Scripture text: Luke 15:11-32
One of the ever persistent beliefs we have about ourselves as Americans is that our nation is a Christian nation, founded on Christian principles, and driven by Christian morals. I’ve always found this curious since the evidence of this belief is a bit sketchy. I don’t think we’re quite as Christian as we claim to be.
Imagine with me a rally for a presidential candidate. Pick one. It doesn’t really matter which: Cruz, Trump, Hillary, just pick one. And they announce at this rally that before they take the stage that there will be a guest speaker to start things off. Jesus of Nazareth will be the opening act. Wow. Think about that. What an endorsement that has to be.
This, with more Jesus.
(pic from Robert Mann's blog)
Everyone’s excited and this short frumpy little Jewish man walks onto the stage. Ok, he’s not quite what we thought he’d look like, but alright. Jesus goes to the mic and the room goes quiet as we listen to what the king of kings has to say.
“A man has two sons.” He begins. “The younger comes to his father one day and says, ‘Dad, drop dead, and give me my inheritance. Give me what I deserve.’ Instead of punching him in the mouth, the father complies. He calls up his accountant and divides up his assets. He cuts a check for the son, who then takes it to the bank, buys a plane ticket to Vegas, and off he goes.
“He gets to Vegas and he smokes a ton of weed. He visits a bunch of brothels. He goes to the casinos, but Lady Luck is not on his side. He loses. And he loses again. And before you know it, all his money is gone.”
At this point, the crowd cheers. Ah, he’s gotten what he deserves. Serves him right. What goes around comes around. This is justice for how he treated his father.
Jesus holds up his hand. “I’m not finished. The son finds work at a local pig farm. As is often the case with migrant laborers, he’s paid a pittance and soon he finds himself starving.”
“Ah, ha!” Goes the crowd. “Salt in the wound.” This is just getting better. Tell us more of how this little creep gets to suffer for his sins. Tell us more of how he gets what he deserves.
Jesus keeps going. “The son comes to his senses. Realizes what a terrible mistake he’s made. So he makes a plan to return home and beg his father for a job. Let me be as the lowest of your servants. So he packs up what little he has left and hitchhikes his way back home.”
“So what’s Dad going to do when he shows up?” The people in the crowd wonder to themselves. Is he going to slam the door in his face? He should. The final blow. The ultimate punishment for this fool’s arrogance and cruelty.
Jesus pauses to let the tension build a little, then he continues again. “When the son arrives, his father looks out the window and sees him on the sidewalk. Without hesitation, he tears open the door, and he runs down the pourch and across the yard. He reaches his son and scoops him up into this massive bear hug. He kisses him, and holds him, and hugs him, and showers him with tears of joy. ‘My son, you’ve come home.’ He blubbers over and over again.
“He calls inside to his hired help. ‘His boots are still covered in pig poop. Get some decent shoes for him. Start the hot water so he can get a shower. Put out some good clothes, my best suit. And call a caterer and tell them to prepare a feast. My son has come home.’”
At this point, you can hear a pin drop in that convention center. Wait a minute, this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen. This guy is scum. He doesn’t deserve this. Slowly an angry murmur begins to rise in the crowd.
Jesus keeps going. “The elder son comes home from a long day at work. He sees the caterer’s van parked out front. He hears the sound of music and laughter inside. And he wonders what’s going on. So he grabs one of the hired help and asks him. ‘Your brother’s home.’ Says the servant. And the older son is furious. You can see the veins popping out on his forehead. Dad comes outside to invite him to join the party. The older son goes off. ‘How dare you! I work 60 hours a week to help support this family, to help make up for what that creep took from us. And when he comes home, you throw him a party!’
“‘He’s my son. He’s your brother. And he’s come home. That’s all that matters.’”
The crowd’s murmur turns into a roar. “No way. That’s not how it is. People don’t get away with this sort of thing. People work hard and get their reward. People who are lazy or evil get nothing. We get what we deserve. We get what we earn. We get what we merit.”
“No,” Jesus says. “Life is about grace. Not deserving.”
“Well, we’ll show him.” Says the crowd. Someone throws a piece of fruit and it hits Jesus smack in the face. Someone jumps up on the stage and sucker punches him. Someone else spits on him. A group grabs him and drags him outside. “A tree! String him up.” And they put the rope around his neck and they yank him high.
“People get what they deserve,” we chant. “That’s the American way.”
As Jesus gasps through the lynching rope, you can hear him say “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
Tell me again about what we deserve.
That’s what we’ve made our nation into. It’s what we’ve made our religion into. It’s all about deserving. Who deserves our help. Who deserves salvation.
Refugees fleeing a nightmarish war. They don’t deserve our help. Us? Hey, we came to church on a Friday night. I get a reward, don’t I? Joel Osteen says I do. I work hard. What’s mine is mine. It doesn’t belong to ‘those people.’
As Jesus gasps from the tree, tell me again about what you deserve.
People starving on the streets. They’re just lazy. They don’t deserve anything. Me? I’m a good person. I deserve understanding when I screw things up. I go to church. That makes me better than everyone else.
As Jesus gasps from the tree, tell me again about what you deserve.
Here’s the ugly truth. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are ALL the younger son. We have all spit in the face of our Father. We have all squandered the gifts we’ve been given. We have all acted like spoiled children. What do we deserve for that?
But we don’t get that. What do we get instead? Forgiveness, love, salvation, joy, hope. We get grace because the Son of God took what we deserved upon himself. He doesn’t belong up there. We do. Yet up there he is, drowning in his own blood, gasping for air, dying...for our sake.
It’s not about deserving. It’s about grace. And if we want to call ourselves Christian and claim our nation for Christ, then we must never forget that. It’s always about grace. What we deserve is not what we receive. Grace is what we receive and grace is what we should give. Amen.
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