Lent 4
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook, SERIES II
for use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
Comments on the Lessons
There is near consensus on the Joshua reading, which is an account of the transition of Israel from being dependent upon manna for nourishment to living on the produce of the promised land. The Isaiah reading consists of two songs which conclude Section I of the book of Isaiah: (1) verses 1-3 which are a song of deliverance, and (2) verses 4-6 which are a song of thanksgiving. There is near consensus on the 2 Corinthians reading, which properly should begin with verse 16. In the 1 Corinthians passage Paul argues that the Gospel is not a new philosophy but a message to be accepted and lived. There is virtual consensus on the reading from Luke, and, because the reading is lengthy, verses 1-3 are included to give the context of the parable of the prodigal son. The murmuring of the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2 is reflected in the anger of the elder brother in verse 28.
Commentary
Joshua 5:9-12 (C) (RC)
This is an account of the celebration of the Passover at Gilgal. The Hebrew verb meaning "rolled away" in verse 9 is from the same root as Gilgal. However the etymology is rather far-fetched, and the true meaning of Gilgal is "circle (of stones)." In the place called Gilgal God is supposed to have rolled away the reproach of Egypt. We should point out that just prior to this Gilgal event the nation was circumcised. The rite of circumcision symbolically rolled away the reproach of Israel's slavery in Egypt. Be conscious of the fact that circumcision is the outward bodily sign which indicates to all that one is a member of the covenant community, a necessary condition for partaking in the solemn rite of the Passover. It parallels the Christian practice in which baptism is a condition for taking part in the Eucharist. Both circumcision and baptism recall the liberation which has been made possible through God's mighty acts in the past.
Understand that the giving of two place-names, both Gilgal and the plains of Jericho, is superfluous. The plains of Jericho appears to recall the practice of celebrating the festival outside the sanctuary. Moses asked Pharaoh to let the people go out and hold a feast in the wilderness. Some think that the original festival mentioned here was probably the celebration of a move to a new pasture in the spring. It appears to be the memory of the nomad period by a settled population, a rite later completely swallowed up by the feast of the Passover. Even today Samaritans maintain the custom of celebrating the Passover by camping on Gerizim on the edges of the holy place. This is outside their dwellings in Nablus.
In verse 11 we find that the pastoral festival has been amalgamated with the agricultural celebration of the first fruits of the harvest by the eating of unleavened bread and roasted barley. The text, however, does not make the process of events clear. But appreciate the fact that the link between the Passover and the unleavened bread is an ancient one, even if it did not exist from the beginning of these rites. The unleavened bread and the grain belonged to the products of the earth. They are the first fruits of the holy land, the first element in appropriating the divine promise. While the semi-nomad Israelite becomes a peasant, the God of this change remains the same God.
Take cognizance of the fact that the gift of manna ceases automatically with the possibility of living by the products of the country itself. The miraculous gift of manna for the wilderness wanderings is now replaced by the equally great miracle of the spring harvest! This great miracle is constantly experienced anew by the devout Israelite. The Israelite is now free from the fears to which the Canaanite was subject because of the weakness and unreliability of Canaanite gods. So long as the Israelites do not drift off into syncretism, but remain true to Yahweh, they can look forward with assurance without either worshiping nature or fearing it.
In the preaching of Deuteronomy the celebration of the first Passover in the promised land was a source of confident hope. All the events at Gilgal witnessed to God's faithfulness to the covenant. This faithfulness of God could be called on in preaching then, and in preaching today!
Isaiah 12:1-6 (L)
We cannot determine the origin or date of these two psalms which conclude the messianic picture of chapter 11. These two songs conclude Section I of the book of Isaiah, and they consist of: (1) a song of deliverance in verses 1-3, and (2) a song of thanksgiving in verses 4-6. Isaiah's name may be translated "Yahweh is salvation" and in verse 2 the prophet says, "God is my salvation." An unknown editor has preserved the words of Isaiah as he assures the congregation of the second temple, people who were deeply troubled by events of their time, that the prophecies of the coming empire of the King of peace would most certainly be fulfilled. In 11:1-6 the prophet had announced these prophecies. God alone knows the coming of that day when they will experience the grace of God in such overwhelming fulness. Even as Israel had sung a hymn in escaping from Egypt (Exodus 15), so now they will sing a song of praise, verses 4-6, and glorify the name of their God for the whole world to hear. Hope is the key which will enable them to endure their present trials, and make it possible for them to praise their redeemer in anticipation of the consummation.
Reflect on the fact that the background of this thanksgiving is provided by an ancient practice in the sacred law. According to this tradition, the condemned person had to pronounce a confession of his guilt and a hymn in praise of the might of the righteousness of God which had been revealed in the trial. (Joshua 7:19) Even so, Israel now acknowledges both the righteousness of the divine judgment which is still bearing down on her heavily, and also her faith that the purpose of salvation, which is going to be ultimately revealed, is what lies behind this judgment. This judgment is steeped in the language of the Psalms, but comes from Isaiah himself.
The first psalm, verses 1-2, is an individual thanksgiving for deliverance, much like Psalm 116. "In that day" is the day when God will send his savior-king from the stump of Jesse and lead his scattered people back to the promised land in a second Exodus, when the grateful congregation will sing their hymn. In a new Jerusalem purified of all sin, the people of the covenant, the holy remnant, gather to express gratitude to God in a joyful thanksgiving. God has heard her cry for comfort: "and thou didst comfort me." (v. 1) They have recognized the power of God, and know that in God alone can they find the possibility of life, salvation, and ample land.
This brief psalm contains the characteristic elements of a thanksgiving:
1. the introduction, which contains a resolve to give thanks
2. acknowledgment or praise (always including Yahweh's name as it does here)
3. the actual account, which offers the basis for thanksgiving, and which is introduced by "for"
The second psalm of thanksgiving is composed for use when "with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (v. 3) The life-giving water of the wells was a symbol of God's saving power. The purpose of this singing is the glorification of God before the nations, by which they are to learn of his actions of revelation.
Consider verse 3, which looks forward to the expected and longed-for time of salvation, when the people expect to receive all their strength in joyful trusting faith from God who is the source of life. The members of the congregation exhort one another to glorify God and give thanks to him. By this glorification the nations are to learn of God's acts of revelation, and they ultimately come to give him the honor due him. There is special emphasis on the name of Yahweh, which is used twice: "Give thanks to the Lord (Yahweh)," (v. 4), and "Sing praises to the Lord (Yahweh)." (v. 5) The name of God is a gift. God acts in the history of Israel to reveal himself, and thus the glorification of his name and the proclamation of his mighty acts in history are identical.
