And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
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It is hard to believe, as summer slips on by, that we are already more than a third of our way through Trinitytide. Last time I preached, back at Trinity II, I mentioned that the lectionary had a certain logic for the season of Trinitytide. Trinity 2-9 focus on our purgation–meaning the spiritual cleansing through Christ that requires the purgation of sin from our lives.Trinity 10-16 focuses on illumination, meaning our rising to our new life in the Spirit and growing in the knowledge of the Spirit’s gifts which we have all received.Trinity 17-23 then leads us to the final stage of spiritual growth: union with God. As you all have seen in the readings appointed for each Sunday throughout the past nine weeks of Trinity, there has been a focus on purgation: that part of our lives is a time of suffering as we put off the old man, crucifying the flesh so that we may gain self-control and turn towards virtue. The readings have featured a dual focus, like two sides of the same coin: first on how the great is the gift of salvation and then second on our duty to live our lives in accordance with this great gift. Our baptisms made us into a new creation, and now our lives which were corrupted and wounded by sin have been refreshed, been made new by the cleansing waters. This change is an ontological change, meaning a change at the very root of our being. This is a supreme gift since we are incorporated into the Body of Christ, the Church, at our baptisms and now may bear that precious name of Christian, a little Christ. But this new state of being must be lived out and nurtured in our moral life so that we may share Christ’s great gift to the Church: eternal life. We live out morally, what we are ontologically. This means that our duty is to live our day to day life in such a way that it reflects our incorporation into a new Body, that of Christ Himself.
Of course, this is not instantaneous, nor is it easy. I don’t know about you, and perhaps I might be the only one here, but it is easy to think of my failures, the times I have willingly chosen sin rather than virtue–when I have renounced my state as a new creation by following actions that are only fit for a kingdom of death. The question arises: What happens when I turn my back against the great gift that God has given? How do Christians handle failure?
Today we will focus on two answers to these questions, first from the Epistle and then from the Gospel.
Paul, also, in the Epistle shows just how easy it is to fall away from God by giving us the example of Israel in the wilderness. All the Hebrews had a type of baptism as they passed through the Red Sea–and they also had a type of Holy Communion in the bread of heaven (manna) and the water that gushed forth from the rock (Moses beating the body of Christ). And yet, even given the great exodus and the pledge of the Promised Land, the Hebrews were overthrown in the wilderness because of their own desires and also complained against God who had just delivered them from Egypt. Paul is quite clear: the Hebrews’ pride turns them away from God and they lose the promised land. So, Paul warns: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” The Hebrews went through a very tough trial, no doubt about it, but their failure starts with their own pride. So, Paul’s warning to us is to not be surprised by trials nor expect to fail. You do not have to sin!
Paul is not just recounting history, but is using the Hebrews as a moral example for us in the Church! They are a metaphor for our own Christian life, just how Jesus uses parables as a metaphor for our lives. And so, let us turn to the Gospel…
This parable now takes us to the heart of failure, of when we intentionally turn ourselves against God, which is sin. What happens, then, when we fail to live up to the promise of God and to live out our status as men and women in the body of Christ?
In this famous parable, we start with a wealthy family living on a very prosperous farm. The younger son, whom we know as the prodigal, wanted to turn his back upon his family and live his own life. Though this was not the normal course, the Law did provide for the settlement of wealth before the death of the father. Two requirements had to be met: first, that the beneficiary obtains the ownership but the father still holds the property and takes any interest that is gained until his death. Second, the elder son would get a double portion, and so here in our parable, the younger son is getting one third of the family inheritance. The son asks for his portion of his father’s worth, thereby declaring his father dead to him! He is truly cutting himself off from his family.
The story is well known from here: he goes to a foreign country and squanders the money on his own pleasures until the money dries up, a famine comes, and the son is now working an embarrassing job as a pig farmer. This is striking description of when Christian goes missing!
We then learn of the son’s thoughts and actions–as Jesus says, he comes to himself”, or, he comes to his senses. Jesus does not recount any heart-felt sorrow at his previous actions, nor any fear of retribution–he is simply hungry, has no other way to help himself, and knows that there is no one else to blame but himself! And so he decides that it would be better to be a laborer on his father’s farm, to place himself at his father’s mercy, rather than stay where he is. He turns, then, and decides to go back.
It is hard for us, today, to realize just how shocking the next part of the parable would have seemed to his disciples. First off, the son’s actions were very risky at this point. The father still had a lot of power over this son, and did not have to take him back. But take him back he did and in a most extravagant and counter-cultural form of running to meet his son even before his son asked for forgiveness.
Now that the younger son is welcomed, the elder son now comes into the scene, and he is indignant at the situation. He refuses to see his father’s actions as anything just or fair and the parable ends with a great reversal. The son who was on the outside (as an outcast) is now on the inside and the son who was on the inside is now left outside. All of the elder son’s concerns of injustice and the sinful actions of his brother miss the point that his father is merciful, loving, and excited to have his lost son back. When Jesus told this parable, he was addressing it to the Jewish leaders who were so angry at his acceptance of sinners and outcasts: by this parable, Jesus is telling them, “Look at how great God loves his lost children. Contrast his love and grace with your own joyless, loveless, unthankful, and self-righteous lives. Look here; look at these outsiders and sinners coming to me, rising to new life, returning home. Rejoice!”
This is our model for our own lives–it is a model of true repentance. The moral life of a Christian is marked by true repentance where we turn from those actions that do not befit the sons and daughters of God Almighty, we ask the Father for mercy, and then we do not go back to the pig sty or wait outside in the darkness. IT is easy to fall in love with your own darling sins, whether by pride like the elder son or through lust like the younger son–but in both of these cases, your Father in heaven seeks to restore you if you turn.
This is why we pray in the Collect for this morning:
Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We ask the Lord for his power so that we will think the right things and then actually do them!
So what do Christians do when faced with our own moral failure? We seek after our merciful Father! For those of you in need of repentance, the Church has offered ways to help you. First, go seek private Confession and there you will find one of the greatest gifts from God: absolution. Freedom from your sin, mercy, a new life.
Second, come to the great feast here at the altar where God almighty seeks to give Himself to you so that you might live through him. The purpose of our lives is not to be free from sin. In fact, that is just a baseline. More important is to join yourself to your Creator who wants you to be with him. Come and join his feast here at the Altar. It has been sacrificed for you.
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.