02/22/26 Autobiography: Co-Author

0:32 A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Chapter 4, verses 1 through 11. At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached him and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. He said in reply, God to the test. Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their magnificence. And he said to him, all these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me. At this, Jesus said to him, get away, Satan. It is written, the Lord your God shall you worship and him alone shall you serve. Then the devil left him and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

1:56 The Gospel of the Lord. I invite you to have a seat. So this Lent, this Lent we're going to be talking about stories. Obviously we have the stories of today. We have the story of Genesis. We have the story of Jesus in the wilderness. There's a story that we're going to come back to all throughout the course of Lent. It's maybe a story you know of. It's in Luke chapter 15. It's a story Jesus told, in fact. It's the parable of the prodigal son. So if you know that parable, it's actually in your bulletin. We printed it out. We're going to print it out every single week because this is going to be the story that kind of we follow throughout the whole course of Lent.

2:38 But speaking of stories, I did that question at the beginning. Here's a show of hands moment. I just encourage you, if you don't like showing your hands, it's fine. But do it anyways. So how many of you said, when I asked the question, if you ever wanted to write a book, how many would say like, yeah, that was me? Okay, oh, that's awesome. Yeah, this is more accurate. This morning, I'm like, I don't know if they were playing or what they were doing. do you know that there's 80%, over 80% of people who are asked, have you ever wanted to write a book, say yes. Over 80% of the population has, when they've been asked the question, have you ever wanted to write a book, over 80% have said, absolutely, I would love to, someday I would love to write a book. Interestingly, less than 1% of the population actually ends up doing it. I think this is fascinating, that sense that so many of us, there's a story. And I don't know what you answered, what kind of book it would be. would it be something like you're some kind of non-fiction thing you're passionate about or or some person you want to write a biography or or maybe like you're more thriller like write a whodunit kind of situation interestingly while over 80 percent of people want to write a book and while less than one percent finish it less than 15 percent ever even start which i think is really just fascinating so many people want to do this thing but so few people even try so few people few few people even even even start so one of the one of the kinds of books people could write is as i mentioned about a biography and i'm thinking about this imagine if someone was writing your biography right if Someone's writing the story of your life.

4:19 would they include, just a question, would they include anything about this time in your life? like at some point at the end of your life when someone's writing your biography would they include anything i mean it's not because this is when you became popular or famous or significant but if someone looked at this season of your life or my life would they look at you and say oh she's started like oh look at your life and say he's begun because i think here's here's lent i think Lent's one of these times where we have to stop and ask the question. Lent is one of those times to reassess and ask the question, okay, so if I live the next 10 years, or if I live the next 40 years the way I've lived the last seven days, who will I be at the end of the story? again if I live the next 30 years the way I lived the last week of my life who will I become again who will I be at the end of the story because because the reality is someone every life is a story every person is an author and the question is this what are you becoming what story are you writing because obviously very few of us maybe none of us will have anyone write our biography.

5:43 Probably unlikely. But every one of us is writing our autobiography right now. Every one of us, at this very moment, we are writing our autobiography. Because why? Because every life is a story. Every person is an author. The question is, who will you become? Who will you be at the end of the story? So what we're going to do all the course of, throughout Lent, is that's the series. The series title is Autobiography. The reality is every life is a story. Every person is the author of their, you're the author of your story. The question, again, we get to come back to this place, is have you started writing?

6:22 Again, you're the author of your autobiography. We also, we recognize God is the co-author. He gets some credit. but have you started writing another way to ask it is this is your autobiography has the story is the story yours yet what i mean by that is is it's okay it's already going on right it's already you're already moving you already exist there's already things in your life but you we all know this about any person's life about any story in a person's life there comes that one moment where all of a sudden they're not just doing what they were told they're doing something on purpose it's not just that they were just kind of going through life as a passenger They've now picked up the pen and they're saying, no, this is when I started. This is when I'm moving. We all know this. We all know there's a moment in every person's story where they start.

