Wanting to be Found: March 30

 Year C, Lent 4                                                           Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32                                                   

This Gospel reading is one of the most well-known parables in the Bible and also the parable that responsible siblings everywhere love to hate.  It’s often called “The Prodigal Son” which is somewhat of a misnomer.  The word prodigal doesn’t appear in the text, but it refers to the behavior of the youngest son who wasted his father’s money living recklessly.  Later the older brother accused him of wasting his money on prostitutes, but those are just accusations of an angry brother.  There is no point in adding on more sins to those of the younger brother.  If we focus on the sins of the sons rather than the love of the father, we miss the point of the story.  More recent biblical translations refer to this story as the “lost sons” or the “loving father.”

When considering the parable, a good place to start is the first three verses.  These verses show us why Jesus is telling this story.  Jesus didn’t just tell stories because he liked telling stories. They were often in response to questions or even comments that people around him made.  This story is a reaction to the comment that the Pharisees and Scribes were making. They said, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  I think we often read this and think, oh, sinners like me…these weren’t people who did something horrible, they were just regular old sinners.  But what if these people who Jesus was eating with were cruel or violent?  Would you want to share a meal with someone who sold drugs to children, someone who trafficked people?  It’s quite possible that these were the kind of people Jesus was sharing a meal with.  This is not to say that he was condoning what they did. No doubt, he encouraged them to change and be better.

We can better understand where the Pharisees and Scribes were coming from if we imagine these sinners as those people who are hurting others…who are actually causing harm to our world.  Consider the reaction Trump got when he had dinner with a Nazi sympathizer several years ago.  It was a pretty strong reaction. Now, I am not comparing Trump to Jesus, but we definitely judge people based on who they spend time with.  Jesus was becoming kind of high profile by that time which meant that who he chose to dine with, sent a message.

            It was in reaction to those comments that Jesus told this story.  The reason that  people are now calling this story “the parable of the lost sons,” is because there were two parables that came right after the comment from the Pharisees and Scribes, but before Jesus told the story of the lost sons.  The first story is of a shepherd who has 100 sheep.  One wanders off and the shepherd goes after the one and leaves the 99.  Jesus concludes that parable by saying, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.” The next story is a woman with 10 silver coins who loses one and goes to considerable effort to find that one.  She rejoices with friends and family when she finds it and the story concludes with, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  These two parables show the importance of the lost being found and repentance.

            Thus it would make sense that the next parable would also be focused on those who are lost.  The youngest son is literally lost in a faraway place.  They had no idea if he would ever come home. They probably assumed that he wouldn’t.  But what about the older son, was he lost?  In many ways, he was.  Despite the fact that he obviously has a very loving father, who came outside to beg him to come in, he said that he had worked as a slave for him.  That is the way he saw working on a farm and land that he would inherit.  That’s an important point.  While the younger son had a small portion of the inheritance, the older son would inherit all the rest. 

Despite that future inheritance, we can understand why he was resentful.  He had done everything right while his brother insulted his father by asking for his inheritance early (which, at the time, was akin to wishing your father dead) and then wasted it.  Then instead of being reprimanded when he came home, he was given a party. Did the older son get a party? Nope.  The way he saw it, his father had given him nothing.  The way his father saw it, he had given him everything.  He said, “all that is mine is yours.” The older son just wanted a little recognition for being responsible and loyal.  I think many of us can appreciate that.  But the problem with the older son is that his need for appreciation had built into resentment, so much so that he couldn’t even refer to his brother as his brother.  He called him, “that son of yours.”

You know what they say about resentment— it’s like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.  The older son was lost.  He wasn’t bad or wrong, but he was lost.  Remember who was listening to this story-- the Pharisees and the Scribes, the very people who had dedicated their lives to the faith. Had they gotten a little caught up in the rules and judging people? Sure they had.  Many of them were still good and faithful people. I imagine it drove them crazy to see this obviously holy man hanging out with notorious sinners instead of them. They were a little lost themselves.  But notice that Jesus wasn’t telling them they were bad…he was just telling them that there was room in his heart for both sets of people, but the place he was going to put his energy, was with the people who really needed him and were most receptive to him.

In the end, this is a story about the Father’s love for both sons and God’s love for us.  We are all lost in different ways. We might be someone who has walked away from our faith and are afraid to return, or maybe afraid of a church that has wounded us.  We might be the one who has remained committed to our faith over our whole life, but we’ve gotten a little too comfortable, a little too complacent. Maybe we are upset with the changes that we see in the church, especially when they come from those new people who just showed up.  It doesn’t matter what way you are lost, if you are here or watching online, there is a part of you that wants to be found.  Whether you can admit it or not, you want to be found by God.

While the parable about the sheep and the coin both mention repentance, the parable of the lost sons doesn’t. We don’t know if the younger son was sincere in his repentance or if he was just hungry. The father ran to him before the son could get a word out.  I bet it was a lot easier for the younger son to repent when he saw that his father still loved him.  We also don’t know what the older son did? Did he go inside and greet his brother or did he stay outside and stew?  By leaving the story open ended, Jesus was challenging the Pharisees and also challenging all of us. Can we let go of our resentments and anger and accept the love of a God whose love doesn’t always seem fair? Can we admit that we are lost and wanting to be found.  I hope so, because what this story tells us his that God always meets us more than half way.  God never stops searching for you.

