Sunday, March 22, 2015

Banquet for a Lost Son (Luke 15: 11-32)

Jesus ate with sinners. He reclined at the table with the unclean. He welcomed their company.
That was the complaint of the scribes and Pharisees.
Maybe he didn’t know any better? At first, the scribes and Pharisees tried to correct his behavior. “Jesus, don’t you know what sort of person that is?”
But they quickly realized that he knew very well what sort of persons they were. He didn’t care that they were unclean. He didn’t care that they were the wrong sort of people. He didn’t care that his own reputation as a leader and teacher would be tainted by associating with them.
And eventually, the other religious leaders stopped inviting him to their banquets. By associating with unclean persons, he had become contaminated by their filth, and his presence would only ruin the reputation of any host and any guests at any formal banquet.
The scribes and the Pharisees continued to dine together. They continued honoring Caesar with the mixing of wine, and debating points of the law during the post-meal symposium.
And in the midst of it all, they were grumbling about Jesus, saying, “this guy who, we regret to say, reclined at the table with us in the past, welcomes sinners and reclines at the table with them…”
So, despite being a recognized teacher, rabbi, and leader of the faith, Jesus has cast his lot with the unclean, the undesirables, the outcasts. And all the other recognized leaders of the faith were left grumbling about this. Teachers and leaders of the faith just didn’t do that sort of thing. Teachers and leaders of the faith were supposed to keep themselves clean and uncontaminated by the filth of humanity.
In response to their grumbling, Jesus told them three stories, three parables.
The first story is about a shepherd who lost one of his sheep. He is obsessed with finding his lost sheep. When he does find it, he celebrates. In fact, his celebration doesn’t make sense. After finding his lost sheep, he throws a huge party, and what do you think is on the menu? I don’t know, but he’s a shepherd, so probably… lamb chops. Considering this is a celebration for the return of a lost sheep, the ridiculous extravagance of the celebration doesn’t make sense.
The second story is about a woman who loses a coin. She goes to great lengths until she finds it. And when she finds her coin, what does she do? She throws a huge party! She calls together her neighbors and her friends, and spends that coin – and then some – on the celebration. The ridiculous extravagance of the celebration doesn’t make sense.
The third story is about a father who loses a son. The son says to his father, “Give me my share of the inheritance.” An inheritance is something you get after a person has died; so basically, the son is saying, “Father, I wish you were dead.”
And the Father did as the son asked!
From that point on, the son and the father are dead to each other. The son has willfully separated himself from the household. From this point on, he is considered an outsider, a nobody. Social custom dictates this.
So when this son finally comes to his senses, it’s no wonder that he figures his only chance is to beg his father to accept him back not as a son, but as a slave. Even that may have been hoping for too much. In welcoming him back as a slave, the father would be welcoming back the one who, it could be said, killed his son. How difficult would that be?
But the son doesn’t have any other option. He is down and out. He is desperate.
Full of apprehension, he decides to return to his father, rehearsing his speech as he goes. He plans it all out in his head, what he’s going to say: “Father, I have sinned. I have sinned against heaven and before you.”
By the way, these are the same words spoken by Pharaoh in the midst of the plagues that were destroying Egypt. Pharaoh said, “I have sinned against God and against you.”
Perhaps the son thought that by humbling himself, admitting that he was no better a person than the evil Pharaoh, he could convince his father to have at least some mercy on him.
Now if the scribes and Pharisees were to have any say, the father would still not even let him in the door. After all, this son has made himself an outcast. He has made himself unclean. To admit him back into the household – even as a slave – would risk contaminating the entire household with his uncleanliness. His bad reputation would bring down the entire family.
He made his choice; now he has to deal with the consequences.
It wasn’t even just the scribes and Pharisees who thought this. It’s pretty much what society expected. The son had made himself dead to his father; now he should expect to be treated as such.
Nevertheless, hoping against hope, “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 against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quick! 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.” It’s time for a banquet! “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”
Meanwhile, the older son was out in the field, working. When he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. The banquet had already begun. In fact, it seemed that it had already progressed to the post-meal symposium, which, in this case, was all fun and celebration.
The older son called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. The slave replied, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’”
This older son became angry. This was a ridiculously extravagant celebration. It didn’t make sense. “Your brother has come home…” As far as he was concerned, he no longer had a brother. This person who had arrived was not his brother. His brother became dead to him the moment he asked their father for his share of the inheritance… and how could his father not see things the same way?
The older brother refused to join the party. So the father went out to him and pleaded with him. But the older son still refused.
He said to his father, “All my life I have stuck with you, I have remained true to my family, and I have worked hard, like a slave. Where’s my party?... But this son of yours…”
Notice how he refuses to call him “my brother.” “He’s no brother of mine…. This ‘son’ of yours…”
And then he describes what his younger sibling had done. “This son of yours, who has devoured your property with prostitutes…”
There are certainly echoes here of the scribes and Pharisees; remember when Jesus welcomed the uninvited guest, and the scribes and Pharisees said, “don’t you know what sort of person that is?”
If this father was truly a good father, he would know what his younger son has done, what kind of a person he is, and what the consequences of his actions are…
Well, of course the father knows. The younger son confessed it all to him when he said, “I have sinned against heaven and before you.” This son was lost; he was dead.
But now he is back! He wants to be reconciled. He wants to be forgiven. He wants to restore the relationship that had been destroyed, even though the most he could hope for is to be accepted back as a slave.
And the father, because he is full of love and compassion, embraces him as a son, and celebrates with extravagance the return of his lost son.
The father says to his older son, “This brother of yours…”
See how he refuses to let his older son deny any relationship? “This brother of yours; he is your brother… He was dead, but now has come to life; he was lost, but now he has been found.”
Does the older brother go back in? Does he join the party? Does he listen to his father, does he reunite with his brother, does he embrace his brother and reconcile with him and renew their relationship?
The story ends. The questions are unanswered. We don’t know how the older brother will respond. Perhaps how he responds is up to us….
Like the other banquet stories in Luke’s gospel, this one is subversive and revolutionary. The father’s banquet welcoming the lost son goes against the norms of society by welcoming one who, by all accounts, should have been excluded.
And yet Luke believes that every person is a child of God. Therefore every division is contrary to the will of God. Every division that exists, every division that we maintain, is representative of Caesar’s kingdom, and not the kingdom of God. Every time we refuse to associate with someone, every time we divide people into “us” and “them,” every time we build walls of separation, every time we refuse to forgive and reconcile… we act in ways that are contrary to the kingdom of God.
In our society today there are people who perpetuate stereotypes and prejudices and paint people as “other,” and who do so in Christ’s name. Media outlets describe Muslims and immigrants and other groups as wholly “other,” “not like us,” and unworthy of a place at the table. They bear false witness against them, claiming that they are anti-peace, anti-America, anti-God. These media outlets are determined to divide society into “us” and “them,” but no one who seeks to divide people into “us” and “them” is following the way of Christ.
The way of Jesus is about reconciliation. The way of Jesus is about hospitality. The way of Jesus is about welcome. The way of Jesus is about restoring relationships, and re-uniting those who have been separated for too long.
And when that reconciliation takes place, the way of Jesus is about throwing the most ridiculously extravagant party ever.
Meanwhile, the older brother is still standing outside, debating whether or not to join the party.




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