Grace and Disgrace

Joshua 5: 9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21, Luke 15; 1-3, 11b-32

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus 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.’”

Pray with me that God’s love may be present in my words and in our lives. Amen.

Our gospel lesson today is among the most well known stories of the Bible. This story at first glance is a pattern for the cycles of sin, repentance, compassion and forgiveness that are basic tenants of our Christian faith. The son was un-faithful to his father, he later suffered greatly for his transgressions, turned around and asked for forgiveness and his father, being all compassionate forgave him. But on a deeper look the story is intensely more complicated. I believe this is complicated because we have added the human factor. The story becomes about human and divine relationships and every time you begin to explore these relationships, including or maybe even especially the relationships among families and closely related people, the story becomes more complicated.

Let’s explore each of the relationships presented today. The first relationship shown in this story is of course the relationship between Jesus and members of the religious establishment of the day. This audience often challenged Jesus as he traveled around the countryside preaching and teaching and these are the ones toward which the parable was aimed. The different religious sects each had a different understanding of their relationship with God, with one another and proper way to perform their religious obligations.  Questions were stated in such a way that no matter what the answer, if Jesus answered directly, he would offend one faction or another.

Realizing the traps that were being set for him, Jesus developed a practice of turning the tables by asking the questioner to provide an acceptable answer or by telling a story or a parable, which would hold within it an example of the more complex moral issue.

This story begins with Jesus in one of these situations and the “religious authorities” were complaining that, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Why did these people complain of this? It may have been that they recognized in Jesus’ demeanor the seed of the truth that he truly had a particular relationship and understanding of God. They and their religious forbearers had been waiting for the Messiah to redeem the people for decades or even centuries. They felt that they had “behaved correctly” in practicing their faith and felt entitled to a special place (sort of first in line for the redemption of the Hebrew people). Jesus, though, responded to their complaints with a series of parables which shed a different light on “right relationship”. The first parable told of the “Lost Sheep”, in which the shepherd left ninety-nine sheep in the open country to search for one lost sheep until it was found.

The second parable was of the “Lost Coin”, in which a woman searched and swept her house until she found a single lost coin and then she rejoiced.  These two stories are simple in their message – that each person, regardless of their current situation or religious affiliation, is important and loved by God. At the end of each parable comes the punch line. About the lost sheep – “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

About the lost coin – “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God”, over a single person who changes directions and looks toward God. This must have been a hard lesson to hear for those who were asking Jesus for an answer as to why he associated with the “less than desirable” crowd. I am sure is a difficult lesson for many of us today who pride ourselves on maintaining our “proper behavior” and may be a little jealous of favors obtained by those less committed and less deserving

The third parable Jesus told, is the one we heard today, the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. We know this story is full of more complex relationships when Jesus started by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” We are now getting into family dynamics.  We instinctively know that the story is about the different life choices made by members of this family, and that the story about relationships, presumptions, conflicts and acceptance. As with all families, these two sons behaved differently.  Who in your family are the difficult ones? Who in your family is most rebellious?

In this story – the younger son was definitely the difficult, rebellious child. He said to his father, “Give me my share of your estate”. Under Old Testament law, inheritance was defined by the law. It wasn’t up to the father to decide how much each of the sons was to receive. As the younger child, this son was entitled to 1/3 of his father’s estate after the father had died. So, this younger son was not asking for more than was to come to him eventually. However, he was demanding his inheritance while his father was still alive and in good health.  This is the equivalent of saying, “Dad, I am ready for you to die now.” What sort of family life would bring this request? This younger son might have chafed at his father’s strict rules of behavior; perhaps he felt put down by his obedient “goody-goody” elder brother.

What sort of response would you expect to this type of attitude? Wouldn’t you expect this child to be kicked out of the house immediately? The nerve!! This father, however, divided his property between the two sons. He not only gave this younger son his inheritance but also, according to the story, gave the elder son his portion of the family property.

The younger son then took his money, left home, journeyed to place the Bible calls “a distant country” where he spent every dime. Why did he do that? How did he get to the point that he was living in a pigpen?

First, he was selfish. It all began with a selfish act, a disregard for his father and his family. He said, “I want my money and I want it now.”  All he could see were the dollar signs.

Secondly, he acted hastily. The story tells us that when he got his money he took off to a distant country. When we think of that phrase “a distant country”, we don’t need to think of somewhere thousands of miles away. Where is the distant country? It can be no further than one step away from the family relationship, the distance is not only physical but it is the simple disconnection from brother and father (mother and sister). In a more general sense, on a current and personal basis, the “distant country” is also a single step away from a relationship with God. It is not a matter of geography. It is a matter of broken relationship.

Thirdly, the younger son wasted everything he had. The word prodigal means “to waste”. When this son left, he never intended to come back. After all, he took all the money with him. Some of the family assets, accumulated for generations, probably had to be sold for this youth to be able to take it all with him. If he had planned to return, he would have left something behind.

Fourthly, he separated himself from every relationship that had been important. By leaving, he broke his relationship with his father and his brother. But he also left the others in his family and he also left his friends and the community in which he lived. He rejected everything.

Lastly, in addition to being selfish, acting hastily, living wastefully, and separating him self from all previous meaningful relationships – this young man continued with a string of bad decisions. Once he started making bad decisions, it was easier to keep making them than to change. He simply kept going in the wrong direction.

What happened next? There was a famine. In the end he lost everything. The young person who came from a good family found himself face down in the pigpen of a gentile. He hit rock bottom.  He has no social support system. Even the pigs (animals that were considered unclean to the Old Testament Jews) that he had hired himself out to care for, had more to eat than he did. He was physically, as well as emotionally and spiritually starving to death.

