March 18, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable:… "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus was known for his parables—stories used as teaching tools. In this morning’s passage, he relates the famous parable of the prodigal son. “A man had two sons,” he begins. This would have been a very typical way to start such a teaching. In Matthew’s gospel we hear Jesus telling another story about two brothers—one who promises to work in the vineyard and then never shows up and the other brother who refuses to do the work but later changes his mind and does it. And Jesus sums up the lesson by asking who did the will of his father. Clearly it was the one who did the work, who had the righteous actions.
But just when we are expecting this prodigal son story to go in this direction, it takes a surprising turn. In this parable, the sinner son returns after his wild, money-squandering days and instead of getting the punishment he deserves for his folly, he gets a gigantic welcome home party! Jesus has really thrown us for a loop here. What are we supposed to learn from this teaching?
Well, it begins with the younger son asking his father for his share of the inheritance. But wait a minute, his father’s not dead yet. Do you realize how insulting this is? The son, in doing this, is treating the father like he is dead. He is saying, “You are dead to me. I don’t care about anything but your money, so give it to me so I can get out of this awful place.”
Instead of causing a family feud, the father kindly offers the money to the son and off he goes. Jesus says that he goes off to a foreign country and squanders his property in dissolute living. Often it is assumed that he lost it with wine, women and song, but it doesn’t say that. It could have been bad investments or extravagant spending. Whatever the reason, he finds himself penniless.
So he goes and hires himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. Now to the Jewish audience to which Jesus told this parable, feeding pigs was the lowest a person could stoop. Pigs, of course, were considered unclean. And not only is the son feeding the pigs, but he is finding himself jealous of them! He’s wishing he could dine on their slop. Even today, we cringe at such a thought.
Then, it says that he came to himself. Now some would say that this means he repented, that he recognized the severity of his sin and wanted to make it right with his dad. But it seems his aim is not quite so noble. He is hungry as he can be, he’s fighting pigs for food and it dawns on him that being one of his father’s servants would at least be a better situation. So he trots home, rehearsing a very self-serving speech.
And here comes the biggest surprise of all! Before the prodigal son even gets to the gate—while he is still far off—his father sees him and is filled with compassion; he runs and throws his arms around his son and kisses him.
Now it is tempting to interpret this as a call for repentance. Look at that younger son, he recognized the problem with his sinful lifestyle and repented. Some artists have depicted this scene in a way that emphasizes that repentance of the son. One painting from the 1600s by an artist nicknamed Guercino (pictured left), shows the son wearing nothing but a loincloth and delicately sobbing into a hanky in his father’s outstretched arms. It is as if the artist is hailing the wonderful action of the son’s heartfelt conversion.
But Jesus doesn’t say the son comes home all sobby-eyed. He doesn’t even say that he has a chance to apologize to his old man. He simply says that the father runs and throws his arms around his prodigal son and kisses him. There is another painting by Rembrandt of this scene, which was painted just a few years after Guercino’s. In Rembrandt’s version of it (pictured below) the son is kneeling in front of the father and we can only see a shadowy profile of his face. What Rembrandt emphasizes in his work is the grace and forgiveness of the father who bends down in compassion to put his arms on the son’s shoulders in a gesture that looks like a blessing.
I think Rembrandt’s work highlights what Jesus is really trying to teach here. Remember that the reason Jesus launches into this lesson is because he has been accused by the Pharisees of welcoming sinners and eating with them. Jesus, through this lengthy parable, is endeavoring to show that he eats with sinners because he welcomes sinners as God welcomes sinners. God, like the father in the story, forgives the wrongs of his children and runs to embrace us when we return, whether we’re truly repentant or not. And because we’ve been given this kind of extravagant mercy, we are given the job of sharing it with others.
Paul eludes this in the second lesson for today when he writes that God has “given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So,” he continues, “we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us.”
Yes, our job is to be ambassadors for Christ, not to sulk on the sidelines with the older brother in the prodigal son story, thinking how unfair it is that God is so forgiving. Well, my friends, let us be grateful that God is more merciful than fair and does not treat us as we deserve but forgives our sins in Christ.
In this season of Lent, as we draw near to God let us nestle into the arms of our all loving-Creator that we may be made into ambassadors worthy of our calling. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© Laura E. Gentry 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment