Lent 4C am

4th Sunday in Lent, Year C

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your Sight, O Lord, Our Rock and Our Redeemer. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Quiz time: what does “prodigal” mean? We just heard one of the most well-known stories from the Gospels…or at least one of the most well-known of Jesus’ parables, known by its title “the Prodigal Son”. So what does “prodigal” mean?

spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.

having or giving something on a lavish scale.

If we’re going to share our faith, we have to know what it is that we’re talking about. So why is this one of the most well-known of Jesus’ parables? Frankly, because it’s probably the best illustration of God’s love that we have. The father in this story is our Heavenly Father. And the younger son is the sinner who squanders the riches of his father’s love, but finally realizes it and hits rock-bottom. Then, and only then, does he come to appreciate what his father has to offer, and he humbles himself and comes back to his father to beg forgiveness. You don’t have to have a Master’s of Divinity to understand this parable. The theology is simple and clear. Thanks be to God. Now you are all equipped to preach this lesson. Go therefore and preach it.

But here’s my quandary: how many people in this room can honestly say you know what rock-bottom is? Maybe some of you can…but I’ll bet you’re in the minority. Most of us - yes, I include myself in this category - have never been so knocked-down to be jealous of what the pigs are eating. Most of us have never run off and wasted lavishly to the point of losing house and car and livelihood. I am willing to be that most of us are much more like the older son.

Luke 15:29–30 ESV

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!’

I was baptized Lutheran when I was 4 weeks old. I grew up in the church. “Weirdo” that I was, I even went to church as a single guy in my 20s. I just always knew that God was in my life. I just always knew that Jesus loved me, and my sins had been paid for.

Truth be told, I have been - at times - a little bit frustrated by some Christians who spent their youth and early adulthood living life in the fast lane - drugs and alcohol and the big party lifestyle. And then something awful happens, and somehow, God grabs them and pulls them into His mighty arms. Now, suddenly, they’re ON FIRE for Jesus! They listen to a Bible verse and it brings them to tears. They have a deep and passionate appreciation for the gift of God’s grace. And that emotion is REAL. And they’re waving their arms in the air, and they just CONNECT with God.

And when I’ve observed this I very quickly find myself relating very well to the older brother in Luke 15. I’m thinking “I’ve never been that emotional over a Bible verse...” I mean, some of them actually made me feel like an inferior Christian. “Why was *my* heart never moved like that?” “Why don’t I feel that level of inspiration?”

The quick answer is: “because I’m a Lutheran”, right? There’s a reason we’re called “the frozen chosen” - we don’t do that dancing in the aisles thing, and we don’t clap. German or Swede or Norwegian - we don’t let our emotions show. We don’t cry in public. Sit up straight. If it’s funny, you can smile - a little - and nod, but don’t let me hear it…no giggling. (This is how we pass this off, right? But it doesn’t really address the real question.)

There’s a couple of things I have to remind myself. First: no one can know another person’s heart. Only God can know another’s heart. For me to assume what’s going on in anyone’s heart but my own is, well, wrong. It’s not my place, and it sets me up for a variety of sins: covetousness, bearing false witness, anger at my neighbor… the list gets long rather quickly. It’s best if I not assume anything about my neighbor’s heart.

Second: I need to look less at my neighbor and more at myself. Step away from the window and over to the mirror. Where is my gratitude? There’s a lot that we don’t know about the older brother in the parable…but there’s also a lot that we do know. According to the culture, the older brother would get 2 shares of the father’s estate, while the younger brother would get 1 share. The reason for this is that the older brother would be responsible for taking care of his parents in their old age, so he got a double portion to ensure their well-being also. In this story, he never left his parents’ house (“Son, you are always with me...”), and he’s been cared for. There’s plenty of indication that the father is well-to-do (he has servants), and apparently has the ability to throw a large feast, with extravagant clothing and jewelry. I don’t think this older brother has ever seen anything that even resembles “rock-bottom”.

But where is his gratitude? Where is his “gee Dad, thanks for making sure I’ve always had food, shelter, clothing, and comfort.” Or “thanks for giving me a job and a purpose in this household, and helping me to be a contributing member of our society...” or anything like that. No, he’d rather complain that his wayward and wasteful sibling gets to run loose and waste money partying but gets welcomed back with a huge celebration instead of being punished. I have to wonder: what did this older brother think would have been an appropriate greeting? Should the punk younger brother get thrown in debtor’s prison? Should he be publicly flogged? What did he have in mind?

Well, thankfully, it’s a parable and not an actual example of real human beings. But it makes me think…and I hope it makes you think. How much am I like that older brother? Can I avoid his cynicism and lack of gratitude? Am I able to be thankful for what I have and *not* take it for granted? What else is the older son missing? Where’s his love - for either his brother or his father?

The depth of the younger son’s sin - the “prodigal” son - really is shocking. When you look at what he did, he basically said “Dad, when you die, I’m going to inherit a third of your wealth. I want to act like you’re dead, so I can have it all now and leave.” If I may be judgmental for a moment - yeah, that’s awfully selfish and greedy. (But really, am I any better?) Not only did he take his inheritance while his father was still alive - no child had a right to do this in their society; this was both incredibly unusual and disrespectful - he also left his home to go far away from his family, friends, and community. In the same way that “the sinner quits his Father’s house, the church, the communion of saints.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 809.] What Jesus is describing here is the exact opposite of reconciliation. This is both departure and separation.

