GOD’S LOVE – THE ONE SURE THING IN ALL THE WORLD
Luke 15:1-2, 25-32 4/7/22
LAST WEEK WE BEGAN A TWO WEEK LOOK
AT JESUS' MOST IMPORTANT PARABLE,
WHAT WE KNOW AS THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
WE SAW HOW THIS PARABLE IS MISNAMED,
SINCE THERE ARE THREE MAIN CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY,
NOT JUST ONE.
THE ELDER SON IS JUST AS SIGNIFICANT
AS THE PRODIGAL YOUNGER SON.
THIS WEEK WE WILL TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THAT ELDER SON.
OF ALL JESUS' PARABLES, THIS PARABLE'S IMMEDIATE CONTEXT
IS ESSENTIAL FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING.
THAT IMMEDIATE CONTEXT OCCURS IN THE FIRST TWO VERSES
OF LUKE CHAPTER 15, WHICH STATE:
NOW THE TAX COLLECTORS AND "SINNERS"
WERE ALL GATHERING AROUND TO HEAR [JESUS].
BUT THE PHARISEES AND THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW GRUMBLING,
THIS FELLOW WELCOMES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM.
TO ANSWER THE GRUMBLING OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES,
JESUS TELLS HIS THREE MOST POWERFUL PARABLES,
THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP, THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN,
AND THE PARABLE OF THE TWO LOST SONS
AND THEIR LOVING FATHER.
FOR THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES TO BE ABLE
TO FOLLOW THE 613 COMMANDMENTS
WRITTEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE THOUSANDS
OF ADDITIONAL LAWS WHICH WERE PART OF THEIR
ORAL TRADITION, THEY HAD TO BE INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY.
KEEPING ALL THESE LAWS WAS A FULL TIME JOB;
THERE SIMPLY WASN'T TIME FOR GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT
IN ADDITION TO BEING A PHARISEE OR SCRIBE.
BECAUSE THEY KEPT THE LAW BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE,
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES LOOKED DOWN ON EVERYONE ELSE.
THEY USED THE BLANKET TERM "SINNER" TO DESCRIBE ALL THOSE
WHO WERE NOT FULL-TIME LAWKEEPERS, LIKE THEY WERE.
THEY CONSIDERED THESE "SINNERS" TO BE BENEATH CONTEMPT,
AND TAUGHT THAT GOD CONSIDERED THEM BENEATH CONTEMPT
AS WELL.
THIS JUDGMENTALISM ON THE PART OF MANY THE PHARISEES
AND SCRIBES IS WHAT PROVOKED JESUS
TO GIVE HIS THREE MOST IMPORTANT PARABLES.
THE SHEPHERD LOOKING FOR HIS LOST SHEEP,
THE WOMAN LOOKING FOR HER LOST COIN,
AND THE FATHER LOOKING FOR HIS TWO LOST SONS
ARE ALL STAND-INS FOR GOD.
GOD IS PRESENTED HERE AS BEING UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING
TOWARD ALL PEOPLE, SINNERS INCLUDED.
AND THE FACT THAT JESUS REPEATS BASICALLY THE SAME POINT
IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS ONLY SERVES TO UNDERSCORE
ITS CRITICAL IMPORTANCE FOR HIM PERSONALLY -- GOD IS LOVE.
ALTHOUGH HE HIMSELF WOULD NOT HAVE USED
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORD "PROJECTION,"
THIS IS WHAT JESUS WAS CHALLENGING.
"PROJECTION" IS WHEN WE "PROJECT" ONTO OTHERS
CONTENTS FROM OUR OWN INNER WORLD.
WE CAN'T FACE THE BROKENNESS IN OURSELVES,
SO WE PROJECT THAT BROKENNESS ONTO OTHERS,
AND THEN JUDGE THEM FOR IT.
AROUND THE YEAR 1900,
THE WORLD'S MOST DISTINGUISHED ASTRONOMER
WAS CERTAIN THERE WERE CANALS ON MARS.
SIR PERCIVAL LOWELL,
ESTEEMED FOR HIS STUDY OF THE SOLAR SYATEM,
HAD A PARTICULAR FASCINATION WITH THE RED PLANET.
