1
Corinthians 6:12-20; Luke 15:11-32
Last
Sunday, we focused on the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. You will remember that the Pharisee was so
filled with pride that he prayed to himself in praise of his virtues as he
condemned the tax collector, who was so aware of his sins that the only prayer
he could muster was a humble plea for God’s mercy from the depths of his
heart. As we prepare for the intensified
spiritual disciplines of Lent, it is clear whose example we must follow: that of the tax collector who returned to His
house justified.
Today we turn our attention to our
Lord’s parable of the prodigal son. This young man was focused only on himself
at the beginning of the story, which is certainly a form of pride. His father meant nothing to him at that point
other than as a source of money which he could use to indulge himself in the
pleasures of the flesh. That is why he
asked for his inheritance and left his family and homeland. Before long, however, the young man was
humbled by the consequences of his way of living when the money ran out and he
was simply a stranger in a strange land in the midst of a famine. He was so miserable that he actually envied
the food of the pigs which he was hired to tend there. Truthfully, he had lived like a pig and now
he ended up with them in their filth.
At that point, the young man came to
himself, recognizing that even the hired servants of his father were well
fed. By suffering the consequences of
his actions, his eyes were opened to how he had treated his father; he knew he
was no longer worthy to be his son. He
wanted only to become a servant in his family’s home and rehearsed his apology
to the old man as he undertook the long journey home. The prodigal son certainly grew in humility
through that process. He made no excuses
for his behavior and knew that he would be lucky to be taken back into the
household as a servant.
His father’s reaction was, of
course, entirely different than he had anticipated. The old man must have scanned the horizon for
him every day, for he saw his son when he was still a long distance away. The father then ran out to greet the
son. Before the young man could finish
his rehearsed apology, the father did what was unthinkable: He fully restored this miserable wretch of a
son. He threw a party and celebrated
because “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Pride takes different forms. Some like the Pharisee think that they are so
much better than anyone else and become blind to their own sins. Others insist on being so self-reliant that
they would rather remain isolated in misery than to ask for mercy that they do
not deserve and cannot control. Some
would prefer to continue suffering the consequences of their actions than to
risk exposing themselves to the healing grace that is beyond their power. Some who are quite well aware of how
miserable they are prefer simply to wallow in the corruption of their sins than
to acknowledge that they need help well beyond what they themselves can
provide.
In contrast to that form of pride, there
is the courageous humility of the prodigal son.
Think for a moment how he must have felt. He had no idea how his father would react to
him. By taking the long journey home, he
might have been setting himself up for final rejection and condemnation. Thankfully, he was not so enslaved to being
in control or completely self-reliant that he chose the isolation of perpetual
suffering over the possibility of even a low level of reconciliation with his
father. He was no longer the
self-centered fool who had insulted and abandoned his father in order to waste
his inheritance on prostitutes. No, he had
developed the eyes to see the gravity of what he had done to himself and to
those who loved him. He risked what little shred of dignity he had left by
going home, apologizing, and facing the consequences of actions. His only hope
was in his father’s mercy. It took courage for him to face the old man under
those circumstances.
By taking that difficult trip home, the
prodigal son put himself in the place to receive the father’s overwhelming
love, forgiveness, and restoration. The
father was not interested in exacting justice or requiring the son to pay a
penalty. He did not condemn or embarrass
him or even remind him of the bad things he had done. No, he simply welcomed
his son back into the family with joy beyond what anyone would have expected.
If we take the spiritual disciplines
of Lent at all seriously, we will gain a deeper level of insight into how we
have used our Heavenly Father’s blessings selfishly for the satisfaction of our
own distorted desires. We will see how
we have weakened and diminished ourselves to the point that we have become slaves
to pride, anger, lust, gluttony, and many other passions. We will know that we have debased ourselves
to the point that we deserve the full consequences of our actions, hardly being
recognizable as those called to become like God in holiness.
Through our struggle to pray, fast,
give to the needy, confess and repent of our sins, and heal broken
relationships with our neighbors this Lent, we will open our eyes at least a
bit to what we have done to ourselves in turning away from the blessed life for
which our Lord made us in His image and likeness. That is how we will begin the long journey
home to a Father Whose love is not a matter of mere justice in the sense of
giving us what we deserve. If that were
the case, there would be no hope for any of us.
Christ used this parable to encourage those who know their guilt and
brokenness not to give up hope. Repentance
is precisely the long journey home that the prodigal took in order to return to
his father. It is the journey that we
all must take this Lent.
If we have any doubt about the mercy
of our Heavenly Father, we need only remember that Lent is preparation for
following our Lord to His cross and empty tomb.
What greater expression of the infinite mercy of God for sinners could
we possibly want? Christ has taken the
full consequences of all human sin upon Himself in order to deliver us from
them in His glorious resurrection. By
normal human standards, that is far more outrageous than the response of the
father in today’s parable. We are not
speaking here merely of exceptional human kindness, but of the One Who spoke
the universe into existence submitting to death at the hands of those He came
to save, descending to Hades, and then rising in glory in order bring us into
the fullness of the holy joy for which He created us.
In Lent, we prepare to journey in
Him from death to life, from suffering the consequences of our self-centered
addictions to our passions to full restoration as the beloved sons and
daughters of the Lord through His glorious resurrection. So like the prodigal son, let us come to
ourselves and return to our Father with true humility. Without excuses of any kind, let us open
ourselves to the great of joy of those who were dead returning to life, of those
who were lost being found. That is what the coming weeks of Lent are all
about. Let us use them courageously for
our salvation.
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