We find ourselves this Fourth Sunday of Lent in another parable, the story of the prodigal son.  This is the longest and the most well-known of Jesus’ parables. 

We know this story. But how we interpret it, depends on which side of the fence you are on:  the side of the goody two-shoes son, or the bad boy.  Some of us are a little of both. 

If you are like me, you read and heard today’s Gospel and responded,  Huh?  What is the message here?  That we should all repent or else we die?  That fig trees should be given three years max to flourish and then away with them?  This passage is rich with visual imagery and meaning but you’ve got to dig:  God loves us all, good and bad. God will tend to us, and we will flourish under his care. 

​Often in Scripture, we find the shepherd presented as an ideal figure.  It worked well as an image for the Hebrew people, since the keeping of sheep and other livestock was an occupation of their’s from time immemorial.  Even in this 21st Century, I’m told, when a young Palestinian child chooses to imitate the sound of an animal, it’s more likely to be that of a sheep, and not a dog or cat or cow.

​Let’s review a few of the Scriptural stories which involve shepherds and shepherding.

Deacon Nancy Emmel-Gunn reads the Gospel (​Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21), and then Bishop Deon Johnson preaches the Ash Wednesday sermon.

If you'd like to watch the entire Ash Wednesday service, it's available on the St. John's Facebook page.

​“Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Mark 9:7

​Clouds, mountains, and God.  They go together like coffee and cream, peanut butter and jelly, bread and wine.  In other words, where you find one you will often find the other.  In today’s readings we have what are known as theophanies, visible encounters with God.

After a reading of the Gospel by the Reverend Nancy Emmel, the Reverend Rebecca Ragland preaches on the question "Who belongs in the household of faith?"

​As many of you may know, there was a political election last Tuesday. If you didn’t know that, well, it’s too late to vote.

​I have been following the news regarding the election results, as well as the thoughts and opinions of many of my family and friends on social media, and I see a couple of overarching themes among them. 

​Most people are disappointed in the results, whether their chosen candidates or propositions won or lost. You would think that, if someone’s candidate or proposition won, they’d be happy...but lots of folks aren’t. They seem to be just as disappointed as the person whose candidate or prop lost the election.  

​It seems like they can’t be happy about the results because they did not get something else that they were hoping for, perhaps even more than winning.  And that is the satisfaction of repudiation.

For the last three Sundays we have been listening to parables from the 25th chapter of Matthew, dealing with the theme of judgment.  Three weeks ago, we had the Parable of the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins, who responded differently when the bridegroom finally arrived. Last week it was the Parable of the Talents.  Three slaves of a very rich man are left with great sums of their master’s money.  They were judged on how they handled his money, which differed greatly.  In today’s gospel, which you just heard, is the famous Parable of the Great Judgment, better known as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.  On Judgment Day the judge, who is Christ returned, will separate all the people of all the nations into two groups, just as a shepherd separates his flock into sheep and goats.  The criteria for the separation are a set of actions: feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty a drink, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison.  Those who did those things are rewarded with eternal life, and those who didn’t are condemned to the fires of Hell. 

​Today’s gospel lesson is about Jesus’ concepts of forgiveness which is a very generous understanding of forgiveness. 

​The parable we hear today is meant to open up our understanding of the question, “How many times should I forgive someone?” And the answer from Jesus is, “You forgive them a lot.”

By the Reverend Dr. Warren Crews

 One of my favorite op-ed columnists is Tom Friedman of the New York Times.  He usually writes very serious articles about political topics.  However, I remember a number of years ago, when he wrote about a serious topic—carbon emission offsets—in a very humorous fashion.  Now, carbon emission offsets are mostly an effort to enable companies to make up for their own excessive carbon emissions by funding green projects elsewhere.  Friedman and some dinner companions had thought of a great idea to promote even more green projects: offsets for the Ten Commandments!