Lost and found
Commentary
This week the Old Testament lesson might remind us of homeless people who have found a decent place to live, after years of squalor, insecurity and shifting from one make-shift arrangement to another. The people of God had found a homeland. But their faith would not have liked the word "found." No matter how hard they might struggle, they believed their possessions were given by God. To use the word "found," they would think of themselves. God had found them. God had taken the initiative to make them a distinctive people, a people of distinctive faith.
As the Old Testament lesson pictures a people at the point of leaving behind a troubled past in order to begin a promising future, so the lesson from 2 Corinthians speaks of a division between two eras. For Paul, it is not a land or even a settled life that distinguishes the new era. It is a new relationship with God. Now people are called out of their lostness by Christ and Christ's missionaries.
Today many people are lost in both ways or in one way or the other, lost from social significance and value or lost from any sense of belonging to God. It makes me think of how often along the way that I walk to work, a sign will appear, "Lost Cat." At the same time that my sympathies well up for the sorrowing cat lover, I begin to give thanks for those who are helping lost persons to find their way. One encouraging mark of our society, which is a troubled society in so many ways, is the number of agencies devoted to helping in time of need. They represent many specializations to minister to the variety of problems, with the proper and best remedies. The churches take their place among these agencies, public and private. In addition to providing for earthly needs, the churches have their distinctive mission of proclaiming the God of love for all people.
Such is the God who is represented in the gospel story of the two sons. The father takes the initiative to go out and meet both sons, the humbled prodigal and the self-righteous elder son. Regardless of which category we may fill, we know God is always waiting for us, seeking us. It is God's insistence on finding us in our lostness that stirs us to help others.
The story fits the season of Lent, especially as part of the collection of material in Luke 15-19 that leads up to the account of the Passion Week. As a connecting theme, God's love goes out to those who are unloved.
OUTLINE I
Starting right
Joshua 5:9-12
A. v. 9. A new era has begun. Although literary analysis suggests a complex combination of sources in this section of Joshua and historical reconstructions show a great variety of possibilities, the theological intent is clear. The people of God are making a new beginning. They are experiencing the passing of an era which had held much suffering, humiliation and disruption of their religious life. The new era is bringing them integrity as a people, which will be fostered and celebrated by expressions of their distinctive faith. Here, circumcision (vv. 2-8) is the rite which is associated with salvation by God.
B. vv. 10-12. Sustenance in a new land follows. The rite of Passover is marked by an end to the years of survival subsistent in the desert. The people are beginning to live from the crops of their new homeland. During the years of settlement in the land, each week's baking would require setting aside a bit of dough to ferment and serve as leaven or yeast for the next batch of bread. Once each year the cycle would be broken, so unleavened bread would be eaten at Passover and the week that followed. The parched grain is not a part of the special food of the festival but illustrates how modest the living could be for most people in the land of milk and honey. As migrants or refugees who have received a homeland, they are pictured as celebrating their new lease on life with faithful devotion to the God who is the source of their blessings.
OUTLINE II
Renewal and peace
2 Corinthians 5:16-20a
A. vv. 16-17. How shall we understand people? Paul's answer could not have the benefit of modern psychology. Yet, neither did he rely only on folk wisdom, casual observation or the religious dogma of the day. His encounter with Christ had changed the way he thought about people. The Greek text says literally, "We regard no one according to the flesh." To be sure, a Christian would be concerned for persons who were suffering in the flesh. But there was more to life than the flesh that would perish. At one time Paul had only known Jesus as an offender who had died. Now he knew Christ as a new creative power. Christ was the dividing point in human history. Consequently, everyone had the potential for a new beginning, a new worth, a new meaning, a new life.
B. vv. 18-19. The chief characteristic of the new creation is reconciliation with God. Like a mediator, Christ brought about the reconciliation. God had wanted the reconciliation all along, but the world, especially the human world, needed to be brought around. Though trespasses are mentioned, there is no reference to guilt. The terminology differs from the theology of justification. Paul is not painting a courtroom scene. Now he pictures diplomatic peacemaking. People had treated God as an enemy. God did not reciprocate, but took the initiative for a great peace mission with Christ. Now Paul was a minister from the court, an ambassador for peace.
C. v. 20a. The personal appeal anticipates the many who will join in reconciliation.
OUTLINE III
The Father's love
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
A. vv. 1-3. Jesus' story is not imaginary. There are real people like each of the two sons. And those who criticize Jesus are opposing God the Father's way.
B. vv. 11-16. The making of a prodigal son. Though it was normal to determine the division of the inheritance while the father was still alive, the actual distribution did not normally take place until after his death. The younger son wanted and received a very special favor. Unequal to his freedom, he wasted his means, probably on immorality as his elder brother later accused him. To bad choices was added natural disaster. A famine prevented any decent means of support, so he was reduced to herding animals that Jewish law considered unclean and he lived on the husks from the carob fodder.
C. vv. 17-24. The reclaiming of a prodigal son. Destitute and humbled, he is ready to confess his erring ways and become a servant. He scarcely has a chance to carry out his intent, because his father is too overjoyed at the lost son's return. Fine clothes and a banquet replaced the son's earlier penury.
