Fairchild
AFB Chapel, WA May 11, 2014
Luke
15:11-32
Last
week we talked about two of the parables about being lost. The missing sheep
and the lost coin were simple examples of how God is willing to seek, find and
celebrate the lost coming home. This week’s lesson is a continuation of that
story, but this time it involves a family, maybe one like yours or mine. This
is one we can sink our teeth into.
This parable is perhaps one of the best
known stories from the New Testament. People of all ages recognize it as the
parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal means wasteful or extravagant spending,
and so when we call it by that name we automatically set up a hierarchy among
the characters. Even so, each of us can identify ourselves or someone we know
with each person. One of you is thinking, “I am a youngest child, too, so I
understand how this little brother might want to get out of the shadow of that
older brother and go out on his own."
Someone else who is an oldest child is thinking, "Yeah, the baby
always gets the breaks. My parents were
never that easy with me." And some
of you identify with the father, and really know the joy of homecoming and what
it means to have what was broken made whole again.
We
often hear this story explained as a lesson in reconciliation. Biblical writers
often write about our need to be reconciled to one another and to God. This
parable highlights both of those interpretations quite well.
Reconciliation
happens when the younger son swallows his pride and comes home, willing to
accept the shame he feels he deserves for his irresponsible behavior. But instead of rejection, the son is
welcomed, "with opened arms,” and we experience the father's joy and
acceptance of his young son's homecoming as evidence of the kind of forgiveness
that God and Christ call for us to model in our own lives. We even see the father building a bridge
between the two sons, attempting to reach a level of reconciliation between
them, so that they might all be able to celebrate together.
Today
I’m asking you to make broaden your interpretation, and look for another
dimension to this parable. It’s too
simple to think of this as a parable of the prodigal son. This is a parable
about a man with two sons - of a parent with two children. This is not just a story about children with
different views about life. This is a
story about a father – and a God – whose heart is so big that he never gives up
on loving all those who have grown close to his heart. It’s the father’s behavior that challenges us
in our own lives. For while we see this
as a model story for how we should behave, (think repentance, forgiveness, and healing)
we cannot stop there. Reconciliation is
just the first layer of this story. We must look deeper to experience the radical
nature of the story Jesus tells, and who he calls us to be.
Jesus
tells a story of a younger son coming home to open arms, with the father
throwing a celebration dinner in his honor.
And as expected, the older son, and probably many listening to Jesus
tell the story, were really incensed.
Can't you just hear them talking in the background – neighborhood gossip
at its finest: "Can you believe this?
Look, at what he's done. He's
squandered away his inheritance. He left
his other brother with all that work, and used all that money to live who knows
what kind of life. And when things got
bad, look at what he did. He worked as a
laborer... for a Gentile... taking care of pigs.” As far as they were concerned, he had lowered
himself so far down that he'd probably never get up.
And
then they’d say, "And the father – can you believe it? He just welcomed
him back. With open arms. And a party to end all parties. What I wouldn’t have given to be a fly on the
wall. I mean I guess it's OK to let him
come home, maybe even to forgive him, but a party??? Are you kidding me? Why, it looks like that
father is condoning what the kid has done. You won’t catch me acting that way!”
Whether
we want to admit it or not, we feel some of those same things. We feel the same sense of outrage that the
older son must felt when he found out that how his brother had been welcomed
home. But we tend to sweep those
uncomfortable feelings away and say, "Well, that just how God wants us to
be... a forgiving and reconciling people, even when it's hard or feels
unnatural."
But
explaining away our discomfort is not enough.
Because that feeling also describes our relationship with God, the
uneasiness that we sometimes experience when we begin to explore the forgiveness
that God has given to us in the midst of our unfaithfulness. Maybe we’re uneasy because we think we (or
they) are getting something for nothing.
But this story makes it clear that that is not the case. The forgiveness that we see here is not
without condition. The father doesn’t pretend like it all never happened.
When
the father explained to the older son about his brother's return, he did not
say, "He's back to his old place in the family, with wealth and power
restored." No, what he said was,
"Nothing has changed for you. But my broken heart has been healed. I didn’t know if your brother was dead or
alive, and now that he’s home, we have something to celebrate. Come on, grab a plate – we’re having a party." With forgiveness came consequence, and the
need to take responsibility. The younger
brother’s place will become clear soon enough.
And
God is the same with us. We are NOT
told, "I forgive you, so now I will take away all your
problems." Instead, we hear,
"I love you and forgive you, and therefore I will be with you in all your
hurts and your pains, and in the consequences of your sin. You are not alone. I will provide a community to support and
care for you in the midst of whatever happens."
The
God whom we worship is a generous God…
One who forgives our sins, who stands with us in our joy, and holds us
up in the midst of our pain. But God did
not just forgive my sin, or your sin, but also the sin of those who, to us,
seem unforgivable. Our God is not an
either/or God, but is a both/and God. And even beginning to understand the scope of God's love and forgiveness
helps us to know God in a new and deeper way.
We cannot draw the lines which define how God's grace is going to
operate. God will be whom God will be.