While he was sitting there dirty, in the pigpen, face to face with the pigs, though, something changed. Our story says, “He came to himself’ another version says “He came to his senses.” What was it that brought him to his senses? Nothing suggests that he turned back because he realized the terrible hurt and disgrace he had done to his family. He was hungry. His stomach made him think about his father. He simply had no where else to go.

He said to himself “I will go back to my father.” The prodigal son repented. Repentance simply means turning around. For us to repent, we simply have to stop doing the same unproductive things over and over again, each time expecting a different result. This youth was hungry because those many months ago he got greedy and left home; he was sleeping with the pigs because of his pig-headedness. He was living alone because he chose to go his own way. To turn around – to repent – we must first admit that we are responsible for the direction we have taken, that we are responsible for the mess we are in. It is a change of mind that can lead to a change of life. You can’t go back home until you admit that you left it in the first place.

Then there was honesty. The verse states “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him; ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.’” You know that you are serious about changing you life when you stop making excuses for your situation. The Prodigal son could have said. “MY older brother was always picking on me, or if Dad had given me more money I wouldn’t be in this mess, or the farmer should have given me a better job. But he didn’t. He simply said, “I was wrong.”

There was humility. When he was still in the pigpen, he rehearsed what he would say to his father. “I am no longer worthy to be called you son; make me like one of your hired men.” What a tremendous statement that was. He came back home with no pre-conditions. He said, “If you take me back, I will work like a hired hand.”

Finally there was resolution. The verse said, “So he got up and went to his father.” It is easy to criticize the prodigal son, but when the time came to move he moved. He didn’t continue to sit in the muck with the pigs, thinking about his miser, he simply started on the journey home.

As he shuffled along the road, a couple of questions certainly went through his mind; “What is my father gong to say? Will he take me back?” With his head down, he probably trudged along the dirt road, embarrassed and humiliated.

Certainly his fears were well founded. We don’t often think about the father’s pain when we read this story. But it wouldn’t have been easy for him. First of all, he lost part of the fortune he had worked to accumulate. Secondly, he lost his reputation in the community. When a family dissolves in such anger, there is no way to keep it hidden. But the worst pain was the simple pact that the father had lost his son. After all the years his dreams were shattered. His son had left home. Could anyone blame this father if he refused to take his son back? No wonder the son was worried as he slowly plodded toward home. He had no idea what awaited him.

But “as he was still a long way off, his father saw him.” The father saw his son and he was moved with compassion. I am sure that no matter how long the son was gone, that father felt his absence, and every day longed for his return. Then it happened. One day,  late in the afternoon when the sun was beating down and sweat covered his face, he saw a figure walking hesitantly tow4d him. Throwing all dignity aside, he ran to meet his son, embrace him without saying a word, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The father knew how the villagers would welcome his son, as he returned in failure. So he ran to meet his son before he reached the city limits. By reconciling with his son in public, no one would be able to treat the boy badly. In that one moment, in the tears and the hugs, the son’s fear melted away. No words needed to pas between them. One broken heart spoke to another.

The son was welcomed with a kiss to represent forgiveness. He was clothed in the best robe as a symbol of his renewed status within the family. The ring was given as a sing of authority. The sandals were worn as a sing of freedom. Only slaves went barefoot. Finally there was a feast, the ultimate sign of a joyful welcome reserved for special occasions.

But there was the older brother. He refused to join in the celebration. He represents all the right-thinking, right-living, rule-keepers who want to see sinners punished to teach them a lesson Just as prodigal sons live today, so do unhappy older brothers.

The older son was working in the field when his brother returned and did not get home until after the party had started. One of the servants told him that his brother had come home and his father was exceedingly happy about it. The new was met by an immediate expression of jealousy and anger. He refused to go into the house. When his father came out to urge him to come in, all the pent up rage came boiling out. Notice the emphasis on self in what the boy said as he answered. “Look, all these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” Can’t you hear all the resentment and bitterness?

Self-righteousness is one of the sins that Jesus dealt with more sharply than any other. He could be tender, gracious, and accepting toward those involved in adultery or drunkenness but when he faced self-righteous Pharisees, his anger was palpable.

When we think we are better than others, it’s impossible to be gracious. If we constantly believe that we are superior, we forget that God loves us all “Equally”. There is not much joy in life if we refuse to join in the celebration of other people’s happiness.

Let’s look at the actions of this father toward his elder son. Once again, the father came outside to meet his angry son. Just as he had gone out to meet the returning rebel, so he went out to seek the sulking son. When the father found his oldest son, he did not scold, berate, or rebuke him harshly, but rather pleaded with him and invited him again and again to come in to the party.

A self-righteous attitude frequently occurs in the midst of great possibility, by those who never claim the potential. The story reveals that the older son, at that point, was also lost; maybe more lost than his brother. He, too, was in a distant country, his anger and jealousy preventing his connection to his father’s compassionate heart. “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. Now don’t be angry because I have shown love and grace to your brother.”

Jesus ends the story with this older boy still standing outside the house. The story does not reveal what happened next. He was still nursing his wounded ego and whether he also turned to go in and join the party, we do not know.

Jesus did not tell us what became of these two sons. He leaves the ending hanging. I think he did so because he wanted us to see ourselves in the story. Whichever family member you most closely resemble today, remember that God is looking for the prodigals and the proud and faithful, as well as the compassionate and forgiving.

God has enough love and compassion for all of us. Simply turn around and look toward God to reconnect your relationship.