The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Lent 4C RCL
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Who are you in this parable?
That is the question that came into my mind when I first read the
parable this week. Am I the younger son
who squandered his inheritance and out of desperation came crawling back to his
family? Or Am I the father who doesn’t hold
onto the hurt that was inflicted when the younger son left and who radically
embraces the return of his lost child and throws a party? Or perhaps, just perhaps I am the older son
sulking and refusing to join the celebration.
Absolutely refusing to come to the party even after dad tried to get me
in! The fact is that I have been all of
these people. Biologically I am the
oldest son so I can emphasize with the older brother even if I don’t think I
have the same reactions as he does to the return of his brother. But perhaps there is just a little of the
older bother in all of us. It is enough
to make me squirm.
Being able to recognize ourselves in this story is both a
great thing about it and a danger. This
parable is so familiar that just the title tells us the whole story. It has the effect of taming the parable to
the point that it become like one of Aesop’s fairy tales. Really- I bet all Deacon Cindy had to do for
the gospel reading was to say two words.
Prodigal Son. After all we really
know this story don’t we? But do
we?
In one way we all do know the story. And whether we take it as a cautionary tale
for our selves or a great story that God accepts us no matter what it is a
wonderful story. Unfortunately the
temptation is to turn it into a two dimensional cautionary tale. What we gloss
over is the really radical nature of the story.
And the reason for Jesus telling it.
Jesus tells the story in reaction to the Pharisees and scribes grumbling
about the company he is keeping. This is the third of three parables that Jesus
tells about the lost in response to the Pharisees’ grumbling. The three are the
parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin that his parable. As
another preacher I follow (http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx) said that there are elements of all
three of the three lost parables in this section of Luke that are not
believable. What Sheppard would really
leave the 99 to find the one? No responsible
shepherd would…at least without making sure the 99 are safe. What person would search the house for one
lost coin and then call their neighbors in for a party when it is found? Not anyone I know? These are crazy stories! Even this one is crazy!
Perhaps we need to first remember how radical this story
really was in its day. Today we don’t
think all that much about a child asking for a nest egg as they set out on
their own. But at the time the parable
was written the younger son was basically saying that his family was dead to
him. The father might as well be dead
and the younger son demands his share now.
It meant real hardship. It most
likely meant selling land. The nest egg
was meant for the younger son to have something to set him up in business or on
his own land when his father was gone.
It was not a gift to use to go to the ancient version of Los Vegas where
what happens in Israel stays in Israel!
It is just as radical
that his father agreed to give him the money.
It just wasn’t done. So while the
youngest son set up the family for disgrace the older son stays the
course. Naturally – he was always going
to get the lion’s share of the family fortune being the oldest. But he is the best boy. He stays and labors. And everything that is
left legally will belong to him when his father is gone. That is why he is working in the field. Not necessarily out of the goodness of his
heart but also because it will all legally be his.
Now the younger son goes out and parties the money away and
lands as an indentured servant. Bad
enough you say. He got what is coming to
him. But it gets worse. Remember he is a Jew and he is now in charge
of taking care of pigs. Unclean
animals. It can’t be worse than this…but
it is! He is actually coveting the feed of the pigs. While wallowing in his self-pity he remembers
how good it was at home. And he
rehearses a story that he is going to tell his father and offer himself as a
servant – after all he does not deserve to be treated as a son. We have all done that step! We have rehearsed our stories on how we are
going to get out of a bad situation or how we are going to explain ourselves –
particularly when we know we are wrong;
The amazing thing is his father doesn’t wait for the story. Seeing his son the father disgraces himself
and runs – you see the only people who ran in the ancient world where
athletes…it is not dignified for an old man – but run he did. The father forgives even before the young son
repents. Its crazy. To act this way means that the father will be
seen as crazy by his servants and his neighbors…not to mention the older
son.
On Sunday’s we don’t celebrate saints days, with a few
exceptions. Sunday’s take precedent. If it wasn’t Sunday we could remember someone
else today who was a great person. A
person who most of us would say did crazy things out of love. A person who was so significant that our
national church is adding her to our “saints calendar”. A person I could not let pass without
mentioning. Today marks the 100th
anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman.
Our Episcopal Book of Saints, as I call it (Holy Women Holy
Men) has this to say about Harriet Tubman – also known as the Moses to her
people.
Slave births were recorded under property, not as persons
with names; but we know that Harriet Ross, sometime during 1820 on a Maryland
Chesapeake Bay plantation, was the sixth of eleven children born to Ben Ross
and Harriet Green.
Harriet suffered beatings and a severe injury, but grew up
strong and defiant, refusing to appear happy and smiling to her owners. To cope
with brutality and oppression, she turned to religion. Her favorite Bible story
was about Moses who led the Israelites out of slavery. The slaves prayed for a
Moses of their own.
When she was about 24, Harriet escaped to Canada, but could
not forget her parents and other slaves she left behind. Working with the
Quakers, she made at least 19 trips back to Maryland between 1851 and 1861,
freeing over 300 people by leading them into Canada. She was so successful,
$40,000 was offered for her capture.
Guided by God through omens, dreams, and warnings, she
claimed her struggle against slavery had been commanded by God. She foresaw the
Civil War in a vision. When it began, she quickly joined the Union Army,
serving as cook and nurse, caring for both Confederate and Union soldiers. She
served as a spy and scout. She led 300 black troops on a raid which freed over
750 slaves, making her the first American woman to lead troops into military
action.
(http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/july-20-elizabeth-cady-stanton-1902-amelia-bloomer-1894-sojourner-truth-1883-and-harriet-ross-tubman-1913-liberators-and-prophets/)
The life of Harriet Tubman fits the mold of what Jesus is trying
to tell us in this parable. She lived a
life that most would think was crazy.
After all how many of us would willingly go back into harms way after
escaping to rescue other people. Sure we
might go back to rescue our family… but 300 or 750 other people. Harriet was a living example of the
extraordinary extravagance of God’s love.
Getting back to our Gospel story. A question that I am left with is what was
the younger son’s motivation for returning? Was he really sorry? Did he really repent of the wrongs or was it
his stomach speaking? We don’t
know. And that is the point. It doesn’t matter. The father forgives and welcomes the younger
son. That is what God does. God’s radical grace accepts our return
too. It doesn’t matter our motivations
for returning. It is that we return that
matters. The word that we translate as
repentance is “Metanoia” and another way we can translate that word is a turning
around. When we have metanoia/repentance
we turn around. That is what the younger
son did. He turned around. And the amazing thing is it does not matter
why he turned around only that he did.
That is also true for us. It does
not matter why we turn to God only that we do.
God’s answer is Love. Nothing
more nothing less.
So if anyone ever tries to tell you that keeping St.
Matthew’s open is crazy take it as a compliment. You all are just as crazy as our loving
God. Willing to step out of what the
world would say should happen and live in a world where God’s love is the law
of the land. Not the laws of
humans. It doesn’t matter how much or
how little you have you share it. The
people in this church are a lot like the father in our parable. We don’t care why people are here! And your response is one of love. That is the crazy radical thing about our God
and being a follower of our God. Our
call is to Love. To radically love our
selves and those who come to us.
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