The aim of history is the presence of God in his church. (1 Corinthians 15:24) Through every judgment of God on his people history is moving toward its consummation. Both the church of the old covenant and the church of the new covenant know that this world is not the ultimate one. There is no enduring city here. The church looks forward to a new heaven and a new earth, and while we do not know yet what we shall be, we do know that ... when he [Christ] appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)
It is significant that for the Israelites the common tasks of daily life, such as drawing water, were occasions of religious celebration and praise. This emphasis was expressed in Celtic Christianity with its stress on relating faith to the everyday life. In the Abbey of Iona this writer saw, on the columns near the chancel, carvings of everyday scenes, such as driving cattle to market, which reminded the worshiper of opportunities to praise God. The thrust of verse 6 is that "... great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." God is right here. Dr. George McLeod, the founder of the lona Community based on the Island of lona, Scotland, tells of a stained glass window in a church in Edinburgh. It had been broken by a rock thrown through it which had altered a well known verse of Scripture. The quotation, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased" (Luke 2:14) had been altered by the tossed rock to read, "Glory to God in the High st, and on earth peace ..." Edinburgh is famous for its "High Street," and George McLeod took this unintentional change in the reading as an affirmation of God's revelation in the "High St.," in the common daily life of ordinary people.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (C)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (RC)
Be aware of the division of these verses, which fall into two different sections: (1) verses 14-17, which are concerned with the love of Christ, and (2) 5:18--6:2, which deal with the the urgency of reconciliation. The first word of verse 16, translated "From now on" (RSV) and "wherefore" (KJV), introduces a statement which describes the result of what Paul has just said in the preceding verses. "From now on" refers to the moment of Paul's confession, when he realized that Christ died for all and so believed in him. Paul says that because the love of Christ controls him and his associates, and because all of them have died to sin, they now may live no longer for themselves, but for Christ who died for them and was raised.
For this reason Paul no longer regards other persons from a human point of view. He no longer thinks as he did before his conversion. He is now a new creation, verse 17. He can no longer judge anyone from a human point of view, literally "according to the flesh." Paul had even regarded Christ from a human point of view, seeing him as only another human being whose teachings and claims were blasphemous, and whose cross was a curse. But now that Paul is in Christ he is a new creation. Mark well that verse 17 is one of the key verses of Scripture, one that many have commited to memory.
This writer heard Professor Karl Barth speak at an English Colloquium in Basel, Switzerland in the Spring of 1959, on a section of the Dogmatics on which he was lecturing, and which he was preparing for publication. An English-speaking student asked him his opinion of Christian mysticism. He commented that there is a Christian mysticism only in the sense of Paul's understanding of a person in Christ! We have knowledge of and communion with God only through an ongoing faith relationship in Christ.
Paul now knows Christ as head of a new creation, into which the believer is incorporated. Those who are in Christ Jesus no longer live and think according to the flesh, but are led by the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-8)
"All this is from God," says Paul, referring to the redemptive work that Christ has done to help transform humans. All is of grace. We do not merit God's blessings. God, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (For more on reconciliation from Paul's view, see Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, and Hebrews 1:3.) God took the initiative in sending his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and so atone for them and reconcile us to God. It was not that God was placated by our good works or liturgical actions, but that God acted.
Mark well that when we come to verse 19 we have struck the mother lode of the Gospel, a vein which can be worked for nuggets almost indefinitely! "That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." This verse unites God's work of incarnation and atonement, a combination which we noted in the Advent commentary. Some manuscripts read "God was in Christ reconciling," but the meaning is the same with either reading. That God was in Christ is the message of the Incarnation. That God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ's death and resurrection is at the heart of the Atonement. "The world" probably means the whole of creation, which is in bondage to corruption. Paul is not offering a theory of the Atonement, but rather is proclaiming the way of reconciliation, and our need to accept this way. "That is," which begins the verse, introduces a restatement of the heart of the Gospel presented in verse 18, and this phrase implies that the ministry just mentioned was a faithful preaching of the Gospel. (Note: the KJV places a comma after Christ and so is in error.) Paul is not saying that God was in Christ, but assumes all along that God was active and working in Christ's work. Rather, Paul is declaring what God did: he was reconciling the world to himself. So "was" should be taken with reconciling.
God was not counting their trespasses against them. God wiped clean the record of their sins through Christ's death on the Cross. He did not store in the mainframe of his computer system a meticulous record of our sins, but rather pressed the "kill" key and destroyed the record forever. There is no secret "mainframe," as the White House had during the Iran arms-for-hostages scandal, which kept a permanent record even when operators of terminals thought they had erased their communications stored in the computer system. Paul emphasizes the wonder of divine forgiveness through justification by faith. God is gracious and does not gunnysack our sins, as we do with one another, only to bring them up at some later date.
The message of reconciliation made possible by Christ's death and resurrection was entrusted to Paul. He considered himself and his associates to be ambassadors for Christ.
An "ambassador," like an apostle, is someone who is called and set apart to act for another. We are called to act for Christ. An ambassador was the representative of a divine ruler. So Paul sees himself and those with him as representing the Lord Jesus Christ, and acting for, or on behalf of, Christ. He calls his hearers to be reconciled to God. He beseeches, or begs them, so urgent is the opportunity to be reconciled. This call to be reconciled is a call to turn from sin and to turn to God, accepting by faith the redemption, forgiveness, and reconciliation he offers while we are still sinners.
Consider the epigrammatic nature of verse 21 : "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." One definition of an epigram is "a terse, sage, or witty and often paradoxical saying." That describes this verse well. God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin (baptized for our sin in the Jordan and on the Cross), so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The Bible is insistent that Christ never yielded to temptation, a conviction held by the apostolic church. But Christ so identified with sinners that he took their sin upon himself. By righteousness Paul means that our good standing before God includes a real transformation of life by the power of God. This idea of Christ taking upon himself the sin of the world lies at the heart of the substitutionary theory of the Atonement. Paul does not attempt to make a rational explanation, but simply relates the action of God in a terse paradoxical statement.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (L)
This passage is part of a section which continues to 2:5 and deals with the fact that the Gospel is not a new philosophy. It might be called "The Wisdom of Humans and the Foolishness of God." While Paul seems to put down human wisdom in this section (which would contradict Romans 1:18-20), he is actually saying that although humans knew God they did not honor him, but instead made idols resembling humans and animals. In this context God makes human wisdom into foolishness by making foolishness (preaching the Cross) into wisdom. There is a paradox about divine action which comes through in Jesus' teaching. Only when one has accepted foolishness as wisdom, and wisdom as foolishness, is one prepared to be mature and receive true wisdom. (2:6) So Paul does not deprecate wisdom as such, but shows that, even with human wisdom, humans did not recognize God.