WHEN HE HEARD , IN 1877, THAT AN ITALIAN ASTRONOMER
HAS SEEN STRAIGHT LINES CRISSCROSSING THE MARTIAN SURFACE,
LOWELL SPENT THE REST OF HIS YEARS
SQUINTING INTO THE EYEPIECE OF HIS GIANT TELESCOPE IN ARIZONA,
MAPPING THE CHANNELS AND CANALS HE SAW.
HE WAS CONVINCED THE CANALS WERE PROOF
OF INTELLIGENT LIFE ON MARS,
POSSIBLY AN OLDER BUT WISER RACE THAN HUMANITY.
LOWELLS' OBSERVATIONS GAINED WIDE ACCEPTANCE.
SO EMINENT WAS HE, NONE DARED CONTRADICT HIM.
NOW, OF COURSE, THINGS ARE DIFFERENT.
SPACE PROBES HAVE ORBITED MARS AND LANDED ON ITS SURFACE.
THE ENTIRE PLANET HAS BEEN MAPPED
AND NO ONE HAS SEEN A CANAL.
HOW COULD LOWELL HAVE "SEEN" SO MUCH THAT WASN'T THERE?
THERE ARE TWO POSSIBILITIES:
(1) HE SO WANTED TO SEE CANALS THAT HE DID,
OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND
(2) WE NOW KNOW THAT HE SUFFERED FROM A RARE EYE DISEASE
THAT CAUSED HIM TO SEE THE BLOOD VESSELS IN HIS OWN EYES.
THE MARTIAN "CANALS" HE SAW WERE NOTHING MORE
THAN HIS OWN ARTERIES AND VEINS.
TODAY THIS MALADY IS KNOWN AS "LOWELL'S SYNDROME."
WHEN JESUS WARNS US IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT THAT
"IN THE SAME WAY YOU JUDGE OTHERS, YOU WILL BE JUDGED"
AND WARNS OF SEEING "THE SPECK OF SAWDUST" IN ANOTHER'S EYE
WHILE MISSING THE PLANK IN OUR OWN,
I THINK HE WAS REFERRING TO THE SPIRITUAL EQUIVALENT
OF LOWELL'S SYNDROME.
OVER AND OVER, LIKE THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES,
WE "SEE" FAULTS IN OTHERS
BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE
ANYTHING BETTER ABOUT THEM.
AND SO OFTEN WE THINK WE HAVE A FIRST-HAND VIEW
OF THEIR SHORTCOMINGS,
WHEN IN FACT OUR VISION IS DISTORTED
BY OUR OWN FAULTY VISION.
(PAUSE)
NOW LET'S FOCUS ON THE ELDER SON IN OUR STORY,
WHO REPRESENTS NOT ONLY THE PHARISEES AND SCRIBES,
BUT ALL WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES BETTER THAN OTHERS.
WE WILL INVITE HENRI NOUWEN,
WORLD-CLASS SPIRITUAL WRITER,
TO BE OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR AND GUIDE.
NOUWEN BEGINS HIS ENCOUNTER WITH THIS PARABLE
BY IDENTIFYING WITH THE YOUNGER SON
AND HIS OWN NEED TO BE EMBRACED BY GOD
AS A LOVING FATHER.
NOUWEN TELLS US THAT HE WAS RAMBLING ON AND ON
ABOUT HIS SIMILARITIES WITH THE YOUGER SON ONE DAY,
WHEN THE COLLEAGUE HE WAS TALKING WITH STARTED LAUGHING,
NOT SO MUCH AT HIM,
BUT AT THE IRONY THAT NOUWEN WAS SO MUCH MORE
LIKE THE ELDER SON THAN THE YOUNGER,
BUT JUST COULDN'T SEE IT.
I CAN REALLY RELATE TO THIS EXPERIENCE OF NOUWEN'S,
AS I'VE HAD PEOPLE POINT OUT TO ME TRAITS ABOUT MYSELF
OF WHICH I WAS BLISSFULLY UNAWARE,
BUT WHICH WERE QUITE OBVIOUS TO OTHERS.
YOU'VE PROBABLY HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE.
ANYWAY, NOUWEN BEING NOUWEN, CAUGHT ON QUICKLY
AFTER THIS WAS POINTED OUT TO HIM,
AND BECAME ACUTELY AWARE OF HIS SIMILARITIES
TO THE ELDER SON.
ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE OF US, INCLUDING MYSELF,
WHO ARE MORE LIKE THE OLDER SON THAN THE YOUNGER,
IT IS A CHALLENGE FOR US TO SEE THAT WE ARE JUST AS BROKEN
AS OUR YOUNGER SIBLING AND NEED TO BE HEALED
JUST AS MUCH.
THIS IS BECAUSE THE BROKENNESS OF THE ELDER SON
IS MUCH HARDER TO IDENTIFY.
AFTER ALL, HE DID ALL THE RIGHT THINGS.
HE WAS OBEDIENT, DUTIFUL, LAW-ABIDING, AND HARD-WORKING.
PEOPLE RESPECTED HIM, ADMIRED HIM, PRAISED HIM,
AND LIKELY CONSIDERED HIM A MODEL SON.
OUTWARDLY, THE ELDER SON WAS FAULTLESS.
BUT WHEN CONFRONTED BY HIS FATHER'S JOY
AT THE RETURN OF HIS YOUNGER BROTHER,
A DARK POWER ERUPTS IN HIM AND BOILS TO THE SURFACE.
SUDDENLY, THERE BECOMES GLARINGLY VISIBLE
A RESENTFUL, PROUD, UNKIND, SELFISH PERSON,
ONE THAT HAD REMAINED DEEPLY HIDDEN,
EVEN THOUGH IT HAD STEADILY BEEN GROWING STRONGER
OVER THE YEARS.
WHEN I LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE WORDS
WITH WHICH THE ELDER SON ATTACKS HIS FATHER --
SELF-RIGHTEOUS, SELF-PITYING, JEALOUS WORDS --
I HEAR A DEEPER COMPLAINT.
IT IS A COMPLAINT THAT COMES FROM A HEART
THAT FEELS IT NEVER RECEIVED WHAT IT WAS DUE.
THERE IS AN ENORMOUS, DARK DRAWING POWER
TO THIS INNER COMPLAINT.
CONDEMNATION OF OTHERS AND SELF-CONDEMNATION,
SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SELF-REJECTION
KEEP REINFORCING EACH OTHER IN AN EVER MORE VICIOUS WAY.
THE OLDER BROTHER KNOWS THERE IS JOY IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
IMMEDIATELY, HE BECOMES SUSPICIOUS.
ONCE THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS, SELF-REJECTING COMPLAINT
HAS FORMED IN US, WE LOSE OUR SPONTANEITY TO THE EXTENT
THAT EVEN JOY CAN NO LONGER EVOKE JOY IS US.
A BASIC RULE OF LIFE IS THAT JOY AND RESENTMENT
CANNOT COEXIST.
THUS, THE MUSIC AND DANCING,
INSTEAD OF ACTING AS AN INVITATION TO JOY,
BECOME A CAUSE FOR EVEN GREATER RESENTMENT
AND WITHDRAWAL.
THE OLDER SON INSISTS ON STANDING
OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE OF HIS FATHER'S LOVE.
UNLIKE A FAIRY TALE,
THIS PART OF THE PARABLE PROVIDES NO HAPPY ENDING.
INSTEAD, IT LEAVES THE ELDER BROTHER,
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, AND US FACE TO FACE
WITH ONE OF LIFE'S HARDEST SPIRITUAL CHOICES:
TO TRUST OR NOT TO TRUST IN GOD'S ALL-FORGIVING LOVE.
WE OURSELVES ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN MAKE THAT CHOICE.
NO ONE ELSE CAN DO IT FOR US.
WE CAN SEE NOW THAT IN RESPONSE TO THEIR COMPLAINT,
"THIS MAN WELCOMES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM,"
JESUS CONFRONTED THE PHARISEES AND SCRIBES
NOT ONLY WITH THE ACTUAL RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON,
BUT ALSO WITH THE POSSIBLE RETURN
OF THE RESENTFUL ELDER SON.
THE OPEN-ENDED CONCLUSION OF THIS STORY --
AN OPEN-ENDEDNESS WHICH DEMANDS A DECISION,
MUST HAVE COME AS A SHOCK
TO THESE SELF-RIGHTEOUS RELIGIOUS PEOPLE.
