March 25, 2001
|
|
|
| Love
on The Cross and Beyond: In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that if we are reconciled in Christ, if we are brought together by baptism and by the cross, we are not only new creatures in him, but we belong to each other. So it is that we find in Luke a life lesson in reconciliation when we allow the love of Christ to rule us. Today’s gospel lesson finds Jesus giving an
answer to the Pharisee’s complaint that he is spending time with the wrong
kind of people. They see people who are broken, lost, and out of relationship
with God. They have come to see Jesus who teaches, heals, and touches them,
transforming their lives and all the Pharisees can say is, “this guy takes the
time to welcome sinners.” In other words, he is giving hospitality to people
who are not worthy of a warm welcome. According to Harper’s Bible’s
Dictionary, in the ancient Near East, hospitality was an act of friendship
shown to a visitor. The process by which a visitor was brought into relationship
with a host has been described as a well choreographed dance in which strangers
eventually became guests. The stranger had to pass some kind of test to make
sure that no harm was intended by the stranger. If he or she came with a letter
of introduction, then no further tests were necessary. Coming off a dusty road and having ones feet washed
was a sign that one had moved from being a stranger to being a guest of the
household. The host was then honor bound to protect the guest, and the guest was
honor bound to receive the food and hospitality that was offered. That is what Jesus did. He offered his protection
and care to those the Pharisees believed were undeserving of being received. He
even sought those who were lost and set them in the directions that led them to
God. Today we can praise God that even when we are lost and we think we do not
deserve it, we are invited into the hospitality of Jesus Christ who loves us
enough to welcome and receive us and to search for us when we are lost. To help people understand that what is lost can be
so valuable that the recovery is worth every effort of the search, and that in
the finding there will be great joy, Jesus told three stories. First he told the
story of a lost and recovered sheep, then of a lost and recovered coin, and
finally of a lost and recovered family. In the telling, he shows us how
reconciliation can happen when love rules. Our theme during Lent has been “Love On The Cross
And Beyond”. At issue for us today is how love of this father for both his
sons, one who distances himself physically and the other who distances himself
emotionally mirror for us the love of God that makes itself known in the
reconciling cross of Jesus Christ. James Forbes is the pastor of the historic
Riverside Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City and is one
of the best preachers in the English speaking world. Dr. Forbes says that each
narrative in the Bible, every story describes a situation, a complication, and a
resolution, just as narrative art and literature do. In telling this family
story of love and longing, Luke has given us a story with three parts, each with
its own situation, complication, and resolution. The beginning is simple enough. First, there was a
father who had two sons, and by that we know that this will be a family story,
not an individual’s story. We know that families are the source of our
greatest joy and our deepest sorrow. No one can make our heart’s soar or our
heart’s break like our families can. Whether the family we are in is
considered to be healthy or dysfunctional, who we are is shaped by the families
in which we are nurtured and in the families we form. There comes a day to this family when the younger
son makes an outrageous demand. Feeling a bit stifled, and eager to make his way
in the world, he knows that he will inherit nothing until his father dies, and
then only 1/3 of what his older brother will receive. He goes to his father and
says in effect, “I cannot wait until you are dead and your estate is settled.
I have things to do and people to see, and I want you to give me the share of my
inheritance that will be mine, now.” We would understand if the father said to his son,
“what did you say? Are you feeling alright, or do you need to go lie down
until you get a hold on yourself? What kind of request is that? Have you no
integrity, or shame, or respect?” That is what we might expect the father to say. But
that is not what happens. Instead, the father says, OK. He calls his accountant,
has a cashier’s check drawn on his account, and he gives his son his share of
the family estate. I imagine the
older son has stood by watching this scene, his mouth opened in amazement, his
blood boiling in anger, too stunned to speak rationally or civilly to his father
or his brother. He may have been reciting to himself the words found in the
Apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus, also known as Sirach: “To the son or wife, to brother or friend, do not
give power over yourself, as long as you live, and do not give your property to
another, in case you change your mind and must ask for it.” (33.20) But his brother has the money. And a few days later, the money burning a hole in
his pocket, wanderlust in this bones, he packs his stuff and moves out. He
leaves the country, looking for a different kind of life and he finds it. The Jerusalem
Bible says that, “he squandered his money on a life of debauchery” (v.
