Henrietta United Church of Christ

Rev. David Inglis Luke 15:11-24

April 2, 2006

“Home Again”

(The story of the prodigal son is told–Luke 15:11-24.)

What do you suppose it was like being that son inside his father’s embrace? I imagine he felt very humbled and undeserving, and maybe began crying tears of relief and gratitude. All his embarrassment and shame and humiliation have been met with a love so deep, so full, that it penetrates down, down to his very core. In his father’s embrace, he has come home again, not just to his house and his family, but to his soul.

I believe Jesus told us this powerful story in part to help us find our way home again.

Some of you have read or heard me talk about Betty Eadie, who was recovering from surgery in a hospital when she began hemorrhaging. Before she could summon a nurse, she lost consciousness, experienced herself floating out of her body, traveling to her house where she saw her husband taking care of their children, and then traveling through a dark tunnel towards a distant light. In her book Embraced by the Light, she writes,

As I approached the light, I noticed the figure of a man standing in it, with the light radiating all around him. As I got closer the light became brilliant–brilliant beyond any description, far more brilliant than the sun. . . . As I drew closer I felt his light blending into mine, literally, and I felt my light being drawn to his. . . . And as our lights merged, I felt as if I had stepped into his countenance, and I felt an utter explosion of love.

It was the most unconditional love I have ever felt, and as I saw his arms open to receive me I went to him and received his complete embrace and said over and over, "I'm home. I'm home. I'm finally home." I felt his enormous spirit and knew that I had always been a part of him, that in reality I had never been away from him. And I knew that I was worthy to be with him, to embrace him. I knew that he was aware of all my sins and faults, but that they didn't matter right now. He just wanted to hold me and share his love with me, and I wanted to share mine with him.

Betty came home to her truest self, her eternal soul, in an embrace much like the son experienced in Jesus’ story. And because we are spiritual beings who have the capacity to reflect and embody this quality of love, we ourselves have the power to help each other come home to ourselves too.

In his recent TV lecture series on PBS, Wayne Dyer told about a tribe in South Africa. If a youth is caught doing something wrong, they bring the offending person into the center of the village and everyone gathers around. And everyone begins telling the young person all the good things they can think of about him or her–all the times they were helpful, generous, courageous, showed leadership, were honest. They keep this up until everything anyone can think of has been mentioned. Then they all celebrate the person together. What do you think the rate of repeat offenses is? Virtually zero.

That turns on its head our understanding of how to control crime, doesn’t it? We try to deter crime by stripping people of their dignity, self respect and freedom. That South African tribe corrects crime by helping the person remember who they really are. They call forth the person’s soul. And when a person is connected to their soul, they are no longer rebellious, destructive, dishonest, selfish, or cruel. Each soul is by nature generous, compassionate, truthful, and peaceful, because each soul really is created in the image of God.

Now take just a moment to check in with how you’re feeling right now as I’ve been talking about these things. Have you had a sense of being filled or warmed or opened? Or have you maybe felt the longing for something that you haven’t been quite able to open to? All of those sensations are signs of your soul stirring to life and wanting to be more fully part of what it was created for from the beginning of time–to be part of the flow of boundless, eternal love that has the power to create, heal, reconcile, and renew the world. Our soul’s purpose is to develop and share our gifts, work together for a higher good, and bring love, hope, peace, and joy into each other’s lives and into our world.

That’s who we are and what we were made for. But we keep forgetting. Like the younger son in Jesus’ story, we get lost and distracted and tempted in a thousand different ways, and we lose our way and we lose our connection to our soul.

So isn’t that why we’re here today? Aren’t we here to remind each other week after week who we are and what our lives are about? And we do that by creating for each other something much like that father’s embrace in Jesus’ story, or even something like the divine embrace that Betty Eady and countless others who have glimpsed life beyond this life have experienced. We help each other to return home to our souls by reflecting God’s unconditional love to each other. We say with our eyes and our smiles, our handshakes and our hugs, our actions and our words, “No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, I know who you are. You are a child of God. You are a beautiful soul. You can have a home here in the embrace of God. Here is a place where you can find your soul and help it grow into its full radiant beauty.”

This isn’t just about being nice or polite or friendly. When we receive people as Christ received them, we tap into the power of God that creates and redeems and renews all things.

So that brings us to what you really came here for today–to see a TV commercial. Starting tomorrow numerous cable television stations will be airing an edgy, humorous, attention-grabbing ad that lets people know something about who we are in the UCC.

(The “Ejector” commercial is shown, which can also be seen on-line at www.stillspeaking.com/resources/indexvis.html ).

This ad mostly tells people the kind of church we’re not, to get them interested in learning about the kind of church we are. That’s where we come in. Our job is to let people know that we are a church where God’s love is alive, where every soul is welcome to share in it with us, where each person is encouraged to grow in their faith in ways that are meaningful to them, where each person’s gifts are called forth and honored.

To help us do that, the UCC has created these little comma pins for us to wear out in the world. Now there’s a scary thought, isn’t it–actually taking something out there that says something about our faith. Now most people won’t know what it means. Whew! So we’re safe, right? No wait, that’s even scarier. They might actually ask us! Uh-oh! Then what do we do? Well, you might say that the comma means that in our church we believe that God is still speaking in new ways to us today. We don’t try to put God in a box, but we encourage everyone to find God in ways that are meaningful to them. Or that the comma is a symbol of openness, and our church is open to everyone. If they seem interested, just tell them what you appreciate about our church.

We’re going to have these commas available in the entryway right after church, along with a flyer with simple suggestions of what to say if people ask you about it. We also have a bunch of our own church’s brochures you might want to have handy to give anyone who’s curious about our church. We’re asking for a dollar donation for the commas, some of which will go to help keep the ad on the air until Mother’s Day. We’ll also be selling other God Is Still Speaking items, like yard signs, pens, travel mugs, bumper stickers, etc. at our cost, or you can pitch in some extra to help keep the ad going. Right now the UCC only has enough money to keep the ad going till Easter, but we’d like to help keep it running until Mother’s Day.

Even if nobody asks you about the pin, you can still use it as a reminder to yourself that God is still speaking...through you! If you stay in touch with your soul, your words and actions will bring more love, hope, peace, and joy into this world. God will be alive in this world, because God is alive in you. Let’s thank God together for creating us, calling us, and equipping us to be carriers of the most awesome power in the universe –the power of God’s love.