The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC 27013
RCL Year C (Lent 4) - March 14, 2010
Written also for the "Opponents of Christ" series
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Have you ever taken notice at community dinners, or school, or even picnics… whenever food is involved... who it is that we eat with? Is it the same people, family, or close friends?? or is it people that you feel safe eating with? People that you want to get to know?
Have you ever been the “outsider” at a meal, or not welcomed at a table because you were different?
You can really see it in schools… It is most visible in High School the great social microcosm… where you are identified by who you eat with… it defines who you are…
It’s really quite comical… if you allowed to eat lunch with the cool people, then you are accepted by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the geeks…you are accepted by the geeks and made fun of by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the jocks… then you accepted by the jocks…
This mode of eating with and acceptance isn’t a new thing… it is precisely what the Pharisees are worried about. The Pharisees are lay people; the pious, religious elite… (the snobs) they are concerned with keeping up appearances… They walk around “holier than thou” boasting about keeping the letter of the law.
They are afraid… they are afraid that they will be caught eating with the wrong people… therefore compromising their religious purity. And their snobbery has pushed them to a new level today as they attack Jesus… criticizing whom he chooses to eat with…
The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus and trip him up… almost accusing him of some sort of ritual impurity… But, as always, Jesus is ready for them… wanting them to understand acceptance and equity… ready to teach them about God’s wonderful abundant grace.
And Jesus tells them a parable… a parable that is one of the most familiar stories in Scripture… The parable of the Prodigal Son… It is sometimes called the Parable of the Lost Son, even though the word “prodigal” doesn’t mean lost at all. In fact, the word “Prodigal” actually has a pretty complex meaning rolling the concepts of wastefulness, extravagance, and recklessness into one term…
Most of us have heard the story told and retold, over and over again – about how the younger son wants his inheritance early, gets it, goes off, squanders it, lives in the gutter for a while and then realizing that his life was much better at home comes crawling back to be reunited to his father by doing this, he majorly irritates the older son… so there we have it… the story in a nut shell…
Some of us may identify with the “renegade” the one wanting it all, then after getting it, going off and blowing it… being wasteful, extravagant, and reckless (being prodigal)… ending up living in filth with pigs – And only after that happening – realizing that may not have been quite the right path to be on…
Or when we look at ourselves, we see the older son, that even though he also received his portion of the father’s inheritance early seems loyal, and wiser – wanting to “win points” by doing what he thought to be responsible by hanging around and taking care of dad… Only then to get upset and angry when the younger one that didn’t work as hard seems to gets all of the preferential treatment…
The most obvious characters in the story are the two sons… they are folks that we can easily identify with. Both of them are just as troubled, and together offer us a two sided mirror view of our own lives that are sometimes overindulgent, angry and complicated…
But we must not forget that the most central character of the whole story isn’t either of the sons at all… The actual focus of the story is the loving and accepting Father… The story even starts out, “There was a man that had two sons…” He is introduced to us right away, but doesn’t say anything until about the middle of the story… He divides his livelihood between the two sons… Then we think his actions are pretty simple… When the younger son returns, the father runs out to accept him in a loving embrace… and then gets him the “best robe, a ring, and some sandals.”
To us the father seems to be loving and forgiving enough and we may think it is just nice that he goes to great measures to restore the son that went astray… But in ancient times, the father’s actions in the context of the story, would be viewed by others as extremely unexpected and perhaps completely scandalous!
It is at this point that… We must remember that the younger son asked for his share of the inheritance early while his father was still alive, as if he said, “I wish you were dead…” By doing this the younger son dishonors the family and the village, and then squanders all that he had been given…
When the younger son returns home after loosing it all, the father’s actions are suspect again… He doesn’t wait for the younger son to come to him, nor does he walk out to him in a dignified manner, as was expected in those days… The father girds up his tunic and RUNS out to greet him…
Upon seeing his father, The son repents… like he had practiced so many times before… Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you… I am no longer fit to be called your son… Dad, I lost all that you gave me, even though I didn’t deserve it in the first place… I squandered it on foolish living and cheep thrills…
The father quickly accepts him back into the fold clothes him in a robe, but not just any robe, the “best” robe that was usually set aside and worn by the father for ceremonial occasions… the robe, the ring, and the sandals were all signs that the father accepted the younger son again as a FULL member of the household… and not just as a servant...
