LUKE 15:1-32
PEOPLE DOWN THROUGH THE AGES HAVE
PUZZLED OVER GOD. DOES HE EXIST? IF HE EXISTS, WHAT CAN WE SAY
ABOUT HIM? WE OFTEN SAY HE IS ALL-POWERFUL, HE IS ALL-WISE, HE IS
ALL-GOOD, HE IS COMPLETELY FULFILLED, COMPLETELY HAPPY, IN HIMSELF
AND NEEDS NOTHING ELSE. BUT THEN WE COME TO THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION
THAT GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE, BECAUSE ANY CHANGE WOULD MEAN THAT THERE
WAS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW GOD WAS BEFORE THE CHANGE AND AFTER THE
CHANGE, AND AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE THINGS WE SAID ABOUT HIM WOULD NOT
BE TRUE. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY IDEAS TOSSED AROUND ABOUT HOW GOD CAN
HAVE ALL THESE ATTRIBUTES AND YET HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE
UNIVERSE. PEOPLE DON'T CREATE THINGS UNLESS THEY FEEL A NEED FOR
THEM – AND GOD BY DEFINITION HAS ALL THAT HE NEEDS IN HIMSELF.
SO PEOPLE HAVE COME UP WITH DIFFERENT
IDEAS – THERE ARE MANY GODS AND EACH OF THEM IS NOT PERFECT,
POWERFUL, AND SO ON. THERE ARE TWO BEINGS, A GOOD GOD AND AN EVIL
BEING WHO FIGHTS WITH THE GOOD GOD. THIS HAS BEEN SO FROM THE
BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE, AND WE CAN'T KNOW MORE THAN THAT. OR GOD
IS “BIPOLAR” – IN HIMSELF HE IS ALL THOSE THINGS WE SAID, BUT
SINCE WE ARE IN TIME AND GOD IS NOT, TO US IT SEEMS AS THOUGH GOD HAS
LIMITATIONS, THAT HE CHANGES, THAT HE RESPONDS TO EVENTS. EVEN THE
IDEA OF GOD AS TRINITY, OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEF, IS A WAY OF RESPONDING
TO THIS PROBLEM OUR HUMAN MINDS CAN'T FIGURE OUT – WHAT CAN WE SAY
ABOUT GOD THAT IS TRUE?
TODAY JESUS GIVES US THREE PARABLES,
WHICH DESCRIBE GOD. AND WE LEARN AT LEAST THAT HE IS NOT LIKE HUMAN
BEINGS.
FIRST, HE IS LIKE A SHEPHERD – HE
LOOKS AFTER HIS SHEEP, HE GUIDES THEM AND FEEDS THEM AND PROTECTS
THEM. BUT UNLIKE A HUMAN SHEPHERD, HE DOES SOMETHING VERY STRANGE –
HE LEAVES HIS FLOCK IN SEARCH OF A STRAY. AND WHEN HE FINDS THE
SHEEP, HE REJOICES, AND CALLS THE OTHER SHEPHERDS TO HAVE A PARTY.
CERTAINLY THAT ISN'T THE WAY A HUMAN BEING BEHAVES. WE WOULDN'T GO
HUNTING A LOST SHEEP IF IT PUT THE REST OF THE FLOCK IN DANGER; WE'D
FIND SOME WAY TO PROTECT THAT FLOCK, OR IF WE COULDN'T WE'D GIVE THE
SHEEP UP FOR LOSS. BETTER TO LOSE ONE SHEEP THAN THE WHOLE FLOCK,
RIGHT?
SECOND, HE IS LIKE A WOMAN WHO HAS
LOST ONE OF TEN COINS. SHE SWEEPS THE FLOOR UNTIL SHE FINDS IT AND
THEN THROWS A PARTY. THIS PARABLE IS A LITTLE HARDER TO UNDERSTAND,
BECAUSE MONEY DOES NOT MEAN THE SAME THING TO US AS IT DID TO THE
PEOPLE IN JESUS' TIME. IN THOSE DAYS, PEOPLE ESPECIALLY POOR PEOPLE,
WOULD GO YEARS WITHOUT HANDLING MONEY. THEY TRADED THINGS, THEY
TRADED LABOR, THEY GREW THEIR OWN FOOD – AND IF YOU GOT MONEY, YOU
WOULD PROBABLY BURY IT IN THE GROUND AGAINST A TIME YOU WOULD NEED
IT, LIKE THE SERVANT JESUS TALKS ABOUT. SO OUR WOMAN HAS TEN COINS
AND LOSES ONE. SHE DROPS EVERYTHING TO FIND IT. AND WHEN SHE DOES,
SHE REJOICES. JESUS DOESN'T ASSIGN A VALUE TO THE COIN. IN OTHER
PLACES IN THE GOSPEL PARABLES, HE DOES – AND IT IS A WOMAN WHO IS
THE CENTRAL CHARACTER, SO THESE COINS WERE PROBABLY OF LITTLE VALUE.
AND YET THE CELEBRATING SEEMS OUT OF PROPORTION – I IMAGINE THE
COIN THAT WAS LOST WAS NOT WORTH THE PARTY THAT WAS THROWN.
AND FINALLY JESUS TELLS US THAT FAMOUS
STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON, AND AGAIN, THE FATHER DOES NOT ACT LIKE A
HUMAN. FIRST, HE GIVES THE YOUNGER SON HIS INHERITANCE – HE DIDN'T
HAVE TO AND MOST FATHERS IN THOSE DAYS WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS.
