The man had two sons

for the fourth Sunday in Lent. See note below

Haiku of grace and resentment

The man had two sons,

Loved them both. The younger one

was eager to leave.

My inheritance,

give me my share now, before

I become too old.

When your years are few,

the party goes on and on;

while the money lasts.

All good things must end.

The cash gone, the boy must work;

starves, while the pigs eat.

Heading for his home,

practising his ‘sorry’ speech:

I am unworthy!

Dad is delighted,

his son is back. Let’s party;

kill the fatted calf!

The older brother

spits the dummy. All these years,

not even a kid!

I am deserving,

my useless brother is not;

I won’t celebrate!

You know I love you,

my Son, you’re always with me;

all that’s mine is yours

Your brother was lost,

now he’s been restored to us:

we have to rejoice.

Try not to resent

the unworthy who receive

their moment of grace.

Remember, you too,

though unworthy, profited

from moments of grace.

© Ken Rookes 2019

I have mistakenly posted this out of sequence: It belongs to the 4th Sunday in Lent. Sorry for the confusion.

Missing Out: a haiku sequence

The tax-collectors

come to listen to his words;

he greets them as friends.

The righteous grumble

while the Pharisees complain;

avoid such sinners.

He tells a story

of a father with two sons;

weeping for them both.

One son travels far,

he wastes the family's wealth

then he smartens up.

His dad is waiting,

not in anger but in love;

calls for a party.

They are reconciled.

Love, forgiveness, grace; these three

renew our living.

The older brother

is unimpressed. He reckons

he's been missing out.

“These years I have slaved,”

the son complains “And for what?”

“It's all yours,” says dad.

“I wept for my son

when he was lost. Now he's back;

we have to party!”

We are all the same;

the worry of missing out

extinguishes love.

© Ken Rookes 2016

Which did the will of his father?

The reading from Matthew tells of Jesus being challenged by those in power about the validity of his teaching and his authority to teach. This is a scenario we have seen played out many times since the issue of climate change was first raised. Over and over the people in power, the people who have stood to lose most if new ways were implemented, have sought to discredit the prophetic voice and have challenged the authority of those who have spoken out.

Matthew went on to Jesus telling a story about the two sons. Both were asked to do something. One said he wouldn’t go to work in the vineyard, but later changed his mind and went and the other said he would go and later changed his mind and did not go. Twice Jesus asked those listening about this. First he asked, “What do you think?” in other words, he was asking how his listeners saw this situation. Then he asked, “which of the two did the will of his father?” Which of them did what was right?

What does this story mean to you? In light of Climate Change issues, we can see this story as the way the Australian people have behaved with the issue of climate change. First many people were reluctant to move towards taking responsible action towards adjusting for climate change. They had classic grief reactions in that they were shocked and denied what they were hearing. But later they came to believe that what they were hearing and experiencing were real and so were willing to do what was asked of them for the best possible outcome.

Now, under new leadership, they are behaving like the son who said he would do what his father wanted and then did not. The government of Australia has going back on the promise to do something about emissions which speed Global warning.

The reading from Philippians [2:1-13] urges us to ‘do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit and let each look not to your own interests but to the interests of others’, sound guidelines for dealing with all ecological issues.

As Christians, we have an obligation to care for God’s creation and keep it safe into the future. But doing things because we are obliged is never a good reason. Our reasons, to be successful, needs to come from a deep passionate understanding of all things other, the whole of Creation and the mystery we respect as God.

REv Julianne Parker 

for full sermon see the sermons page

Welcome-home party

An errant & disrespectful son,
(been there, done that);
dissolute living – code
for wine, women and song;
a robe, a ring and a fatted calf;
music and dancing
and a pissed-off older brother:
Jesus knew how to put a yarn together

The older brother was deserving
in the way that the younger one wasn’t.
Worked hard, did what was expected,
never questioned his father’s judgement;
until the outrageous welcome-home party.
The old man couldn’t even wait for the sun to set;
didn’t think to send out to the field
with instructions to knock-off early.

Like the father in the story, who pines
for his lost son, God, they say,
is forgiving and generous to a fault.
Which may be true, but it misses the point.
It’s the older brother, and the rest of us,
unable to rejoice at grace shown to someone
who might be less deserving than us;
we are the point.

Jesus never wasted a parable.

© Ken Rookes 2013

Let's Party

I have often reflected
upon the arrogance of youth,
having been one, once.
We thought we’d live forever,
that old people didn’t understand,
that the comfort we took for granted
would be delivered,
cargo-cult like,
by a world that recognised our cleverness
and rewarded us accordingly.
We thought the party would never end.
I can empathise with the son in the story;
blessed with a wealthy but frugal father,
he probably wondered when the party would begin.
His seriously self-righteous older brother
had been no help in that department.
With audacious and heart-breaking boldness
the younger son acts to claim his share,
and heads abroad where the party can proceed
with none to call him to account.
The party, sadly, does not prove perpetual.
The calf continues to fatten
while the boy’s father waits;
his own celebration held in abeyance.
His brother might still be waiting.

© Ken Rookes

prodigal cartoon

http://cakeordeathcartoon.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/prodigal-cartoon-2/

Prodigal son

http://ladyborginnadur.blogspot.com/

Strange land dreaming

Having pulled the goat’s-hair

over his father’s desert-blind eyes,

and in order to escape some brotherly wrath,

Jacob is sent north with another parental blessing,

this time with the hope of finding a wife,

(or two), from among his cousins.

The loneliness of his journey

and the uncertainty of its outcome,

(serious business, taking a wife),

is allayed by the excitement

of his newly discovered independence.

Away from the dominating presence of his father,

and his stories of strange ancestors,

the younger son exults in his freedom

from family expectations

and unsatisfiable comparisons.

In a foreign land,

slightly fearful and largely weary,

he presses a stone into unexpected service

as a pillow.

Sleeping uneasily with the strange dreams

of the unfamiliar bed

he sees a ladder of angels

and hears the voice of his God,

far from home, surprisingly present,

but not unwelcome. 


Rev Ken Rookes