Consider how Paul lifts up the Cross in all his letters as the good news that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." (2 Corinthians 5:19; see preceding commentary work) When Paul mentions the Cross he refers to the message about Christ's death for human redemption.
Be aware of the two groups to whom Paul speaks: (1) those who see the Cross as folly, and who are therefore perishing, and (2) those for whom the Cross is the power of God, and who are being saved. For the world, the Cross was a symbol of weakness and shame. We must note that the present tense is used for "perishing ... being saved ..." which indicates that there are no guarantees in merely holding church membership. This notion of the two ways is firmly established in the Hebrew way of thinking. (Compare with Psalm 1.)
Paul deprecates the wise man, scribe, and debater of the age, and shows how God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom. But, says Paul, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. The Jews could not accept a crucified Messiah, but looked for a Messiah who would rule by earthly power and liberate Israel. Because this could be defended in Scripture, they considered the Cross a stumbling block.
But to both Jews and Gentiles, Christ crucified is the power of God and wisdom of God. For the power of God, what God does in the world is something that happens and not just words. It is worked out in human lives and history. We express our knowledge of the good news by what we are and what we do, as much as we do by means of words. "What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say" puts it well.
The Christians of Corinth were not an impressive group - slaves, poor, uneducated, and not powerful. In verses 26-31 we have a parallel to what follows in 2:1-5. Both passages describe the activity of God in the church: God chose the weak to shame the strong; what is low and despised in the world is used to bring to nothing things that are.
Some years ago this writer heard a speaker one evening in a church in Richmond, Virginia say that he had been seated at a large banquet in Washington, D.C. next to a man who was openly hostile to religion. When he learned that his tablemate was a preacher, the antagonist laughingly said, "Haven't you learned yet that Christians are just a little group of poor people on back streets singing ditties about heaven?" Our speaker that evening said he replied after a moment of reflection: "You are quite right. Christians have never been a very impressive or powerful group. They often have to meet in basements and side streets to avoid persecution. And they do sing ditties about heaven, for that is where our commonwealth is. We look forward to Christ's coming again from heaven to make a new heaven and a new earth." The mocker sat in silence.
In verse 26 Paul says "consider your call" which is from God and does not discriminate against the poor and lowly but rather seems to favor them. The Old Testament in its later sections indicates that God favors the poor, downtrodden and simple. In verse 30 Paul says literally "you are in Christ Jesus." This refers to the church and one's membership in it, in sharp contrast to "things that are not."
In verse 30 Paul also lists wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, a list which seems to parallel items in verses 26ff: not wise, not powerful, etc. In verse 31, Paul alludes to Jeremiah 9:22ff and 1 Samuel 2:10, which is scriptural basis for the low condition of most Christians. The credit must go to God, in whom we boast, for he has given us salvation in Christ by means of the Cross. For this reason human pride must be replaced by trusting humility.
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
In recent years there has been debate over whether this passage should be called the "parable of the prodigal son" or "parable of the waiting father" or "parable of the Father's Love." This writer takes the central thrust to be the father's love, since he is the central figure of the parable. The parable begins, "There was a man who had two sons ..." But note that the father is not God. And we should not allegorize the parable to find the universal fatherhood of God in it. But the thrust of the parable is that God's love for the lost in Israel (and Luke's readers would include Gentiles also) is like the father's love for the prodigal.
This story appears only in Luke's Gospel, and Luke has left some distinctive traces as he shaped the story for his purposes. There are parallels to the story which have been found in Babylonian and Canaanite literature, in the Lotus Sutra and in Greek writings. But none of these parallels have the moving force of this story told by Jesus.
It has been called the best known and loved of all Jesus' parables, and it is no wonder. All of us are prodigals saved by the forgiving, accepting love of God our Father.
We learn from verses 1-3 that Jesus addressed this parable, and the two before it, both to tax collectors and sinners and to the Pharisees and scribes who murmured against Jesus. Tax collectors and sinners are prodigals. The Pharisees and scribes who murmur remind us of the elder brother who became angry and refused to go into the party (v. 28) The two parables of the lost sheep and lost coin build up to the story of the prodigal son. They show the sheer joy, first of a man who left ninety-nine sheep to search for the lost one until he found it. Then he calls his friends to rejoice with him over the finding of the lost sheep. And the woman who loses a silver coin and finds it, also rejoices with her friends and neighbors. In both stories, Jesus points out the even greater joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
In the parable of the prodigal son it is a human being, the younger son, who is lost - not a sheep or coin. Thus, the preceding two parables build up to the parable of the prodigal son. The preacher may want to include all three parables in the reading for this Sundey (if the text is the basis for the sermon), in order to show this movement.
Consider the structure of this parable with its two parts: (1) first a focus on the prodigal son verses 11-14, and (2) a focus on the elder brother, verses 25-32. The movement in each part is (first) from focusing on the son to (second) focusing on the loving father. Note that the ending of each part is the same: "for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found," and "for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found."
In the first part, the picture of the prodigal son creates negative feelings in the hearer, for the son treated the father as if he were already dead (in demanding his share of the inheritance). While law permitted him to ask for his share, he did not have the right to dispose of it until after his father's death. The prodigal dissipates his means of caring for his father, should a need arise, thus violating the commandment to honor one's father and mother. He mixed with Gentiles instead of looking to the Jewish community for aid. Even more repugnant for Jewish readers, he made his living in a sinful way, feeding pigs which were "unclean" animals for Jews. The prodigal is portrayed as uncouth, unclean and cQntemptible, which should be communicated to the audience today if the full impact of the sermon is to be effected.
For a number of reasons, the father amazes us by his actions in the first part of the passage: he grants the son's request for his share, but upon the son's return home he does a number of dramatic things which reveal his love publicly, things which would humiliate an oriental father: he runs out to meet him, something an old man in the orient would consider beneath his dignity; he embraces him, which keeps the prodigal from dropping to his knees to beg for a position as a slave; he kisses him, as a sign of reconciliation; he puts the best robe on him, as a sign of honor; and he gives him a ring, as a sign of authority. The shoes he gives the son mark him as a free man, since slaves went barefoot. And the feast was a symbol of joy and restored community. Note well thejoy of this parable, like the joy of the preceding two parables because of the sheep and coin that were found. This is not just ordinary joy, but excessive joy - which makes the parable borderline surrealistic, since joy over the prodigal's return makes no sense, or at least puzzles us.
