Lent 4C
March 14, 2010
St. Dunstan's
The Rev. Patricia Templeton

"Loving Wastefully"

If one were asked to paint a landscape of Lent, the image that first comes to my mind is a desert or wilderness. The season begins with that image, with Jesus being driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit, where he faces hardships and temptations as he struggles to discern what God expects of him.

In these weeks before Easter we are all invited on a journey of examining our lives, to see again what God expects of us and to learn where we might be falling short of those expectations.

Time in the desert or wilderness can seem lonely and difficult. But scripture reminds us again and again that even on desert journeys there are oases of God’s mercy, compassion and redemption.

Today, half-way through the Lenten journey, at the farthest point into the desert, we come upon a magnificent oasis, revealed in a story so familiar to us that we might be tempted to skip right over it.

The story, of course, is what we commonly refer to as “the prodigal son.” It is a story about wilderness and redemption, being lost and being found, famine and feast.

Prodigal means “wastefully extravagant.” It is an apt description of the youngest son in this story, who convinces his father to give him his inheritance early, then dramatically wastes it all on wild living far from home.

Before long his money is gone, and he is forced to find work feeding pigs – the ultimate insult to a faithful Jew. The youngest son’s life has indeed become a journey in the wilderness.

His turning point comes with the phrase – “he came to himself.” With those simple words, the scales drop from the son’s eyes and he realizes the truth of who he is and what he has done.

He resolves to go home to his father and confess and repent, not with the expectation of resuming the life of a privileged son, but with the hope that his father will at least accept him back in the role of servant.

The son approaches his father’s house, screwing up his courage to face the one he has so dishonored.

And then comes one of the most moving lines in scripture. “While the son was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.”

I can imagine the father sitting by his window day after day, longing for his son to return, willing to give anything just to see his child again. The father’s life has also become a desert, estranged from the son he loves.

And when that longed-for moment occurs, the father cannot contain his joy or his love – he must run to meet and embrace his son.

Notice the father does not demand a confession or an apology. No explanations are necessary. It is a time for feasting and celebration – “for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”

I recently came across a modern-day true version of this ancient story. A woman named Hilda comes to see her priest after her son tries, for the fourth time, to kill himself.

Hilda’s son is involved in prostitution and drug dealing, and maybe even worse things, but Hilda’s biggest concern is his lack of faith.

“What bothers me most is that my son says he wants nothing to do with God,” she tells her priest. “What will happen to my son if he commits suicide without repenting and wanting nothing to do with God?”

“What do you think will happen?” the priest asks.
“Well,” Hilda replies, “I think that when you die, you appear before the judgment seat of God. If you have lived a good life, God will send you to heaven. If you have lived a bad life, God will send you to hell.”

Sadly, she concludes, “Since my son has lived such a bad life, if he were to die without repenting, God would certainly send him to hell.”

The priest later admitted he agreed with Hilda, but he wisely did not say so.

Instead, he says to her, “Close your eyes. Imagine that you are sitting next to the judgment seat of God. Imagine also that your son has died with all these serious sins and without repenting.

“He has just arrived at the judgment seat of God. Squeeze my hand when you can imagine that.”

A few moments later Hilda squeezes the priest’s hand. She describes the entire scene.

Then the priest asks her, “Hilda, how does your son feel?”

“He feels so empty and alone,” she replies.

“What would you like to do?” the priest asks the mother.

“I want to throw my arms around my son,” Hilda says. She lifts her arms and begins to cry as she imagines herself tightly embracing her son.

Finally, when she has stopped crying, the priest asks her to imagine looking into God’s eyes, and to watch what God does.

“God is stepping down from the throne,” Hilda says. “He is coming toward my son and me with his arms open wide and tears running down his face.”

And the three of them, Hilda, her son, and God, cry together and hold one another close.

Notice that Hilda and God, like the father in Jesus’ story, do not demand any confession, repentance, or explanation from their son. They look at a hurting child not with judgment, but with love and compassion and forgiveness.

As Paul writes in his letter to the Christians in Rome, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are redeemed because we are sinners, not because we are saints.

But also notice that Jesus’ story does not end with the reunion of the father and youngest son. As the celebration begins, a member of the family is absent.

The oldest son is outside the house, angry at his father because his younger brother has been forgiven so easily. His anger alienates him from his family and casts him into the wilderness of estrangement.

Once again, the father leaves the house to approach a son. He listens patiently to his oldest son’s tirade against him.

And then the father gently reminds his boy of his love for his firstborn, and urges him to come join in the celebration.

One can imagine that if Hilda’s son had an older brother, he might likely be guarding the gates of heaven, trying to make sure that no unworthy souls – like his brother – gain entrance into God’s kingdom.

And after God stepped down from the divine throne to embrace Hilda and her wayward son, God’s next move would be to go to the gates of heaven, and invite those who are so self-righteously guarding them to come in and join the feast.

Although we commonly call this parable the story of the prodigal son, it is really the father who is the prodigal one. The father is extravagantly wasteful in his love, he gives it in abundance, lavishes it out profusely, knowing that it will never be depleted.

So is God’s love for us – prodigal, lavish, abundant, profuse, more than enough for everyone.

We do not need to fear being excluded from the divine banquet. And we do not need to fear including all God’s children in the feast. We must not think in terms of winners and losers, those invited in and those left out.

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Readings

Joshua 5:9-12

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

We regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

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