EVERYONE BELONGS
Sermon from 3.30.25
Reflections on Luke 15 and 2 Corinthians 5
Have you ever stood in a room full of strangers and felt invisible? Sat at a lunch table that never made room for you? Or worse, stepped into a church whose silence said, “Not you”?
We all carry this ache—the longing to be seen, known, and embraced.
And into that ache, Jesus tells a story. A scandalous, grace-drenched story of welcome that refuses to let anyone stay lost or unloved.
A Story That Still Offends
Luke 15 begins with a complaint:
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Not preaches to them.
Not corrects them.
Eats with them.
Table fellowship—proximity, presence, and radical welcome. That’s what scandalized the righteous.
And so Jesus responds, not with a lecture, but with a story. A parable about two sons—and a father who redefines what belonging means. But really, it’s a story about us.
The Younger Son: Even in your disgrace, you belong
He leaves. He squanders. He crashes hard.
And in the most humiliating turn, he ends up feeding pigs. In Jewish imagination, this wasn’t just poverty—it was spiritual pollution. He didn’t just sin. He became detestable.
But grace runs faster than shame.
The father runs to him. Embraces him. Throws a feast.
Not after he’s cleaned up—but while he still stinks of failure.
There is no such thing as too far gone in the Kingdom of God.
The Older Son: Even in your resentment, you belong
He stays. Obeys. Performs.
But when grace is extended to someone who didn’t earn it, he breaks. He resents the party thrown for the rebel. He steps out, refusing to join the celebration.
And the father? He runs again.
Not to scold.
To plead.
Even in your bitterness, even in your self-righteousness,
you belong.
But Will You Come In?
The story ends unresolved.
The rebel is inside.
The rule-follower stands outside, arms crossed.
And the party goes on.
Jesus leaves the question hanging:
Will you come in?
Will you accept a grace that offends your sense of fairness?
Reconciliation Isn’t Passive
Paul echoes this scandal of grace in 2 Corinthians 5:
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself… and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
This isn’t about tolerating people until they behave.
It’s not about silently “welcoming” people while secretly resenting their presence.
It’s about running to the outcast.
It’s about feasting with the unclean.
It’s about living as if everyone belongs.
Because in Christ—they do.
What Would It Look Like to Live Like Everyone Belongs?
Build longer tables, not higher fences.
Run toward people we’ve written off.
Throw a party for someone who’s been excluded.
Examine the resentment keeping us outside the celebration.
The Kingdom of God is not a gated community for the worthy.
It’s a homecoming party for the prodigal, the pious, and everyone in between.
The soul in danger in this story isn’t the one who squandered grace.
It’s the one who refused to celebrate it.
Let us not be the ones who miss the party.
Let us be people of the feast.
Everyone belongs.
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