{"id":511004,"date":"2010-03-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:02:06","slug":"todays-parable-is-the-longest-lent-4-c-2010","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/todays-parable-is-the-longest-lent-4-c-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Today’s Parable Is the Longest…, Lent 4 (C) – 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[NOTE TO READER: In paragraph 19, the word \u201cLaetare\u201d is pronounced: lay-TAR-ray.]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s parable is the longest in the Bible \u2014 and the most quoted. The parable of the Prodigal Son, as it is popularly known, has preoccupied and perplexed the thoughts and works of countless religious and secular scholars, writers, and even artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? It doesn\u2019t seem so complex. The meaning doesn\u2019t seem so obscure on the face of it. The domestic scene it describes may even be familiar to some of us: the return to the fold of a beloved family member who has wandered off for a while. His family greets him with conflicting emotions. Some feel joy at his return; some feel relief that he is safe; some feel jealousy that all seems forgiven and even forgotten; some harshly judge his profligate ways; some feel it is unfair that they are not celebrated for staying and remaining faithful to their family obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as you can expect, the real message of this parable isn\u2019t quite so simple. It doesn\u2019t lie so obviously on the surface of the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking our cue from Paul\u2019s admonition to the Corinthians, we realize that the eldest son\u2019s error was in judging his brother\u2019s return and his father\u2019s reaction of pure joy \u2014 no reproaches, no recriminations for the trouble or grief the son\u2019s appearance had caused \u2014 \u201cfrom a human point of view.\u201d Who among us hasn\u2019t and wouldn\u2019t take that same \u201chuman point of view\u201d when confronted with a similar situation that seems so obviously unfair?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow the Prodigal Son\u2019s return to his father\u2019s favor seems just too easy: essentially, \u201cHi, Dad. I\u2019m home!\u201d And all is forgiven. Let\u2019s have a party!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is hard for us to accept that the consequences for behaving badly could be, should be, so apparently light. Even though we understand that the return to the faithful flock of any one strayed sheep, even just one formerly lost soul, is always the occasion for joy in the family of God. Even though we understand that always \u2014 but especially during Lent \u2014 the call to \u201crepent and return\u201d is one that we all should heed in small ways, as well as in life-changing ways. Even though we take to heart the psalmist\u2019s reminder that \u201chappy are they whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is put away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We understand, we have been taught and believe abstractly, that a forgiving nature is one which we are called to cultivate in a life of faith and to demonstrate in our relationships with others. But somehow we can\u2019t help but feel that the situation described in this parable smacks of what we might call \u201ccheap grace.\u201d It conflicts with our definitely all-too-human notion that we need to earn good fortune, and certainly in some measure deserve God\u2019s favor, and that \u201cno pain, no gain\u201d is the proper yardstick for measuring out someone\u2019s portion of forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding God\u2019s justice is never easy. Basically, the difficulty lies in the fact that we confuse our sense of justice with God\u2019s capacity for love. In human and secular understanding, the two have become entangled \u2014 and muddled. Justice has to do with fairness; love has to do with selflessness. Justice is balanced; love is extravagant. Justice almost always involves some measure of retribution; love calls us to reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deeper truth of the story of the Prodigal Son lies in coming to grips with the breadth and depth of God\u2019s love. In the words of the hymn, it requires us to contemplate the \u201cwideness of God\u2019s mercy,\u201d to imagine it from outside and beyond the narrow confines of the human perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The breadth of God\u2019s embrace is unknowable to us. The depth of God\u2019s love is incomprehensible \u2014 and certainly immeasurable from a human point of view. It is not for us to decide who falls within God\u2019s grace \u2014 nor who should be excluded from his mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time of Lent, when we are meant to prepare ourselves spiritually for reliving the story of Jesus\u2019 passion, his death and resurrection, we need to keep Paul\u2019s words clearly in focus \u2014 that through Jesus\u2019 one astounding act of self-sacrificing love, \u201cGod was reconciling the world to himself.\u201d And not just reconciling our one self-selected flock of faithful believers gathered in any one place at any one time, but the whole world, once for all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Christ, in his death and resurrection, God was reconciling the world to himself. There was no universal accounting of trespasses, no meting out of more salvation to some than to others. There was no greater redemption for one group than for another, no fuller restoration of a chosen few over the vast hordes of sinners. God was reconciling the whole world to himself. That isn\u2019t justice; that is unfathomable divine mercy and unbounded holy love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul tells us that we have been entrusted with spreading the message of this kind of absolute reconciliation \u2014 the message of reconciliation that lies at the heart of the story of the Return of the Prodigal Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the kind of reconciliation that we are called to preach is the kind of reconciliation that does not weigh our merits, but simply pardons our offenses, as the collect says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the kind of reconciliation that holds nothing back, harbors no recriminations, nurtures no resentments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind of reconciliation that demands nothing in return \u2014 nothing except utter surrender to God\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind of reconciliation that starts with a heartfelt confession like the one the Prodigal Son makes to his father: \u201cFather, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am not worthy of your favor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are called to preach the kind of reconciliation that comes from unconditional forgiveness, like the father gave in his immediate welcoming and loving embrace of his errant son: \u201cLet us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday, or as it has been more popularly called \u201cRejoice Sunday,\u201d referring to the opening words of the Introit for this day: \u201cRejoice, O Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this one day amid the other thirty-nine of this penitential season, the clergy may shed somber purple vestments for glorious rose ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Sunday we are permitted to dispense with whatever Lenten regimen of fasting we may have imposed upon ourselves and indulge \u2014 moderately \u2014 without guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on this Sunday we are told to make a truly joyful noise unto the Lord with hymns and organ, and even array our altars with gloriously colored flowers \u2014 a celebration that immediately calls to mind our gospel story and the father\u2019s celebration at his youngest son\u2019s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Sunday, we are meant to cast our eyes forward to the end of this season of penitence. On this Sunday we are called to anticipate the joy of Christ\u2019s resurrection, to celebrate the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise of redemption given long ago to the Israelites, God\u2019s chosen people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n