Luke 14:15-15:32

Read along as Matthew guides us through the Gospel of Luke. In these verses, Jesus encounters a challenge from Pharisees about his table fellowship practices that include sinners and tax collectors. Why does Jesus choose to associate with "those people"? Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep to explain, as well as the Parable of the Lost Coin. God, Jesus explains, is seeking and saving the lost. God wants to find and rescue and redeem all of God's beloved children. Finally, Jesus tells the profound Parable of Two Lost Sons (also known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son). We're left wondering how a story like that concludes--does forgiveness and reconciliation between these sons?

Matthew is the Pastor of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in the beautiful small town of Grand Haven, MI. Discover more about St. Paul's today. www.stpaulsgrandhaven.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right. Well, friends, welcome to another Bible study. This morning we're going to read Luke chapter 14, starting in verse 15. Would you pray with me, please? Dear God, we we just thank you for another day, another day of life, another day of uh opportunity. We thank you for this time where we can read this book together and we can ponder and treasure these words in our hearts. And we thank you for this community that um that reads together. Would you bless everyone in their hearing? Amen. Alright, Luke chapter 14, verse 15, the parable of the great banquet. When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. So we have to go back. When one of those at what table heard what? What was Jesus doing before this? In chapter 14, he's he's at a Pharisee's house and he's having dinner there with a prominent Pharisee, and and what happened? Does anybody remember?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

He healed a man who was sick.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

So he heals a man who was sick, and then Jesus talks about if you're gonna have a banquet, who should you invite? The sick and the poor and the lame and the hungry. Uh when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. He's at a prominent Pharisee's house, and and there's a lot of important people there, or there's a couple important people there, or he's just recognizing that often in in you know the ways that we seem to gather to break bread, we have a seat of honor, we have a table that's more important than other tables, we have uh people that are arranged in a societal order, and from the beginning of time, this has been a thing that human beings have done. There are certain people in our world that just seem to be more important than others. And in the mind of God, every human being is a beloved child, right? Okay, so when one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to him, Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. That's a rebuttal, isn't it? Isn't it? He's sort of saying, uh, Blessed are those who are saved, not those who aren't saved. And it we don't know yet if this person knows what they're saying. If they're agreeing with Jesus and saying that uh children enter the kingdom first, or the last shall be first, if he's saying that kind of a salvation, or if he's saying, Oh, hold on a second, there's a pecking order, and the the extra righteous and the extra holy are the ones that are most blessed first, little Jesus, right? We're not sure yet who. Okay, so Jesus responds with a story. Jesus replied, A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, Come for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me. Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me. Still another said, I just got married, so I can't come. What's happening in this story? A man is trying to throw a party, a man is trying to throw a banquet for a special occasion, and people are saying, sorry, I can't come. I'm too busy. Or this big life event just happened in my life, that's more important than this banquet.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Who is not a member?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Okay. Maybe he's got bad friends, or he wasn't a nice man. It's interesting because the original sort of comment is about a very specific banquet, isn't it? Uh, one of them said to Jesus, Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. What is the feast in the kingdom of God? What feast is that biblically? It's the great messianic banquet. It's the great feast in the kingdom of God. Isaiah has this uh this vision of a mountaintop messianic feast, you know, a nice long table where everyone can come and and eat the bear the bone marrow and drink wine for free, and it's this wonderful messianic banquet. And uh it's a vision of heaven, it's a vision of salvation, it's a vision of uh union and communion with with God. And this person is saying, uh, you know, maybe only certain people get to come to that. Now, Jesus is telling a story about someone throwing a banquet, and guess what? He's talking about the messianic banquet. Imagine God goes to throw the messianic banquet, like he's doing right now, with his son, now inviting you all to come to this banquet which is happening and unfolding before you, and and are people coming? Are no, they're too busy, or they're too holy, or they're too righteous, or it doesn't fit their vision of what the messianic banquet actually is. And so he's making this critique of the very people he's breaking bread with. So the servant comes back and reports this to his master. Then the owner of the house, who in this story is God, becomes angry and ordered a servant, go out quickly into the streets in the alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Sir, the servant said, What you ordered has been done, but there is still room. Do you see what just happened there? So so God is God is sending his Son Jesus Christ first to God's chosen people, the apple of his eye, the Jewish brothers and sisters, and inviting them to the messianic banquet of which they hope. And it just seems to be that some of the wealthy folks that uh have some power, they don't want to give up their power if it might mean God gains some power. Some of the prominent religious folks don't want to have their vision of God transformed. And so what is Jesus doing? He continues to extend the invitation of God to the poor and the crippled and the lame. But now here's the good news there's more room at the party. They've done that. The poor have been welcomed. There's more seats at the table. Now do you think the others will reconsider and join? Let's read what happens. Sir, the servant said, What you ordered has been done, but there is still room. Then the master told his servant, Go out into the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I'll cast a wider net, is sort of what Jesus is saying. We'll go further into the countryside. We'll go into maybe even foreign nations. We'll we'll go further up the road and invite more people and compel them to come and taste and see that the Lord is good. I tell you, not one of those who were invited, though, will get a taste of my banquet. Why won't they get a taste of the banquet?

