March 21, 2004
Joshua 5:9-12 + 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 + Luke 15:1-3,11-32
As much as we might want or as much as we might like, the parable is not about us. As much as we might be a people who take, waste, squander and pleasure ourselves, it is not about us. As much as we might be faithful, dependable, hardworking and respectful, it is not about us. It is about God, who waits, watches, runs and finds it necessary to restore what was lost and rejoice in what is found.
But what if he had not been home when the repentant returned? Or what if he had come home and met his brother first? What if they had changed the locks or moved away? What if he waited so long to home that the father died? These are questions lurking deep within this parable and in the heart of faithful people who reflect upon its wisdom and its details.
We pause for a moment today, midway to Easter. Daffodils and Pear Blossoms tell us of what is to come Even if the grass is still brown and dry. A story about God excites with a hint of what is to come. But bringing this story to life takes two movements: One must stop what he is doing, come to his senses, start home. The other must leave home and run out to greet the other. The good news we proclaim in this place is just that. The Father has left home, and we are wrapped in the cloak of Jesus Christ if we will just come to our senses and get on the road. We do not have to get all the way, just get within sight. Even if all we can do is limp to get there, God can run. The steps of repentance are slow, but the feet of forgiveness are fast. I have often wondered about the fatted calf. Do you suppose there was always one kept in readiness, in hope that the homecoming would really happen?
This is as much a story of divine behavior as as it is a story of human behavior. One look at the sons, we know ourselves in both of them. One good look at this father, and we know God. Told in this season, at Lent’s midway, it proposes that we come to our senses. It is story always told with an ending. The party has begun, the dead one is alive, the lost is found; but the father is left standing outside waiting again for the angry one to come in. There are all sorts of ideas about why Jesus died, and “The Movie” everyone is talking about has its own ideas. I think Jesus died because of the company he kept. In this part of Luke’s Gospel, the Scribes and Pharasees have been complaining because “He eats with sinners.” Jesus chose to keep the company of losers, the unwelcome, and those who had nothing to offer him except rejection and the scorn of others. The party he describes today in his story about his Father is a party for misfits and sinners. The righteous, loyal, hardworking, and all too perfect so has a hard time finding his place there, and so did the Scribes and Pharisees. But there is a place for them and for us. There is a God who stands at the door still waiting, watching, and wanting all His children at the feast. Whatever is keeping us out is not of God, and it has to go.