The second part deals with the elder brother, who by law inherited twice as much as the prodigal son. He, too, provokes negative feelings: he addresses his father without a title, thus insulting him; he accuses his father of playing favorites with the prodigal; and he rejects the prodigal from being a part of the family, calling him "this son of yours" instead of "brother." In complaining about not being given a feast and not being able to dispose of his share of the inheritance as he wants to, he thus also indicates he wants the father dead and gone, just as the prodigal did. He is a legalist who has strictly carried out the father's orders. But he is loveless. He appears as a covert sinner, while the prodigal is an overt one.
Consider the father's reaction in this second part. Love directs his actions and words here as well. His response is provocative as he reacts to the elder brother's anger. He goes out to him also. He assures him that what is his as a father belongs to him, the elder son, also. The father says that in this situation it is fitting, a divine necessity, to make merry over the returned prodigal. Joy should mark the sinner's repentance, not because expressing joy is the human thing to do, but because this is God's behavior when sinners repent.
The ending of the parable remains open: does the elder brother finally come into the feast and forgive the prodigal son? Only the hearer, the elder brothers and sisters, can answer this. The emphasis is on the second half and so the climax is not in the father's receiving the prodigal son but rather in the question to the hearer: will you share in the community of faith's joy in the return of prodigals today?
Appreciate the joy of this chapter - joy over the found sheep, coin and son, followed by the query to the hearer: can you participate in this joy? It asks the hearer, "Where are you in relationship to God and repentant sinners? Are you more concerned with found sheep and coins than repentant sinners? Why can't you participate in divine joy over repentant sinners?"
Just below the surface of the parable, and most certainly in the minds of the Pharisees and scribes, is the question: Who is Jesus, that he claims to know the mind of God, that God rejoices over recovering lost sinners? Not only are the Pharisees (introduced in verses 1-3) forced to ask themselves whether or not they are "elder brothers," but they also must decide who this Jesus is and what right he has to pronounce the judgment he gives.
This parable is especially appropriate for Lent with its emphasis on repentance and the open-ended call for repentance at the end of the parable. The major thrust is not on turning from sin, but on the joy of fellowship with God and neighbor in community. Jesus teaches that God only requires simple, genuine repentance in order to be received back into community. Those who want God's forgiveness must forgive others and commune on the basis of shared faith in God.
Theological Reflections
The Joshua passage recalls the transition from Israel's relying on manna to eating the produce of the promised land on the day after the passover. This is a mark of the fulfillment of the covenant promise. Isaiah records two songs, one of deliverance and the other of thanksgiving for God's covenant faithfulness. The 2 Corinthians passage reflects on God's reconciling work in Christ and the ministry of reconciliation, which is given to disciples as ambassadors for Christ. In 1 Corinthians Paul contrasts the foolishness of human wisdom with the power and wisdom of God revealed in the Cross. The Luke reading reveals the love of God to both repentant sinners and self-righteous persons who reject sinners. The parable poses the question for the hearer: Which kind of person will we be, repentant sinner or self-righteous legalist?
Homiletical Moves
Joshua 5:9-12 (C) (RC)
The Fruit of the Land, a Sign of the Covenant
1. Israel celebrates the passover at Gilgal, where the reproach of Egypt was rolled away from her
2. God provided produce of the land instead of manna to sustain Israel, a sign of the fulfillment of the covenant
3. Let us trust in God, who will provide for our needs as we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness!
Isaiah 12:1-6 (L)
Give Thanks to the Lord
1. Give thanks to God because he has delivered you from sin and comforted you
2. Witness to God's mighty deeds among the nations and praise his name
3. Shout and sing for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel
4. Live a life of constant praise and communion with God in the daily walk of life
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (C)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (RC)
A Person in Christ is a New Creation!
1. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself
2. Through Christ's death on the Cross God has not counted our trespasses against us; he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteous of God
3. If anyone is in Christ that person is a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come
4. Let us be reconciled to God and serve as ambassadors for Christ in the ministry of reconciliation
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother
Since the account of the elder brother is often omitted or passed over lightly in preaching on the prodigal son parable, the preacher may want to take a fresh tack in the sermon. The focus of the story is on the loving father, but too often the story is told with a Hollywood ending of the prodigal son returning home to the waiting father who gives a joyous feast. Yet the account of the elder brother is the real punch line of the story, for it poses the question to the hearer: Shall we be like the elder brother, who is unforgiving and angry, or like the prodigal son who in repentance seeks his father's home? Contemporary sins of American capitalist society may be cited for soul-searching and repentance: consumerism, hedonism and nationalism. This avoids letting hearers off the hook with confessing minor faults and shortcomings. Point out that the hearer must decide the outcome of the parable - whether or not the elder brother goes in and is reconciled to his brother and joins in the joyous feast, for each of us is an elder brother or sister as well as a prodigal. The prodigal could pray, "Forgive us our debts" but the elder son could not pray, "as we forgive our debtors" (for he was unforgiving and self-righteous).
1. A man had two sons: (1) the younger asked for his inheritance and went into a far country where he wasted it; (2) the elder stayed home but was loveless and legalistic in his relationship with his father, thus alienated from his father's love
2. The prodigal son was reduced to feeding pigs and came to himself and returned home; but the
elder brother stayed home and rejected the prodigal son and his father's joyful feast
3. The loving father went out to both sons to welcome them into his arms and the joyful feast
4. Which person are we? Prodigal son or elder brother? Will we repent and be reconciled to God and other persons?
Hymn for Lent 4: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Prayer
Gracious God, who supplied Israel with manna in the wilderness and gave the produce of the earth in the promised land, we acknowledge your providential care of our lives. We thank you for delivering us from bondage to sin and for being present in the events of daily life. We thank you for making us a new creation in Christ and for calling us to be ambassadors of his with a ministry of reconciliation. May we always know the power and wisdom of the Cross, though it be foolishness and a stumbling block to those who are perishing. Turn us from our sin with hatred for our pride, selfishness and idolatry, and turn us by your spirit to our true home with you. May we not be unrepentant and self-righteous, but rather humble, grateful sons and daughters who rejoice in the feast of your love. Amen
There is near consensus on the Joshua reading, which is an account of the transition of Israel from being dependent upon manna for nourishment to living on the produce of the promised land. The Isaiah reading consists of two songs which conclude Section I of the book of Isaiah: (1) verses 1-3 which are a song of deliverance, and (2) verses 4-6 which are a song of thanksgiving. There is near consensus on the 2 Corinthians reading, which properly should begin with verse 16. In the 1 Corinthians passage Paul argues that the Gospel is not a new philosophy but a message to be accepted and lived. There is virtual consensus on the reading from Luke, and, because the reading is lengthy, verses 1-3 are included to give the context of the parable of the prodigal son. The murmuring of the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2 is reflected in the anger of the elder brother in verse 28.
