Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 29, 2025

“The man said, ‘We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found’” (Lk 15:32).

Can you imagine being there during this feast? Can you imagine the hurt of the one brother who had stuck with his father through it all, who didn’t get a feast, when his other brother returned and was treated like royalty? In some ways, this is the culmination of Invitation and Welcoming. But if you’ve been following, you know we’ve handled (pretty handily) invitation and welcome. And today’s topic is supposed to be connection. This feels absolutely like DISconnection.

Connection starts with offering a safe place for people – newcomers and long-time members – can share their stories of what brought them here. Through listening, we walk alongside as people discern their gifts and we encourage them on their journey of faith. It offers clear pathways for people to feel a sense of belonging: where newcomers and guests are guided in their faith, where new members are empowered and equipped to live into their baptismal covenant by offering their gifts to God, and where we help ALL hear God’s call in their lives.

I want you to take a second to see if you can answer these questions for yourself: Where do I fit in in this church? Can I make new friends in this church? Is there room for me? Does the church truly need me? Do I live faithfully into the gifts and talents that God has given me? Can I find a place to belong and serve? Am I safe here?

If the answer to all those questions was yes, then we’ve connected with you. But if the answer to even one of those questions was “no” or “maybe” or “sometimes”, then we have work to do. Inviting is often a once and done thing. Welcoming happens for a while, but at some point, welcoming goes away. Connection is an all-the-time thing, because it helps people to understand and believe that their daily work can be holy sacred work.

Connection can be described in many different ways: giving meaning to membership, empowering all for ministry, closing the back door, belonging. But at its heart is love – love for one another is the thread that runs through connection. Our church is made up of messy, broken people; it’s made up of a variety of nationalities, theological understandings, interpretations of scripture and traditions. But in the midst of this messiness, in spite of all this messiness, and BECAUSE of all this messiness, we are called to invite, to welcome, and to love. We are called to know that we are loved, that Jesus is with us, and we need to be ready to welcome, just like the father in today’s Gospel reading.

Because here’s the truth, if we can’t answer yes to most of those questions that I posed just a few minutes ago, why would we want to invite anyone else to something that we aren’t excited about or invested in? The real beauty of connection is that in connecting more, we grow with Christ. And when we grow with Christ, we become more excited to welcome people in.

My friends in Christ, there is no magic potion that can suddenly grow us new members, generate new people to sing in the choir, apparate children to fill our Sunday School classes. It’s all hard work – by all of us. And it starts with someone coming. I’m going to pick on someone here and ask a quick question: (This was preplanned, so don’t worry that I’ll choose you next! Relax!)

What made you visit or come to St. Michael & All Angel? Or, perhaps, what made you choose to stay at St. Michael after you could choose?

One of the things you’ll notice since I started here at St. Michael in October of 2020 is that I am more hands-off than previous clergy. It is important to me that we all recognize our gifts and use them. Because the truth is, this church isn’t about me. It’s about us. We grow because each of us connects with others in unique ways that allow us to identify when someone might be suited for a task that we need done.

Friends, we are called to live into the gospel of Jesus with the unique gifts that have been given to us. Richard Rohr writes (in Falling Upward), “All we can give back and all God wants from any of us is to humbly and proudly return the product that we have been given—which is ourselves!” God has shaped and formed each one of us, and given us special gifts, and it’s our job (with the help of others) to discern and understand how we can put them to the best use.

The deep truth today is that we need to learn to listen. When we can relate to those around us by hearing their stories and then connecting them with others, we build a loving community of faith that God intends for us to live fully into. Recognizing, affirming, and celebrating the gifts that each of us brings validates all of our ministry. And using these gifts, we will experience transformation and our community here will live into God’s dream for us all—a community where we welcome sinners and eat with them too (because that’s what we do really well!).

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, we thank you for the gifts and talents you have bestowed upon each of us. We invite you to stir up these God-given gifts. Give us grace to bear witness to them. Help us to claim our life’s work as ministry, as holy sacred work. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.