(choir singing in foreign language) (choir singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (chorus singing) (chorus singing) 

- Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We welcome you to this service of worship at Duke University Chapel and invite you to be with us again very soon. We welcome as our guest preacher this morning, the Reverend Carol Matteson Cox, minister of Fordham United Methodist Church in the Bronx, New York. Reverend Cox is well-known throughout Methodism for her preaching ability and was the first woman to preach an entire series of sermons on The Protestant Hour. We are indeed privileged to welcome her to our pulpit today. We also welcome as our guest musicians, the Raleigh Consort and their director, Mr. Rick Motylinsk. We have been blessed by their presence in the chapel in the past and we look forward to their contribution to today's worship service. Please note the other announcements as they are printed in your bulletins. This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. (organ begins playing) 

- Almighty God, who through your only begotten son, Jesus Christ, overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. Grant that we, who celebrate with joy, the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving spirit. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

- Let us pray, Open our hearts and minds, O God, by the power of your Holy Spirit. So that as the word is read and proclaimed we might hear with joy what you say to us this day. Amen. The first lesson is taken from the book of Acts. And Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly, I perceive that God shows no partiality, "but in every nation anyone who fears him "and does what is right is acceptable to him. "You know the word which he sent to Israel, "preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ, "the Lord of all. "The word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, "beginning from Galilee "after the baptism which John preached. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth "with the Holy Spirit and with power. "How he went about doing good "and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, "for God was with him. "We are witnesses to all that he did, "both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. "They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, "but God raised him on the third day "and made him manifest, "not to all the people, "but to those of us who were chosen by God as witnesses, "who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. "He commanded us to preach to the people "and to testify that he is the one ordained by God "to be judge of the living and of the dead. "To him, all the prophets bare witness "that everyone who believes in him "receives forgiveness of sins through his name." This ends the reading of the first lesson. The second lesson is taken from the book of Revelation. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number. From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, "and to the Lamb!" And all the angels stood 'round the throne and 'round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom "and thanksgiving and honor and power and might "be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation. "They have washed their robes and made them white "in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore are they before the throne of God. "And serve him day and night within his temple. "He who sits upon the throne "will shelter them with his presence. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. "The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. "For the Lamb in the mist of the throne "will be their shepherd, "and he will guide them to springs of living water, "and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." This ends the reading of the second lesson. (chorus singing) 