unknown 8:13

They weren't there.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

They didn't come. That's why, right? It's not that they weren't invited, they were totally invited. The invitation of God goes out to all humanity. From God's chosen people to the next rung of people who consider themselves God's chosen people to the next, you know, historical group that considers themselves God's chosen people, then out into the country roads, up into the hillsides, deep into the valleys, all across every nation. The invitation of God goes out to all humankind. And some people won't taste and see. Why? Because they won't come. Why? They like their life. I just got married. I'm focused on this over here. Uh I, you know, I just got a big shipment at work and I gotta sort out the logistics. I'm too busy. I don't need God. You know, why do people say no to the invitation? Lots of reasons. Yeah, Lois?

SPEAKER_02 9:15

I was like, is this kind of a truth on not the bridge man that being able to get the eye out of a needle because these church people are so impressed with themselves that they can't be called?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yeah, you're getting it. What you're getting is that the kingdom is a community, and some people can't figure out how to get in. They can't figure out that narrow way. The gate is lifted high and all may enter, but some people just get lost for different reasons. Their head is too big to fit through the door, you know? Or they're busy, or they're distracted, or they don't understand, you know. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet. What's what's interesting is if you consider communion practices across across Christendom, across the the Christian church, across time and space, um, you know, what kind of banquet feast is available at each of those churches? All right, we have a sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and some churches practice an open table, and some churches practice a closed table. And uh, and I think a parable like this should speak loudly into that conversation. Why is a table closed and why is a table open? Uh Jesus clearly says, not everyone will come and taste and see that the Lord is good. Not everyone will get a seat at this table, but why? Right? And and what's interesting is most churches today, if they have a closed table that doesn't involve everyone, it's because those people don't believe the right thing or they don't do the right thing. You know, like I I I'm an ordained minister, but I I'm not really supposed to participate in mass at the Catholic Church. You know, and I and I love and respect a lot of my Catholic brothers and sisters, and it and it grieves me that I'm not welcome at that table.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

And this says you should have everyone.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

That's right. And that and and everyone should be invited, and it should be me who chooses not to go. It should be my own. I'm closing the table off myself by saying I don't feel comfortable at that table, or I don't understand the invite. It's it's different coming from the individual versus coming from the institution. That's what I'm saying. At our church, we practice an open table, and not everyone comes. And they don't, and they don't come of their own choosing. We try to have the table be invitational. We try to, I love that we even have a round table for that exact reason, right? I love our communion table. Um and yet not everybody comes. And that's that's just the way it is, and that's okay. And I and I don't judge those people for whatever reason, we haven't done a good enough job of extending a warm enough, clear enough, open enough invitation for that person to understand this is a feast of love, and it's offered to you in grace by Jesus Christ. And some people they hear that word Jesus Christ, that name, and they just can't get over that hump. That's that resurrection fulcrum like we were talking about yesterday. They just they don't need it. They don't need that body and blood.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

