Foolish Message or Foolish People?

Read: Luke 15:11-32

 

Forth Sunday of Lent - March 10, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin

 

Something or someone here is foolish.

Either it is the Gospel that is silly and the scoffers are wise, or else it is the people who are foolish and the Gospel is the message of profound wisdom.

Lots of those who heard Paul preach were sure that they knew the difference; they were convinced that Paul's Gospel was ridiculous.

 

Oh, yes, the world wants to have something  vaguely “religious” or better, “spiritual” around, but only as a mental plaything, not as a centerpiece around which one's whole life might turn.

[Among public figures, Barbara Walters recently announced that she is “spiritual” but not “religious.”]

There are those who play with astrology, the Mayan calendar worriers and the like.

There are lots who are ready to play new mental games, the New Age thought and strange music to go with it.

There are lots of folks buying self-help books to get in touch with themselves, whatever that means.

But who wants to hear that a carpenter's son put to death 2,000 years ago has the deepest kind of effect on you and me, and indeed intends to be the center of our very existence?

To the outsider it sounds preposterous.

It is just words, they say, words that don't have anything to do with anyone else except the crazy Christian who speaks them.

 

Years ago I heard an atheist lawyer argue that one-sentence prayer that opens each day's work at the Supreme Court “God save this honorable court” was harmless to church/state relations since, he said, is is a meaningless tradition in which no one is seriously invoking God's action.

 

Oh, really?

It is still a prayer, one which I hope the justices mean when they say it, and a prayer which we certainly can mean when we hear it!

It applies whether or not the cranky lawyer thinks it applies!

Surprise, atheist lawyer; God just may be using you to see that justice is done in that courtroom today, whether you admit or recognize it at all.

Who is the foolish one: the scoffer, or the one who keeps asking for and expecting God's action?

 

It has always been difficult and troublesome to bring Christ to the world.

On the day that Pope Benedict announced his retirement, I read some of the online reactions to the news-story, and a number of them were stupid, venomous, and hateful – completely inappropriate.

In ancient times, the Greeks who loved to dabble in philosophical argument and dazzle each other with their oratorical skills laughed at Paul.

In Acts there is recorded his speech to the learned men who gather at at the Areopagus rock in Athens.

That speech seemed to be remarkably ineffective in persuading many, or any.

The story of a God who suffered and died the death of a common criminal has nothing winsome or pleasant about it.

And then there is this resurrection business.

       Now those are all strange things!

 

The people of Israel also had no time for this message of suffering and death.

The very idea of a “crucified Messiah,” was utterly impossible.

-                 to be crucified was to be put under a curse in their view.

-                 On the contrary, to be Messiah was to be a royal person with royal power what is enabled to throw off the Roman yoke and establish God's kingdom.

-                 A Messiah who suffers and dies this death is outrageous.

And so they too scoff.

 

Folks in the ancient world, and folks today turn away in amazement from this idea that the God who has everything is willing to give  so freely.

The Greeks thought their gods had no real feelings, that they couldn't and didn't care what happens here.

They are the truly indifferent ones.

 

The picture of the Lord God Almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is vastly different.

He cares passionately about his people and his creation.

In the Lord Jesus his words and actions say most eloquently – “I give all to you.”

Another kind of god would hold back, reserving power for self.

 

Remember the Greek myth about Prometheus who was made to suffer horribly because he stole fire from the gods and gave it to humankind.

In contrast, the Lord God gives and gives, and in the cross of Christ, he says “I really mean it.!”

I give you everything!

And now the question:  What shall you do because of receiving the gift?  

All parents have gone through this lecture with their kids, and usually a considerable number of times:

What do you say when someone gives you a gift?

“Say thank you,” of course.

And even more significant than the words alone are the words that are put into actions, that is, using the gift in a thankful and appropriate way.

 

Are we beginning to to sense some connections of all of this with the parable in the Gospel today?

How much does the Father love?

–so much, that he is willing even to give to this son who has said in effect that he wishes dad were dead.

How much does he love the rascal?

So much that he goes out and welcomes him home before the son can blurt out his plan for living and working.

 

How much does he love the other son?

So much, that he continues to invite him into the welcome-home party, even when he acts just as mean-spirited as his younger brother.

 

Notice how the story is open ended.

It doesn't tie up the loose ends by saying “And they all lived happily ever after.”

We are challenged to ask: What happens next with the two sons and with us!

 

Shall we take the gifts and squander them?

Shall we begrudge God's generosity unto others?

Shall we try to instruct God how he should be treating us?  

That would be a good sample of sin.

Or shall we use the gifts to thank and praise God by loving and serving others?

 

It is Good News to us this day:

the Cross of Christ is God's certified letter to us that an account with unlimited funds has been opened in our name.

We didn't deserve it or earn it.

We can waste it or attempt to hoard it.

We can pretend that it is not really there, or we can use it well.

What will we do with that account this week?

Who is the foolish one?

--the Father for giving good gifts?

--Christ Jesus for all the trouble of acting out the Father's generosity.

--or the people who ignore it and waste it?

 

What are you and I doing with God's gifts of life today?   AMEN.