Third Sunday After Trinity (17 June, 2018)

Not Begrudging The Lost

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love.  He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.  Micah 7:18-20

Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.  He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He will not always chide, nor will he keep His anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him.  Psalm 103:1-13

I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.  To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1:12-17

And He [Jesus] 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 and 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 fattened 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.'"  Luke 15:11-32

Its one of the few stories that everyone seems to know.  The Prodigal Son.  There's even a "praise" song about it, talking about us running to God "like a prodigal."

What a dumb statement.

I say that because the writer of that song clearly didn't understand the point of the parable, nor the definition of "prodigal."  The "prodigal" son is the one who was wasteful with his father's money.  The title has nothing to do with his being lost.  Directly.

Who is the parable about?  The Jews, who, like the son that stayed at home and worked for his father, were the people of the covenant.  Yet they failed to comprehend the extent of the Father's love.  In the parable, the father runs to his wayward son.  Why?

Obviously he is overjoyed to see his son.  But from a practical standpoint it is twofold.  First to take hold of the boy and keep him from fleeing back to his life of danger.  Second to keep him safe from those who might wish ill will upon him.  After all, he did take half the inheritance and squandered it.

So which are we?  Irrelevant.  We are not in this story.  Though it we were, we'd be in the same spot St. Paul was in, according to his own words.  He called himself the foremost of sinners, having been a "Jew of Jews."  Humans love to self-justify us in our own eyes using the very rules given to protect us as some sort of check list for why we have earned God's love.  This pietistic nature is exactly the thing the "loyal" son stands for.  But which son was truly lost?  The one who left but remembered his father's love, or the one who served his father for personal gain?

The better question is which one God does not love?

According to the prophet Micah, "He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."  God has sent His Son to rescue us from our self-made prisons of greed, self-righteousness, fear, lust, hate, and arrogance (among uncountable others).

So who is the real prodigal son?  The one who took his share of the father's inheritance, spent it among the peoples of the world, and who returned to his father, knowing that living as a servant was better.  Perhaps the way to look at the story of the Wayward Son is not that it was the one who went out into the world was the lost boy.

Rather, the son who went out is Christ, and the son who looked scornfully upon his father's actions is us, the true Lost Son of the parable.  Thanks be to God that our Brother found us and brought us back home.