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TriuneUnity
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Text: Luke 15: 1-2, 11-32
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Did you hear where Jesus has been lately? And with whom He’s been associating? He was spotted in Washington D.C. at Charlie Rangel’s house. Had dinner and drinks with the congressman and various IRS agents. Then He supposedly took a flight to New York City and sat down with former governor Elliot Spitzer and ex-congressman Eric Massa. Lunched with a few insurance company executives and Wall Street brokers. Visited 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Played a quick round with Tiger Woods. Then He took a red eye to North Carolina to meet with tobacco company executives. Boarded a private jet to see some Kentucky whiskey distillers. Then He sped off to Vegas. Spent some time with … well … some show girls and some of their other friends. Stopped by Dallas to see some big oil CEOs. Then He was off to a convention of the Fast Food Producers of America. You know, the reprobates who are responsible for all of us being obese.
While He was on the coast He took a quick tour through the prisons. Death row inmates. Drug dealers. Sexual predators. The worst of all the criminals. And then a few more dinner parties at your rotten uncle’s, your good-for-nothing ex, and some various other people you can’t stand.
A whirlwind trip. Why? To chew these people up and spit them out? To tell them to straighten up and get their act together? To damn these sinners to hell? “Go get ‘em Jesus,” we say, as though it somehow takes His attention off of us. “Give ‘em the what for! Give ‘em what they deserve!”
No. He’s there to use the G word. To reveal Himself as God and to give Himself as their Savior. To tell them that He’s come to die even for the likes of them, the worst of sinners. Salvation for them. For all. For free. For nothing.
Some folks can’t stand this. Angered that Jesus would hang out with such rotten people. Scandalized that Jesus would want to save them too. That Jesus could die for good people—for hardworking, upstanding citizens—that’s okay. But for cheats, fornicators, and other wicked sinners? No way!
To such offended people Jesus tells “The Parable of the Forgiving Father.”
The Father has two boys. And the youngest can’t wait for the old man to die. “Give me my share of the estate!” he demands. Treats the old man as if He’s dead already. “Put your will into effect right now!” And what does the Father do? He drops dead legally on the spot! Gives up everything, including His dignity as he gives into the unreasonable demands. He divides His life among the two boys. Presumably hard cash for the younger. The farm for the older.
His bulging wallet in his back pocket the youngest boy takes a trip. Can’t wait to get a life. A life of his own making. In a far away country. And this rich boy’s life is wasted in riotous living. Booze. Babes. Drugs. Dropping twenty grand a night at Harrah’s. Or whatever is the equivalent of his day.
But the boy who wanted to make a life for himself soon finds himself without a life. At rock-bottom. Whatever life he had is now over. He’s as good as dead. All his party buddies are no more. All he can be is a hog-slopper. No one will give him anything to eat. Having filled himself with the worthless garbage of this world, he’s now desperate enough to fill his empty belly with the pods the pigs were fed, though they were barely digestible and provided no nourishment for people. So he makes plans to go back home. He’ll confess that he’s sinned against Dad and against heaven. That he’s no longer worthy to be called a son in the family. Finally, and here’s the kicker: “Make me as one of your hired men.”
How sad! The boy realizes he is in dire straits, but he still believes he’ll somehow bring about the reconciliation with his old man on his own terms. Get out Dad’s record books and fudge in some figures of his own. Prepare a trumped up spreadsheet. Being a son—won’t claim that. But be a hired hand—that’s the ticket. The old man may be senile enough to cut such a deal.
But it doesn’t work that way. Jesus came for dead as doorknob sinners. He saves lost and dead sinners. When you’re dead and lost you don’t save yourself in any way, shape, or form. Prodigal sinners can’t carry out their own plans of salvation. Only Jesus does that. And He does in the foolishness of Calvary. In the weakness of His dead Body hanging on the Tree.
So the Father sees His boy coming. From a long way off. His guts churn. His tears fall. Loving compassionate grace. “My boy!”
He runs out to meet him, a most undignified action for someone of His age and social stature. But He doesn’t care! He wraps His arms around him. Kisses him. What grace. What love. What forgiveness. The Forgiving Father.
Then the boy makes his confession that flows from his Father’s forgiveness. But note how it’s changed, now that he’s forgiven. “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.” That’s it. Period. Full stop. No hired-hand nonsense at all anymore.
He’s forgiven. The Father took care of all his sin. The Father’s let that all go. No matter how bad. No matter how big. Into the depths of the sea. As far away as the east is from the west.
