<\/p>\n
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. <\/p>\n
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. <\/p>\n
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.<\/p>\n
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. <\/p>\n
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ <\/p>\n
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.<\/p>\n
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’<\/p>\n
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’<\/p>\n
” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” (Luke 15:11-32 )<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This parable might be one of the best known in the Bible\u2014certainly one of the most dramatic. Which is why painters throughout the centuries have love it\u2014and writers\u2014Latvia\u2019s great poet Rainis has a play based on themes from this story which, in Latvian, is called \u201cThe Lost Son\u201d\u2014not prodigal, but lost. Which actually might be closer to what Jesus is trying to say. About both brothers. Because, there are two brothers in the story. This is, as Jesus says in the beginning, a story of a man with two sons.<\/p>\n
We tend to forget the other brother\u2014the older son. His story hasn\u2019t caught the interest of writers and painters to the same degree as that of his younger brother. But\u2014he is very much the key to the whole parable\u2014which Jesus tells to some Pharisees and scribes who were grumbling (such a descriptive word, don\u2019t you think? Grumbling.) that Jesus welcomed sinners\u2014and ate with them.<\/p>\n
In those days\u2014eating meals with someone meant that you accepted them\u2014as equals\u2014accepted them, as they were. Sinners\u2014as the Pharisees and scribes saw it anyway\u2014were people that Jesus should have shunned\u2014kept away from. But not only did he not shun them\u2014he actually ate with them.<\/p>\n
The Pharisees just couldn\u2019t understand Jesus. But\u2014at least some of them try. The gospel of Luke presents us with several instances, where Pharisees invite Jesus to dinner\u2014which is more than a bit ironical in the context of our story today. And Jesus\u2014went.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m trying to say, is that the Pharisees don\u2019t entirely deserve the bad reputation that they have gained over the years. They were, in fact, the good religious people of the first century. It\u2019s just that\u2014as a group\u2014they had rather strong\u2014you could say, rigid views about who was right with God\u2014and who was not. Jesus somehow just wouldn\u2019t fit into any of their religious categories\u2014so they were confused.<\/p>\n
And they grumbled. So, Jesus said to them\u2014let me tell you a story.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now\u2014in an oral culture\u2014stories have to be vivid, so you can get the point right away\u2014so Jesus\u2014paints the younger son with broad stokes of the brush\u2014in bright primary colors. He doesn\u2019t fall into temptation\u2014he makes a decision to go out and find it. \u201cJust give me my money, Dad\u2014and I\u2019m out of here.\u201d And then he goes as far away as he possibly can\u2014and squanders it\u2014every bit on things that you don\u2019t even want to ask about. So\u2014there he is\u2014in a far country\u2014with nothing. So, down and out, he gets a job herding pigs.<\/p>\n
You can imagine\u2014how shocking that sounded to the Pharisees\u2014pigs. Jesus wants his audience to know that this son has not only hit bottom\u2014he has somehow managed to sink even below that. Down in the mud with the pigs.<\/p>\n
But there, in the mud\u2014Jesus tells us\u2014the son \u201ccame to himself.\u201d It\u2019s an interesting phrase. He cam e to himself and decided to go back to his father\u2019s house\u2014or\u2014you might say\u2014to change the direction of his life. So\u2014he begins the long, hard journey home. Remember\u2014he has gone as far as he possibly could from the Father\u2014and so, it\u2019s a long way back.<\/p>\n
And, you know what happens next\u2014the father (who apparently had been going out to look every day) catches sight of the son way down the road\u2014is filled with compassion\u2014and runs to meet him.<\/p>\n
Now\u2014you know, and I know, and the Pharisees knew\u2014as Jesus meant for us to know\u2014that the father in the story\u2014is meant to be God. I once heard a Japanese theologian preach this parable\u2014at a meeting of the World Council of Churches\u2014and he started out by saying\u2014we have a God who runs! Can you imagine\u2014We have a God who runs.<\/p>\n
That was over ten years ago\u2014but I\u2019ll never forget\u2014the wonder in his voice. We have a God who runs!<\/p>\n
But\u2014to get back to our story\u2014the Father orders a grand feast\u2014a celebration. Meanwhile\u2014the older son\u2014the faithful one who stayed home\u2014comes in from working the fields and is rather surprised to hear music coming from the house. Surprised\u2014and when he finds out the reason\u2014furious. And when the Father comes out to him\u2014because he refused to set foot in the house\u2014he gives free rein to his hurt and anger.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hard to understand his feelings\u2014and\u2014I think that the point of the story is that the Father\u2014God\u2014does understand. And, just as he is filled with compassion for his younger son (the sinner)\u2014he is filled with compassion for his older son (the good, religious person). And\u2014in his compassion, the Father goes out, reaches out\u2014to meet both of them\u2014where they are. God who runs.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know how the story ends\u2014as we leave the older, faithful son\u2014he is still out in the cold, turning his back on the Father. Ironically\u2014the son, who had turned his back on his Father\u2014the sinner, who was lost\u2014is found. And the good, faithful son\u2014is now the one who turns away\u2014lost in his hurt and anger.
\nBut the faithful\/lost son does not have the final word in Jesus story\u2014it is the Father\u2014the Father who is ever faithful to both sons. Ever loving. Who opens his arms\u2014as far as he possibly can\u2014in love and invitation.<\/p>\nI am told that Quakers have a saying\u2014God meets your condition\u2014which is what the Father does in the story. He doesn\u2019t wait for his children\u2014he comes to them\u2014where they are. With compassion\u2014he sees us\u2014as we are. But\u2014in his wisdom, God also sees us as we can be\u2014what we are capable of being\u2014God sees possibilities.
\nWhich is why I find the words that Jesus used\u2014about the younger son\u2014so interesting\u2014do you remember\u2014Jesus said, he came to himself. It\u2019s and interesting phrase because it implies that there is more to \u201cthe self\u201d than is apparent in the moment\u2014it implies possibilities.<\/p>\nWe don\u2019t know if the older son\u2014came to himself or not\u2014the story leaves it open. God offers us possibilities\u2014how we respond is up to us! Will he come in to the party\u2014or stay out in the cold, looking in?<\/p>\n
Jesus story doesn\u2019t tell us what will happen\u2014but what it does tell us is\u2014never, never underestimate God\u2019s compassion\u2014for others\u2014for yourself\u2014and God\u2019s boundless love and grace. We have a God who runs! Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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