· [intro] Show
poster: “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”
ù Back in my
long-hair days, had poster on my wall
· There is a
great deal of joy in the gospel story today
ù In one sense
the joy is central to the story
ù It shows how
important, how essential is the reconciliation that is the main point of the
parable
· PS parable
itself is one of the most beloved, and one of the most masterful of Jesus’ stories
ù Has a certain
simplicity and clarity about the figures and the plots
ù It’s easy to
understand, probably because the two sons are so true to life
ù It’s so human
ù Talks about
the core of who we are as human beings and children of God
· One of my
favorite phrases in the story, used twice:
ù “Come to life
again”
· Recognizes
the deadliness of sin
ù The
disruption, severing of relationships, pulling away of people from each other,
from families, from communities, and from God
ù A real death
· But then life
is restored
· There are
some important elements in the story for us to notice:
ù There are
many elements. That’s what makes the
story so interesting.
ù But two
especially I’d like to offer to your attention today
· [1] God, in
the person of the father, takes the initiative
ù The son does
nothing except return
ù and that was
motivated because “here I am, starving to death”
ù The father
sees him, goes to him, embraces him, invites him back, cleans him up
ù And then
throws a party to show his joy and he sincerity of the reconciliation.
· [2] God gives
generously
ù Could have
taken the son at his word
§
You want to work as a servant? Sounds fair enough. But one mistake and you’re gone.
§
And for a start you can go muck out the barn.
§
That’s American farm talk for removing the deposits
left by the animals in the barn!
ù But the
father doesn’t do that
§
He reacts spontaneously, joyously
§
Not only accepts the son but throws a feast
§
There was no doubt.
That son KNEW he was welcome!
· The father
gave life to his son for a second time
ù The son came
to life again
· I’d like to
present that story today as a challenge for us
ù Who needs
life?
§
In our experience, our families, our work places, our
communities
ù To whom can
we give life, like the father did to the younger son?
ù Are we
willing to do it?
· One of the
major themes for
ù Uses the word
“save” and “salvation” repeatedly
· Doesn’t use
the word in the reading from Corinthians today but that is what he is talking
about
· His
understanding of salvation grew out of the experience of the prophets six
centuries before Christ
ù Recorded in
the book of Isaiah which was actually written by several prophets
· The
Israelites had experienced the exile in
ù The people
were struggling for meaning, for hope in their lives, for salvation
· Into this
situation God sent Isaiah
ù “See, I am
doing something new,” he says, speaking for God
ù “I am about
to create new heavens and a new earth, and the things of the past shall not be
remembered.”
· This was what
hope Paul had learned as he studied the scriptures and the Law as he had grown
up
ù Now, because
of his own experience, he saw God’s promise being fulfilled in the death and
resurrection of Jesus
· Salvation
means deliverance into a new age, a new way of being, a new way of relating to
God
ù It means
coming to life again as new people
§
Not people of fear, cowering before a vengeful God
§
But people born again as sons and daughters of a
loving God
§
People who can celebrate with joy their relationship
with their God
· The point of
the story of the Prodigal Son is that what God promised six centuries before
Jesus is now happening because of Jesus
ù Even though
ù God is
willing to take us back
· That’s just
one level of the story, though, the divine level
ù Jesus uses a
father and his two sons as metaphors for God and for us
ù At that level, we see the interaction between God and the
people of God
ù God offers
forgiveness to us when we turn our backs on God, when we sin
ù We can be
sure of that forgiveness and that God welcomes us with joy
· But there’s a
second level to the story
ù Jesus uses
the human figure of a father not just as a metaphor for God
ù But also as a
model for us
· Jesus was
also saying what that father, a human being did, you can do also
ù We too can
help people come to life again
· If you go
back and reread the selection from Corinthians today, notice those two levels
included in
· First there
is God’s work:
ù Paul says:
“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation….
Behold, new things have come.”
ù That is God
at work. God has reconciled us through
Jesus.
ù Paul’s
phrase: “And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through
Christ.”
· But the
second level is our work:
ù Paul
immediately adds: “And God has given us the ministry of reconciliation…entrusting
to us the message of reconciliation.”
· The story of
the Prodigal Son teaches us about God’s forgiveness of us
ù Bringing us
back to life again.
· But it also
challenges us to do the same
ù We must
forgive others and give them life again
ù We have a
ministry of reconciliation
ù Paul makes
that very clear
· Today we are
halfway through Lent
ù Maybe we have
lost some of our enthusiasm, commitment to our resolutions of reform and change
ù Maybe today we
can renew our commitment for the second half of Lent
· I would offer
a suggestion, based on today’s gospel and the needs of our world, that
ù We recognize,
accept, and rejoice in the new life—salvation—given to us by God
ù And that we
give forgiveness, salvation, new life—especially forgiveness—to someone else
ù as a sign
that we have heard the word of God in Lent and are acting on it