Rejoicing to Forgive

The road of forgiveness runs long.

The Rev. Kathi Johnson
Lent 4, Year C – March 6, 2016
Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
 

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Today’s Gospel lesson contains one of the most well-known and well-loved stories in the Bible: the parable told by Jesus that we often call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. However, the assigned section of Luke’s Gospel for today leaves out some of the context of this parable. If we read from the beginning of chapter fifteen, all the way through, we see that this parable is actually the third of three parables in that chapter.
 The other two parables are also fairly well-known: the first is the Parable of the Lost Sheep, wherein Jesus asks the crowd who among them wouldn’t leave their flock of ninety-nine sheep to find the one that has wandered away? The second is the Parable of the Lost Coin, with the woman lighting a lamp to find a coin that is worth a day’s wages.
 Both of these parables give us the same story and the same ending: someone is searching, and then they find, that which has been lost. And then at the end of both of these stories, Jesus tells us that there is joy in heaven when even one sinner repents and turns back to God. In both cases, the one doing the searching represents God, who searches us out to bring us back.
 Then we reach the third parable, which gives us the story of the father and his two sons. The placement of this story after the other two parables is important, for there is movement from finding something less valuable (a sheep or a coin) to something much more valuable (one’s own child). Together, these three parables give us a picture of a loving and patient God who longs for reconciliation. It is the parable of the sons and their father, however, that beautifully tells of one son’s repentance and his return to his father, and the father’s rejoicing to welcome him home.
 One son leaves home with his inheritance, living a wasteful life and turning his back on the faith of his family. Once he’s hit rock bottom, he comes to himself, and in humility, he returns to his father to be a slave, only to be welcomed home with a lavish feast. Since the fatted calf was killed for this feast, we know that the whole village would’ve been invited to share in the celebration.
 The father gives his younger son the inheritance, with his older son staying behind to care for the family business. When the younger son returns home, his father and brother know what he’s been up to. His father responds immediately with love, forgiveness, and celebration – his brother responds with deep resentment and anger. The story ends with the father begging his older son to set aside the resentment and anger to join in surrounding the lost-and-found son with love, forgiveness, and joy.
 One common way to read this parable is to see ourselves in the characters of the story. In this way of reading, the lost-and-found younger son represents that part of each of us which is at times wandering, or at times wasteful, but then is humble, returning to God for God’s undeserved forgiveness and love.
 Likewise, the angry older son represents that part of each of us that believes that forgiveness and love are given only to those who work for them – those that deserve forgiveness and love from God. There are two extremes here represented by the two sons, and in reality, our own lives of faith and sin may fall somewhere in the middle.
 How about the father in the story? If we are trying to see ourselves in the characters in this story, can we see ourselves in the actions of the father? Do we reach out with forgiveness and love? Do we rejoice to forgive?
 With the parable ending as it does, we don’t know how things play out. We don’t get to see if the older son forgives his brother, nor do we get to see if the younger son maintains his humility, nor do we get to see if the father is able to re-establish peace within his family. If we are seeing ourselves in the characters of this story, then it is up to each of us in our own lives to decide to be humble, or decide to forgive.
 Looking at this parable another way, we see that it is also about God, and it shows us God’s nature. Unlike our sometimes-shaky relationships with other people, we know the end of the story in our relationship with God. If Lent is a time for us to focus more on repentance and turning back to God, then it is also a time to focus more on the welcoming love of God. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are given new life, and in our baptisms, we are given faith. This is the love of God that we are given as a gift – love that is undeserved – love that sometimes doesn’t make any sense.
 Martin Luther wanted baptized people to remember their baptisms daily, and we should remember our baptisms often. It is in baptism that we are made children of God, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve God in the world. At our baptisms, we are made “new creations” in Christ, and we are called to take God’s reconciling love to others.
 Through faith, we know and trust that God welcomes us home with extravagant, rejoicing love whenever we turn from our sin back to God. And as faith gives us the ability to see God’s great love for us, faith also gives us the ability to see God’s love for others in our lives, and to offer his love and forgiveness to them.
 We gain strength for this work again and again, when we hear and read God’s word, when we worship God, and when we join others at the holy meal that God prepares for us at Holy Communion.
 As we are continually renewed by God’s love, may we find the humility of the lost-and-found son within ourselves. May we find the forgiveness and joy of his father within ourselves. Let us be the ones who bring humility, forgiveness, and joy to our families, to our workplaces and schools, and to our communities. The world needs all the humility, forgiveness, and joy that we can muster. Let’s bring it!
 Amen.

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