Lent 4, 03/14/2010

Sermon on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 , by Carl A. Voges, STS

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [2 Corinthians 5.18-19]

The Passage

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."...

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went nad hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

"But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

‘"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" [English Standard Version]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

For the Lord's people, today marks the completion of two-thirds of their journey through the Lenten season. This journey is shaped by a deeper understanding of their Baptisms into the Holy Trinity, a greater exposure to the Lord's Word streaming from the Scriptures, a heightened opportunity for participation in the Lord's Supper and a growing awareness of his Forgiveness working into our relationships with him and one another.

Such a journey runs through a world where we have been able to...

...notice political leaders who are adept at avoiding open, hard and honest

decisions

...view and enjoy the winter Olympic competition

...be surprised at the apparent shift in an auto company's manufacturing standards

But such a journey also runs through some disheartening circumstances where the lives of the Lord's people...

...do not look that well compared to the looks of the world's life

...often deal with misinterpretations of what they are thinking, doing and saying

...get plunged into tense and tough situations

Dealing with the realities of these journeys raises the question of how the Lord's people remain in the journey that He gave them at their Baptisms. Today, two-thirds of the way into the Lenten season, we get a clear view of who our Lord is and how He is in his relationships with us. In today's parable we see the Lord's overwhelming mercy and grace for the people who are lost or broken as well as for the people who are quite sure of how they understand life to be. While this parable is highly familiar to the Lord's people, it is vital to bore in on the first three verses of chapter fifteen.

These three verses provide the setting for this parable. The tax collectors and sinners (people who are despised because of the work they do, people who keep stumbling around in their lives) are crowding around Jesus to hear what He has to say. The Pharisees and scribes (people who are highly skilled at living in the Lord's ways, people who have studied the Lord's ways) are grumbling because Jesus rubs shoulders with these despised, stumbling persons and eats with them! It is in this setting in which Jesus relates the parable of a father and his two sons.

The younger son gets everything together and leaves for a distant country. There he squanders his money in a life of debauchery. As his life sinks toward extinction, he is alerted to his destructive thinking and doing. He determines to leave this country and go back to his father. He intends to tell his father that he has sinned against heaven and him.

He recognizes he does not deserve to be called the father's son, but states his desire to be treated as one of his father's paid employees.

While this son is still a long way off from his former home, his father sees him and is moved with deep pity. He runs to him, grabs him in his arms and kisses him tenderly. The father announces to his employees that they are going to have a feast because this son was thought dead and has come back to life, this son was lost and now is found!

As the older son comes back to the house from the fields, he hears the joyous music from the feast. He becomes angry when he hears the reasons for the festivities and refuses to take part in them. So his father comes out and pleads with the son to participate. The son, however, reminds his father of how he has slaved for him all these years, how he never disobeyed his father's orders, how his father never set up a banquet for him and his friends!

The son bitterly reminds his father that, when the younger son comes back after squandering the father's property with prostitutes, then the father establishes a joyous feast for him! In reply, the father states to the older son, "You are with me always and everything I have is yours!" The father goes on, "It is only right that we should rejoice and celebrate. Your brother was thought dead and now is alive; he was lost and now is found!"

This highly familiar parable dramatically reveals who the Lord God is and how He is in his relationships with us. As the parable's impact widens over our lives, we are inclined to just linger over these two sons. How come? Because we see so much of ourselves in them.

We have no problems identifying with the younger son. We know how to live life to its excesses; we know how wasted and desperate those excesses can make us.

We also have no problems identifying with the older son. We know what it's like to be responsible, work hard and have no one applaud us for the good effort.

However, if we stop with these two sons, we miss the over-riding point of Jesus' parable - the revealing of who the Lord God is and how He is in his relationships with us.

In their own ways, both of these sons are lost. Perhaps it is more obvious with the younger son rather than with the older one, but the lostness is clearly there. Both of these sons have also become so wrapped up in themselves, they are practically dead. Perhaps it is more obvious with the younger son than with the older one, but the deadness is clearly there.

The parable, however, shows both of them to have a father who reaches out to them with over-whelming mercy and grace, a father who celebrates their return to him!

For us to catch the full force of this kind of father, it is crucial for us to recognize how lost we are when we are wrapped up in ourselves. Such a recognition, though, does not happen easily. Whether we have wasted our lives by being irresponsible or whether we have built them up by being super responsible, this natural drive to wrap up in ourselves keeps us from seeing how lost we are.

We have all joked about people who get lost going to new destinations, but who refuse to stop and ask for directions. But it is not a joke when it applies to the Life into which we were baptized. That's why the Lord God settles us into a Lenten season every year. He causes us to be more mindful of our Baptisms into Him. He brings his Word into our lives through the reading, hearing and studying of the Scriptures. He gives us more opportunities to take part in his Supper. He causes us to see how his Forgiveness sets our relationships with Him and one another.

The Lord God is well aware of our journeys through disheartening circumstances, of our journeys through this world. He is keenly aware of how lost we are apart from him, of how we love and are driven to be focused on ourselves. But the Lord is also strikingly aware of how we need to be rescued from all these realities.

We are approaching the holiest Week of the year, the days when the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Son break down the world's life and restore people to the Life streaming from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In those days we remember how the Lord God crushed the destructive and deadly grip which the world's life naturally has on all its people so they can be drawn into his Life.

Through hidden and mysterious ways the Lord God uses the holy places of Baptism, Scriptures, Supper and Forgiveness to pierce lost and dead lives. In our exposure to those holy places, He confronts us with our instinctive self-absorption, causes us to become alert to it and sets us within the Life that is dripping with his mercy, compassion and grace.

Thus, it is the Lord's rescuing and sustaining actions which make it possible for his people to remain in the journey He gave them at Baptism. This is a journey shaped by Him while running through the world as well as through disheartening circumstances. May the Lord's Spirit keep us imbedded in his holy places so the journey may find its completion in the Holy Trinity. Amen.

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges, STS
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: cavoges@bellsouth.net

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