Turns Out, the Older Brother Was Right

Luke 17:1-10
Remember the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son? Remember how, when his younger brother had come crawling back from a life of dissipation, their father threw the young man a party? The older brother was furious. “Listen!” he told his father. “For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30). If, like me, you have always felt a sense of solidarity with the older brother, then you will probably be challenged by Jesus’ words from today’s gospel reading. “Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" (17:9-10). To me this sounds a lot like what was expected of the older brother. And this is where the gospel––good news that it is––becomes very difficult for some people––even Christians––to accept.

When have we done enough? Is doing what we are told the limit of God’s expectations for us? Well, as the people of God we are told to go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, give up our coats as well as our shirts (Matthew 5:38-41). The older brother may have worked like a slave, but that was his job description. And it is ours as well. To live lives of faithful obedience as disciples of Jesus Christ is to put all we are into doing the work of the kingdom, is to recognize that everything we have belongs God and to God’s purpose for it, is to accept the challenge of doing for others regardless of the personal cost. In short, it is hard work. But it is what Jesus did, and it is what our Lord challenges us to do as we follow him. Why would anyone accept such conditions? The simple answer is that we have been called to serve and set aside by God to do things that not everyone can or will do. We’d love to have the party, but it waits for another day. Now our joy comes from realizing that what we do serves the greatest purpose imaginable. We are agents of God’s word set to work in a world that desperately needs good news. We might think of it in terms of slavery, but we might also see ourselves as doing God’s work simply because it needs to be done.

The older brother was right in what he said to his father. But the father spoke a greater truth, one to which Jesus returns later in Luke. If we are to serve God faithfully, we must find our joy in that work. For that work itself produces greater joy than we could ever find on our own.

Prayer: Lord, give us the strength we need to serve you all the days of our lives with everything we are and everything that we have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Always Working the Angles

Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
There is something very sneaky about the younger brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He takes his father’s money, squanders it on a hedonistic lifestyle, and then comes crawling back home. But even in these destitute circumstances that he has brought upon himself, the younger brother has conditions. “How many of my father's hired hands,” he asks himself, “have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands’” (Luke 15:17b-19). The younger son has come looking for a job! Even though the father owns slaves (see verse 26), and servitude would have been by far the more humbling offer to make, the young man asks for gainful employment.

I’m not sure, but I think the actions of the younger brother may be intended to reflect the bargains we sometimes try to make with God. We, too, have squandered much of what God has given us; we, too, find ourselves in need of mercy and grace; we, too, find ourselves turning to God; yet we, too, try very hard to make a deal, one that is more advantageous for us. We could accept the lowest level of servitude, because we deserve nothing more, nothing better. But why not ask for a job instead (and would a corner office be too much to expect?).

It’s called working the angles, and it’s what the prodigal son was all about. It’s what we do, too, pushing God to give just a little more, be just a little more forgiving, and a little slower to anger. Like the waiting father of Luke 15, God is willing to hear us out and to give us more than we deserve. How thankful we should be! The challenge we face is to think of God’s patience and generosity every time we pray, “forgive us our debts/trespasses as we forgive our debtors/those who trespass against us.” If God is giving us more than we deserve, even more than our audaciousness leads us to expect, we simply must show the same regard for others and cut each other some slack.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your endless and abiding love and ask for help in forgiving and loving one another. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We All Count

Luke 15:1-10
Jesus offers words of grace in our reading from Luke this morning, though for some, the grace may seem less obvious. “Just so, I tell you,” Jesus says, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). Jesus has just told the story of a lost sheep and of a shepherd willing to leave the flock of ninety-nine to go in search of it. The fact that the shepherd is the one looking, the one who goes about restoring those who are lost, helps us to better understand the “one sinner who repents.” God is the primary mover in relation to humanity. God is the one who is calling, seeking, claiming, guiding, judging, forgiving, restoring, and otherwise working out the divine will in our midst. But this is as true for the ninety-nine who have remained in the fold as it is for the lost sheep. None of us may claim a special relationship with God, none of us may assume we are more worthy of God’s love, because it is God who is at work in all cases.

So why bother to seek a right relationship with the Creator? If God is going to come looking anyway, why not take the opportunity to wander off and see what the world has to offer? That sort of temptation will always be there. In truth, we all do our share of wandering. Indeed, if we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that we all take turns as the one who is lost, the one who needs to repent, the one who needs to be found while God remains steadfast and active, calling us home and claiming us when we get there. We all count to God––none more than another––which is why God goes looking for us in the first place and why there is joy in heaven when we are found.

Prayer: Almighty God, we ask your forgiveness for our sinful ways. Never leave us alone, O Lord, or we would be truly lost. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Bless Her Heart

Luke 4:38-44

I have always been bothered by the brief account of the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law, found in the reading from Luke. “After leaving the synagogue [Jesus] entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them” (Luke 4:38-39). Bless the woman’s heart! First she was suffering from a dire illness of some type, but as soon as Jesus healed her she got up and started waiting on Simon and the others. Now don’t tell me this was a woman’s place, or that the poor dear was simply doing what she loved. I think we miss the point if we see only a woman waiting on a group of men. The truth is much deeper.

I think that once we have been touched by Jesus, had our circumstances altered and realize that our lives are not what they used to be, then we simply cannot help put reach out to others. “Look what I’ve found!” we might say. It is also in Luke’s gospel that we read of the woman who has lost a coin, who sweeps her house until she finds it, and then calls her neighbors together to rejoice with her (Luke 15:8-10). In her own way, Simon’s mother-in-law is doing the same thing. She is reaching out in response to Jesus. She is doing what she can – serving others – as a way of acknowledging what has been given to her.

If we have been touched by God in some significant way, if the good news of the gospel has brought light into our lives, surely we are called to respond, to act, to share, to give, to make known what we have experienced in some way. Surely it is our feet that are made beautiful by the tidings of joy that we carry to others (Isaiah 52:7). If you have experienced God’s grace in some way, then today is another opportunity to say to others, “Look what I’ve found! Come and celebrate with me!”

Prayer: Lord, may we guided this day to share the good news with others so that more lives may be touched by your grace. Amen.

The Economy of Redemption

Joel 1:12-19
Luke 15:1-10
God must not have taken the same Intro to Economics class that I did in college, or maybe I just paid less attention than I thought. Either way God demonstrates a lavishness of forgiveness and salvation that defies human understanding. After spending the opening verses condemning God’s people for their waywardness, the book of Joel suddenly veers in a new direction. “(God) is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing…” (Joel 2:15). “I am sending you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied,” says the Lord (v. 19). If the people will simply return to God they will find all they need provided by God’s hand.

But the lavishness really becomes clear in the gospel account for today. There Jesus tells us of a shepherd who is willing to leave 99 perfectly good sheep to go look for one who is lost (Luke 15:3-7). What a crazy idea! I’ve been told by “real” shepherds that losing 6 or 8% of a flock in a year is not unusual, not with illness, age, predators, and so forth. So who risks 99 sheep to save one? Only God would take that kind of risk, would lavish that kind of salvation.

For many of us in the church this is stewardship season, the time of year when financial pledges are made and budgets are drafted. Perhaps, then, this is a good time to reflect on the lengths to which God is willing to go on our behalf before we determine what our commitment will be to God and the work of the church. Don’t expect God’s side of the ledger to add up, at least not in human terms. But while God is pouring out grain and oil and wine, and while the Good Shepherd is refusing to lose even one sheep out of 100, maybe we should strive to live more in accordance with God’s economics and less with what the world considers appropriate. I’m sure the one sheep would agree.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us our sins and our shortcomings and help us to live lives of generosity. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.