C Cycle – 4-^th Sunday of Lent 25

Lk.15:1-3, 11-32

 There is a stark difference between believing God is merciful and us allowing that mercy to touch our core and transform us.  God has consistently invited us to come to Him with all our hearts and to never allow our fear to keep us from approaching Him.  God’s message of forgiveness is the foundation of the scriptures. It is God’s desire to lavish that forgiveness upon us.  It would take far too long to list all the passages of forgiveness in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  That is why this parable of the prodigal son is critical to us understanding mercy. It also shows us why we have trouble accepting God’s forgiveness.  We are too programed to believe evil should be punished.  

Our entire system of justice, of relationships, of personal advancement is based on an ethos that rewards us and punishes us. Good is rewarded and bad must be punished. We believe in reconciliation, making amends and seeking forgiveness when we do something wrong.  We also demand that those who harm us must acknowledge their failure and seek reconciliation.  Our parents instill this belief in us from infancy and the church reinforces it as we confess our failings and seek forgiveness. We want God’s forgiveness, but we also desire retaliation when we are wronged. 

According to the law, everything the younger son did in this parable should have resulted in his being stoned.  His sins were that grievous.  Yet, Jesus has him restored and celebrated. That action would have shocked everyone listening to the parable. The law demanded his death not restoration and forgiveness. Today, we, like the Israelites, fail to understand what the law did for them and for us. The law keeps us in check until in God’s own words tells us the Law of the Spirit changes our hearts. God’s desire is for us to experience forgiveness exactly as the prodigal son experienced it that day.  God removed the barriers of alienation, removed the desire to live life according to our plan. God removed the feeling of unworthiness, and the weight of sin drives us further away from God. 

But this story is filled with a greater lesson than the reinstatement of the younger son.  It is a parable which defines our “expectations.” The prodigal’s expectation was his life would always have him in a lesser position with his father than the older brother.  The law defined that the first born would receive the blessings of the father and most of the estate.  The older brother knew this, and his expectations was he would always be superior to the younger brother and eventually the master of the house.

Those listening to Jesus expected the younger son to be stoned because the law demanded it.  Jesus turns all those expectations upside down and this parable continues to challenge us today.  It is amazing that today most people believe the older brother has been wronged by his father.  They defend the older brothers’ actions because they believe the younger son should have been punished, not restored.  Many of us have the same expectations as the younger brother and approach the father expecting to be punished.  Like him we have our prepared speech admitting our sin with the “hope” of being allowed in his presence as slave. 

Not a son, with rights and privileges, but a slave without any rights or privileges.  A slave cannot speak but is allowed in the presence of his master as he awaits an order.  Obedience is demanded and if he fails to obey immediately and precisely, punishment is swift and harsh.  That was all the prodigal expected, not restoration.

The father had his own expectations and desires for his disobedient son.  He wanted him back and his heart ached every day he was away.  Somehow, he seems to have kept informed about his son’s continuing moral decline.  His heart ached for his return as he waited daily for him to come to his senses.  His expectations were that he would come to his senses, and he would seek to return but not to be restored.  The father knew his mindset was just to have a place in his household as a slave.

There is only one expectation that was met in this parable.  The fathers and Jesus knew this image of the father would horrify the Pharisees. Those who depended on the law to define their relationship with God.  It still is shocking to us today for this parable demands more than hope it demands belief.  It tells us exactly what God’s mercy looks like, and that image goes against the very thing we had depended on to define our relationship with God.  The law God gave to Moses states a “disobedient and rebellious son” (Deut.21:18) should be stoned to death. 

We struggle with this parable because we fail to forgive those who have wounded us.  We want them punished and this parable tells us we fail to live up to God’s expectation of us.  Forgiveness is a mandatory part of living the Christian life. Shortly we will pray the Our Father and ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who have wounded us.  Jesus never finished the parable.  We do not know if the older brother forgave his younger. 

Jesus is telling us forgiveness is total and complete and overlooks all sin, all wrong, and brings us into the presence of the Father as sons and daughters – fully restored and totally cleansed of all that makes us feel unclean.