- Good morning. The gospel lesson is from the gospel of Luke, chapter 15 verses one through three and verses 11 through 32. Now the tax-collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable, There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property "that falls to me." And he divided his living between them. Not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. When he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired servants "have bread enough and to spare, "but I perish here with hunger!" I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. "I am no longer worthy to be called your son. "Treat me as one of your hired servants." And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son." 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. "And bring the fatted calf and kill it, "and let us eat and make merry, "for this my son "was dead "and is alive again. "He was lost and is found!" And they began to make merry. Now his elder son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, "Your brother has come, "and your father has killed the fatted calf "because he has received him safe and sound." But he was angry and refused to come in. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, "Lo! These many years I have served you "and I never disobeyed your command, "yet you have never given me a kid "that I might make merry with my friends. "But when this son of yours came, "who has devoured your living with harlots, "you killed for him the fatted calf!" And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, "for this, your brother was dead and is alive. "He was lost and is found." May God bless us that we may hear God's word in our hearts this day. The elder son refuses to go in to the celebration to welcome his brother back home. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, "Lo! These many years I have served you "and I never disobeyed your command, "yet you never gave me a kid "that I might make merry with my friends. "But when this son of yours came, "who has devoured your living with harlots, "you killed for him the fatted calf." Is this right? How can this be? The elder son seems to have a case. We hear of an outstanding young man who's been an extraordinary son. Served his father many years and never disobeyed his fathers command. A good son or daughter, we might add. On the other hand, there is this prodigal. A young adult who grabbed his inheritance and ran off and squandered it. When he got what he deserved, when he got hungry, he came running back home to daddy. The father seems to be a pushover who favors his younger son. The minute he sees this apple of his eye approaching, he runs out to meet him, hugs him and throws a party in his honor. The elder brother has good reason to be mad, doesn't he? The father goes out to talk with him, hears his anger, in good, pastoral counseling fashion, and tells him he should come in and join the party. There is something more here. There is something about this elder son that doesn't ring true. He's very angry, it sounds like he has good reason to be angry. He says, "I never disobeyed you. "You never gave me a party." Does that sound familiar? In an argument, I always am right. They never do things the way they should. I never misbehave. They are always bad. In an argument, it's not my brother, it's your son, your daughter, your relatives. The elder son is angry. He wants to know where his reward is. He's been good. He's played by the rules. How come the father hasn't thrown a party for him? You or I might say, "Where's my reward for all I've done?" The parent hears the child's anger, refrains from listing all that he's done for the elder child. Does not enter into a debate. The parent simply says to his child, "You are always with me. "All that is mine is yours. "All that is mine is yours." Somehow the son is not able to receive what the father is offering. He must have been a serious and rather dower young man. He reminds me of a bumper sticker that reads, "For a while I felt good, but I finally got over it." In this parable, Jesus describes our relationship with God. God entreats each one of us to enter into community. God is present for us, listens to us, we have only to turn around and turn back to God. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia. Literally, to turn around. Something was hindering the elder son, restraining him from entering into life and community. Perhaps he had been too serious. Maybe he believed the rules too much, became too burdened down with care. There is a story of a young milkmaid. Excuse me. She brought two new milk pails and decided to walk into town to buy some cream. On the way, she met several neighbors who asked her to carry some garbage into the town dump for them. Being a good neighbor, she obliged. When she got to town and tried to empty the new pails, the garbage had stained and stuck to the inside of the pails. When she put the cream in the pails, it soured before she got home. Garbage is readily available to each of us. The garbage of too much work, the garbage of fear and envy, the garbage of anger and bitterness. Is there garbage in your life that is hindering you from entering into the community that God calls you to? The father in this parable, what manner of person is this parent? He entreats his elder son to come in and join in the merry making. He receives his lost son home again. No lectures, no bargains, no if you only did as I had taught you, he simply receives him back home, and rejoices. He is compassionate, this parent. Our Christian faith, a faith guided by the Holy Spirit, not by law, is rooted in compassion. How hard it is to be compassionate towards those who have wandered and been lost when we try so hard to be good. Compassion is not valued in our culture. It was not valued in Jesus' day either. Walter Brueggemann, in a book called The Prophetic Imagination, which is quoted in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, says this, "Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, "for it announces that the hurt "is to be taken seriously, "that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural "but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition "for humanness. "In the arrangement of lawfulness in Jesus' time, "as in the ancient empire of Pharaoh, "the one unpermitted quality of relation "was compassion. "Empires are never built or maintained "on the basis of compassion. "The norms of law, social control, "are never accommodated to persons, "but persons are accommodated to the norms. "Otherwise, the norms will collapse "and with them, the whole power arrangement. "Thus, the compassion of Jesus is to be understood "not simply as a personal, emotional reaction, "but as a public criticism "in which he dares to act upon his concern "against the entire numbness of his social context." If you and I could be compassionate toward others, perhaps we could be more accepting of ourselves as well. Not as we imagine ourselves to be, but ourselves as we really are. The younger son provides a model for us. Not in his sinning, of course, but in his coming to himself, and returning home again, acknowledging his sin. The younger child receives his inheritance and abuses it. Finds himself without the resources he needs for life. Strung out, hungry, and isolated, and no one gave him anything. But he comes to himself. What would it mean for you to come to yourself? When he comes to himself, he realizes that he's worse off than his fathers servants. They have bread, but he is perishing. He is aware that his sin has lead to a living death. He knows that he cannot go back home again and have everything as it were before he sinned. And yet, with courage, he arises and goes home. Intending, merely, to be received as a servant in his fathers house. When his father greets him, he confesses his sin. "Father," he says, "I have sinned against heaven "and before you. "I am no longer worthy to be called your son. "Treat me as one of your hired servants." But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son confesses his sin to the father. But the father says to the servants, "Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, "and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet."