Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Haitian Flag Day Celebration/Inspiration May 21, 2023; Romans 6:1-4

 

Rev. George Miller

May 21, 2023

Romans 6:1-4

 

Once upon a time, in a land surrounded by the sea, was a plantation owned by Big Papa.

 

Big Papa was a generous man, a fair man, a person of benevolence and grace.

 

Big Papa had two sons- Montague and Dominic, and they were surrounded with everything you could ever need-

 

cassava, plantain, arabica coffee and rice.

 

But Montague wanted more.

 

He went to Big Papa and said “I want to see the world, give me my inheritance so I can leave this place.”

 

Big Papa knew what the world beyond the sea was like, but he would not deny his son the freedom of choice. 

 

So Montague left Big Papa’s plantation, crossing the sea, and coming to the place Bullbancha.

 

In Bullbancha, Montague got to do all the things he wanted to do-

 

kiss all the girls he wanted to kiss, eat all the food and drink all the drinks his belly desired. 

 

He stayed up late and woke up each afternoon in a different bed, never working a day.

 

While his brother Dominic worked on Big Papa’s plantation across the sea, Montague was in Bullbancha stuffing his face with beignets, etouffee, and chicory cafécito.

 

Eventually, all of Montague’s money was gone.  He spent every cent of Big Papa’s inheritance on rich food and wild women.

 

Then a famine came across Bullbancha and he became hungry, so hungry he found himself eating mud cookies; so hungry he found himself going to the voodoo shops, begging their gods for help.

 

So hungry he hired himself out to feed stinky, smelly pigs, the lowest kind of work possible.

 

One day, while Montague was covered in pig stink and his stomach rumbling, he thought “Back across the sea is Big Papa’s plantation, and he is so generous and good to everyone.”

 

Montague said to himself “I will go back to Big Papa’s house and say-

‘Papa, I have sinned against you.  I am unworthy of being called your son.  Treat me as someone who feeds your pigs.’”

 

With this plan in place, Montague left behind Bullbancha, sailed across the sea, and returned to the plantation where cassava, plantain and arabica coffee was plenty.

 

While Montague was at the very end of the plantation, acres and acres away, Big Papa saw his son’s skinny, sad and sickly body.

 

Filled with so much “compasion”, Big Papa ran down the road,  running so rapido to meet his son that swirls of dirt danced in the air.

 

The moment Big Papa got to his son, he shouted “Bienvenidos!”, put his fatherly arms around him and gave him many many kisses, besos and bisous (bee-zoo).

 

Montague said “Papa, I have made so many mistakes.  I am not worthy to be called your son.”

 

But before he could finish, Big Papa said to his staff  “Pronto- bring out the best robe, best ring and best chanclas!  Put them on my son’s feet.  Let us have a fiesta because my son who I thought was dead, is alive!”

 

“Let us eat well and celebrate because the one I thought was lost is found!”

 

Montague’s brother Dominic was busy in the field.  When he heard all that was happening, he was very upset, refusing to be happy.

 

He said to his father “Papa, I have always been here; I have always done what is good and yet you have never celebrated me.”

 

To which Big Papa, with so much love in his heart and compassion in his belly, said “Son, you have always been with me.  All my cassava, plantains and coffee bean are yours.”

 

“Today, we celebrate because your brother was dead but has come to life; he was lost but now is found.”

 

We share this modern retelling of Luke 15:11-32 for 3 reasons.

 

The first, is because we are honoring Haitian Flag Day and it is fun to image this infamous parable being set in the Jewel of the Antilles and New Orleans; to fill it with images from the Caribbean.

 

Second, the relationship of Montague, which is French for “hills” and Dominic is like that of Haiti and the Dominican Republic-

 

2 siblings that share the same spot in the sea, but can’t get along because of choices that have made over the centuries.

 

By celebrating Haitian Flag Day, we know that not only will healing come to the world when Haiti is no longer punished for their freedom,

 

But healing will also take place on the Island of Hispaniola when both the Haitian and Dominican nations can rectify their relationship as sisters and brothers of one land.

 

3rd, this parable, originally told by Jesus, can be a perfect counterpart to today’s reading from Paul.

 

He is writing to Christian sisters and brothers who are starting to struggle with how very different they are.

 

He is writing to a church that is so diverse that it seems as if each person has their own belief on who their heavenly Papa is, and therefore their own unique relationship with Big Papa.

 

Trying to make sense of justification by faith and the gift of God’s amazing grace.

 

In fact, Paul is addressing an issue he witnessed at the Corithian church- there are people who are misunderstanding and abusing God’s grace.

 

People are hearing from Paul how amazing grace is, and they want more and more of God’s grace…

 

…so some folk are saying “Hey!  If we sin more, we’ll get more grace!  If we do more bad things, then God will give us more and more of God’s inheritance.”

 

To which Paul does his best to put a stop there.  He basically says “Listen, you may think you have found a loophole, but you’ve actually found a dead end.”

 

“Sure, you could go on sinning and sinning and sinning some more…but do you really want to?”

 

“Would intentionally living a life of broken hearts and bad ways really bring you more joy?  Would it truly make you feel like the Heavenly Citizen you are?”

 

The people think they are so smart that they can outwit the Gospel, but Paul brings them back to Jesus, back to their baptism.

 

Paul says to all the smarty pants who think they can pull one over on God-

 

“Hey- when you chose to be baptized, you chose to die in Christ, which means you chose to die to the ways of sin.”

 

Paul says to them “Because of your baptism, you are not as enslaved to sin.  You have choices.  You can decide to do that which brings you more life and good heart.”

 

Paul is fighting for people who don’t want to fight for themselves.

 

He is saying “You are not as helpless or out of control as you think.  You can choose to do the right thing.”

 

Paul is saying “You can choose to walk Heaven’s Path because through Christ you are dead to the world’s wrongful ways.”  

 

Do you know what this reminds me of?  Today’s story.

 

Today’s story ends with Montague coming back to Big Papa and receiving the gift of grace.

 

But what if a few months later Montague decided to go back to Bullbancha?

 

What if Montague decided that things weren’t that bad and he went back to a life of beignets and etouffee, late nights and wild living until eventually he was back to eating mud cookies, seeking voodoo doctors, and feeding pigs?

 

What if Montague decided to go back to the plantation?  Would Big Papa welcome him back with hugs and besos?

 

Of course Big Popa would.

 

What if Montague was to do this again and again? 

 

Would he be welcomed back?  Of course.

 

But would all those sad trails and broken hearts bring him joy?  Would all those mud cookies and

rough mornings make him happy?

 

At what point do our tragic mistakes, our harmful ways, not only take a toll on us, but a toll on our family?

 

How many times could Montague travel to Bullbancha before something tragic, something irreversible, something so so sad happens that he can no longer recognize his father’s face?

 

In Luke 15, Jesus tells us a parable about a son who chose to squander his inheritance and discovers that his Father would still be there to greet and love him.

 

Today, In Romans 6 we learn that God does not want us to suffer in sin, that we don’t have to go back to the ways of death to experience the gift of life.

 

Today, Paul tells us that because of our baptism in Christ, we are alive in him and set free from the traps of sin.

 

In Christ, we are not meant to covered by the filth of swine, but we are meant to be jewels that shine bright with the Gospel.

 

Amen and amen.

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