prodigal son, I think more than any other Bible story, is one we cast ourselves in. When we read it we think: Who am I? Am I the Father, the son who left, the same son but when we came home, the son who stayed at home? And there is a lot to be learned about ourselves and how God shows us grace in each of these roles - but what I want to point out today is how each character experienced grace - how each character received undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - how God acts toward each of the characters in this week’s lesson.
There is the prodigal son. Now, prodigal means wasteful. As in, he wasted his father’s money, the inheritance he was set to get when his father died. How did he waste or lose the money? I heard once that someone went and asked people in various countries how the son lost his money. In the State they said he spent his money on frivolous living, that he was irresponsible. In Ireland people said because of famine and he couldn’t work the ground and provide for himself. In South Africa, it was because no one helped him. Now, the text does say all 3 of these things - our perspectives of our world color our understanding. But regardless of how he lost the money - he asked for it before it was rightfully his. He had given up the status of his father’s son. He went home, ready to beg, ready to accept a lower status. And he received grace. From a parent who was just so glad he was home. That he showed him undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
The other son, the son who stayed home, also receives grace from his father. He is mad at his father. Mad at his brother. He is in the middle of accusations - kind of a tantrum, honestly. Questioning his father’s decisions. And his father doesn’t shout back, doesn’t get in a fight, doesn’t stir up more animosity he says, “Hey, do you know that I love you too?” He says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” In the middle of this tirade he says - what’s mine is yours. He shows his son underserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
And then, there is the father too. Sometimes he is depicted as God - the parent who is always waiting for us to come home. The parent who sits up for us, porch light on, waiting in the driveway - for the first glimpse of us, waiting for us to get home safe. But it’s not explicitly said that the father in this story is God the father - he could just be a father, who loves his sons. And because he loves his sons, has a heart of grace, he sees them with the eyes of God. It’s the x-factor that keeps his family together. If we are the hands and feet of Christ in this world, if we are to be God to each other, we do that by doing what the father did for his sons, he showed them undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
Indeed, instead of calling this story the parable of the prodigal son - the wasteful son. We could call it the story of prodigal grace - for prodigal can mean not just wasteful but lavish. Because Grace is lavished over every character in this story. Grace abounds. It’s like confetti or glitter - it gets everywhere! God has no limitations on grace, no reservations, no shortages, no supply chain issues - Grace is free and God will lavish it on all of God’s children - endlessly. Because God will never stop acting in our world, God will never stop loving us, God will never stop giving us grace.
And God isn’t the only one who can give grace. Like the father in the story, we can give grace to others. We are called to love like God loves us. We are called to give grace as God gives us grace. We are called to be God to others in this world.
So, people of Grace, let us truly be people of Grace! Those who have received God’s grace - God’s undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - and those who give that same grace to all. Amen.
But what is “grace”? This Christian term we throw around a lot. It’s harder to define. Grace is certainly central and important to our faith but it’s harder to pinpoint what it is because we can’t hold it. It’s completely intangible. And unlike other intangible forces in this world - love, hope, joy - grace gets a lot less press. It doesn’t garner the same attention. You can’t wrap it up and sell it like people try and do to love. There aren’t the same amount of songs written about it. Grace is less quantifiable.
We know what love feels like. We know what hope feels like. We know what joy feels like. But what about grace? Grace doesn’t always feel like the same thing. And yet, grace is central, key, necessary in our lives and faith.
But what really *is* grace?
Before we dig more into attempting to define grace - do any of you have a definition of Grace you want to offer up? (*answers*)
Now, let’s start with the Methodist definition of grace - Grace, and how John Wesley defined it, is one of the hallmarks of Methodism. Our focus on grace is what makes Methodist theology unique. Not that other Christians or other denominations don’t believe in the same thing - but it’s the focus placed upon it.
In his sermon “Salvation by Faith” “John Wesley defined grace as God's ‘bounty, or favour: his free, undeserved favour, ... man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was free grace that ‘formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,' and stamped on that soul the image of God, and ‘put all things under his feet.' ... For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God's hand.’”
So I am not sure that definition really helps us based on it being in 18th Century speech so to summarize: Grace is God’s favor. I think of Mary, Mother of God, who was told she had found favor by God. Favor means that God looks upon us with love, that we are favored as children - a special place in God’s heart. Bounty as in a sum given or a bounty is something given generously. Indeed, Wesley says that Grace is free, given to us at our very creation, breathed into us in the from of the breath of God, a soul - a gift generously given before we could have done anything to deserve or earn it - indeed, there is nothing we can do to deserve the gift of grace - it is just given.
In Methodism we have a term for this, a term you have heard many times from me and one that I will never not bring up no matter how many times I’ve said - it’s that important: prevenient grace.* That is the grace that comes before we even know there is grace to be had - before we know there is a God who loves us unconditionally, grace is still present and at work in our lives. I think of it as the Holy Spirit constantly tapping our shoulders and whispering, “Hey! I love you!” Even if we don’t hear it.
