Readings for Lent
4C:
Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 34; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:11-32
March 21, 2004
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Well, you've just heard the story we call "The Prodigal Son." Chances are, even if you are only vaguely familiar with the Bible, you have heard this story. You've heard enough to know that when people use the term "he's a prodiga,l" they are speaking of someone who squandered his riches.
Countless sermons, commentaries and short stories have been written on this story. Everyone seems to have their own twist to it: like the Quaker Pastor, Philip Gulley, who jokingly says: "In the Old Testament the firstborn son inherits the whole shebang" while in the New Testament "Turns out it was the second son who got the fatted calf. Probably to make up for all the hand-me-downs." (Front Porch Tales, Gulley, p. 94)
This story has universal appeal, whether you identify as one who is a "prodigal," or if you are the obedient brother, or if you are learning to be a compassionate parent. Perhaps you have found yourself in different parts of the story at different times.
Today I want to consider the role of the father. To me, the father is the one who is truly a prodigal. Consider the definition of the word "prodigal." It is a term used to describe someone who is "Given to extravagant expenditure…and lavish in the bestowal of things." (Oxford English Dict.)
The father is extravagant in giving his young son his inheritance early. This breaks the rules of Old Testament Hebrew culture: In Sirach (Eccesiasticus): "it is not wise to give away your inheritance before you die" (Sirach 33:24); and "it is not wise to give your inheritance to a sinner" (Sirach 12:4). Jesus describes a father willing to break with tradition, to allow his son the freedom to take his money now, to use the money as he pleases, and to suffer the consequences of his choices.
To me, this is probably one of the greatest challenges a parent has, allowing children freedom to make their own choices and suffer the consequences. We place expectations upon our children that are expectations our culture has placed before us. We think we can force our children to fulfill our expectations. We fail to recognize the free will God has planted deep within them. We imagine being able to force children to conform their wills to our will, and when they fail, we try to spare them the brute reality of the consequences. We must start when they are young. Encourage kids to make good choices, yet allow them the consequences of the choices they make.
Part of the point of Jesus' parable of the prodigal is that the son suffered painful consequences: shamefully feeding pigs, begging to eat garbage, nearly dying of starvation. He really hit rock bottom.
But this is not the end of the story. The son comes to his senses. He realizes he needs to beg forgiveness. He does not need to die. He can live again, not as son, but as slave, or so he thinks.
But this is not the end of the story either. His father shows unexpected mercy in his joy to see his son again. Jesus shows it is the father who is "prodigal," as he pours his extravagance upon his young son. Jesus describes a father who is willing to greet his wayward son with gifts of jewelry, clothing, food and festivities when he returns. If left to his own ego strength, or if he only conformed to rules of tradition, the father would not be able to greet his son with compassion and mercy.
This father is Jesus' description of God the Father--one who generously gives, and gives and gives. What greater grace is there than this, a father who carried the burden of believing his son died in self-destructive behaviors. His father knew it was a risk to let him go. We take risks every day. But by letting his young adult son go, he allowed his son choice, something God gives each of us. The power to choose ultimately brought the son home, as he chose to come and ask to be forgiven. One day the grieving father looks up from his work, and sees his son's silhouette in the distance. God fills the father's heart with love. After all these years, this father received a gift: God has shown mercy and brought his son home alive.
Now the father has a choice: ruin the moment with anger, and a lecture, or be generous of heart. Jesus reveals God's radical mercy as he tells this story of the father who lavishly bestows love.
The son has suffered enough by the consequences of his actions. He does not need further punishment. In Luke's gospel, Jesus teaches that, "Human values are reversed by God not for the destruction of the wicked, but for the saving of the lost." (Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. IV, p. 418.) God wants to save those who choose unwisely. If we seek God's grace, we find mercy. We must rely upon God, not our own will. For it is God who shows mercy; it is God who saves us from our wickedness.
God is a parent who receives us with open arms--God saves us from our own self-destruction and lavishes us with love. Even when we dishonor our family with selfish, narcissistic behavior. Even when we fail to live according to the rules of our culture. Even when we spend all we have on "dissolute living." Even then, God waits lovingly for our return, and invites us to eat at the table.
Can we be like the prodigal father and take a risk, allowing children to make choices and live with the consequences? Can we start with small, every day things. For example, when it comes to school expectations. I keep hearing of more and more pressure on parents, kids, and families to live up to extremely high standards of academic performance as a sign of righteous living. Our culture sees "school" as the work of our children. We say "school is their job", and we are determined that they do this work well, to bring honor to the family, to get ahead in life. But is school the key to salvation?
Let me tell you 2 stories of fathers and sons.. You may have heard parts of this before, but I think it is worth hearing again. One father is my dad. His God was "Education". He attended church, usually the most intellectual Episcopal church with a strong social justice ministry. But, his God was education. He believed that with proper education, which every person had a right to receive, we could transform this world from a place of selfish power-mongering to a place of altruistic peace. To that end he sought the best education money could buy….(chuckle).
He sent his first-born son to the best high school in the country, a boarding school in New England. My brother was definitely intellectually gifted in all subject areas. But, sadly, he was not a student. He didn't care whether he proved to the rest of the world what he knew. His grades were not the expected 4.0. School boy fun far away from home was more important than completing all his assignments. Reading his favorite novel was more important than science lab. Bright, but not disciplined, he failed to get into Ivy Leagues as my father had expected.
The partying continued through junior college and state university. Eventually he managed to receive an honors degree in English at UC Berkeley, while taking all the pre-med courses to get into UC Irvine's new medical school. He was wait-listed at Stanford Med. and felt like a failure. Before Christmas his first semester at med school, he was deeply depressed. He wanted to drop out and join the Peace Corps, see the world. But dad said, no, "Stiff upper lip," "finish Med. School and go to Africa as a real doctor." This son wanted to take what was his and leave; this father did not want to break rules of tradition. This son could not live up to other's expectations. Depression led him to take his own life, never to return. What would have happened if this father had said, "take your inheritance now, go." And what if that son had spent it all on licentious living, and came home in shame? But at least came home? What if this father had the courage to let his son suffer his own consequences?
Another father, a Bishop of Atlanta, tells the story of his brilliant son who resisted the Ivy League track. He said, "Dad, it is you who wanted the Harvard Ph.D, not me." This father said he had to "die" to his expectation of his son, and let him choose his life. His son is now the happiest, best peach-tree trimmer in Atlanta. This son is alive.
The Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple: consequences of human choice may be painful and disappointing, but they are not the end of the story. God's mercy overcomes human sin. God's mercy brings us out of darkness. God's mercy is there waiting for us to allow God to forgive. When we make even the slightest hint we are coming home to God, God runs down the path to greet us with open arms, no strings attached.
Can you let go of ego expectations and allow God to show mercy through you? Who do you know that is hungry to receive God's mercy? Can you take a chance and let God reverse your expectations to save someone who is lost? Who can you invite to God's table? Who can you welcome with open arms, no strings attached?
AMEN
| Updated 3/22/04 |
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