St. Paul Lutheran Church, Minden, Nebraska
Sunday sermon – Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 14, 2010
“A Father To Be Loved!”
Text: Luke 15:31,32
It was quite a coincidence the other day when an e-mail with the title, AIN’T IT THE TRUTH – Nebraska Advice, showed up in my electronic mail box just as I was taking a break from working on this sermon. This AIN’T IT THE TRUTH e-mail turned out to be a list of interesting, amusing “pieces of good ol’ Nebraska advice” - a few of which reminded me of the some of the things Jesus included in this parable titled, The Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Actually when it comes to God’s unlimited, unconditional unstoppable, self-giving love, which is what this parable is all about, it could also be called: “The Parable of the Forgiving Father. The forgiving father who dearly loved his 2 sons, 2 brothers, the younger son very irresponsible & self-indulging & the older son very jealous & not a little self-righteous.”
Just to show you what an amazing coincidence this was, here are a few AIN’T IT THE TRUTH “pieces of advice” that remind me of things in this parable . .
“When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.”
“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging.”
“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta of experience comes from bad judgment.”
“It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.”
“Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.”
And the statement that struck me the most and challenges me the most, having decided over a month ago to preach on this parable, is the statement: “Words that soak into your ears are whispered . . not yelled.”
In this parable, the way Jesus tells it, I cannot imagine the loving, forgiving father in this parable who dearly loved both his sons, both brothers, the younger son irresponsible & self-indulging & the older son jealous & very self-righteous, I can’t imagine the father, lecturing, yelling, or even raising his voice, but instead, quietly, calmly saying, whispering to his older son,
“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.”
If ever there were words that I would want all of us to hear, words that soak into our ears, words that touch our hearts, words that can have a powerful & transforming effect on all our lives, it would be these fatherly, forgiving, reassuring words of Jesus that he puts in the mouth of this generous father; Son, daughter, moms, dads, sisters, brothers, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It is fitting to celebrate and be glad, for once you were dead, and are alive; you were lost, and now are found.
Having said that, still, while this is not a difficult thing to say even with a soft & sure & quiet voice, it is most certainly a difficult thing to believe and a difficult way to live.
Author & retired seminary professor Fred Craddock tells the story about a time he preached on this parable and after the service a man said to him, “I really didn’t care much for that, frankly.”
Dr. Craddock asked, “Why?”
The man said, “Well, it wasn’t your sermon. I guess I just don’t like that story.”
Dr. Craddock asked, “What is it you don’t like about it?”
The man said, “It’s not morally responsible. Not fair! ”
Dr. Craddock asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Forgiving that restless & greedy son who treated his father as if he wanted him dead & wasted his father’s hard earned money wasn’t right,” said the man.
Dr. Craddock asked, “Well, what would you have done?” The man said, “I think when he came home the son should’ve been arrested.”
“The man was serious,” said Dr. Craddock. “He was an attorney.” Dr. Craddock thought the man was kidding but he was serious. The man belonged to a nation-wide organization which never had any meetings and didn’t have a name, but it was a pretty strong network, which Dr. Craddock called “quality control people; morality police standing for mandatory sentences, making restitution, doing time, no parole, and executions!”
Dr. Craddock asked the man, “What sentence would you have given the father’s younger son?” The man said, “Six years hard labor.”
The man wanted the same strict standards that apply to industry and to justice in the courts to apply to relationships within families family, as well as to our relationship with God.
The man is not alone! “Let’s be fair, people say! We’ve got laws, we’ve got to be faithful to the laws: an eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth: mandatory sentences, making restitution, doing time, no parole and executions.” But when it comes to God and our relationship to God, are those the kind of terms you and I want to be on with God; “for God to throw the book at us.”
In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the apostle Paul concludes a great and familiar chapter on Christian love summing up the uniqueness and extravagance of “selfless, self-sacrificing, self-giving love” by saying: “So faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” Greater than faith, greater than hope, is extravagant, self-less, self-giving, sacrificial love.
That’s what I see going on in this parable. I don’t have to preach at you, I don’t have to lecture you or yell at you, but I want you to see this parable as a picture of how God the Father longs to have us all as His beloved sons & daughters. Let these words soak into our ears, sink deep into our dark & sinful hearts: so fairness, goodness, and forgiveness abide, these three, but the greatest of these is forgiveness.
To err is human! To forgive is divine!
The prodigal son erred in a big way demanding his share of his father’s inheritance, wasting & running through his father’s money until the son had nothing left . . yet the Father was forgiving toward his wasteful son.
To err is human! The older son also erred in a big way passing judgment on his wasteful, no good younger brother accusing him of not being worthy, not deserving new clothes, a ring on his finger, let alone a banquet, a celebration . . yet the Father was forgiving toward his jealous & self-righteous older son.
To err is human! Not respecting God, not trusting God, not wanting to be around God, not willing to let God be God, isn’t that where all of us are at! Are we not wasteful? Are we not self-oriented? Do we not wander off to do our own thing, have our own kind of fun, indulge ourselves, live for ourselves? Are we not judgmental, jealous, short-sighted, bitter & impatient with others who don’t see things our way?
What is it we need most? Is it for God to be fair? Is it for us to be good or try to do better? Or is what we truly need for God to be as forgiving toward us as that father was toward his self-indulg-ing son & his self-righteous son?
Fairness, goodness, and forgiveness abide, these three, but the greatest of these is God’s forgiveness for all.
If I go back to the coincidence between that e-mail titled “AIN’T IT THE TRUTH” and this parable that leaves us saying, “AIN’T IT HARD TO BELIVE!” I can tell you how this parable quietly spoken has soaked into my ears, deep into my own heart & life.
I can see myself in this parable. I have not demanded of my mother my fair share of any inheritance, but in my younger days instead of loving people and using things; I loved things & used people. I have not wallowed with pigs, but early in my ministry I wandered off to a far country; I did not have the strong, personal, daily devotional life I have now. I was pretty creative in my attempts to keep God at a distance. Yet, thank God, by the grace of God, I have also come to know the selfless, resourceful, seeking, persistent, unlimited, unconditional, unstoppable love of God toward me.
God is the patient, waiting, loving, forgiving Father who waited until I was ready to come home. Having experienced this love myself, I can also imagine the joy of others experiencing it who have also wandered off, realized the error of their ways, and have come back home. And God in His Word & Sacraments runs to them, embraces them and says, “Welcome home, my child!”
In just two weeks, Holy Week, we will gather here & once again remember the incredible lengths God will go to love us, all the way to the cross on Good Friday. If in perfect obedience to His Father in heaven, Jesus laid down His life for us, fulfilled the law for us, was the required sacrifice for us, hanging on his cross, with arms outstretched toward us, then can hope & pray that one day, all prodi-gal sons & daughters, all God’s children near & far will come home safe, saved by God who with his abundant, selfless, unconditional, unlimited, unstoppable love gets what He longs for all.
Or to quote a once self-righteous, self-appointed persecutor of Christians named St. Paul who himself was welcomed home by God, St. Paul once wrote to a younger Timothy . .
These words are 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
