Fourth Sunday of Lent--C
20 March 2004

 

· [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 St. Paul in his epistles is salvation

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 Babylon, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

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 Israel as a nation and we as individuals have turned away from God, rejected God

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 St. Paul’s thinking:

· 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