THEY FINALLY HAD TO FACE THEIR OWN GRUMBLING
AND CHOOSE HOW THEY WOULD RESPOND
TO GOD'S LOVE FOR LESS-THAN-PERFECT PEOPLE.
WOULD THEY BE WILLING TO JOIN THEM AT TABLE AS JESUS DID?
WOULD WE BE WILLING TO JOIN THEM AT TABLE AS JESUS DID?
WHEN JESUS WARNS US AGAINST CONDEMNING OTHERS
HE IS WARNING US ABOUT THE DANGERS OF MAKING
SNAP JUDGMENTS AGAINST OTHERS.
A GROCERY STORE CASHIER WROTE TO ADVICE COLUMNIST
ANN LANDERS TO COMPLAIN THAT SHE HAD SEEN PEOPLE
BUY BIRTHDAY CAKES AND BAGS OF SHRIMP
WITH THEIR FOOD STAMPS.
PEOPLE ON WELFARE WHO TREATED THEMSELVES
TO SUCH NON-NECESSITIES WERE "LAZY AND WASTEFUL,"
THE WRITER SAID.
A FEW WEEKS LATER, LANDERS' COLUMN
WAS DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO RESPONSES TO THAT LETTER.
ONE WOMAN WROTE, "I DIDN'T BUY A CAKE,
BUT I DID BUY A BIG BAG OF SHRIMP WITH FOOD STAMPS.
MY HUSBAND HAD BEEN WORKING AT A PLANT
FOR FIFTEEN YEARS WHEN IT SHUT DOWN.
THE SHRIMP CASSEROLE I MADE
WAS FOR OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY DINNER
AND LASTED THREE DAYS.
PERHAPS THE GROCERY CLERK WHO CRITICIZED THAT WOMAN
WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT VIEW OF LIFE
AFTER WALKING A MILE IN MY SHOES."
ANOTHER WOMAN WROTE:
"I'M THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT THE $17 CAKE
AND PAID FOR IT WITH FOOD STAMPS.
I THOUGHT THE CHECKOUT WOMAN IN THE STORE
WOULD BURN A HOLE THROUGH ME WITH HER EYES.
WHAT SHE DIDN'T KNOW
IS THAT THE CAKE WAS FOR MY LITTLE GIRL'S BIRTHDAY.
IT WILL BE HER LAST.
SHE HAS BONE CANCER AND WILL PROBABLY BE GONE
WITHIN SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS."
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY?
WE NEVER KNOW WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DEALING WITH.
GIVEN THAT REALITY, IT IS ALWAYS BEST
TO NOT INDULGE IN CONDEMNING OTHERS.
NOUWEN REALLY GOT INTO IDENTIFYING HIMSELF
WITH THE OLDER SON. HE WRITES AUTOBIOGRAPHICALLY:
"AT THE VERY MOMENT I WANT TO SPEAK OR ACT
OUT OF MY MOST GENEROUS SELF,
I GET CAUGHT IN ANGER OR RESENTMENT.
AND IT SEEMS THAT JUST AS I WANT TO BE MOST SELFLESS,
I FIND MYSELF OBSESSED ABOUT BEING LOVED.
JUST WHEN I DO MY UTMOST TO ACCOMPLISH A TASK WELL,
I FIND MYSELF QUESTIONING WHY OTHERS
DO NOT GIVE THEMSELVES AS I DO.
JUST WHEN I THINK I AM CAPABLE
OF OVERCOMING MY TEMPTATIONS,
I FEEL ENVY TOWARD THOSE WHO GAVE IN TO THEIRS.
IT SEEMS THAT WHEREVER MY VIRTUOUS SELF IS,
THERE ALSO IS THE RESENTFUL COMPLAINER."
(END QUOTE)
MANY OF US ELDER-SON TYPES CAN IDENTIFY
WITH THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR CONTRADICTORY
AND DEEPLY DEBILITATING FEELINGS.
HERE, I AM FACED WITH MY OWN TRUE POVERTY.
IT IS CLEAR THAT ALONE, BY MYSELF, I CANNOT CHANGE.
MORE DAUNTING EVEN THAN BEING HEALED
AS THE YOUNGER SON (OR DAUGHTER)
IS BEING HEALED AS THE ELDER SON (OR DAUGHTER).