And with forgiveness there’s celebration. The dead son is alive. The lost son is found. So there’s no talk like this: “Well, my boy, you’re forgiven. But let’s have some good behavior now to make the deal stick.” None of that. The Father refuses to turn His house of forgiveness into a penitentiary. He offers propitiation not probation. Pardon not penance. Forgiveness and then immediate celebration. “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Kill the fatted calf. Let us eat and be glad. My dead son is alive. My lost boy has been found.”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Did you hear where Jesus has been lately? And with whom He’s been associating? He was spotted in Washington D.C. at Charlie Rangel’s house. Had dinner and drinks with the congressman and various IRS agents. Then He supposedly took a flight to New York City and sat down with former governor Elliot Spitzer and ex-congressman Eric Massa. Lunched with a few insurance company executives and Wall Street brokers. Visited 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Played a quick round with Tiger Woods. Then He took a red eye to North Carolina to meet with tobacco company executives. Boarded a private jet to see some Kentucky whiskey distillers. Then He sped off to Vegas. Spent some time with … well … some show girls and some of their other friends. Stopped by Dallas to see some big oil CEOs. Then He was off to a convention of the Fast Food Producers of America. You know, the reprobates who are responsible for all of us being obese.
While He was on the coast He took a quick tour through the prisons. Death row inmates. Drug dealers. Sexual predators. The worst of all the criminals. And then a few more dinner parties at your rotten uncle’s, your good-for-nothing ex, and some various other people you can’t stand.
A whirlwind trip. Why? To chew these people up and spit them out? To tell them to straighten up and get their act together? To damn these sinners to hell? “Go get ‘em Jesus,” we say, as though it somehow takes His attention off of us. “Give ‘em the what for! Give ‘em what they deserve!”
No. He’s there to use the G word. To reveal Himself as God and to give Himself as their Savior. To tell them that He’s come to die even for the likes of them, the worst of sinners. Salvation for them. For all. For free. For nothing.
Some folks can’t stand this. Angered that Jesus would hang out with such rotten people. Scandalized that Jesus would want to save them too. That Jesus could die for good people—for hardworking, upstanding citizens—that’s okay. But for cheats, fornicators, and other wicked sinners? No way!
To such offended people Jesus tells “The Parable of the Forgiving Father.”
The Father has two boys. And the youngest can’t wait for the old man to die. “Give me my share of the estate!” he demands. Treats the old man as if He’s dead already. “Put your will into effect right now!” And what does the Father do? He drops dead legally on the spot! Gives up everything, including His dignity as he gives into the unreasonable demands. He divides His life among the two boys. Presumably hard cash for the younger. The farm for the older.
His bulging wallet in his back pocket the youngest boy takes a trip. Can’t wait to get a life. A life of his own making. In a far away country. And this rich boy’s life is wasted in riotous living. Booze. Babes. Drugs. Dropping twenty grand a night at Harrah’s. Or whatever is the equivalent of his day.
But the boy who wanted to make a life for himself soon finds himself without a life. At rock-bottom. Whatever life he had is now over. He’s as good as dead. All his party buddies are no more. All he can be is a hog-slopper. No one will give him anything to eat. Having filled himself with the worthless garbage of this world, he’s now desperate enough to fill his empty belly with the pods the pigs were fed, though they were barely digestible and provided no nourishment for people. So he makes plans to go back home. He’ll confess that he’s sinned against Dad and against heaven. That he’s no longer worthy to be called a son in the family. Finally, and here’s the kicker: “Make me as one of your hired men.”
How sad! The boy realizes he is in dire straits, but he still believes he’ll somehow bring about the reconciliation with his old man on his own terms. Get out Dad’s record books and fudge in some figures of his own. Prepare a trumped up spreadsheet. Being a son—won’t claim that. But be a hired hand—that’s the ticket. The old man may be senile enough to cut such a deal.
But it doesn’t work that way. Jesus came for dead as doorknob sinners. He saves lost and dead sinners. When you’re dead and lost you don’t save yourself in any way, shape, or form. Prodigal sinners can’t carry out their own plans of salvation. Only Jesus does that. And He does in the foolishness of Calvary. In the weakness of His dead Body hanging on the Tree.
So the Father sees His boy coming. From a long way off. His guts churn. His tears fall. Loving compassionate grace. “My boy!”
He runs out to meet him, a most undignified action for someone of His age and social stature. But He doesn’t care! He wraps His arms around him. Kisses him. What grace. What love. What forgiveness. The Forgiving Father.
Then the boy makes his confession that flows from his Father’s forgiveness. But note how it’s changed, now that he’s forgiven. “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.” That’s it. Period. Full stop. No hired-hand nonsense at all anymore.
He’s forgiven. The Father took care of all his sin. The Father’s let that all go. No matter how bad. No matter how big. Into the depths of the sea. As far away as the east is from the west.
And with forgiveness there’s celebration. The dead son is alive. The lost son is found. So there’s no talk like this: “Well, my boy, you’re forgiven. But let’s have some good behavior now to make the deal stick.” None of that. The Father refuses to turn His house of forgiveness into a penitentiary. He offers propitiation not probation. Pardon not penance. Forgiveness and then immediate celebration. “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Kill the fatted calf. Let us eat and be glad. My dead son is alive. My lost boy has been found.”