What I am interested in is the context of this story. It is part of a response to verses 1-3 which describe the context of Jesus storytelling-- namely, tax collectors and sinners were flocking to Jesus to listen to him. Jesus even dined with them. And this upset the Pharisees. They refused to celebrate the grace of it all.
So Jesus tells two parables. The first (which is not read this Sunday) is designed to justify his affection for sinners, and communicate God's happiness in finding one who once was lost-- "Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep/coin that was lost." Heaven parties when a sinner repents. (Or a sinner joins the partying of heaven in the act of repentance.)
The second parable is this Sunday's reading. This parable goes beyond showing the happiness of the father to displaying the ugliness of the older son's indignation and beyond that to the relentless loving presence of the father with that older son. Clearly the older son is just as bad off or worse than his little ho of a brother. As Capon points out, the parable ends with the father and the older son. Not much is resolved,
But nonetheless, the point is that you can never get away from the love that will not let you go and the elder brother standing there in the courtyard in his own hell is never going to get away from the Jesus who seeks him and wills to raise him from the dead.
The Pharisees ugliness is thrown back in their face, but Jesus reminds them that he will not leave them in their hell.
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So here is the thing that has always made me scratch my head. It is the older brother who brings up the whole business about prostitutes. Yes, the younger one wasted his money in dissolute living, but that doesn't necessarily include prostitutes. (OK probably but how would the brother know?) The thing is, the older brother has been thinking about this way too much. He is pretty sure he knows what kind of fun the younger brother has been having. Fun that he has not been having. And he resents it. How fascinating to me that Christian people are jealous of others who are having all that fun sinning. Makes life with God look pretty good doesn't it? (not)
Thanks to Debasement L'Parsonage for good words and good links. The Capon piece is especially wonderful. And I agree that this is not a parable about the younger son at all. It is about this weird and unorthodox father all the way. He's a terrible parent, by the way. No self respecting parent would ever let either of these knuckleheads get away with the stuff they pull. But the father goes out to each of them. And, each in their own way, they both break his heart. If this father is revealing God to us, it is a pretty startling image.
Hmmmmm
interesting to consider -
- sermon title -
God as Crappy Parent
I'd never noticed that about the older brother. His suspicion of what his little brother was doing and the envy he seems to possess. A good window into the soul of many Christians who aren't convinced they are really free to enjoy life. He probably was a Sad Dane.
I think this father is revealing God to us. The broken-hearted God. Part of the heart-break results from the freedom he allows each son. In their bondage to sin they misuse it. And in the father's bondage to love he can't give up on either of them.
How can this text be preached so that family members (mainly parents) will hear it without feeling the need to draw parenting lessons from it? We often "hear" texts as lessons about how to live. . . that's not always good. How can this be preached in order to grant freedom rather than more law?
A final thought: could the older brother be like one of those "ones" who publicly abhors sexual immorality while privately. . . well, nevermind. Preach against the cake and gorge on it too?
I never preach against the cake. It is the only self discipline I have.
The Father In Bondage to Love...
That is rich DeBasement.
I have, at times, found the guys who use a “Girardian” approach to Jesus helpful.
Granted, they use an irritating array of off-putting lingo, but they can give interesting insight into texts, and help us as theologians of the cross.
One of their big deals, is how scapegoating is a manifestation of dis-ordered human community. Especially religious community. . .
They see the ways in which we use scapegoating to bring people together through violence. . .
one of their important verses is: Luke 23:12
That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.
Preachingpeace.org suggests that the ways in which the scapegoating of Jesus brought Herod and Pilate together are undone in the parable by the father’s forgiveness. I conclude with a long quotation from Preaching Peace:
“What has occurred? We would suggest that the father is a failed scapegoat. In the beginning of the parable, both sons, one verbal, one silent, wish their father dead. But the father who takes this insult & grants this request is as humble & forgiving in the beginning of the parable as he is in the middle when he runs to the younger son & at the end when he addresses the elder brother. The brothers are not reconciled in their rejection of the father. A father who loves unconditionally & forgives each son in the same way can never be sacralized. BUT a father who is unconditionally gracious & forgiving can form the basis for a new family, by calling all to forgiveness.
Some have seen the Jewish people represented in the elder brother & the Gentiles in the younger son. If we are going to read the parable this way in the twenty first century maybe we ought to consider seeing the church in the elder son & ‘the world’ in the younger son. This would make a more appropriate reading. As long as the church identifies with the younger son (with ad nauseum sermons on repentance) then it will not be able to hear Jesus as he speaks about the character of his abba.
Finally, some have noted that it appears that reconciliation occurs here without atonement & this has been a bother for some. Actually, it is the point, there is no need to ‘repay’ God; God neither demands it nor requires it. Atonement is about reconciliation not transaction.
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