CONFRONTED HERE WITH THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SELF-REDEMPTION,
I NOW UNDERSTAND JESUS' WORDS TO NICODEMUS:
"YOU MUST BE BORN FROM ABOVE."
SOMETHING HAS TO HAPPEN
THAT I MYSELF CANNOT CAUSE TO HAPPEN.
I CANNOT BE REBORN FROM BELOW;
THAT IS, WITH MY OWN STRENGTH, WITH MY OWN MIND,
WITH MY OWN PSYCHOLOGICAL INSIGHTS.
IS THERE A WAY OUT?
I DON'T THINK THERE IS -- AT LEAST NOT ON MY SIDE.
IT OFTEN SEEMS THAT THE MORE I TRY TO DISENTANGLE MYSELF
FROM THE DARKNESS, THE DARKER THAT DARKNESS BECOMES.
I CANNOT MAKE MYSELF FEEL LOVED.
I CANNOT LEAVE THE LAND OF MY ANGER AND RESENTMENT.
I CANNOT BRING MYSELF HOME.
I CAN DESIRE IT, HOPE FOR IT, WAIT FOR IT, EVEN PRAY FOR IT.
BY MY TRUE FREEDOM I CANNOT FABRICATE MYSELF.
IT MUST BE GIVEN TO ME.
BY MYSELF, I AM LOST AND BROKEN.
I MUST BE FOUND AND BROUGHT HOME.
I MUST TRUST THE GOOD SHEPHERD WHO GOES OUT TO FIND ME.
I MUST TRUST THAT THE WOMAN WILL INDEED FIND HER LOST COIN.
I MUST TRUST THAT GOD IS MY UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING FATHER,
AND THAT THIS FATHER LOVES ME, THE OLDER SON,
JUST AS MUCH AS HE LOVES MY YOUNGER BROTHER.
I CAN ONLY BE REACHED, I CAN ONLY BE HEALED, FROM ABOVE,
FROM WHERE GOD REACHES DOWN.
WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME IS POSSIBLE FOR GOD.
HERE IS YET ANOTHER AREA
WHERE I NEED TO "LET GO AND LET GOD."
I NEED TO FOLLOW GOD'S LEAD IN HELPING ME TO BECOME
LESS JUDGMENTAL AND CONDEMNING OF OTHERS.
JAY KESLER WRITES:
"I ONCE QUESTIONED A STATE TROOPER
PRESENTED WITH AN "OUTSTANDING TROOPER" AWARD
ABOUT WHAT THE GOVERNOR SAID WHEN PRESENTING THE AWARD.
THE GOVERNOR TALKED ABOUT HOW I
HAVEN'T ONCE ROUGHED UP A DRUNK
OR USED EXCESSIVE FORCE ON ANYONE.
HE ASKED ME:
"HOW CAN YOU BE A STATE TROOPER FOR FIFTEEN YEARS,
DEALING WITH THE KIND OF STUFF YOU DEAL WITH,
AND HAVE A CLEAN RECORD?"
"TWO THINGS," I ANSWERED.
"FIRST, IF I AM CALLED TO BREAK UP A FIGHT AT A TAVERN,
I NEVER SAY TO MYSELF, 'THERE'S A DRUNK.'
I ALWAYS SAY TO MYSELF, 'THERE'S A PERSON --
SOMEONE'S HUSBAND OR WIFE, SOMEONE'S SON OR DAUGHTER,
SOMEONE'S NEIGHBOR -- WHO GOT DRUNK.'
I TRY TO THINK OF THE INDIVIDUAL AS A PERSON, NOT A CRIME.
'SECONDLY, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT A SOFT ANSWER
TURNS AWAY WRATH.
SO WHENEVER I WALK UP TO THE WINDOW OF AN AUTOMOBILE,
I ALWAYS SPEAK A LITTLE SOFTER THAN THE PERSON
I'M TALKING TO."
(PAUSE)
MAY THE REBELLIOUS YOUNGER SON IN EACH OF US
ALLOW OUR LOVING FATHER TO FIND US AND TAKE US HOME.
MAY THE RESENTFUL ELDER SON IN EACH OF US
RESPOND TO OUR FATHER'S LOVE
BY BECOMING PART OF THE FATHER'S PARTY,
PART OF THE FATHER'S JOY. AMEN.