Commentary
Joshua 5:9-12 (C) (RC)
This is an account of the celebration of the Passover at Gilgal. The Hebrew verb meaning "rolled away" in verse 9 is from the same root as Gilgal. However the etymology is rather far-fetched, and the true meaning of Gilgal is "circle (of stones)." In the place called Gilgal God is supposed to have rolled away the reproach of Egypt. We should point out that just prior to this Gilgal event the nation was circumcised. The rite of circumcision symbolically rolled away the reproach of Israel's slavery in Egypt. Be conscious of the fact that circumcision is the outward bodily sign which indicates to all that one is a member of the covenant community, a necessary condition for partaking in the solemn rite of the Passover. It parallels the Christian practice in which baptism is a condition for taking part in the Eucharist. Both circumcision and baptism recall the liberation which has been made possible through God's mighty acts in the past.
Understand that the giving of two place-names, both Gilgal and the plains of Jericho, is superfluous. The plains of Jericho appears to recall the practice of celebrating the festival outside the sanctuary. Moses asked Pharaoh to let the people go out and hold a feast in the wilderness. Some think that the original festival mentioned here was probably the celebration of a move to a new pasture in the spring. It appears to be the memory of the nomad period by a settled population, a rite later completely swallowed up by the feast of the Passover. Even today Samaritans maintain the custom of celebrating the Passover by camping on Gerizim on the edges of the holy place. This is outside their dwellings in Nablus.
In verse 11 we find that the pastoral festival has been amalgamated with the agricultural celebration of the first fruits of the harvest by the eating of unleavened bread and roasted barley. The text, however, does not make the process of events clear. But appreciate the fact that the link between the Passover and the unleavened bread is an ancient one, even if it did not exist from the beginning of these rites. The unleavened bread and the grain belonged to the products of the earth. They are the first fruits of the holy land, the first element in appropriating the divine promise. While the semi-nomad Israelite becomes a peasant, the God of this change remains the same God.
Take cognizance of the fact that the gift of manna ceases automatically with the possibility of living by the products of the country itself. The miraculous gift of manna for the wilderness wanderings is now replaced by the equally great miracle of the spring harvest! This great miracle is constantly experienced anew by the devout Israelite. The Israelite is now free from the fears to which the Canaanite was subject because of the weakness and unreliability of Canaanite gods. So long as the Israelites do not drift off into syncretism, but remain true to Yahweh, they can look forward with assurance without either worshiping nature or fearing it.
In the preaching of Deuteronomy the celebration of the first Passover in the promised land was a source of confident hope. All the events at Gilgal witnessed to God's faithfulness to the covenant. This faithfulness of God could be called on in preaching then, and in preaching today!
Isaiah 12:1-6 (L)
We cannot determine the origin or date of these two psalms which conclude the messianic picture of chapter 11. These two songs conclude Section I of the book of Isaiah, and they consist of: (1) a song of deliverance in verses 1-3, and (2) a song of thanksgiving in verses 4-6. Isaiah's name may be translated "Yahweh is salvation" and in verse 2 the prophet says, "God is my salvation." An unknown editor has preserved the words of Isaiah as he assures the congregation of the second temple, people who were deeply troubled by events of their time, that the prophecies of the coming empire of the King of peace would most certainly be fulfilled. In 11:1-6 the prophet had announced these prophecies. God alone knows the coming of that day when they will experience the grace of God in such overwhelming fulness. Even as Israel had sung a hymn in escaping from Egypt (Exodus 15), so now they will sing a song of praise, verses 4-6, and glorify the name of their God for the whole world to hear. Hope is the key which will enable them to endure their present trials, and make it possible for them to praise their redeemer in anticipation of the consummation.
Reflect on the fact that the background of this thanksgiving is provided by an ancient practice in the sacred law. According to this tradition, the condemned person had to pronounce a confession of his guilt and a hymn in praise of the might of the righteousness of God which had been revealed in the trial. (Joshua 7:19) Even so, Israel now acknowledges both the righteousness of the divine judgment which is still bearing down on her heavily, and also her faith that the purpose of salvation, which is going to be ultimately revealed, is what lies behind this judgment. This judgment is steeped in the language of the Psalms, but comes from Isaiah himself.
The first psalm, verses 1-2, is an individual thanksgiving for deliverance, much like Psalm 116. "In that day" is the day when God will send his savior-king from the stump of Jesse and lead his scattered people back to the promised land in a second Exodus, when the grateful congregation will sing their hymn. In a new Jerusalem purified of all sin, the people of the covenant, the holy remnant, gather to express gratitude to God in a joyful thanksgiving. God has heard her cry for comfort: "and thou didst comfort me." (v. 1) They have recognized the power of God, and know that in God alone can they find the possibility of life, salvation, and ample land.
This brief psalm contains the characteristic elements of a thanksgiving:
1. the introduction, which contains a resolve to give thanks
2. acknowledgment or praise (always including Yahweh's name as it does here)
3. the actual account, which offers the basis for thanksgiving, and which is introduced by "for"
The second psalm of thanksgiving is composed for use when "with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (v. 3) The life-giving water of the wells was a symbol of God's saving power. The purpose of this singing is the glorification of God before the nations, by which they are to learn of his actions of revelation.
Consider verse 3, which looks forward to the expected and longed-for time of salvation, when the people expect to receive all their strength in joyful trusting faith from God who is the source of life. The members of the congregation exhort one another to glorify God and give thanks to him. By this glorification the nations are to learn of God's acts of revelation, and they ultimately come to give him the honor due him. There is special emphasis on the name of Yahweh, which is used twice: "Give thanks to the Lord (Yahweh)," (v. 4), and "Sing praises to the Lord (Yahweh)." (v. 5) The name of God is a gift. God acts in the history of Israel to reveal himself, and thus the glorification of his name and the proclamation of his mighty acts in history are identical.