7:10 They act. There's a moment where you stop doing just, I'm living because they told me to live like this. And you start writing. So one of my favorite stories, maybe it's one of the greater stories of all time. Lord of the Rings. Some of you know this story. That one of the characters, one of the protagonists of Lord of the Rings is Frodo. And it's fascinating because for the first big portion of that first book, Frodo is just kind of doing what he's told, right? He's guarding the ring, why? Because Gandalf told him to. He's taking the ring to the Prancing Pony, why? Because he was told to. He's bringing, he's going with Aragorn to Rivendell. Why? Because someone else told him to. But there's a moment in it, and this might be us, right? I went to high school because they told me to. I went to university because they told me to. I have a job because they told me to. There's a moment where Frodo's in Rivendell and they're like, who's going to take the ring to Mordor? It's the first time we really ever see. He steps up and he starts writing his story.

8:05 He doesn't do something just because someone told him to. He stands up and he says, I'll take the ring. I'll do it. This is what authors, this is what literary people call a strong start. So every strong start in a story has four components to it. One, it's an element of irreversibility. What I mean by that is you can't go back to who you were before this. Second is your identity is at stake, meaning you don't know who you're going to be after this. Number three is there's risk. The future's unclear. And number four is there's agency. You're making a decision. This is so good when it comes to Frodo. Here's this. It's not his ring. It's not his burden. It's not his responsibility. This whole ring existing is not his fault. But at one point, he starts writing his own story. And that's a strong start. Why? Because irreversibility. There's no going back to the shire. There's a threat to his identity in the sense of he literally doesn't know who he's going to be after this.

9:01 After he takes this step, there's no telling who he's going to be. There's a risk because the future is definitely unclear. And there's agency because he's making that decision. Every strong start has these four elements. Whether it's a good start, Frodo, or a bad start, Genesis. We heard a bad start today. That first reading today in Genesis chapter three was a bad start. I mean, sorry, let me clarify. It's a great start at first. God makes the whole world. It's all good. Good start. Adam and Eve, great start. Amazing. Imagine, imagine being Adam and Eve. All you know in the garden, all you know, you've been given every good thing. All you know is God loves you. All you know is this Adam loves Eve. Eve loves Adam. It is amazing. But their story hasn't really, they haven't started writing their story yet until when, until the serpent comes in, gives a challenge.

9:53 Up to this point, they've been given a lot of great things. But up to this point, they're not yet co-authors. And what happens? The serpent comes in and challenges, threatens them. I think this is fascinating because I think sometimes we think, well, yeah, it's what Eve had to do. Eve had to eat the apple. She had, I don't know if you think about this, she had options. Eve had so many options. Adam and Eve, they could have fought the serpent. They could have cried out to God for help. They could have prayed. They could have run away. They could have, they literally could have run away, you guys.

10:30 They could have faced the serpent and been killed. That's an option. They could have wrote the story. They could have had a great, strong start. But what do they do? I mean, Adam, they look at the apple. And it's not a bad thing. We know this. Nothing God makes is bad. So Eve looks at the apple. He's like, no, it's good for the food. Delightful to the eyes. Good for gaining wisdom. It's a good apple or fruit. Good piece of fruit. and what happens? They reach out, and this moment they start writing, but they don't start writing with God as their co-author. They start writing on their own, and this is the key.

11:10 A strong, strong start. Irreversibility. You're not going back to where you were. A threat to your identity. They have no idea who they're going to be after this. There's risk. The future is absolutely unclear, and there's agency. They've done it, but here's the reality. is they're doing it apart from God because this is what every sin is. We all know this. Every sin is an attempt to be happy.

11:34 Like none of us have ever sinned saying, I'm going to do this thing and it's going to make me so miserable. I can't wait. None of us have ever done that. Every sin is an attempt to be happy. but every sin is an attempt to be happy apart from God. That's it. Every sin is an attempt to be happy. I just want to be, I want to be happy, but I don't want you to be part of my story. Every sin is an attempt to say, God, I'm going to write my own autobiography. I don't need your help. I don't need you to be my co-author.

