So here we are, dear friends, in the midst of Lent. Or past it, rather. And we might be in a place where we can take stock, and take a breath, and consider how we’re doing on the Lenten road that is penitence and prayer, fasting and almsgiving, self-examination, reading, and reflecting on the witness of the Bible. For many of us who grew up in the church, Lent was a time when we were asked to give up something.
But as we grew up, we realized that Lent is so much more than that. At least it can be. It is a time to ponder and take stock; a time to ponder who we are, and how we are, and where we’re going, if that’s what we decide to do.
This past Sunday, the Gospel story was the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). That, at least, is the traditional title that’s assigned. More recently, some would entitle the parable as, “The Resistant Brother,” or “The Loving Father,” and, to tell the truth, I think the last one says it best: “The Loving Father.”
We know the younger son took his money and ran. We know he “squandered his property in dissolute living” and that he found himself starving and alone, and empty. We know that he came to his senses, and determined to return to his father and his home. He even composed a recitation he decided he would offer to his dad, saying: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”
We can almost hear him practicing his lines over and over again. And so, armed with his recitation, he heads for home.
Then Jesus tells us, “While he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.”
“While he was still far off.” How did the father come to see him while “he was still far off”? Of course, the answer is that the father saw him because he was looking for him. Every day, every hour, every minute, he’d been searching that horizon, looking for the son he loved so much and missed so terribly. And then, that day, he saw him... and Jesus tells us that the father was filled with compassion, and he couldn’t wait a second longer. He ran out and put his arms around him and kissed him.
And immediately, the son begins his recitation: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son ..” But his recitation doesn’t make it to the end .. his father cuts him off! He doesn’t need his son’s appeal. He doesn’t need his son’s repentance .. because this son of his always has been absolutely loved! He never has been weighed and been found wanting.
He’d always been forgiven and never judged, because he’d never left his father’s heart! The Father in the parable of Jesus doesn’t wait for his young son to first ask for forgiveness! He cuts him off! He’d always been forgiven! He’d never been condemned or judged or set aside! The father’s always loved his son! He knows him always to be worthy and of value and of worth ..
The message that is Christ is, “We are loved.” The message that is Christ is we are worthy and of value and of worth; that we are good from the beginning - created in God’s image, and not bad; and that, in Christ, we can discover, or re-discover, who we really are at heart.
The parable of Jesus that we hear during this Lent reveals to us the judgment that is God’s. It reveals the truth that comes to us in Christ; and the truth that is revealed is this: The judgment that is God’s is love, and always love. God’s judgment is love; and any message that we hear that’s different isn’t Gospel!
This is the promise of the Christian faith. This is the Good News that we bring to all the world. And we say, “Thanks be to God!”