The aim of history is the presence of God in his church. (1 Corinthians 15:24) Through every judgment of God on his people history is moving toward its consummation. Both the church of the old covenant and the church of the new covenant know that this world is not the ultimate one. There is no enduring city here. The church looks forward to a new heaven and a new earth, and while we do not know yet what we shall be, we do know that ... when he [Christ] appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)
It is significant that for the Israelites the common tasks of daily life, such as drawing water, were occasions of religious celebration and praise. This emphasis was expressed in Celtic Christianity with its stress on relating faith to the everyday life. In the Abbey of Iona this writer saw, on the columns near the chancel, carvings of everyday scenes, such as driving cattle to market, which reminded the worshiper of opportunities to praise God. The thrust of verse 6 is that "... great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." God is right here. Dr. George McLeod, the founder of the lona Community based on the Island of lona, Scotland, tells of a stained glass window in a church in Edinburgh. It had been broken by a rock thrown through it which had altered a well known verse of Scripture. The quotation, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased" (Luke 2:14) had been altered by the tossed rock to read, "Glory to God in the High st, and on earth peace ..." Edinburgh is famous for its "High Street," and George McLeod took this unintentional change in the reading as an affirmation of God's revelation in the "High St.," in the common daily life of ordinary people.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (C)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (RC)
Be aware of the division of these verses, which fall into two different sections: (1) verses 14-17, which are concerned with the love of Christ, and (2) 5:18--6:2, which deal with the the urgency of reconciliation. The first word of verse 16, translated "From now on" (RSV) and "wherefore" (KJV), introduces a statement which describes the result of what Paul has just said in the preceding verses. "From now on" refers to the moment of Paul's confession, when he realized that Christ died for all and so believed in him. Paul says that because the love of Christ controls him and his associates, and because all of them have died to sin, they now may live no longer for themselves, but for Christ who died for them and was raised.
For this reason Paul no longer regards other persons from a human point of view. He no longer thinks as he did before his conversion. He is now a new creation, verse 17. He can no longer judge anyone from a human point of view, literally "according to the flesh." Paul had even regarded Christ from a human point of view, seeing him as only another human being whose teachings and claims were blasphemous, and whose cross was a curse. But now that Paul is in Christ he is a new creation. Mark well that verse 17 is one of the key verses of Scripture, one that many have commited to memory.
This writer heard Professor Karl Barth speak at an English Colloquium in Basel, Switzerland in the Spring of 1959, on a section of the Dogmatics on which he was lecturing, and which he was preparing for publication. An English-speaking student asked him his opinion of Christian mysticism. He commented that there is a Christian mysticism only in the sense of Paul's understanding of a person in Christ! We have knowledge of and communion with God only through an ongoing faith relationship in Christ.
Paul now knows Christ as head of a new creation, into which the believer is incorporated. Those who are in Christ Jesus no longer live and think according to the flesh, but are led by the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-8)
"All this is from God," says Paul, referring to the redemptive work that Christ has done to help transform humans. All is of grace. We do not merit God's blessings. God, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (For more on reconciliation from Paul's view, see Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, and Hebrews 1:3.) God took the initiative in sending his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and so atone for them and reconcile us to God. It was not that God was placated by our good works or liturgical actions, but that God acted.
Mark well that when we come to verse 19 we have struck the mother lode of the Gospel, a vein which can be worked for nuggets almost indefinitely! "That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." This verse unites God's work of incarnation and atonement, a combination which we noted in the Advent commentary. Some manuscripts read "God was in Christ reconciling," but the meaning is the same with either reading. That God was in Christ is the message of the Incarnation. That God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ's death and resurrection is at the heart of the Atonement. "The world" probably means the whole of creation, which is in bondage to corruption. Paul is not offering a theory of the Atonement, but rather is proclaiming the way of reconciliation, and our need to accept this way. "That is," which begins the verse, introduces a restatement of the heart of the Gospel presented in verse 18, and this phrase implies that the ministry just mentioned was a faithful preaching of the Gospel. (Note: the KJV places a comma after Christ and so is in error.) Paul is not saying that God was in Christ, but assumes all along that God was active and working in Christ's work. Rather, Paul is declaring what God did: he was reconciling the world to himself. So "was" should be taken with reconciling.
God was not counting their trespasses against them. God wiped clean the record of their sins through Christ's death on the Cross. He did not store in the mainframe of his computer system a meticulous record of our sins, but rather pressed the "kill" key and destroyed the record forever. There is no secret "mainframe," as the White House had during the Iran arms-for-hostages scandal, which kept a permanent record even when operators of terminals thought they had erased their communications stored in the computer system. Paul emphasizes the wonder of divine forgiveness through justification by faith. God is gracious and does not gunnysack our sins, as we do with one another, only to bring them up at some later date.
The message of reconciliation made possible by Christ's death and resurrection was entrusted to Paul. He considered himself and his associates to be ambassadors for Christ.
An "ambassador," like an apostle, is someone who is called and set apart to act for another. We are called to act for Christ. An ambassador was the representative of a divine ruler. So Paul sees himself and those with him as representing the Lord Jesus Christ, and acting for, or on behalf of, Christ. He calls his hearers to be reconciled to God. He beseeches, or begs them, so urgent is the opportunity to be reconciled. This call to be reconciled is a call to turn from sin and to turn to God, accepting by faith the redemption, forgiveness, and reconciliation he offers while we are still sinners.
Consider the epigrammatic nature of verse 21 : "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." One definition of an epigram is "a terse, sage, or witty and often paradoxical saying." That describes this verse well. God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin (baptized for our sin in the Jordan and on the Cross), so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The Bible is insistent that Christ never yielded to temptation, a conviction held by the apostolic church. But Christ so identified with sinners that he took their sin upon himself. By righteousness Paul means that our good standing before God includes a real transformation of life by the power of God. This idea of Christ taking upon himself the sin of the world lies at the heart of the substitutionary theory of the Atonement. Paul does not attempt to make a rational explanation, but simply relates the action of God in a terse paradoxical statement.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (L)
This passage is part of a section which continues to 2:5 and deals with the fact that the Gospel is not a new philosophy. It might be called "The Wisdom of Humans and the Foolishness of God." While Paul seems to put down human wisdom in this section (which would contradict Romans 1:18-20), he is actually saying that although humans knew God they did not honor him, but instead made idols resembling humans and animals. In this context God makes human wisdom into foolishness by making foolishness (preaching the Cross) into wisdom. There is a paradox about divine action which comes through in Jesus' teaching. Only when one has accepted foolishness as wisdom, and wisdom as foolishness, is one prepared to be mature and receive true wisdom. (2:6) So Paul does not deprecate wisdom as such, but shows that, even with human wisdom, humans did not recognize God.