Then the father takes further action and sends his servants to kill the fatted calf, so that everyone can celebrate the return of his lost son with a large feast, (yes – they eat together!) with music, and with dancing…
Today in Jesus’ story, the father throws a party… a feast and celebration for the return of his prodigal son, who was lost. Jesus uses this loving Father to teach the hearer of the story something about more about God’s love and acceptance, God’s restoring power, unequaled generosity, and unending grace…
And it is also interesting that Jesus tells this story while he is sitting and eating meals with outcasts, tax collectors, and sinners… Folks that are just like us…
We have all been lost… but as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Church in Corinth, “In Christ we have become a new creation… everything old has passed away and it all has become new!” In Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself, continually calling us back into right relationship with our God… As believers in Christ Jesus – as Christians… We know that even though we may be lost, we can turn in my confession and be restored to a right relationship with God in Christ…
The Episcopal Church is a confessional church… We believe in both private and public confession to God… And Upon our confession, we have the burdens of our sin lifted, as the priest reminds us of our forgiveness by pronouncing God’s absolution… Like the son who was lost… We will have a chance in a few minutes to humble ourselves, and get on our knees and confess our sins against God and against our neighbor in a corporate confession…
Then, like the father who fully accepted his prodigal son, and wished for his son to be re-united, we will accepted and united with our brothers and sisters in Christ when we share the peace of God with each other… Then and only then will we have the chance to approach the table restored & accepted, forgiven, and renewed and be united with God and with each other in the great celebration – the feast of a holy communion…
In life, we unfairly judge people, or classify them by who they care to dine with but by doing that, we are no better than the Pharisees, who with their snobbery, become an opponent of Christ.
But, when we repent of that, and realize that God is the only judge and we truly confess our sins against God and our neighbor; God forgives us and accepts us unconditionally… and restores us - each and every one of us and makes us a new creation in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord…
So, be united with your brothers and sisters in Christ and enjoy the celebration – it doesn’t matter who you eat with… it’s the fact that you are eating together, united and accepted by God as one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and the feast that you are eating is a foretaste of the fathers heavenly banquet.
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC 27013
RCL Year C (Lent 4) - March 14, 2010
Written also for the "Opponents of Christ" series
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Have you ever taken notice at community dinners, or school, or even picnics… whenever food is involved... who it is that we eat with? Is it the same people, family, or close friends?? or is it people that you feel safe eating with? People that you want to get to know?
Have you ever been the “outsider” at a meal, or not welcomed at a table because you were different?
You can really see it in schools… It is most visible in High School the great social microcosm… where you are identified by who you eat with… it defines who you are…
It’s really quite comical… if you allowed to eat lunch with the cool people, then you are accepted by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the geeks…you are accepted by the geeks and made fun of by the cool people… If you are allowed to eat with the jocks… then you accepted by the jocks…
This mode of eating with and acceptance isn’t a new thing… it is precisely what the Pharisees are worried about. The Pharisees are lay people; the pious, religious elite… (the snobs) they are concerned with keeping up appearances… They walk around “holier than thou” boasting about keeping the letter of the law.
They are afraid… they are afraid that they will be caught eating with the wrong people… therefore compromising their religious purity. And their snobbery has pushed them to a new level today as they attack Jesus… criticizing whom he chooses to eat with…
The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus and trip him up… almost accusing him of some sort of ritual impurity… But, as always, Jesus is ready for them… wanting them to understand acceptance and equity… ready to teach them about God’s wonderful abundant grace.