The love that we share and the care that we give does not come easily – it
takes constant practice of loving and forgiving others to make that feel close
to natural. It’s what we pray about in the Lord’s prayer – your will be done.
I've been following this story for a couple of months, and it came to resolution earlier this month. Cornealious "Mike" Anderson, of St Louis County, was convicted of robbery in 2000 and was sentenced to 13 years but was never told when and where to report to prison. He spent the next 13 years turning his life around - getting married, raising three kids,learning a trade. He made no effort to conceal his identity or whereabouts. Mr. Anderson paid taxes and traffic tickets, renewed his driver's license twice and registered his businesses.
Not until last July did the Missouri Department of Corrections discover the clerical error that kept him free and authorities went to his home and arrested him, sending a SWAT team to make the arrest early one morning. He had been imprisoned in the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, MO ever since. But on Monday, May 5th, the 37-year-old Anderson appeared in court to fight for his freedom, and Mississippi County Associate Circuit Judge Terry Lynn Brown ruled that keeping Anderson in prison would serve no purpose.
Judge Brown said that rather than Anderson being granted parole, he would get credit for the 4,794 days between when he was convicted and when he was arrested last year. The judge also lauded Anderson's "exemplary" behavior during his 13 years of freedom. "You've been a good father. You've been a good husband. You've been a good taxpaying citizen of the state of Missouri. That leads me to believe that you are a good and changed me," he said. "You are a free man," Brown continued, telling Anderson to go back to his family.[1]
And while this is not completely analogous to our story today, I think
that this judge must understand what the parable is all about: what it means to
balance justice with mercy, and reconciliation with paying for our mistakes.
The
younger son was prepared to ask for forgiveness, to take whatever the father
would grant him, no matter how little, to just feel the safety of home. But the father ran out, and before the son
even had time to open his mouth, welcomed him home, and showed him all the love
that he held for him in his heart. God
has also run out to meet us, forgiving us before we even ask, and acknowledging
it to us when we finally recognize it.
The life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ open for us new
dimensions on how we understand God and our own lives in their light. They are the bridge that keeps us from being
separated from God.
Whomever
we identify with in today’s parable, from whatever slant we read it, in its
entirety, this parable brings out different emotions and understandings about
who we are as our parents’ children. But
it also tells us who we are as God’s children, and who God is as Parent of us
all. This is not just a parable about
reconciliation. It is also a parable
about the Kingdom of God and how God wants us to live in it. We are called to
be a people who live out extravagant generosity and radical hospitality, just
as the father demonstrates here.[2]
I
remember a story told by Tony Campolo, American Baptist minister and professor
at Eastern College in PA. He was in
Hawaii preparing for a speaking engagement, and on the first night there he
couldn’t sleep, so he went to an all-night diner. About 3am a group of eight women came in,
laughing and talking loudly. He was able
to learn a lot from overhearing their friendly conversation. He learned that the women were professional
escorts, finished with their night’s work and relaxing before going home. He also learned that one of the women would
be celebrating her 39th birthday the next day.
After
the group left, Campolo got an idea. He
talked the diner owner and his wife into helping throw a birthday party for her
the next night. 24 hours later the diner
was decorated with streamers and balloons.
Customers who heard about what was happening stayed around to help with
the surprise. As the ladies entered the
building, everyone inside shouted, “Happy Birthday, Agnes!” Agnes was in shock. People laughed together and hugged her, and
after being reminded to cut the cake, she begged them to let her keep the cake
as a reminder of the wonderful day.
“I’ve never had a birthday cake before – please let me take it home to
show my kids.”
As
shocked as they all were, they couldn’t think of a good reason to refuse her
request, and so she left with the cake intact, holding it as if it were
something precious.
Tony
broke the awkward silence in the room by saying, “Why don’t we pray?” and
without hesitation prayed for Agnes in her life, asking God to bless her on her
birthday, bring peace into her life, and save her from all that troubled her.
After the “Amen,” the owner said, “You didn’t tell me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you preach at?” Tony thought for a minute and said, “Well, I
preach at the kind of church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at three
o’clock in the morning.” To which the
owner replied, “No, you don’t. There is
no church like that. But if there was, I
would join a church like that. Yes, I would definitely join a church like that.”[3]
A
man had two sons. One went away and made
a lot of mistakes, and one stayed home and was faithful. And when the one who went away came home in
disgrace, the father loved him and celebrated his return. And when the one who stayed home was mad and upset,
the father reminded him that his love is big enough to love both of them, and
that any homecoming is worth all the celebration in the world
Let
us pray:
Parenting God, you have
watched and waited for us. You have
longed for us to “come to our senses,” to realize the joy of being members of
your family, and of taking our own special place in that family circle. In your love and grace you gather us to your
heart, and call for a celebration! As
your church we express our thanksgiving in joyous worship, and welcome those
turning and returning to you, even as you have welcomed us. We ask that you
would teach us again and again what it means a church which walks with people because
they are your children, proclaiming and demonstrating all of the love that you
have showered on us though Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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