D. vv. 25-32. The hardworking elder son would not join the celebration. Although his father reminded him that all the estate was his, could not be taken for anyone else and no injustice was done, the elder son indulged only in anger and disdain. He would not join his loving father in reclaiming a lost brother.
As the Old Testament lesson pictures a people at the point of leaving behind a troubled past in order to begin a promising future, so the lesson from 2 Corinthians speaks of a division between two eras. For Paul, it is not a land or even a settled life that distinguishes the new era. It is a new relationship with God. Now people are called out of their lostness by Christ and Christ's missionaries.
Today many people are lost in both ways or in one way or the other, lost from social significance and value or lost from any sense of belonging to God. It makes me think of how often along the way that I walk to work, a sign will appear, "Lost Cat." At the same time that my sympathies well up for the sorrowing cat lover, I begin to give thanks for those who are helping lost persons to find their way. One encouraging mark of our society, which is a troubled society in so many ways, is the number of agencies devoted to helping in time of need. They represent many specializations to minister to the variety of problems, with the proper and best remedies. The churches take their place among these agencies, public and private. In addition to providing for earthly needs, the churches have their distinctive mission of proclaiming the God of love for all people.
Such is the God who is represented in the gospel story of the two sons. The father takes the initiative to go out and meet both sons, the humbled prodigal and the self-righteous elder son. Regardless of which category we may fill, we know God is always waiting for us, seeking us. It is God's insistence on finding us in our lostness that stirs us to help others.
The story fits the season of Lent, especially as part of the collection of material in Luke 15-19 that leads up to the account of the Passion Week. As a connecting theme, God's love goes out to those who are unloved.
OUTLINE I
Starting right
Joshua 5:9-12
A. v. 9. A new era has begun. Although literary analysis suggests a complex combination of sources in this section of Joshua and historical reconstructions show a great variety of possibilities, the theological intent is clear. The people of God are making a new beginning. They are experiencing the passing of an era which had held much suffering, humiliation and disruption of their religious life. The new era is bringing them integrity as a people, which will be fostered and celebrated by expressions of their distinctive faith. Here, circumcision (vv. 2-8) is the rite which is associated with salvation by God.
B. vv. 10-12. Sustenance in a new land follows. The rite of Passover is marked by an end to the years of survival subsistent in the desert. The people are beginning to live from the crops of their new homeland. During the years of settlement in the land, each week's baking would require setting aside a bit of dough to ferment and serve as leaven or yeast for the next batch of bread. Once each year the cycle would be broken, so unleavened bread would be eaten at Passover and the week that followed. The parched grain is not a part of the special food of the festival but illustrates how modest the living could be for most people in the land of milk and honey. As migrants or refugees who have received a homeland, they are pictured as celebrating their new lease on life with faithful devotion to the God who is the source of their blessings.
OUTLINE II
Renewal and peace
2 Corinthians 5:16-20a
A. vv. 16-17. How shall we understand people? Paul's answer could not have the benefit of modern psychology. Yet, neither did he rely only on folk wisdom, casual observation or the religious dogma of the day. His encounter with Christ had changed the way he thought about people. The Greek text says literally, "We regard no one according to the flesh." To be sure, a Christian would be concerned for persons who were suffering in the flesh. But there was more to life than the flesh that would perish. At one time Paul had only known Jesus as an offender who had died. Now he knew Christ as a new creative power. Christ was the dividing point in human history. Consequently, everyone had the potential for a new beginning, a new worth, a new meaning, a new life.
B. vv. 18-19. The chief characteristic of the new creation is reconciliation with God. Like a mediator, Christ brought about the reconciliation. God had wanted the reconciliation all along, but the world, especially the human world, needed to be brought around. Though trespasses are mentioned, there is no reference to guilt. The terminology differs from the theology of justification. Paul is not painting a courtroom scene. Now he pictures diplomatic peacemaking. People had treated God as an enemy. God did not reciprocate, but took the initiative for a great peace mission with Christ. Now Paul was a minister from the court, an ambassador for peace.
C. v. 20a. The personal appeal anticipates the many who will join in reconciliation.
OUTLINE III
The Father's love
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
A. vv. 1-3. Jesus' story is not imaginary. There are real people like each of the two sons. And those who criticize Jesus are opposing God the Father's way.
B. vv. 11-16. The making of a prodigal son. Though it was normal to determine the division of the inheritance while the father was still alive, the actual distribution did not normally take place until after his death. The younger son wanted and received a very special favor. Unequal to his freedom, he wasted his means, probably on immorality as his elder brother later accused him. To bad choices was added natural disaster. A famine prevented any decent means of support, so he was reduced to herding animals that Jewish law considered unclean and he lived on the husks from the carob fodder.
C. vv. 17-24. The reclaiming of a prodigal son. Destitute and humbled, he is ready to confess his erring ways and become a servant. He scarcely has a chance to carry out his intent, because his father is too overjoyed at the lost son's return. Fine clothes and a banquet replaced the son's earlier penury.
D. vv. 25-32. The hardworking elder son would not join the celebration. Although his father reminded him that all the estate was his, could not be taken for anyone else and no injustice was done, the elder son indulged only in anger and disdain. He would not join his loving father in reclaiming a lost brother.