12:08 I'm living my life. I'm writing my life. I'm writing it without you that brings us to the story that we're going to be talking about all lent luke chapter 15 the parable of the prodigal son if you're not familiar with the parable of the prodigal son as i said it's printed in your bulletin but this story today is just looking at the beginning because this is this is the start every story has a beginning and jesus begins it by saying a father had two sons and the younger son said to his father Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me. Now, we hear this, we're like, yeah, yeah, that's how the story goes. We've heard it a thousand times. I don't know if we've understood, ever really understood. how the original Jewish authors, listeners would have received this. As a son goes to his father and says, Father, give me the share of the estate that should, your estate that should come to me.

13:06 Why? Because he's asking for his inheritance now. We know this, right? When you get your inheritance, you get your inheritance when the person who has the inheritance is dead. So here's the younger son going to his father and saying, hey, listen, I can't wait for you to die. so can you just give me what's coming to me after your death but I don't want to have to wait until then so just give it to me now it's so insulting but it's not even the worst part of it it gets really worse it goes it says the father gave it to him which is crazy that's bananas then it says this is after a few days the younger son took all his belongings and went off to a distant country now this is the part that we might miss but this is the part that's more devastating maybe to the father than anything else. It's more devastating to the story than maybe anything else. Why? Because I always imagine, here's the younger son saying, hey, give me the share of the estate. I'm going to put up a fence between you guys and my side of the farm. I'll take care of my, I'm going to build a house in the back 40. I'll wave at you across the fence, but he's kind of living there.

14:09 That is not what the son does. He takes it. He sells the property. again think about this in first century judaism your land is not just your land if you remember the story right as as as god leads joshua across the jordan river into the promised land all the tribes they get certain land all the families get certain land in that region so this land is not like well this is your dad's land he bought it from someone else no this is your family's land that has been in your family for generations maybe been in your family for hundreds of years. What's this guy done? He's taken his family's land, sold it to someone else, not the family, and then went somewhere where no one knows him and no one knows his father. What is he saying? Not just, Dad, I want your stuff. He's saying, Dad, I don't want to be associated with you at all. I don't want, I'm going to go into a place, I'm going to get rid, I'm going to get rid of everything that's connected to me, to our family. I'm going to get rid of it and I'm going to a place where no one knows me and no one knows you and no one knows that I'm your son.

15:14 Why? Because I want to be happy. But I want to be happy apart from you. I want to be happy, but I don't want to be happy near you. Because I want to write my story. I just don't want you as my co-author. and this is a strong start but it is a it is a bad start remember the four elements irreversibility there's no going back after this this is a threat to identity who is he going to be after this we have no idea it's risk the future is completely unclear and his agency yeah the character chooses basically he's choosing this i don't want god to be my co-author i want to write my story i want to be happy apart from god I've shared this with some of y'all a couple weeks ago but there was a student on campus years ago and he was raised kind of sort of Catholic one of those kind of situations he was baptized, maybe first communion in second grade but that was it at one point he was going to study abroad he was a UMD student, was going to study abroad and he studied abroad he chose the country he wanted to study abroad in because he thought, okay where do I have the best chance to be able to party as much as I want to smoke as much as I want to drink as much as I want and to have sex with as many women as I want.

16:35 And he chose, that's how he chose where he wanted to study abroad. Because that's my plan, that's what I'm going to do. And so he left, that's what he did. But before he left, he said this, he said that before he left, the last thing he did is he went into his bedroom and he opened up his sock drawer and he had a crucifix that someone had given to him on a necklace and what he did is he took that crucifix off and he put it in the sock drawer and shut the drawer basically to say, God I'm going to go write the next chapter of my life I'm writing it without you God I'm going to go live my life you stay here and again that's what he did when he came back to the minnesota after the whole semester and a couple weeks couple months after he got back here one of his friends invited him to newman okay sure it was a pretty girl who invited him so okay sure but he was just like really compelled i remember we were meeting and we were talking about a lot of things i remember i remember the moment we were having a conversation and he became convinced that god existed he was just like no oh my gosh god is real like yeah Like really real.

