All that is mine is yours

I believe that today’s story found in The Gospel of Luke is one of the greatest, most powerful and effective stories recorded in history.

It’s brilliance stems in no small part in the way it invites us to see ourselves in the three characters of the story.

Forgive me now for making assumptions, but I think that I speak the truth in saying that we have all had times, like the younger son, where we feel that the combination of our choices and circumstances have led us to feeling lost, abandoned, and hopeless.

I think it’s also likely that we have had times, like the elder son, where we have felt deserving, over-worked, under-appreciated, and resentful of someone getting celebrated for doing less, nothing, or even wrong.

And I also think that it’s likely that we have found ourselves in the place of the forgiving father, where whatever disappointment or hurt we have in someone is negated by the possibility of new life and fresh beginning, and we generously act out of that possibility.

By combining the three, we get insight not only into our past actions and inactions, but the actions and inactions of others.

This is good, fertile ground for exploration.

This is usually where I spend the bulk of my internal analysis of the story, and also the conversations I have about it with others.  How we hear this story through the lens of our lives  matters.

However, sometimes we must also hear the story in the context that the writer is giving us…and in this case Luke’s Gospel is really clear about why this story is being told.

The story comes after the Pharisees and scribes’ grumble at Jesus for eating with sinners.  Jesus tells it in reaction to these grumblers, so it is correct to assume that the elder son represents them.

We know that in the Gospels that those who oppose Jesus are in the wrong, so it’s reasonable to concluded that the elder son is also in the wrong.  And he is.  But in the story, it’s also completely understandable why the elder son reacts the way he does.  The elder son has witnessed the effects of the younger son’s selfish past actions.  He has seen his father’s pain.  He knows that life has been harder without his brother:  there not only has been more work to do without him, but others have suffered without his full presence.  When his brother returns home, it is only natural that the elder son wants an example made.  He wants to see consequences for his brother’s self-absorption and callous actions.

But what the elder son, and the scribes and Pharisees confronting Jesus have missed, is that the “sinners” who have chosen to eat with Jesus are those who have realized that some change was needed in their lives.  They are those who are searching to rebuild relationships.  They are those who are taking the initial steps to look honestly at their lives and attempt to live more fully.  Mistakes have been made in the past, and shame and low self-worth have alienated them:  but in a first act of courage that admits that something is amiss, they seek out Jesus to help them rebuild their lives.  

Jesus makes no attempt to judge them, and makes no attempt to point out their failings and mistakes.  Instead, as the father in the story, he welcomes sinners with open arms.  Jesus makes them the focus of the dinner party.  The work of reconciliation:  the repairing of relationships, the full understanding of how selfish actions have hurt others, and the rebuilding of trust are all still to come.  But the generosity of Jesus makes it clear that this incredible grace of forgiveness is open to all, and the beginning of healing is worth celebrating.

The message Jesus is giving the scribes and Pharisees is that everyone is welcome at the table:  that everyone is worthy of grace and love, and the occasion should be celebrated.

There is an additional message for the scribes and Pharisees, (hear:  those with power and authority), that is different from the “you’ve got things wrong” message that you often hear from Jesus.  

I hear Jesus pleading with the grumblers, as the father did with the elder son, to come back to the party.

Jesus is telling them “All that is mine is yours.”  The scribes and the Pharisees, with their vast resources, have the opportunity to use their power and authority to help rebuild lives and to cause great and wonderful change.  If they would only stop grumbling about what others get and what others deserve, they would realize that there is more than enough for everyone.  

Now we, the hearer of this story, share characteristics of both the younger and the elder siblings.  We are all on the younger’s path:  journeying towards reconciliation, facing our shame, dealing with our past and seeking a love-filled present and future.  At the same time, every one of us is faced with the choice of the elder: blessed with the power and ability to love, to forgive, and to make new.  

But in the context of THIS Christian community, St. Paul’s, I believe that anyone who has been here for awhile is now in the place of older sibling.

At that brings us to this choice.

Jesus (on behalf of the parent in this story) pleads with us to take on that generous, loving spirit.

Our Christian story is not to be do we deserve it more than someone else, and

it is not that we entitled to success because of who we are or how we have worked.

Christian living is about embracing one who needs to be welcomed home.

One who is hungry, one who unsheltered, and even one who made poor choices or one who did not earn.

Our God welcomes home such ones, and outwardly loves, nourishes, even celebrates such ones.

We are to be like our God, and to live this way both within and beyond these walls.

All that is mine is yours. 

It is this phrase that holds such promise:  it invites all of us to the party.  It makes us the one who is celebrated, and it calls us to be the gracious host and advocate of others.

All that is mine is yours.

(A sermon preached at St. Paul's Episcopal SLC on March 30th, 2025)