And Jesus tells them a parable… a parable that is one of the most familiar stories in Scripture… The parable of the Prodigal Son… It is sometimes called the Parable of the Lost Son, even though the word “prodigal” doesn’t mean lost at all. In fact, the word “Prodigal” actually has a pretty complex meaning rolling the concepts of wastefulness, extravagance, and recklessness into one term…
Most of us have heard the story told and retold, over and over again – about how the younger son wants his inheritance early, gets it, goes off, squanders it, lives in the gutter for a while and then realizing that his life was much better at home comes crawling back to be reunited to his father by doing this, he majorly irritates the older son… so there we have it… the story in a nut shell…
Some of us may identify with the “renegade” the one wanting it all, then after getting it, going off and blowing it… being wasteful, extravagant, and reckless (being prodigal)… ending up living in filth with pigs – And only after that happening – realizing that may not have been quite the right path to be on…
Or when we look at ourselves, we see the older son, that even though he also received his portion of the father’s inheritance early seems loyal, and wiser – wanting to “win points” by doing what he thought to be responsible by hanging around and taking care of dad… Only then to get upset and angry when the younger one that didn’t work as hard seems to gets all of the preferential treatment…
The most obvious characters in the story are the two sons… they are folks that we can easily identify with. Both of them are just as troubled, and together offer us a two sided mirror view of our own lives that are sometimes overindulgent, angry and complicated…
But we must not forget that the most central character of the whole story isn’t either of the sons at all… The actual focus of the story is the loving and accepting Father… The story even starts out, “There was a man that had two sons…” He is introduced to us right away, but doesn’t say anything until about the middle of the story… He divides his livelihood between the two sons… Then we think his actions are pretty simple… When the younger son returns, the father runs out to accept him in a loving embrace… and then gets him the “best robe, a ring, and some sandals.”
To us the father seems to be loving and forgiving enough and we may think it is just nice that he goes to great measures to restore the son that went astray… But in ancient times, the father’s actions in the context of the story, would be viewed by others as extremely unexpected and perhaps completely scandalous!
It is at this point that… We must remember that the younger son asked for his share of the inheritance early while his father was still alive, as if he said, “I wish you were dead…” By doing this the younger son dishonors the family and the village, and then squanders all that he had been given…
When the younger son returns home after loosing it all, the father’s actions are suspect again… He doesn’t wait for the younger son to come to him, nor does he walk out to him in a dignified manner, as was expected in those days… The father girds up his tunic and RUNS out to greet him…
Upon seeing his father, The son repents… like he had practiced so many times before… Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you… I am no longer fit to be called your son… Dad, I lost all that you gave me, even though I didn’t deserve it in the first place… I squandered it on foolish living and cheep thrills…
The father quickly accepts him back into the fold clothes him in a robe, but not just any robe, the “best” robe that was usually set aside and worn by the father for ceremonial occasions… the robe, the ring, and the sandals were all signs that the father accepted the younger son again as a FULL member of the household… and not just as a servant...
Then the father takes further action and sends his servants to kill the fatted calf, so that everyone can celebrate the return of his lost son with a large feast, (yes – they eat together!) with music, and with dancing…
Today in Jesus’ story, the father throws a party… a feast and celebration for the return of his prodigal son, who was lost. Jesus uses this loving Father to teach the hearer of the story something about more about God’s love and acceptance, God’s restoring power, unequaled generosity, and unending grace…
And it is also interesting that Jesus tells this story while he is sitting and eating meals with outcasts, tax collectors, and sinners… Folks that are just like us…
We have all been lost… but as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Church in Corinth, “In Christ we have become a new creation… everything old has passed away and it all has become new!” In Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself, continually calling us back into right relationship with our God… As believers in Christ Jesus – as Christians… We know that even though we may be lost, we can turn in my confession and be restored to a right relationship with God in Christ…
The Episcopal Church is a confessional church… We believe in both private and public confession to God… And Upon our confession, we have the burdens of our sin lifted, as the priest reminds us of our forgiveness by pronouncing God’s absolution… Like the son who was lost… We will have a chance in a few minutes to humble ourselves, and get on our knees and confess our sins against God and against our neighbor in a corporate confession…
Then, like the father who fully accepted his prodigal son, and wished for his son to be re-united, we will accepted and united with our brothers and sisters in Christ when we share the peace of God with each other… Then and only then will we have the chance to approach the table restored & accepted, forgiven, and renewed and be united with God and with each other in the great celebration – the feast of a holy communion…
In life, we unfairly judge people, or classify them by who they care to dine with but by doing that, we are no better than the Pharisees, who with their snobbery, become an opponent of Christ.
But, when we repent of that, and realize that God is the only judge and we truly confess our sins against God and our neighbor; God forgives us and accepts us unconditionally… and restores us - each and every one of us and makes us a new creation in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord…
So, be united with your brothers and sisters in Christ and enjoy the celebration – it doesn’t matter who you eat with… it’s the fact that you are eating together, united and accepted by God as one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and the feast that you are eating is a foretaste of the fathers heavenly banquet.
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