God's Love is Unfair: March 31, 2019

Year C, Lent 4                                                        

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32                                                                 

            As some of you know, I have three older brothers; the oldest being 13 years older.  When he was in his late 20’s, he wrote a book that featured three brothers and a father who was in the Navy.  It bore some remarkable similarities to his life.  However, when I read it I was a little perturbed that there was no sister.  He just left me out completely.  I mentioned something to my brother about this and he replied, “This is a book about redemption, you don’t need redemption.” He was alluding to the fact that he and my other brothers were kind of wild children and teenagers.  I was not.  Also he was writing about himself as a high school student, which was when I was about 4 years old.  I was not satisfied with that answer.  It seemed to me, that I was being punished for being good.  What he did not realize was that I would get back at him by featuring him in sermons years later. 

            This Gospel reading is often referred to as The Prodigal Son.  The word prodigal is nowhere in the text. It has been assigned to the text because it describes a wasteful or reckless extravagance. Yet the way the father describes the younger son is lost, which is a far better description.  Additionally, it is not merely the story of one lost son.  It is the story of two sons who are lost.  One is lost in a distant country.  The other is lost in his own home, with his own family. 

            It might not seem so horrible to us that the younger son asked for his inheritance while his father was still alive.  However in this time period, that would have been considered the ultimate insult because it is basically saying to the father, “You are dead to me.”  In asking for his inheritance early, he cut himself off from his entire family.  To make things worse, he wasted that money on self-indulgent living.  He is not a likable character, not the kind of underdog you want to root for. He only returns when he runs out of money and is on the brink of starvation.  He’s kind of a jerk. 

            The other son isn’t particularly likeable either.  He is jealous and resentful.  While his brother is a jerk, you would assume that the elder brother would be at least a little happy to have his brother back safe and sound.  While the elder brother is not likeable, I think he is a little more relatable for most of us.  I imagine that most of us have had some experience where we have witnessed someone else being celebrated or rewarded when it was clear to us that they in no way deserved to be celebrated or rewarded.  It’s not fair.  I think there are few things that are more disconcerting to your average human than when we witness something that is unfair.  Despite the fact that most adults know life is not fair, we still feel the need to make it be fair.  And even if we know that life is not fair, we at least want God, the almighty, all knowing God, to be fair.  And why would an all knowing, almighty God, reward a son who wished his father dead, took his money and then came back when he needed him? 
            Why? Because there is nothing fair about God’s unconditional, unrelenting love.  When that unfair love is directed to us, it doesn’t seem to bother us that it is unfair.  Let’s consider this elder son.  It’s true that he was the good son.  He stayed with his family and did his work, but he also had servants.  It is clear from the text that his father was wealthy and generous.  He was able to provide for his sons in ways that other people could not.  His father was also clearly compassionate, forgiving and loving.  He was a good father.  He was the kind of father who ran out too meet his disrespectful and ungrateful son and pronounce forgiveness before forgiveness was even asked.  Do we really think the elder son ever lamented the unfairness of having a life like he had, having a family like he had when so many had nothing compared to him?  I doubt it.  Because he felt that was what he deserved. He was entitled to that kind of life. 

            He was lost, not because he had chosen to escape to another land, but because he chose resentment over gratitude, because he chose to lament the unfairness of a father who loved his brother too much instead of thanking God for a father who loved him with an unrelenting and all powerful love.  When we think of this parable, we can probably all see in our minds eye the father who runs out to meet his foolish and selfish son who treated him like he was dead.  It is a dramatic and compelling scene. But how many of us picture the father who then seeks out his bitter and unforgiving son and begs him to come inside; who reminds his petulant child that while he might not have rewarded him with a fatted calf, it didn’t matter because everything he owned, was already his. The father didn’t have to reward him with the fatted calf, because the elder son owned the fatted calf. God has already given us everything we need.

            When I was working on this sermon, I thought a lot about my own privilege and the truth is that most of are born into privilege, just by being born as an American. Most of us have guaranteed access to free education and clean water.  We take these things for granted even though there are many in our world (and some in our nation) who do not have these privileges.  But in the end, that is not what this story is about.  It is a story about something else we often take for granted--God’s grace. No matter where we are born or who we are born to, we all are born as children of God, beloved by God. 

Every day and every hour, we make a choice. We can either be grateful for this amazing gift, this amazing grace, or we can be resentful for the ways that life has cheated us, or what we do not have.  That was the sin of the elder son.  He could not be content or thankful for what he had because of his bitterness about what his own brother was receiving. 

It is hard to let go of resentment.  But there is a way.  Embrace gratitude.  You cannot be grateful and resentful at the same time. Thus when you find yourself growing bitter over some perceived unfairness, remember the gift that you have, the gift that God has given you.  Everyone gets lost at some point in their life.  Each one of us has a story of redemption. Part of what the season of Lent is about is admitting that we are all lost and then making the choice to be found. God is looking for you. God is that father who is staring into the distance, waiting for us each one of us to return to him. Embrace gratitude.  Choose gratitude. Because God has already chosen and embraced each one of us.

Footnote: If you are interested in this subject, I encourage you to read "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen. It is inspired and helped me a great deal on this sermon.