Hide and Seek

Dr. David D. Young
May 6, 2007 – Recognition Sunday
Isaiah 55: 6-9
Luke 15: 11-32
"Hide and Seek"

Daniel Yankelovich, who founded Yankelovich, Skelly and White public opinion research firm (nearly 50 years ago) has drawn this conclusion from observing contemporary culture,
"We are facing an agonizing moral dilemma. A form of searching underlies all of American life today."
And it’s true, most everyone seems to be searching, seeking, looking or longing for something.

Here are just some of the things people pursue:
happiness and health
making a living and money
family and friendship
fun and fulfillment
hobbies and home
education and entertainment
sports and leisure
service and sharing
belonging and becoming
community and commitment
mystery and meaning
and maybe – just maybe – God
Yes, practically everyone is looking for something. And maybe that’s why certain games never go out of style – like "Hide and Seek."

I suspect everyone listening today has played hide and seek at some time, whether with grandkids, your own children or even when you were a youngster. My grandparents had a huge house and with the endless hiding places I remember playing that game by the hour with my brothers and sisters and cousins. Young children still love to play it – and what’s interesting is the intricate balance between being found too soon and not soon enough. On the one hand is sadness at being discovered too quickly, and on the other hand is frustration and impatience, at either not being found or not finding the hider in less than, say, about five minutes.
Rebbe Barukh’s grandson, Yehiel, came running into his study in tears. "Yiehiel, Yehiel, why are you crying?" "My friend cheats! It’s unfair; he left me all by myself, that’s why I’m crying." "Would you like to tell me about it?" "Certainly, Grandfather. We played hide-and-seek, and it was my turn to hide and his turn to look for me. But I hid so well that he couldn’t find me. So he gave up; he stopped looking. And that’s unfair."

Rebbe Barukh began to caress Yehiel’s face. And tears welled up in his eyes. "God, too, Yehiel," he whispered softly. "God, too, is unhappy; God is waiting to be discovered and people are not looking for him. Do you understand, Yehiel? God is waiting and people are not searching for him."
Is God harder to find in the modern world than in the days of our ancestors? Where do people search for answers to their loneliness, moral confusion, meaninglessness, fear of failure and even death itself? And if it is God and the church, why is it that they are often disappointed and disenchanted? Could it be that impatience and wanting too much too soon get in the way?

Someone shared an anonymous quote with me awhile back.
"Because something in me keeps on searching I am certain that somewhere there is something that wants to be found. I will find it tomorrow perhaps, and, if I don’t, it would be beautiful to look forever. In fact, I can think of nothing uglier in all the world except to stop looking!"
How can God make a difference in our lives if we have become half-hearted in our search for God? There is an irony in life and in our New Testament text and it is this: Very often our search in life is actually hiding from the deeper realities of life.

Luke 15:11-32 is the greatest short story in all of literature. You know it commonly as the parable of the prodigal son but, since he’s not the hero – God is – I’d like to suggest that a more appropriate title is the parable of the loving and forgiving father. And, since it’s a story we’ve heard many times before, I’d like to share a fresh rendition which happens to be a bit of a tongue twister. So listen carefully as I try to annunciate clearly.

This interpretation has been appropriately entitled, "The Fable of the Forgiving Father,"
"Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather–brained fellow forced his fond father to fork over the farthings. He flew far to foreign fields and frittered his fortune, feasting fabulously with faithful friends.

Finally facing famine and fleeced by his fellows-in-folly, he found himself a feed finger in a filthy farmyard. Fairly famishing, he fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from the fodder fragments. "Phooey, my father’s flunkies fare far fancier," the frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing facts. Frustrated by failure and filled with foreboding, he fled forth-with to his family. Falling at his father’s feet, he floundered forlornly, "Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family favor…"

But the faithful father, forestalling further flinching frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch forth the finest fatling and fix a feast.

The fugitive’s faultfinding frater frowned on the fickle forgiveness of former folderol. His fury flashed – but fussing was futile.

The far-sighted father figured, "such filial fidelity is fine, but what forbids fervent festivity-for the fugitive is found! Unfurl the flags! With fanfares flaring, let fun and frolic freely flow. Former failure is forgotten, folly forsaken. Forgiveness forms the foundation for future fortitude".
You see, even when we get an "F" on our life’s mid-term report card, the "F" of forgiveness is much larger and makes everything okay.

But let’s go back and see what the prodigal son was really up to – for after all there’s a part of us that has gone off in search of other things. In the Judaism of Jesus’ day, the eldest son always got 2/3 of the inheritance with the younger getting the remaining 1/3 of his father’s estate. And as we know the younger one wants it all now. He had no sense of delayed gratification. He wanted to grab the gusto. He no longer needed his father. He wanted to make his own way in the world. He was seeking all right – he was seeking happiness, self-sufficiency and self-fulfillment. And, amazingly, the parent in this case doesn’t argue – the wings of freedom and free will are granted. For this wise parent knows that, as with all children, he must learn from life – even if it means learning the hard way. And sure enough, after living it up for awhile he runs through all his dough. And like is often the case for people who win the lottery, life is actually worse after the money is gone than it was before they won it in the first place. Yet, who of us either secretly or not so secretly has not wished to win the lottery? In our story’s case, the son ends up feeding pigs just to survive– which, by the way was a cursed thing for Jews to do.