13). We do not know exactly what he
did, but we do know that things get complicated for him. By the time a famine
comes to the land, he has no money, no friends, no food, and no home. He dream
of freedom is now a nightmare of need. But this complication brings about good news and
bad news. The good news is that the young man knows how to find a job. The bad
news is that only job he can find involves feeding pigs. Feeding pigs was the
work of Gentiles, for whom touching the animals did not make them ritually
unclean. It was certainly not work for one whose religious faith forbade
touching pigs. It may be hard for us to imagine how it must have been for him,
so I want you to do this. Think of the worst job you can imagine doing. Maybe it is a job you actually had. If it is your current job, come to
the job seminar that will be here in a few weeks. Now imagine that in addition
to it being an awful, nasty job, the work you are doing violates your
understanding of Christianity. That
is the complication of this young man. His resolution seems simple. In a moment of self-
awareness, as if he is waking up from a time of unconsciousness, he comes to his
senses, and remembers who he is and how he was raised. He says to himself, I do
not have to live like this. He recalls that his life is so much more meaningful
than the way he was living. He is hungry enough to eat the food he is feeding
the hogs, and then it occurs to him that his father’s employees are eating and
living better than he is. His trouble is no doubt the inspiration for the
spiritual that says: “When I was in my father’s house, I had bread enough to spare. But now I’m sick and a-hungry too. I’m ashamed to go back there.” The young man wants to go home, but he has treated his father as if he were already dead. He has taken the money, crossed his bridge, burned it behind him and run, and he regrets it. The spiritual speaks of his repentance: “I believe I’ll go back home and acknowledge there that I’ve done wrong.” Off he goes. The next situation, complication, and resolution occurs when he gets within sight of his father. The young man is walking down the long road home, head down, filled with that stomach churning combination of hope and shame, hoping against hope that he will be allowed back home. He left home in pride and arrogance, but now he returns in humility, not as a son, but as a job seeker on the family farm. To his great relief, his father who from time to time goes out and stands by the gate gazing down the road just in case, his son comes home, is there. Though his son is walking without the purposeful step with which he left, there is something about him that lets his father know who he is, from a long way away. When he sees him, whatever leftover anger he felt is dissolved by the sight of his son, and he runs out to meet him, greeting his son with an embrace and a kiss. The son has his speech ready. “Father, I have sinned against God and against you, don’t even think of me as a son.” But before he can finish his speech and ask for a job and a place in the servant’s quarters, his father interrupts him. He calls out to the butler, “bring my boy a robe, get him a family ring, and bring him a pair of sandals. Go prepare the best calf in the herd, call the friends, family, and neighbors, by son who was dead is alive and well. It is time to rejoice!” One writer describes the utter lack of decorum on the father’s part. “The wise and dignified patriarch ought not to run to meet anyone. Certainly he ought to inquire about this son’s behavior, to ascertain his intent, to hear his confession before extending forgiveness. At the very least, the neighbors will mutter about cheap grace.” (Texts for Preaching. Vol. 3, p.227) The father’s joy brings about the complication. We want him to be angry, but instead he welcomes the son in an act of mercy and grace and instead of a resolution, his actions lead directly to the third situation, complication, and resolution. There was a man who had two sons and the older one is first confused and then unhappy. In from the field where he has worked all day, he is tired, and has been nursing his anger with his younger brother for months. In his most honest moments, he would have to admit that he is not too happy with his father either. He has heard the music, he has seen the dancing, and he wants to know what is going on. He asks a servant what’s going on. The servant’s reply brings the complication. “Your brother is back and your father ordered a feast, called all the family’s friends and relatives and invited them celebrate that he is back and that he is all right. Now, you can surely identify a bit with the older brother. You are the solid one, the good son, the dutiful daughter, the one who never left. You felt pretty good this morning, but now with this bit of news, you now feel taken for granted. He will not go into the party, he cannot celebrate that the bad boy has won one more time. So many of us are there with the older brother, standing on the deck, pouting, angry, remembering a lifetime of slights. But this is the story of a family, of a man who had two sons, and the father who ran to meet the younger son comes out to seek and to urge the older son to come join the celebration. “No sir. I’ve done all you have ever asked me to do and more. But you have never given me a party, there has been no gathering for my friends, but let this son of yours come back from doing God knows what, and by the way, since he took everything with him, he is wearing my robe, my ring, and my shoes. What’s all that about?” It is about what happens when love rules a father’s heart. He hears his son and says to him, with all the love in the world, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate, because your brother was as if he were dead, but now he is alive” (v. 31-32). The love shown to the son who was lost outside the family and restored, is now given to the son who stayed inside but has been lost in his own sense of outrage. His love for his sons is without any limits. That’s the resolution, the father loves both his sons and will do whatever is necessary to restore his broken family to wholeness. Have you figured out that the narrative of our lives, our situations, our complications, our resolutions find places of connection with this family? The truth is that sometimes we are the father – torn between two people who pull at us heart and soul. We are the parent, torn between children whose lives are different and demanding. We are the woman whose husband and children do not get along. We are the adult child caring for both parents and children who we love. We are the young son – impatient, eager, chafing at the rules of the household and of the culture and ready to claim their independence. We are the older son – always there, doing the right thing, offering no grand rebellion, patient to wait his turn, resentful at being passed over one more time, when the younger one has already had his share of the inheritance and is back, perhaps for another third. Remember this a parable, a story that shows us some larger truth. And here it is. We are transformed with the love of God through Jesus Christ rules us. The father is symbolic of God whose very nature is grace and mercy and whose love for us is embodied in Jesus Christ whose love for God and for us so ruled him that he faced the shame and agony of the cross for us. The sons are the church, those in need, the ones who go away, the one who stay but aren’t quite at home, and the one who long to hear God’s words of love and assurance. And like those father’s sons, we want to know when we are lost we will be sought, when we are hurt we will be comforted, and through it all we are in relationship with each other, ruled by the love of God for us. When we are ruled by love we can be led to the kind of reconciliation Paul describes. Let love rule us as found and restored people. Then when love rules, we can throw open the doors of the church and offer a place to be found for folks who are lost. When love rules us, we can throw open our hearts and let the love of God for us take root in us to that we can show the same love to others. When love rules, we can become ambassadors, not judges, but grateful and faithful representatives of God wherever we go, followers of Jesus Christ all of our days. When God’s reconciling
love rules us, we do not have to determine who is worthy of God’s mercy, none
of us is, but God gives it to us anyway. It might seem illogical to us, and it
is, but the witness of Romans 5.8 is true for us all: “But God’s love is proved for
us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When we let the reconciling love of God rule our hearts we can come to ourselves and know that there is a place where we can find a welcome and an embrace. We can rejoice in God’s love and mercy given to us through Jesus Christ who throws open the doors of heaven for us, and pulls out a chair at the divine table, and invites us in with rejoicing because when love rules us, whatever has been dead in us is made alive again, forever and ever. God has promised, and the promises of God can be trusted, absolutely. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
|
Broad
Street Christian Church
|
