Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 14, 2009 - Saturday in the Second Week of Lent
[Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 and Luke 15:1-3, 11-32]Who is there like you, The God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? (Micah) My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found. (Luke)
Most of us are familiar with the first stanza of the great old hymn, Amazing Grace. It ends with the words, "was lost but now am found!" Those words would put us squarely in the middle of the situation in which Jesus preached the parable of the Prodigal Son! The whole context is a "lost and found" one! There is a shepherd who recklessly leaves the ninety nine and goes after the lost one. There is the woman who searches high and low for the lost coin. And, in the parable, there is the loving Father who refuses to see his sons as employees to be punished but as sons to be cherished and forgiven. Micah's image of a merciful God is painted in vivid colors in this series of parables. Jesus is responding to the bitter criticism of the Pharisees who believe he should have nothing to do with "tax collectors and sinners!" They have classified people in certain ways and have dismissed them from God's mercy! The two sons in the parable make the same mistake. The first one is mistaken because he believes that his sin in squandering the inheritance (which would have enabled him to care for his father in the latter's old age) is unforgivable and that he is no longer a son! The second son is mistaken because he actually seems to think of his relationship to his father in terms of employment and reward! The father refuses to accept the mistaken notions. Those two young men are still his sons! They are both "lost" and he does everything he can to "find" them and bring them back. He goes out to both of them. Those who would see faith as a matter of rules and enforcers are in sore need of reading this chapter from the Gospel of Luke. It is not a matter of restoring law and order here. It is a matter of repentance and mercy. We are ALL lost from time to time - some of us longer than others. But the Father comes after us and reminds us that we are still his children. We can then complete the hymn by singing, "was blind but now I see!" AMEN
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