17:45 And then I remember the moment he was convicted that Jesus is God and that Jesus actually loved him. This man, it was incredible because there's this moment of this absolute joy of like he had lived so much of his life and not having any idea God exists. Jesus is God. He loves me. And it was this joy of like, oh my gosh, this is true. At the same time, there was this, like he was crushed internally. because he was looking at his own heart, because he looked what he had written.

18:18 He looked at who he had become, and remember him just saying, all that I've done, he said, that's not me. I don't want that to be me. but that was his story to that point and in that moment what's the reality? the reality is number two of a good start is his identity was at risk in the question of like oh my gosh who am I going to be?

18:45 because the future was unclear and he was convicted by this irreversibility I can't go back I can't go back Thank you. I've written this chapter in my life and I can't unwrite it. so here's the question is it true that i can't go back because we might find ourselves in this place we might find ourselves in the same exact thing of like oh my gosh i've written this last chapter of my life on my own apart from god without god as my co-author what i've been trying to do is i've been trying to be happy apart from god is it possible i love going back to the particle son particle son he's in this distant place he spends everything he's got. A severe famine strikes. And it's scripture. Jesus says this. He found himself in dire need. Next line is coming to his senses, he thought. Another translation is coming to himself.

19:39 My favorite translation as a kid, I came across this. It said remembering himself. basically he had been writing this story without God he was writing this story like my friend who said this can't be me remembering himself he said I'll go back to my father and I think this is key because he might have had the conviction the prodigal son might have had the conviction I can't go back to who I was he might have had the conviction I don't know who I'm going to be.

20:15 But what did he know? He knew I can go to my father. Because here's the reality. The reality is when we started writing apart from God we can say I don't know who I am anymore but I know who he is. You have the conviction of like I don't know my identity but I know his identity. And there's proof. There's actually proof in the story Jesus tells us that the younger son knew his dad's identity even before he left. Why? Because the knucklehead, right? This giant turd of a son had the gall, had the audacity to ask his dad for his share of the inheritance.

20:56 Knowing what? Knowing that his dad wouldn't kick him out. When he asked the question at the beginning of the whole story, he knew his father's heart because he'd know my dad is kind. My dad actually loves me. My dad cares about me. If I ask my dad for the inheritance, He'll, this guy thinks so much of me, he'll actually give it to me. That's what he remembers. He doesn't know who he is. He's been writing apart from God. but he knows he can go back because he knows his father. because he knows his dad's heart he knows this, I can go back he knows this, I don't have to write this next chapter on my own And this is the last thing. whatever it is you and I have written up to this point, we don't have to write this next chapter on our own.

21:53 This is your autobiography. You're living your autobiography right now. And here's the reality. You have to start writing. You have to start. Because why? Because every story has a beginning. Even in the gospel today, this is the beginning of Jesus' story. We know that he's the second person of the Trinity, so he's existed for all eternity. But beyond that, this is the moment Jesus goes into the wilderness and he's like, okay, this is the moment.

22:16 Irreversibility. There's no going back to Nazareth after this. His future is unclear after this. He takes that step. And you know what the serpent attacks? You know what the devil attacks? You know what's under threat is his identity. I mean, think about almost every challenge that the evil one brings to Jesus. The challenge is this. Hey, if you are the son of God, turn these loaves into bread. If you're the son of God, throw yourself down from the temple. Who are you really? And this is where we get that Jesus is this brilliance. He started his story. he left.

23:01 But he didn't leave the Father. He left with the Father. He didn't start writing a part from God as his co-author. He wrote with God as his co-author. and you can too. Every one of us can do this right now because, again, you are living, right now, you are living your autobiography.

23:25 And maybe we've tried to write it on our own. Maybe we've tried to be happy apart from God. but today in this moment remember who you are and if you can't remember who you are in this moment remember who he is Come back. come back to the Father Your autobiography is being written.

24:05 This story is becoming your life story.