One of the challenges of zoom church seems to be remembering to record the sermon from the beginning! So, apologies for the audio cutting in to the sermon mid-sentence. We’ll be sure to include the missing text here, at the beginning of the summary below, of Judy Augsburger’s beautiful summation of a lifetime as a Mennonite, anchored in her presentation of the God of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32.

“Back in February When Tim asked me if I would contribute to our series on Why I’m a Mennonite, I thought – sure, that won’t be too hard. I’ve been thinking about being Mennonite practically my whole life. What a great chance to sit down and reflect and sum it all up. And that is one really good way to give yourself writer’s block.

But thinking about it, I realized that my reasons for being Mennonite have really changed a lot over my life. And my understanding of what it means – to me – to be Mennonite is actually constantly evolving. Especially while I’ve been here at PMC. I’m incredibly grateful for this community and new understandings I’m constantly coming to here. So I realized the best I can aim for in a reflection like this is a snapshot of my current understanding of why I’m Mennonite, knowing it is going to continue to change and grow, and that’s a wonderful thing.

So First, If I’m honest, I have to say that a huge reason I’m a Mennonite is because I was raised Mennonite. And that feels like a very un-Mennonite thing to say. Because being Mennonite is all about choice: Anabaptists were founded on Believers baptism. We freely choose, as adults, to join the Mennonite community.

Which is why I think it’s not uncommon for people who are raised in a predominantly Mennonite community to want move away from the community for a awhile, try to step outside of it, so that they can then enter back in with a sense that they are truly making their own choice.”

Judy goes on to describe how this shaped who she wanted to be and her view of the world. Here’s a snippet: “I learned to read the Bible in a way that emphasized Jesus’ love and care for others, refusal to use violence, and revolutionary view of the Upside Kingdom in which being rich meant living simply; being great meant being humble; achieving success lay in contributing to the success of others. That we were a community that ran counterclockwise to the rest of the world including many other Christians.”

She goes on to talk about her journey in her young adult life: “What followed was a long period in my life – college, grad school, moving to Russia and living and working there 13 years as a journalist; when I was outside the Mennonite world and didn’t attend any church except sporadically. I saw myself as a sort of non-practicing Mennonite, which may be an oxymoron.” And yet her faith stagnated somewhat by being apart from community. “I found that I need the support of the community to live with deeper purpose. Part of the draw to come home to the U.S. was to be back in my home culture, but a lot of it was the desire to be part of a Mennonite community again.”

Hear the audio as Judy talks further about her experience as a Mennonite, about the awe-inspiring love of God portrayed in the story of the prodigal son, and about how as prodigals, we return again and again to the love of God.

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