The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, March 18th: Joshua 5:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)

PRODIGAL FATHER’S BEHAVIOR AS SCANDALOUS AS SON’S

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son. Of all the characters in all the parables that Jesus told, the younger son in this parable was by far the most sinful person. The shameful and dishonorable things he did to his father and his family were simply unforgivable.

Let’s list a few things this younger son did:

• He wished his father dead. OK, the reading doesn’t actually come out and state this. But think about it: the young man approached his father and said, “Give me the share of your estate that should come to me.” He demanded his inheritance right then and there. Now normally, when does an heir receive his inheritance? After the parent has died, of course. This son was saying, in effect, You are dead to me, Dad. Just give me my inheritance now so I can get out of your life, and get you out of my life. This is an outrageously blatant violation of the Commandment: “Honor thy father and mother.”
   
• When he received his inheritance, the son immediately traveled to a distant land and squandered the money on prostitutes and other sinful behaviors that surely violated another handful of the Commandments.
   
• Finally, after the son had wasted all his funds and fell on very hard times, he went to work for a local farmer. And his new job duties? Tending swine! For a young Jewish man, raised with the Mosaic Law, which clearly prohibited eating, touching, or having anything to do with pigs, this was yet another outrageous act. To the people who were listening to Jesus’ parable, it would have been more honorable for the desperate young man to become a beggar or a thief or a member of Congress (oops, that's redundant) than to tend a herd of swine.

This young man, this Prodigal Son, committed the most despicable sins imaginable: he brought dishonor and shame to his father and the whole family; he brazenly committed gross sexual sins; and to complete the Sin Hat Trick, he went to work on a pig farm.

In telling this parable, Jesus purposely described this sinful character in such a way that his listeners would be certain to conclude that the young man was beyond forgiveness. Sure, there are plenty of minor sins and errors in judgment that can be forgiven. If a sinner repents of these lesser infractions and sincerely asks for forgiveness, well, maybe we’ll have to mete out a little punishment to teach him a lesson, but eventually the person can be restored to a proper relationship with the family and the community.

But not this young man. His crimes were simply too dastardly. His sins were unforgivable. That’s the way Jesus portrayed him, and that’s the way Jesus’ audience understood the situation.

I’m reminded of a time many years ago when I was talking with a co-worker about the love and forgiveness of God. She sort of understood the concept, but insisted that certain sins could never be forgiven. As a prime example, she mentioned the sensational Susan Smith crime story that had recently occurred. If you don’t remember the details, a woman from South Carolina, Susan Smith, strapped her two young children into their car seats, and then rolled the car into a lake, drowning both kids. Then she reported to the police that a black man had car-jacked her and driven off with her car and her babies, which produced a frantic nationwide manhunt.

Eventually, she broke down and admitted that she had killed her children, apparently because she though her new boyfriend was going to dump her because he didn’t want to date a women with kids. Nice, huh?

My co-worker refused to believe that God could ever forgive Susan Smith. Some sins are just too awful, she insisted. The people who were listening to Jesus felt the same way. The Prodigal Son’s sins were just too awful to ever, ever, ever be forgiven. Case closed.

Then Jesus told the rest of the story. He explained that the young son came to his senses and decided to return to his father’s estate. When the young man was walking toward the house, still a long way off, Jesus said, “His father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.”

Now this sentence no doubt caused Jesus’ audience to raise an eyebrow. He caught sight of him? they thought. Why would the father waste his time looking far down the road for that worthless son? And even worse, why would the father be filled with compassion for such a sinful child? The father should have been filled with rage, and instead he should have ordered some servants to go out and stone the son to death on the spot!

If Jesus’ audience was confused by that sentence, the next sentence must have made their jaws drop. Jesus said, “[The father] ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.”

OK, now this is ridiculous! they surely thought. The father is now acting almost as disgracefully as the son did!

In that culture, it would have been very embarrassing behavior for the patriarch of a large estate to go running off to meet anyone, let alone a sinful son. The dignified approach would’ve been to stay in the house, have some servants go out and meet the visitor, listen to his request for an audience with the father, and then depending upon who the visitor was, let him sit and wait for a few hours before meeting with him—if the father would meet with him at all. Just imagine some Joe Schmoe coming in off the street and telling the receptionist that he wants to meet right away with the CEO of, say, Exxon-Mobil. Very unlikely.

In this case, because of the gross sins of the son, Jesus’ listeners just knew the father would act like a corporate CEO and never agree even to meet with the son. If there was any compassion at all, it would have been the decision not to have the young man killed on the spot.

That’s not at all how Jesus told the story. He explained that the father’s love, compassion, and forgiveness was far greater than even the worst sins the son committed. The message of this parable is that God the Father has such a burning love for humanity, He is willing to forgive even the worst sins imaginable. And if He has to act in an undignified manner to do so, He will. (Think of the shame and lack of dignity of the Cross.)

God will forgive the gross sins of a disobedient, disrespectful, self-absorbed young son. God will even forgive the heinous sin of a woman who murders her two small children. If sinners, no matter how terrible their behavior, sincerely repent and turn to God, He will forgive them.

This is the message of Jesus’ famous parable. It was a scandalous message back then; it is a scandalous message today. But it is exactly how God feels toward us. His love is greater than any sin we can commit. If only we repent and turn humbly to Him.

©2007