Consider how Paul lifts up the Cross in all his letters as the good news that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." (2 Corinthians 5:19; see preceding commentary work) When Paul mentions the Cross he refers to the message about Christ's death for human redemption.
Be aware of the two groups to whom Paul speaks: (1) those who see the Cross as folly, and who are therefore perishing, and (2) those for whom the Cross is the power of God, and who are being saved. For the world, the Cross was a symbol of weakness and shame. We must note that the present tense is used for "perishing ... being saved ..." which indicates that there are no guarantees in merely holding church membership. This notion of the two ways is firmly established in the Hebrew way of thinking. (Compare with Psalm 1.)
Paul deprecates the wise man, scribe, and debater of the age, and shows how God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom. But, says Paul, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. The Jews could not accept a crucified Messiah, but looked for a Messiah who would rule by earthly power and liberate Israel. Because this could be defended in Scripture, they considered the Cross a stumbling block.
But to both Jews and Gentiles, Christ crucified is the power of God and wisdom of God. For the power of God, what God does in the world is something that happens and not just words. It is worked out in human lives and history. We express our knowledge of the good news by what we are and what we do, as much as we do by means of words. "What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say" puts it well.
The Christians of Corinth were not an impressive group - slaves, poor, uneducated, and not powerful. In verses 26-31 we have a parallel to what follows in 2:1-5. Both passages describe the activity of God in the church: God chose the weak to shame the strong; what is low and despised in the world is used to bring to nothing things that are.
Some years ago this writer heard a speaker one evening in a church in Richmond, Virginia say that he had been seated at a large banquet in Washington, D.C. next to a man who was openly hostile to religion. When he learned that his tablemate was a preacher, the antagonist laughingly said, "Haven't you learned yet that Christians are just a little group of poor people on back streets singing ditties about heaven?" Our speaker that evening said he replied after a moment of reflection: "You are quite right. Christians have never been a very impressive or powerful group. They often have to meet in basements and side streets to avoid persecution. And they do sing ditties about heaven, for that is where our commonwealth is. We look forward to Christ's coming again from heaven to make a new heaven and a new earth." The mocker sat in silence.
In verse 26 Paul says "consider your call" which is from God and does not discriminate against the poor and lowly but rather seems to favor them. The Old Testament in its later sections indicates that God favors the poor, downtrodden and simple. In verse 30 Paul says literally "you are in Christ Jesus." This refers to the church and one's membership in it, in sharp contrast to "things that are not."
In verse 30 Paul also lists wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, a list which seems to parallel items in verses 26ff: not wise, not powerful, etc. In verse 31, Paul alludes to Jeremiah 9:22ff and 1 Samuel 2:10, which is scriptural basis for the low condition of most Christians. The credit must go to God, in whom we boast, for he has given us salvation in Christ by means of the Cross. For this reason human pride must be replaced by trusting humility.
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
In recent years there has been debate over whether this passage should be called the "parable of the prodigal son" or "parable of the waiting father" or "parable of the Father's Love." This writer takes the central thrust to be the father's love, since he is the central figure of the parable. The parable begins, "There was a man who had two sons ..." But note that the father is not God. And we should not allegorize the parable to find the universal fatherhood of God in it. But the thrust of the parable is that God's love for the lost in Israel (and Luke's readers would include Gentiles also) is like the father's love for the prodigal.
This story appears only in Luke's Gospel, and Luke has left some distinctive traces as he shaped the story for his purposes. There are parallels to the story which have been found in Babylonian and Canaanite literature, in the Lotus Sutra and in Greek writings. But none of these parallels have the moving force of this story told by Jesus.
It has been called the best known and loved of all Jesus' parables, and it is no wonder. All of us are prodigals saved by the forgiving, accepting love of God our Father.
We learn from verses 1-3 that Jesus addressed this parable, and the two before it, both to tax collectors and sinners and to the Pharisees and scribes who murmured against Jesus. Tax collectors and sinners are prodigals. The Pharisees and scribes who murmur remind us of the elder brother who became angry and refused to go into the party (v. 28) The two parables of the lost sheep and lost coin build up to the story of the prodigal son. They show the sheer joy, first of a man who left ninety-nine sheep to search for the lost one until he found it. Then he calls his friends to rejoice with him over the finding of the lost sheep. And the woman who loses a silver coin and finds it, also rejoices with her friends and neighbors. In both stories, Jesus points out the even greater joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
In the parable of the prodigal son it is a human being, the younger son, who is lost - not a sheep or coin. Thus, the preceding two parables build up to the parable of the prodigal son. The preacher may want to include all three parables in the reading for this Sundey (if the text is the basis for the sermon), in order to show this movement.
Consider the structure of this parable with its two parts: (1) first a focus on the prodigal son verses 11-14, and (2) a focus on the elder brother, verses 25-32. The movement in each part is (first) from focusing on the son to (second) focusing on the loving father. Note that the ending of each part is the same: "for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found," and "for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found."
In the first part, the picture of the prodigal son creates negative feelings in the hearer, for the son treated the father as if he were already dead (in demanding his share of the inheritance). While law permitted him to ask for his share, he did not have the right to dispose of it until after his father's death. The prodigal dissipates his means of caring for his father, should a need arise, thus violating the commandment to honor one's father and mother. He mixed with Gentiles instead of looking to the Jewish community for aid. Even more repugnant for Jewish readers, he made his living in a sinful way, feeding pigs which were "unclean" animals for Jews. The prodigal is portrayed as uncouth, unclean and cQntemptible, which should be communicated to the audience today if the full impact of the sermon is to be effected.
For a number of reasons, the father amazes us by his actions in the first part of the passage: he grants the son's request for his share, but upon the son's return home he does a number of dramatic things which reveal his love publicly, things which would humiliate an oriental father: he runs out to meet him, something an old man in the orient would consider beneath his dignity; he embraces him, which keeps the prodigal from dropping to his knees to beg for a position as a slave; he kisses him, as a sign of reconciliation; he puts the best robe on him, as a sign of honor; and he gives him a ring, as a sign of authority. The shoes he gives the son mark him as a free man, since slaves went barefoot. And the feast was a symbol of joy and restored community. Note well thejoy of this parable, like the joy of the preceding two parables because of the sheep and coin that were found. This is not just ordinary joy, but excessive joy - which makes the parable borderline surrealistic, since joy over the prodigal's return makes no sense, or at least puzzles us.
