Advent Lutheran Church

"…and they began to celebrate…"

                Have you ever excluded yourself from a celebration because you wanted to be right?  Or, have you ever gotten into an argument that, looking back, was really stupid?  You know the ones:  like, which way does the toilet paper go in the holder?  How do you organize the dishwasher or the refrigerator?  Does the top sheet pattern face up or down when making the bed?  Or - in the category of really important – who is “right” and who is “wrong?”  The context of today’s story is a question just like those, a church squabble over etiquette at meals.  Should Jesus be eating with tax collectors and sinners?  (And you can imagine how the Pharisees and scribes answered that…)

                It is not only the context of the story being so like our own, but other things that hint to us that this particular parable was really important for Jesus to tell.  First, it is a story that is unique to Luke’s Gospel, so that tells us we should “Listen Up!”  Second, it is one of a trilogy of “lost” stories:  the Lost Sheep, where the shepherd left 99 others to find one, and then they rejoiced; the Lost Coin, about the woman who cleaned house, found a valuable coin that went missing, and then rejoiced; and today’s story of the Lost Son.  Three little stories stuck together.  A biblical number of completion, three.  So again a reminder to “Listen Up!”  And finally, a story that has various gospel witnesses with the same theme:  “Those who are well don’t need physician.”  “Unless a grain of wheat falls in the ground and dies it remains alone.”  “Only something dead can be resurrected.”  Listen Up!  Jesus is teaching us something important about the nature and character of God.

                And even if we know that parables are about God, it is very tempting to look for ourselves in them.  Consider these great characters:  A Man.  Two Sons.  Younger.  Elder.  A loving father.  Headstrong Child.  Obedient Child.  Based on the wonderful devotions this past week on this text, many of you do find yourselves relating to one of these.  Or perhaps you find yourself in all of them at different times, or maybe you see nothing familiar in any of them.

                The best part of our Bible is that it allows us all to find different messages in these stories.  As the “inspired word of God” this book reveals to us a living relationship with God’s Holy Spirit and us as we enter into these stories over and over.  That means the Spirit speaks to us variously, and although the words of scripture don’t change, our experience, our age, our relationships change, such that every time we come again to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we might hear something new. 

                As we have learned from having an Ethiopian vicar in our midst, culture and our geography affects our reading of scripture as well.  Professor Mark Allan Powell illustrates this beautiful by asking a question of the story:  “Why did the younger son go hungry?”  Take out your bulletin and read the beginning.  “Why did the younger son go hungry?”  Most Americans go right for verse 13, and answer, “because he squandered his property.”  But when Powell asked the question in Russia, they went past the squandering to verse 14.  They said, “because there was a severe famine.”  The younger son was hungry because everyone was hungry!  But in Africa they skipped both of those answers.  For them it was rooted in the communal understanding in verse 16, because “no one gave him anything.”  Everyone can find themselves in this story, in hundreds of ways.  But which one of these answers is “right?”

                We Lutherans have a wonderful tool to discover hidden meanings.  It’s called, Letting Scripture Interpret Scripture and it is simply using another passage to clarify what this one might be saying.  How fortunate that our second lesson today from 2 Corinthians gives us this interpretive “lens.”  It says, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.”  Now if you skim down that passage you will see the word reconciliation a number of times.  God has reconciled us to himself through Christ.  We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and on and on.  The Greek word for reconciliation includes the idea of restoration. Restored.  Like being lost, then found.  And we are to be ambassadors of Christ (since God is making  his appeal through us…) Holy Smokes!  Since we are new creations because of God, now we are to be ambassadors of that restoration for others.                                                            

                So let’s see who was “an ambassador for Christ” in today’s parable:  Obviously, the father shines.  In ancient times the villages were centralized and folks lived on one end of the town.  In this way, people coming to the town would have to walk all the way through to get to the places where people lived.  Can you imagine how hard it would have been for the younger son, even if he had decided to come home, to think about taking that “walk of shame” through town on his way home to confront his Dad?  But no!  The father must have gone through the town to meet him, claiming him with robe, and ring and sandals and walking with him all the way home.  He took the shame on himself, looking foolish in a very public way for his extravagant act of love.  He opened his arms in a loving embrace and restored his son.

                The younger son was a dork.  He told his dad to drop dead (figuratively,) so he could have his inheritance early and get out from under house rules and be “free.”  But, when he realized his mistake, he learned…Perhaps it would be more realistic to describe the younger son as adventuresome, creative, responsible, bold and courageous!  AND, he opened his arms to confess to God and to his father, and was restored.  The elder son was NOT the “good boy” you may have always identified with (as I have.)  Did you ever notice that the only testimony we have to his life is his own!  Personally, I know my autobiography would be a lot more flattering than a bio written by someone else.  So, can we believe him?  Well, if you’ve ever had a teenage son in the house, hear these words:  “I have been working like a SLAVE for you!  I have NEVER disobeyed your commands!  And YOU have never given ME so much as a GOAT for a party with my friends!” Oh, REALLY?

                I can now see the elder son as the boy who never left home…the disappointing child who failed to thrive and never grew up to stand on his own two feet.  This boy never changes, never learns, never repents.  This boy’s arms are never open, just wrapped around himself, unwilling to be restored. 

                Sad.  Regardless, they are both loved.  The one who fails (which one?) and the one who never tries.  The one who risked, crashed and burned, and the one who played it safe.  Both needed love.  Both needed “finding.”  And Jesus’ arms stretched out for both.  (Pointing to the cross)  Amazing grace.  There is something so vulnerable about outstretched arms.

                You know, the truly sad part is that the Elder Son goes away without leaving.  He takes himself out of the party as surely as if he’d left town.  And although there was joy all around him – he couldn’t stop being right long enough to celebrate.

                I believe that a good story draws you in. A good story leaves you with an open question that only you can answer for yourself.  So here you are this morning, an ambassador for Christ, entrusted with the work of restoration.  Soooo….?

Amen.