The following homily, based upon Luke 15:11-32, was
delivered by Fr. RJ on March 14, 2010. (if you wish instead
to listen to the homily,
click here):
Why is grace so hard for us? I remember visiting a church, and
listening to a guest preacher speaking about God’s unconditional
love for us. You could almost see hearts that had been hardened by
years of fear and guilt melting under this outpouring of grace.
Everyone present felt like we were sitting under a shower of
forgiveness, and love, and hope. It was the custom in that church to
conclude the service with a call for people to come forward if they
wanted to dedicate or rededicate their lives to Christ. Just before
this altar call, the senior pastor stood up and said, "What you
heard today is important, but it is equally important to remember
that sin will separate you from God’s Kingdom and God’s love." At
that moment, it was like someone had turned off the shower of grace,
and we were all left freezing in a chill worse than the one that had
gripped us before.
At the beginning of the Fifteenth Chapter of Luke, we are told
that many sinners and tax collectors were coming to hear the
teaching of Jesus. Then, some of the Pharisees and Scribes began to
grumble about Jesus saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them." At the heart of this murmuring was the assumption that Jesus
did not understand how serious and destructive sin could be. If He
did, He could not have such intimate fellowship with sinners and tax
collectors. Jesus responded to these complaints with three parables:
the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and
finally, the Parable to the Two Lost Sons, which we read today.
Jesus began the Parable of the Two Lost Sons with a description
of the younger son, and it is the younger son who gets most of the
attention. He is the focus of many great sermons, and more than a
few works of art. Jesus was saying in essence, "You don’t think I
understand how serious sin is? Let me tell you how serious I think
sin is. Sin is like a son who utterly rejects his father, who wishes
his father would just die so he can get on with life in any way that
seems fitting. This son goes off to live among Gentiles, and
squanders his father’s wealth, until finally he is reduced to
feeding swine. Sin in his life is so destructive that it leads this
boy to the point that he even craves the food that he is feeding to
these unclean animals. That is how destructive and serious sin can
be."
At that point, those who had been grumbling were ready to
applaud, but Jesus was not done. He went on to say, "Sin is so
serious and destructive that there is nothing that this younger son
can do about it. At first, he thinks he can go home as a servant to
earn his way back in, but when he arrives home, he sees that the
real problem is not the wealth that is squandered, but the
relationship that has been broken. That is why the father could not
leave him out there. That is why the father had to run out to meet
him while he was still far away. Sin is so serious that sinners
cannot deal with it on their own. That is why I welcome sinners and
eat with them, because I have come to rescue them and to restore
their relationship with the Father."
If you are here today, and you feel like sin has taken over your
life, and you are searching for some way to get yourself back into
God’s favor, the message of the Gospel is that you can’t. You can’t
come as a servant and work your way back in, but that’s not the end
of the story. You can’t work your way back in as a servant, but
through Jesus Christ, God has run out to meet you and welcome you as
a son or a daughter. You have not lost His love and favor. Come to
His table today with the knowledge that God in Christ has reconciled
you to Himself. His grace will make you a new person.
Although the younger son has received most of the attention, he
is not the climax of the parable. Jesus saw that the same force of
sin that had driven the notorious sinners and tax collectors was at
work deep in the hearts of the grumbling Pharisees and Scribes.
Jesus went on to talk about the elder son. He said, "Sin is also
like an elder son who had grown bitter toward his father because he
felt like a mistreated servant instead of a beloved son. When the
elder son saw grace offered to his younger brother, he stood outside
of the celebration in an attempt to humiliate his father. When the
father heard this, he loved his elder son so much that he could not
leave him outside. Instead, he went out looking for his elder son to
restore him as well. The father wanted to celebrate with both sons
together."
Here, Jesus left the story unfinished. If we outline the parable,
the story line is this: The younger son rejects the father. The
father goes out to bring the younger son back in to celebrate. The
younger son receives his father’s love and joins the celebration.
The elder son rejects the father. The father goes out to bring the
elder son back in to celebrate. . . . what will the elder son do
next? Will he receive the father’s love and join the celebration, or
will he stay outside in his anger and bitterness? Will the elder son
remain trapped in the prison of his sin?
Why is grace so hard for us? Perhaps the reason is that many
people in the church have more in common with the elder son that we
would like to admit. If we hear what Jesus said about him, we might
have to see just how destructive sin has been in our lives. Notice
the view that the elder son had of his relationship to the father.
He said to his father, "I’ve been working like a slave for you, and
I’ve never disobeyed you; yet you’ve never given me anything." How
often do we, in the church say, "I’ve done my part over these many
years. I served on the vestry. I taught Sunday School. I’ve attended
regularly and pledged every year. I’ve fulfilled my obligations.
I’ve never broken the commandments, at least on the big ones. Isn’t
it enough?" All this time we’ve failed to understand the heart of
our Father. We’ve been trying to earn the favor that He has already
given us, and so we are shocked when we see others receive that love
and favor so freely. We say they should have to earn it just like we
did, and we resent it when God’s grace flows over them, and we want
to turn it off.
The father responded to the elder son, "Son, all that is mine is
yours." He said, "Son," not, "Servant." Jesus was not nearly as
interested in the service of the people as He was in the hearts of
the people. God is not looking to restore us to productive labor
nearly so much as He is looking to restore us as His children. The
call of the father to the elder son was, "Come, receive my love and
join in my celebration. When you do work for me, know that all that
I have is yours anyway." God’s call to us in Christ is to allow Him
to love us, to celebrate what He has done to reconcile the world,
and when we do serve, to serve with the knowledge that He is sharing
the Kingdom with us.
Why is grace so hard for us? Why are we afraid to welcome sinners
and have them join us at the table of the Lord? Perhaps it is
because we have failed to see how close we are to the elder son. We
have failed to see how sin has distorted our relationship with our
Father. We have failed to see how God wants to share His Kingdom
with us. When you see the grace of God, join in the celebration, for
your brother or sister who was dead has come to life. Rejoice
because God is making us a new family and a new creation. Rejoice
because Jesus Christ has come out from the throne of God to
reconciled us to the Father. Let us therefore put away all
resentment so we may receive the reconciliation won by Christ, and
take up that ministry of reconciliation with Him. Then, let’s
celebrate together under the outpouring of God’s grace.