The second part deals with the elder brother, who by law inherited twice as much as the prodigal son. He, too, provokes negative feelings: he addresses his father without a title, thus insulting him; he accuses his father of playing favorites with the prodigal; and he rejects the prodigal from being a part of the family, calling him "this son of yours" instead of "brother." In complaining about not being given a feast and not being able to dispose of his share of the inheritance as he wants to, he thus also indicates he wants the father dead and gone, just as the prodigal did. He is a legalist who has strictly carried out the father's orders. But he is loveless. He appears as a covert sinner, while the prodigal is an overt one.
Consider the father's reaction in this second part. Love directs his actions and words here as well. His response is provocative as he reacts to the elder brother's anger. He goes out to him also. He assures him that what is his as a father belongs to him, the elder son, also. The father says that in this situation it is fitting, a divine necessity, to make merry over the returned prodigal. Joy should mark the sinner's repentance, not because expressing joy is the human thing to do, but because this is God's behavior when sinners repent.
The ending of the parable remains open: does the elder brother finally come into the feast and forgive the prodigal son? Only the hearer, the elder brothers and sisters, can answer this. The emphasis is on the second half and so the climax is not in the father's receiving the prodigal son but rather in the question to the hearer: will you share in the community of faith's joy in the return of prodigals today?
Appreciate the joy of this chapter - joy over the found sheep, coin and son, followed by the query to the hearer: can you participate in this joy? It asks the hearer, "Where are you in relationship to God and repentant sinners? Are you more concerned with found sheep and coins than repentant sinners? Why can't you participate in divine joy over repentant sinners?"
Just below the surface of the parable, and most certainly in the minds of the Pharisees and scribes, is the question: Who is Jesus, that he claims to know the mind of God, that God rejoices over recovering lost sinners? Not only are the Pharisees (introduced in verses 1-3) forced to ask themselves whether or not they are "elder brothers," but they also must decide who this Jesus is and what right he has to pronounce the judgment he gives.
This parable is especially appropriate for Lent with its emphasis on repentance and the open-ended call for repentance at the end of the parable. The major thrust is not on turning from sin, but on the joy of fellowship with God and neighbor in community. Jesus teaches that God only requires simple, genuine repentance in order to be received back into community. Those who want God's forgiveness must forgive others and commune on the basis of shared faith in God.
Theological Reflections
The Joshua passage recalls the transition from Israel's relying on manna to eating the produce of the promised land on the day after the passover. This is a mark of the fulfillment of the covenant promise. Isaiah records two songs, one of deliverance and the other of thanksgiving for God's covenant faithfulness. The 2 Corinthians passage reflects on God's reconciling work in Christ and the ministry of reconciliation, which is given to disciples as ambassadors for Christ. In 1 Corinthians Paul contrasts the foolishness of human wisdom with the power and wisdom of God revealed in the Cross. The Luke reading reveals the love of God to both repentant sinners and self-righteous persons who reject sinners. The parable poses the question for the hearer: Which kind of person will we be, repentant sinner or self-righteous legalist?
Homiletical Moves
Joshua 5:9-12 (C) (RC)
The Fruit of the Land, a Sign of the Covenant
1. Israel celebrates the passover at Gilgal, where the reproach of Egypt was rolled away from her
2. God provided produce of the land instead of manna to sustain Israel, a sign of the fulfillment of the covenant
3. Let us trust in God, who will provide for our needs as we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness!
Isaiah 12:1-6 (L)
Give Thanks to the Lord
1. Give thanks to God because he has delivered you from sin and comforted you
2. Witness to God's mighty deeds among the nations and praise his name
3. Shout and sing for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel
4. Live a life of constant praise and communion with God in the daily walk of life
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (C)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (RC)
A Person in Christ is a New Creation!
1. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself
2. Through Christ's death on the Cross God has not counted our trespasses against us; he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteous of God
3. If anyone is in Christ that person is a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come
4. Let us be reconciled to God and serve as ambassadors for Christ in the ministry of reconciliation
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother
Since the account of the elder brother is often omitted or passed over lightly in preaching on the prodigal son parable, the preacher may want to take a fresh tack in the sermon. The focus of the story is on the loving father, but too often the story is told with a Hollywood ending of the prodigal son returning home to the waiting father who gives a joyous feast. Yet the account of the elder brother is the real punch line of the story, for it poses the question to the hearer: Shall we be like the elder brother, who is unforgiving and angry, or like the prodigal son who in repentance seeks his father's home? Contemporary sins of American capitalist society may be cited for soul-searching and repentance: consumerism, hedonism and nationalism. This avoids letting hearers off the hook with confessing minor faults and shortcomings. Point out that the hearer must decide the outcome of the parable - whether or not the elder brother goes in and is reconciled to his brother and joins in the joyous feast, for each of us is an elder brother or sister as well as a prodigal. The prodigal could pray, "Forgive us our debts" but the elder son could not pray, "as we forgive our debtors" (for he was unforgiving and self-righteous).
1. A man had two sons: (1) the younger asked for his inheritance and went into a far country where he wasted it; (2) the elder stayed home but was loveless and legalistic in his relationship with his father, thus alienated from his father's love
2. The prodigal son was reduced to feeding pigs and came to himself and returned home; but the
elder brother stayed home and rejected the prodigal son and his father's joyful feast
3. The loving father went out to both sons to welcome them into his arms and the joyful feast
4. Which person are we? Prodigal son or elder brother? Will we repent and be reconciled to God and other persons?
Hymn for Lent 4: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Prayer
Gracious God, who supplied Israel with manna in the wilderness and gave the produce of the earth in the promised land, we acknowledge your providential care of our lives. We thank you for delivering us from bondage to sin and for being present in the events of daily life. We thank you for making us a new creation in Christ and for calling us to be ambassadors of his with a ministry of reconciliation. May we always know the power and wisdom of the Cross, though it be foolishness and a stumbling block to those who are perishing. Turn us from our sin with hatred for our pride, selfishness and idolatry, and turn us by your spirit to our true home with you. May we not be unrepentant and self-righteous, but rather humble, grateful sons and daughters who rejoice in the feast of your love. Amen