AFTER ALL THE INHERITANCE WAS TO BE INHERITED AT THE FATHER'S DEATH.
MOST FATHERS WOULD HAVE LAUGHED AT THE YOUNGER SON AND TOLD HIM TO
GET BACK TO WORK. AND AFTER THE YOUNGER SON RUNS OFF WITH HIS LOOT,
THE FATHER, WE SEE, GOES TO A CERTAIN PLACE EVERY DAY TO WATCH AND
WAIT FOR THE SON TO RETURN. AND FINALLY, WHEN THE SON DOES RETURN,
THE FATHER THROWS A PARTY. HE DOESN'T WEIGH OUT THE CONSEQUENCES,
DEAL OUT PUNISHMENT – ALL HE DOES IS THROW A HUGE PARTY IN THE
YOUNGER SON'S HONOR. MOST OF US SYMPATHIZE WITH THE OLDER BROTHER, I
THINK.
I THINK THE MESSAGE JESUS WANTS US TO
HEAR IS THAT GOD LOVE US UNCONDITIONALLY, WHETHER WE ARE A LOST SHEEP
OR A PRODIGAL SON; AND GOD IS WILLING TO MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH TO
BRING US BACK TO HIM, EVEN IF WE AREN'T SURE WE WANT TO GO. IN THESE
THREE STORIES AND IN MANY OTHER TEACHINGS OF JESUS WE LEARN THAT GOD
IS AN EXTRAVAGANT LOVER. THESE ARE WONDERFUL THOUGHTS. BUT HOW
ABOUT REALITY? HOW ABOUT THE OBVIOUS POVERTY AND PREJUDICE AND
DISEASE AND JUST PLAIN UNFAIRNESS OF LIFE? THE PEOPLE OF JESUS TIME
WERE MORE AWARE OF THIS CONTRAST THAN WE ARE. AFTER ALL, THERE
WEREN'T ANY LONGMEADOWS IN FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE. IT HELPS TO
REMEMBER THAT THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN BETWEEN SIXTY AND 100 YEARS
AFTER JESUS DIED. THE CHURCH HAD BEEN AROUND FOR ALL THAT TIME AND
THE EVANGELISTS WERE WRITING FROM WITHIN AN EXISTING CHURCH. HOW
COULD THEY BELIEVE THAT GOD WAS ALL THAT JESUS SAID HE WAS, WHEN THEY
HAD SEEN CHRISTIANS MARTYRED, AND IF NOT MARTYRED, MARGINALIZED IN
SOCIETY? HOW COULD THEY BELIEVE THAT GOD WAS AN EXTRAVAGANT LOVER
SHOWERING GIFTS ON HIS PEOPLE, WHEN THEY THEMSELVES WERE PERSECUTED,
IMPRISONED, AND THEIR LAND AND POSSESSIONS CONFISCATED? TODAY WE
LOOK AT THESE PARABLES AND MAYBE WE THINK THEY ARE ALL ABOUT THE NEXT
LIFE; BUT THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS COULD HAVE SPARED THEMSELVES A LOT
OF GRIEF BY JUST THROWING A LITTLE INCENSE ON THE STATUES OF THE
EMPEROR INSTEAD OF BEING MARTYRED. WHAT EXPLAINS THE DIFFERENCE?
THEY, FAR MORE THAN WE, HAD BEEN
TOUCHED BY THE RESURRECTION. IF YOU HADN'T PERSONALLY WITNESSED THAT
JESUS HAD BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, SOMEONE YOU KNEW AND TRUSTED
INSISTED THAT THIS WAS TRUE. AND SINCE THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO
HAD MET THE RISEN JESUS, IT WAS HARD NOT TO BELIEVE IT. AND THE
POINT IS THAT IN THE RESURRECTION THE GENEROSITY OF GOD, THE
EXTRAVAGANCE OF GOD, THE FACT THAT GOD NEVER GIVES UP, IS SHOWN. AND
NOW THE PARABLES MAKE SENSE; THEY ARE NOT JUST VAGUE PROMISES ABOUT A
FUTURE IN THE NEXT LIFE, BUT THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN FULFILLED IN THE
PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS. AND HE PROMISED THAT HIS
SERVANTS WOULD BE WHERE HE WAS; HE PROMISED THAT HE WOULD PREPARE A
DWELLING PLACE FOR THEM IN HEAVEN; HE PROMISED THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY
MIGHT DIE, THEY WOULD LIVE.
WOULD YOU AND I HAVE ACCEPTED THOSE
PROMISES, ENOUGH TO GO OFF TO A PAINFUL DEATH SINGING HYMNS? I THINK
MOST OF US MIGHT HAVE THROWN A LITTLE INCENSE INTO THE FIRE BURNING
BEFORE AN IMAGE OF THE EMPEROR. WE WOULD THINK TO OURSELVES, “THIS
IS KIND OF LIKE SALUTING THE FLAG”. BUT THE EARLY CHRISTIANS COULD
NOT DO THAT, NOT IN THE FACE OF THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION.
SO TODAY JESUS TELLS US SOMETHING
ABOUT GOD, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU
AND I? DO WE BELIEVE JESUS ENOUGH TO TRUST HIM, AS DID THOSE FIRST
CHRISTIANS? DO WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION ENOUGH TO CHANGE OUR
LIVES, TO REPENT, TO HELP USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON THIS
EARTH?