When this wayward son came home, his older brother was not happy about his return. He didn’t even want to be in the same room with him. What was he really angry about? Was it jealousy that the younger son got to enjoy life in the fast lane and parties and all the so-called “fun” that the world promises…if you have enough money? Or was he angry because his brother was forgiven so easily? Again, we can’t see into his heart. But we *can* know our own hearts, and why we would have been angry.

For me, it’s probably a mix of both. Why does he get to go out and party while I’m here being obedient? *AND* why did the father forgive him so easily? And both are sinful and selfish ways of looking at this whole situation. Back to the mirror I go. Remember, in Luther’s “Law and Gospel” principle, the 2nd use of the Law is called “the mirror” - it shows us our sin and our deep need for a Savior.

The mirror tells me that I need to look at this situation through the eyes of the loving father. The lost son has been found. He has come back home - where he was meant to be. He is back where he can be with family who really do want what’s best for him, not merely what he can pay for. He is back where his father can once again show his love to his son…and also show his great and endless mercy and undeserved grace. It really *is* a cause for celebration - the way the father celebrates: surrounded by family and friends and genuine love.

The mirror also tells me that I resemble the other people the older brother was meant to represent: the Pharisees. These people are in the audience Jesus is talking to, and they’ve been grumbling about people they don’t think are worthy of God’s love. To the Pharisees, God’s love is for those who are obedient. They believe that God’s love is earned. They are, then, self-righteous. That means I am, too. I think to myself “I’m a pretty good guy. I obey the commandments.” Yep, I’m the older brother. “‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command’...” He is actually boasting in his self-righteousness.

It would be perfectly within the father’s authority to scold this older brother, who’s being a supreme spoiled brat. Notice he doesn’t address his father with any term of respect, and he calls his brother “this son of yours”. This obedient brother is a hard worker, but what’s in his heart? Hardness, selfishness, greed, jealousy… is he any closer to his father than the younger brother? There’s certainly no confession of sin on the part of this older brother. My favorite scholar puts it this way: “...in this very boast the greatest of God’s commandments is transgressed, that of love. This son knew nothing of such a commandment.” [Lenski, 820.] And to cover it up, he tried to blame his father. The hubris of this son - that means his excessive and unjustified pride - is appalling.

Once we discover that both sons are sinners, it becomes clear that the father is really the main character in this parable. The father is the focal point. He certainly could have been angry with either one or both of his sons. One of them wished him dead and took 1/3 of his estate, and then wasted it all away. The other is a self-righteous brat who doesn’t appreciate what he has. The father could easily be angry with them.

But that’s not what the father does. He runs out to meet the lost son - in a truly undignified fashion. Eagerly and lovingly he welcomes his son home, and he doesn’t even let him finish his confession. Not that he needed to - the act of running out to meet him shows the forgiveness was there before the prodigal son even opened his mouth.

As for the older, “obedient” son, who doesn’t even address his father as “father” - this loving parent is consistent in his grace and love for his children: “Son...” - he reminds the belligerent older brother that he is still the father in this family, and this older brother is still his son. This is a wonderful example of how “the power of love reaches out to expel all lovelessness.” [Lenski, 821.] And then he addresses the older son’s accusations: “…you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” The older son seemed to think that he should have been allowed to do a little partying with his own friends, but never did. Ironically, he “failed to see that any friends that might take him from his father were really like his brother’s friends.” [Ibid.] In truth, his father was the best friend he could possibly have.

So what did the older son do? Jesus doesn’t say. He stopped the parable there, and that was on purpose. Everyone who heard that was intended to ask that question of themselves. We can ask that of ourselves as well, and to look in the mirror for our own self-righteousness.

God does not love us because of our obedience. And if that is the source of our obedience, then we have some different work to do. God’s love is there already. Our obedience is not supposed to be about earning our inheritance. Our obedience is not supposed to be out of obligation - even though there’s plenty of reason for God to demand that. Thankfully, He doesn’t! The only obedience God demands is that of His Son, and that has already been fulfilled - on that cross so many years ago. And as awful as that was, even that obedience was on account of the Father’s love for His children. And none of them earned it or deserved it either.

I think many Christians have a hard time wrapping their heads around this unearned love and grace. It’s not something our western minds are ready to accept, since everything else in the world tells us that we have to earn our way through the world. This stuff just doesn’t fit in that structure anywhere. And frankly, I’m glad it doesn’t. As soon as we have to start earning God’s love and grace, I’m in a heap of trouble.

This parable helps me to realize that I do have a Heavenly Father who loves me even when I’m a spoiled brat. I also have a Heavenly Father who runs out to meet me when I hit a low spot and I come to my senses and realize that I need the abundance of His love and all that He has to offer. And it’s right when I realize this that I begin to gain an appreciation for what it means to have always had God with me…to have never had to know what “rock-bottom” really feels like…to have been blessed throughout my life…and to feel gratitude for what I really do have as a child of the Heavenly Father. This, then, is part of my Lenten discipline - to remind myself of all that I do have, and to react to that in thanks, and in love. I hope you will join me in adding that to our list of ways to grow in our faith during our Lenten journey.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.