Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

I love the parables.

I can just imagine Jesus telling these stories with a twinkle in his eye to the people he feels needs to hear them and waiting for them to discover the sting in the tail - to understand the point he is trying to make, and what it means for them, God, or the world they lived in.

But the astounding thing for me is how they translate so readily into our current context - and the way they have for every generation.

Sure, for some of them we need to dig a little to translate the scene into something we can relate to - but they are a rich landscape to explore.

I find it fascinating how everyone approaches the parables from their own world view - and how often people will draw radically different conclusions from them.

The parable of the prodigal son, as it is so often called, is one of the best known parables, and one that we have most likely drawn our own conclusions about already.

I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, tempting as that would be, but take a moment to be honest with yourself - when I started reading the Gospel passage just now did you hang on every word, or did you drift into a gentle fog of familiarity?

Visio Divina

I am often guilty of drifting away during well known bible stories, which is why I enjoy spiritual practices that draw me back to the text in a fresh way.

Lectio divina can be a powerful way of doing this, but today we’re going to do a little experiment with visio divina.

Visio divina means sacred seeing - it’s a way of seeing the world with the eyes of the heart, rather than with the mind.

You can do this in all sorts of ways - going for a walk and being open to everything you see, or being particularly focussed on one particular object.

Today I’m going to use art for this exercise - and there is no shortage of artworks for the prodigal son! I’ve selected 15 different images that resonate with me in different ways - I’ve laid these out on the steps - come up and choose one, and take it back to your seat.

Don’t spend time just yet looking at them in any detail - just pick one that stirs an immediate response for you.

WAIT

Shortly I’m going to set a timer for two minutes.

In this time I’d like you to focus on the image you have chosen, taking in all the details.

Look at where the subjects are in the picture, body language, lighting and how colour is used.

Breathe deeply and see what stirs within you - what resonates with you?

What challenges your ideas about the parable?

Do you sense any invitation from God from the image?

After the timer goes off I’ll invite you to talk briefly with the person next to you about the image you chose, and how you reacted to it.

Your two minutes start now....

2 MINUTE TIMER

Now take time to talk with the person next to you about the image, and share what you noticed and how you reacted.

I’ll set another timer for 2 minutes, so make sure you allow time for both of you to talk.

2 MINUTE TIMER

Does anyone want to share some of their insights?

What do they hear?

One of the powerful things about the parables is how fresh they still are today, and how they continue to shape and challenge us.

But as I’ve already said, the conclusions we draw are shaped by our own worldview - our upbringing, our gender identity, our age, our financial status, our race - everything that shapes us also shapes our understanding.

In 2007 the American New Testament scholar and music critic Mark Powell published a book called ‘What do they hear?

Bridging the gap between pulpit and pew’.

As you’ve probably guessed, it’s aimed at preachers who want to communicate well with their congregation.

In the book though he talks about an experiment he conducted with students from America, Russia, and Tanzania.

In the experiment he read the parable of the prodigal son, then asked his students to recount the story back to a partner, who would then check to see what details they included, omitted, or embellished.

When the American group heard the story, they associated the young son’s hunger with it being his own fault - he squandered the money he had, and so got what he deserved.

Only a handful of the 100 students included the famine in their recount.

The Russian group associated the son’s hunger with the famine in the land - they felt the son had fallen victim to unforeseeable circumstances.

Fascinatingly, the group for Tanzania attributed his hunger to the fact that no one in the new land helped him.

In truth, all three viewpoints are valid, and they do all work alongside each other - but our default reaction will always be to see the story through one lens only.

My own views

My own views on this parable have shifted, and doubtless will continue to shift.

For a long time I saw this as a simple parable of God’s forgiveness and abundance - pointing the finger firmly at the Pharisees who I saw as being represented by the older son, and how the shame/honour culture played out.

There is definitely truth in this, but at the moment the thing that draws me in is the abundance of grace in this parable - either lavished on, or showed by, each character in the story.

As I was undertaking my own visio divina as I prepared this sermon the art I focussed on this modern orthodox icon.

For me this captures the joy and grace in the story - from the tender embrace in the centre of the picture, to the abundant preparations for the party, and even to the tenderness the father shows the older son on the left hand side.

It’s easy to see where grace is at work with the father - he went running towards his son to welcome him back with open arms, even though he was a long way off.

He ran towards his son - something an elder would never do.

Was it a complete fluke that he saw his son in the distance, or had he spent all this time praying, waiting, and watching for his son to return?

Equally, the grace poured out on to the younger son isn’t hard to miss.

He is hoping at best to have some bread and water to live on, but instead is welcomed home with the best robe, the finest ring, the fatted calf, and a party so joyous and noisy that his older brother heard it in the distance as he was returning home.

But where is the grace for the older son?

The son that feels maligned, who assumes the worst of the younger son (did you notice that as Jesus tells the story he doesn’t talk about how the younger son squandered his wealth, but the older son jumps to the conclusion that the money was spent on prostitutes?), and his pride and jealousy pour out in anger at his father.

Despite this outburst, the father responds with love.

The word translated as child is technon, which does indeed mean child.

But this isn’t used in a condescending way - when spoken to a grown son it was a term of affection.

He reminds his son that he has always been with him, and that everything he has is shared with his son.

The father doesn’t get grumpy with his eldest son, nor does he defend his youngest son.

Instead he shifts the attention to his own love and generosity.

This is grace.

Hobbits

It’s been a long time since I last read any Tolkien, but Tolkien does find a way to bring the Gospel in to his writing in such elegant ways.

Earlier this week I found out that hobbits have an interesting birthday tradition - on their birthday they don’t receive gifts from family or friends (apart from maybe very close relatives), but instead on their birthday the hobbit throws a party and gives gifts to all their friends and family.

This might seem like the wrong way around - shouldn’t we be spoiled on our birthday?

Instead though, this way of celebrating means that everyone receives gifts throughout the year instead!

For me this captures the essence of my understanding of this parable, and the abundance of God’s kingdom.

In the words of the author Rodney Clapp:

God raised us up and called us home.

It is just not about you or me, or my sin or your sin, or my deserts or your deserts.

It is about God and God’s life-giving love and mercy.

Every time God’s active, stretching, searching, healing love finds someone and calls that person back home, it does not mean there is less for the rest of us.

It means there is more.

More wine.

More feasting.

More music.

More dancing.

It means another, and now a bigger, party.

Maybe those hobbits are on to something.…

Close in prayer

Let me pray.

Holy God, help us remember that when it comes to the story of the prodigal son, we play all three roles.

We can make the same mistakes, but we can also make the same gracious choices.

Therefore, help us be like the prodigal son who was quick to apologise.

Help us be like the older brother who aimed for righteousness, and help us be like the father who celebrated love at every turn.

We can be all three.

Amen.