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Advent 3 Sermon for 13 December 2020

FIRST READING                                                          2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 16-21

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

GOSPEL READING                                                                          Luke 15:11-32

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Jesus Became Sin

In the words of Dorothy of “Wizard of Oz”, “There’s no place like home.”  Home is a place where we belong, a place where we can feel at ease, and a place we long to return to when we’re away for a period of time.  It’s the place where we feel most loved and a place where we have deep roots.  St. Paul tapped into a spiritual truth of our relationship with our Creator when he said, “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord … and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).  To be connected to Christ is to know where our home is.

In Christ we can take heart because we know we’re loved, cared for, and grounded in His life, death, and resurrection.  However, because of our impermanent reality, living far from our home with our heavenly Father, we continue to struggle with the truth of our human condition.  Before we were in Christ, we were slaves to sin and death.  We judged one another by human standards, and obedience to God’s will was practically unheard of.  Jesus illustrated this same selfish attitude in the parable of the prodigal son.

In this parable, Jesus tells the story of a young man who asks for his inheritance before his father is even dead.  The father in the story grants the son his request and allows him to leave home.  He knows it’ll be tough for him out in the world and that his selfishness will catch up with him, but the father loves him, so he allows his son to learn the consequences of what it means to stay or leave.  We all know the story.  

The son squanders all of his inheritance and finds himself longing to dine with the pigs at the pig farm where he found emergency employment.  Nearly starving to death, the young man remembers the love of his father and decides to head back home.  He tells himself that if he must work for his father as a hired hand, then so be it; at least he won’t be hungry.  To his surprise, his father is waiting for him as he makes the final turn toward home.  Unbeknownst to the Prodigal Son, the father has been waiting since the day his son left, hoping against hope that he would return home.  Our home is in Christ.  

Because of His great love for us, God sent Jesus to us, born in human flesh, to bring us home to His Father and our Father.  We are all prodigals in our own way, but the Father is always waiting and watching for our return.  Jesus, the One who knew no sin, became sin for us.  There was nothing lost about Him!  

In His great love, Jesus set aside His divinity and willingly came to pay the price we could not pay.  And as followers of Christ, we acknowledge that Jesus was the only perfect human who ever walked the earth.  He was and is fully in tune with the Father’s will.  He was and is completely obedient, and perfectly righteous and holy.  But the paradox of faith here is the following question: How can Jesus be perfect and yet “become sin,” as Scripture says?   If Jesus took on our sin, does that make Him sinful?  The answer is yes, and no.  

Yes, Jesus took on our sin; He willingly picked up the great burden that was weighing us down.  But He remained perfect and sinless.  It wasn’t His own sin He carried — it was ours!  We’re the ones who are disobedient, idolatrous, unfaithful, and self-absorbed.  By taking our sin upon Himself, Jesus freed us sinners from all that holds us captive, so that we would no longer be at odds with our heavenly Father.  In Christ, the debt of sin has been paid and we have been reconciled to God the Father.

As we’re reminded in Holy Baptism, Jesus takes on the sin of every person who is washed in the water and cleansed by the Spirit’s power.  The stain of sin is removed — not by bleach or Borax, but by Jesus’ holy and precious blood.  In baptism, Jesus brings us home to the Father who reclaims us as His children.  We, who were once far off, have been brought near, and, like the prodigal son, we are welcomed home with open arms.

In the waters of baptism, our old selves are put to death and we are raised to a new life in Christ.  And each day as we return to Him in faith, He brings us from death to new life.  By faith we come to recognize what Jesus has done for us, and by faith we live for Him, and Him alone.  By faith, we are at home in Jesus, who takes away our sin.  Because of Jesus, we no longer find ourselves lost and alone, desperate and destitute.  Through Christ, we come to know that our loving and merciful Father gives us all we need and loves us with an everlasting love.

In this earthly life we still await the time when we will be fully in God’s presence, but even now, we do enjoy the first-fruits of that reality.  Freed from sin and death, we have the promise that Jesus is always with us.  He comes to us through the Word and Sacraments, He feeds us with His body and blood, and He promises to be with us wherever we are and wherever we go.  When our time comes to leave this earth, we will be fully united with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in eternity.  We won’t simply go home for the holidays; we will be home for good, for all eternity.  Until that time, we wait with patience for our Lord to return, and we give thanks for Him becoming sin and taking away our sin so that we might be free.

Amen

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