And then comes the key to the entire story. Just when the prodigal thought he was all washed up, he was offered the watershed opportunity of his life. And here’s how the text puts it, "When he came to himself." Have you ever stopped to think how crucial those words are? "When he came to himself." Here in a moment of deep self-awareness he got honest with himself. The prodigal recognized his need – and knew he could not make it on his own. Yet, how many of us seek to be self-sufficient?

Many of us have been trained to be strong enough to do things entirely on our own. Asking for help is usually seen as a sign of weakness. A great number of people pride themselves on being independent. In today’s society we know all too well that being dependent is not healthy. Addiction is widespread and killing people daily. But even addicts – or especially recovering addicts – know that they cannot make it on their own. They need the help of their supreme being – of God – and that’s what’s called interdependence.

Knowing your need is crucial. Those who do not know their need of God have either not lived long enough or have deceived themselves into thinking they are self-reliant and can handle all their problems on their own. There are many people who give lip service to God – they believe in God – but God doesn’t really make much difference in their lives. Pride and an overly high estimation of self in terms of being self-sufficient is one of the worst sins of all.

In 1966 Beatle, John Lennon, made an arrogant statement when he said, "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ." Ironically, five years later ex-Beatle, George Harrison, wrote a song called, "My Sweet Lord, I Really Want to Know You."

Last week we focused on prayer, and I only want to take us back to that long enough to say – prayer is not searching for what God can give us – but that it is God in Jesus Christ whom we seek Our seeking is not about the whats in life, but the whoms.

"When he came to himself." When he knew his need he returned to be in a relationship with his father – even if it meant doing so as a hired hand. And, as he was coming up the road there was his father waiting and watching for his return. And before the son could hardly get a word out, the father shouted, "Go get Big Ben and fire up the rotisserie - let’s party! For this my son was dead but now he is alive. He was lost and now he is found."

What a fantastic story of hide and seek. The son was seeking, but only after the self. In reality, he was hiding from his true, created self and from the One from whom he had come. But when he came to, as it were, when he came to himself his seeking led him to his true home – only to find total forgiveness and acceptance. It‘s sort of like when the kids are playing and the one in charge says, "All’e. All’e in (come) free". Because then it’s safe, free and accepting to come back to home base. Jesus is telling us in this powerful parable that God’s love is like that – only more so.

The brilliant theologian Paul Tillich said that nothing greater can happen to a human being than to be forgiven. Unless you’ve ever been totally forgiven for a serious wrong, you do not know the deep truth of that statement

Once President Lincoln was asked how he as going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away." That is God-like forgiveness. But ya know, some people don’t like that kind of forgiveness – either for themselves or for others because then they are not in charge. Some people would rather see sinners suffer rather than be saved.

So, enter now the older brother. He had been obedient to his father for a number of years, but it appears to have been grim duty, not loving service. He certainly shows no sympathy or understanding. He refers to the prodigal as "your son" instead of "my brother." He disassociates from his own brother because he is undeserving – which is, by the way part of the point – "Aren’t we all?"

And, finally, the older brother has a nasty mind. Until he confronts his father with his anger, no mention has been of harlots until he mentions them. Modern psychology might tell us his mind was thinking about what he would have liked to do given the chance. Yet, even here this incredible parent is able to draw in his older son, too.

He says, "Son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours." In effect, he is saying if you thought there was some big reward at the end, you are wrong. The reward is our relationship which we share day in and day out. That in itself is pretty wonderful. The whole thing has to do with relatedness. And when a relationship, any relationship, is broken, forgiveness is crucial. Sin is anything that breaks relationally. Forgiveness is that which restores it.

God is more merciful and more forgiving than human beings. Maybe some day we’ll learn to be more like that – than like the older brother – especially if we know our need and are forgiven – and accept our forgiveness. Because if God forgives us, who are we not to forgive ourselves and thus others as well. If you need to be forgiven today, know that God stands ready to forgive you – waiting to embrace you with open arms. And if you need to forgive someone – don’t wait –do it and let God-like love flow through. How much happier our lives would be if only we incorporated into them the wisdom of this powerful parable of Jesus. If we have stopped looking for God, it’s time we start.

In the words of the prophet Isaiah from our Old Testament lesson,
"Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near,
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
"Hide and Seek." Will we hide or will we seek? And if so, for what, and for whom? The enigmatic poet, e.e.cummings, spins it this way,
"The trick of finding what you didn’t lose (existing’s tricky: but to live’s a gift) the teachable imposture of always arriving at the place you never left."
Coming home to God – such that wherever we are – is home base in God and Jesus Christ.

Amen!