CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
April 30, 2006
CONTINUE TO LIFT UP IN PRAYER THE FOLLOWING:
Our congregation Our nation, leaders and military
Our students Various friends, relatives and co-workers
James and Leon in the Army
EVENTS:
Today we will have a party at the King’s at 1:30 for Travis and Rose.
May 4th - National Day of Prayer
May 20th - the wedding of Travis and Rose at Lake Houston church of Christ at 1:30 p.m.
BIRTHDAYS FOR MAY:
Nona King (2nd) Jason King (2nd) Jolene Mearns (7th) Rusty Hudson (18th) Shalaina Cru thirds (23rd)
LOST SHEEP, COINS AND SONS
(part 4)
“When he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17).
When last we read, the youngest son of the father had sold off his inheritance and left for “greener” fields. Remember Jesus’ audience is made up of religious leaders who complained about Jesus eating with sinners. The three illustrations are all part of one parable to get the attention of the Pharisees. It is based on the cultural influences of the community of the day (1).
The youngest son has left and we are told he went to a foreign land where he “squandered his wealth in wild living.” He had money to spend but we are not told what he spent it on. The older brother assumes he wasted on prostitutes. Squandered means scattering and could also mean extravagant living. However he spent it, he spent it all freely. Then came a famine and he had nothing and realized he was in big trouble. He did what no self-respecting Jew would do, he attached himself to a pig farmer. This citizen probably doesn’t want or need the prodigal so he offered him a job that he should reject, a typical Middle Eastern practice. But the prodigal accepted.
Why doesn’t he go home? One, he would have to face the scorn of the older brother, who would probably rub it in day after day, not letting him forget what he had done with the wealth of the father. Two, he would have to face the village, an equally unpleasant thought. Having broken his relationship with his father and selling off his inheritance, which effects the village, he would be despised. Village life could be ruthless and beggars would be taunted and mocked, if not worse.
He is so desperate that he wanted to eat the pods that the pigs ate. These pods were possibly from the carob tree, the seeds of which could be boiled. Pigs can survive on these but humans could not. Finally coming to his senses, he decided that he would return home and join his father’s servants. Some see this as repentance but not Bailey. He realizes that he would not be accepted by the community unless he could pay back the money he had wasted, so he thought. So he decided that he would go home and though he had no skills, would work with his father’s servants, earning his way back into the good graces of his family and the village.
How many of us have thought this way? I’ve done something wrong or made a mistake and decide that by “working” I could earn my way back. We do this in our families, at our work, at church, and even with God. If only we could do enough to erase the error of our ways. How much is enough? Some have asked that question and have received various answers. One stated that it is ninety percent what I do and God makes up the rest. Others have stated that if we attend every time the door is open, take the Lord’s Supper, and give, then we “should” be okay. One even stated that if a person was about to crash into a concrete pillar in his car and cursed but did not ask God to forgive him, and he died, he would go to hell.
No doubt the young son was thinking along lines that we all think. He rehearsed his speech over and over on the way home not knowing what would happen. He hasn’t realized what his sin was. It wasn’t the waste of the money but the breaking of the relationship between him and his father. He had broken he father’s heart. He would live at home as a servant, not in the house of his father.
In another book (2), Ken Bailey looks at the situation between Jacob and Esau. When Jacob his on his way home, he attempts to pacify his brother’s anger with a variety of gifts. When they meet each other, they embrace. We often take this as reconciliation. But there are several things we need to realize. Esau has with him four hundred armed men. According to some customs, killing his brother outright after seeing all those gifts would be difficult. Accepting them would make it even more so. Jacob continues to be a smooth talker. Esau asks Jacob to follow him to his home and while Jacob says he would, he makes excuses for the trip. After Esau leaves, Jacob heads in another direction. It does not appear that they were in any way reconciled and it is only at the death of their father Isaac that we see them together again (see Genesis 25 through 35 for the full story).
When the younger son would return to the village, a ceremony would be held. He would sit outside the gate and wait for the judgment of his father and the community. He would be required to apologize for what he had done and plead for job training in the village. The shame of it all would be obvious to the prodigal but he had no choice. This would be familiar to everyone listening to Jesus; they were just waiting for the final moment when judgment is pronounced.
I wonder if we are not that way sometimes. We wait for someone to come and in shame confess what they have done wrong. Then we sit just waiting to pronounce some type of sentence on such a person. If we think about it, isn’t that what we sometimes expect during an invitation after the sermon. “We cannot do anything until that person repents.” Then we decide what sentence the leaders will pronounce. “Well, he should not participate in the ‘worship service’ for some time, nor should he teach any classes. We certainly cannot have a ‘sinner’ teaching classes.” Maybe such “sinners” should sit off in the corner, to be seen but not too much. We certainly would not take the initiative to meet the sinner at the door and hug them, would we?
What happens next surprises everyone. That will be the next portion of our study.
(1) Kenneth Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal, IVP, 2005.
(2) Kenneth Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal, IVP, 2003.
George B. Mearns