Of course, grace doesn’t stop there. As Methodists we also talked about Justifying and Sanctifying Grace. Justifying Grace is that moment or moments - when we hear the Holy Spirit - when we KNOW there is Grace to be had - and we respond to God’s grace with a yes.
And sanctifying grace is that grace that helps us, moment by moment, day by day, to grow to better love God and love neighbor. That constant force of God in our lives that shapes us and forms us.
Of course, John Wesley isn’t the only person who has tried to define Grace.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, defines Grace as “‘the 'x' factor.’ It knits families, friendships and countries back together after betrayal, hurt and even violence.”
“Theologian Dorothee Sölle, who grew up in Nazi Germany, called” grace “‘borrow[ing] the eyes of God.’” It can remind us of our reading from 1 Corinthians this morning: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view.” Seeing people with the eyes of God is us practicing grace.
So Grace is God’s favor.
Grace is generously given.
Grace is something we can never earn.
Grace is there before we know there is Grace to be had.
Grace is there when we come to know God.
Grace is there shaping and forming us throughout our lives.
Grace is the x-factor.
Grace, when practiced by us, is seeing people through the eyes of God.
…but we still haven’t really defined Grace! This is what we do as Christians. We talk about grace but it’s this concept that’s just kind of floating down there, that we can’t quite pin down, and we don’t even always realize that.
So another definition. The Book of Discipline, and that’s *our* book as United Methodists - it has our theology, our principles, our structure - all laid out. The Book of Discipline defines grace as: "the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit."
What I want to focus on is “the…action of God.” Once a minister I admire once defined grace as “any way that God acts in this world.”
My first thought was: doesn’t that seem so simple? Can that really be GRACE? My second thought was, woah. No wonder grace is so hard to pin down - because how is God NOT acting in this world? No wonder we have all sorts of categories of grace. No wonder we talk about it in so many different ways. And no wonder it’s hard to pin down - no wonder we all experience grace differently and at different times and grace feels different to each of us as we have varied experiences of Grace throughout our lives.
Grace IS the undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable, actions of God in this world towards us.
Now, with this definition in mind, let’s turn, briefly, to consider our Gospel lesson this morning and the idea of prodigal grace.
The parable of the prodigal son, I think more than any other Bible story, is one we cast ourselves in. When we read it we think: Who am I? Am I the Father, the son who left, the same son but when we came home, the son who stayed at home? And there is a lot to be learned about ourselves and how God shows us grace in each of these roles - but what I want to point out today is how each character experienced grace - how each character received undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - how God acts toward each of the characters in this week’s lesson.
There is the prodigal son. Now, prodigal means wasteful. As in, he wasted his father’s money, the inheritance he was set to get when his father died. How did he waste or lose the money? I heard once that someone went and asked people in various countries how the son lost his money. In the State they said he spent his money on frivolous living, that he was irresponsible. In Ireland people said because of famine and he couldn’t work the ground and provide for himself. In South Africa, it was because no one helped him. Now, the text does say all 3 of these things - our perspectives of our world color our understanding. But regardless of how he lost the money - he asked for it before it was rightfully his. He had given up the status of his father’s son. He went home, ready to beg, ready to accept a lower status. And he received grace. From a parent who was just so glad he was home. That he showed him undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
The other son, the son who stayed home, also receives grace from his father. He is mad at his father. Mad at his brother. He is in the middle of accusations - kind of a tantrum, honestly. Questioning his father’s decisions. And his father doesn’t shout back, doesn’t get in a fight, doesn’t stir up more animosity he says, “Hey, do you know that I love you too?” He says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” In the middle of this tirade he says - what’s mine is yours. He shows his son underserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
And then, there is the father too. Sometimes he is depicted as God - the parent who is always waiting for us to come home. The parent who sits up for us, porch light on, waiting in the driveway - for the first glimpse of us, waiting for us to get home safe. But it’s not explicitly said that the father in this story is God the father - he could just be a father, who loves his sons. And because he loves his sons, has a heart of grace, he sees them with the eyes of God. It’s the x-factor that keeps his family together. If we are the hands and feet of Christ in this world, if we are to be God to each other, we do that by doing what the father did for his sons, he showed them undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace.
Indeed, instead of calling this story the parable of the prodigal son - the wasteful son. We could call it the story of prodigal grace - for prodigal can mean not just wasteful but lavish. Because Grace is lavished over every character in this story. Grace abounds. It’s like confetti or glitter - it gets everywhere! God has no limitations on grace, no reservations, no shortages, no supply chain issues - Grace is free and God will lavish it on all of God’s children - endlessly. Because God will never stop acting in our world, God will never stop loving us, God will never stop giving us grace.
And God isn’t the only one who can give grace. Like the father in the story, we can give grace to others. We are called to love like God loves us. We are called to give grace as God gives us grace. We are called to be God to others in this world.
So, people of Grace, let us truly be people of Grace! Those who have received God’s grace - God’s undeserved, unmerited, loving, bounteous, generous, favorable grace - and those who give that same grace to all. Amen.
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