And they come from a church who doesn't know why you're taking the Western recording.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Right, exactly. They might just have an upbringing that has told them this is the way it is for so long that they don't trust the open invitation or the grace. Yeah. And and I think honestly, that Jesus is telling this story to teach people who are coming from a tradition exactly like this. The Phariseic branch of Judaism is really hyper-legalistic, but he does convert many Pharisees to his way of interpreting Torah. It just takes a little effort. It takes stories like this for people to realize: okay, okay, we've got that commandment over there, we've got that rule over there, Paul says that over there, here's what Jesus is saying. It's complicated, but when you put it together and lift up a story like this, it also seems like it's open. Right. And yet, you know, not everyone invited will taste. And my response to that is just is grief or lament. It's not judgment. I just I grieve that not everyone will taste. And there will be seasons in my life where I don't taste because I can't, I just don't get it yet. I don't quite get it yet. Right. Verse 25, large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them, he said, If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Um, okay, Jesus is not telling modern parents to hate their children or to hate their spouses. He is being hyperbolic, he is being rhetorically exaggerative in order to make a point that the way we have segmented society is not the way of the kingdom. Ethnicity, family identity, uh, nation-state identity, those things are being broken down with a new opportunity to be a new kind of humanity in Christ, so that the poor are lifted up and not oppressed by the systems we've created in our world. Um, so that you don't just, you know, feel loyal to your family and then lose the opportunity to be loyal to God. Right? And so He's he's asking us to take all the different people groups or segments or parts of your identity and have your identity in in Christ, in God's own self, matter more. And uh and and if you start to do that, you're gonna have to lose some things. You're gonna have to lose some parts of yourself, you know.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Um St.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Francis Assisi became Saint Francis Assisi, he steps into the town square naked. And he he came from a wealthy family, and he takes a vow of poverty, and he leaves behind his daddy's trust fund, he leaves behind his his dad's, I don't know what business his dad owned, uh, his dad's printer business that he could have inherited. Uh he leaves behind the the tunic that his mom bought him for Christmas. He steps into the town square naked and he says, I'm gonna serve God with my whole life, right? And and thank goodness he did, because what a witness St. Francis Assisi gives us for loving God and loving creation. Um and I think his family was preventing him from doing that. Now that is a burden, there's a cost there. He loses something. He loses, you know, Christmas with his family in the same way, but he's gained communion with God. And I wonder if there's things you need to leave behind or change, identities that they don't mesh with the identity God is giving you in Christ. That's that's a constant challenge, and there's a constant cost, and there's a constant burden there. Can you think of any burdens that come from such such a teaching? I know when I used to teach high school Bible students, one of the first burdens they would name is like, um, well, what do I do in a world where I have to grow up and get a job? You know, I I feel burdened by this like call to serve Jesus, and yet my parents are saying, like, I have to go to college and become a lawyer and pay the bills. And and they're so they're so far down the like, this is how you do it pathway. They're asking me to walk down that pathway, and now I'm trying to follow Jesus, and I don't know how in this modern world. And they high school students would often tell me they feel burdened by that. Or as a parent, I feel burdened for my kids because I know I don't always carry my cross perfectly, you know. I am not, I make I make plenty of mistakes. I have I am a sinner like all of us, right? And so how do I model uh following Jesus to my kids and and what am I actually asking of them compared to their friends and other neighbors and other people in this world, you know, asking much really I kind of put on offense because if if you have money like this who would give all that away, it's useful.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

You can you can use it to help people excuse me. Yeah, to just right.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Exactly, yeah. Right. It this is these are complicated, nuanced issues. Because if you're blessed, you could be a blessing, and that's an identity you can find front and center in the Bible. That's actually Israel's primary identity. God is going to bless them to be a blessing for the world, a light to all nations, right? So that's fair, you know. In the early Christian church, in the first couple hundred years of the church before the Roman Empire kind of took it over, um, you had to essentially take a vow of nonviolence to be a follower of Jesus. You couldn't serve in the Roman army. And you had all these Roman army spouses that were becoming Christian, and it created conflict in their home because their husbands couldn't take that vow, or the ones who did lost their jobs, and and you just couldn't, you could not carry a sword because of who Jesus is and Jesus' nonviolent revolutionary love and be a Christian. And and so that created conflict. And now today, you know, we seem to have the opposite problem. Seems like in our modern world, a part of being Christian is, you know, carry arms, and that is uh hogwash. It's ridiculous. A part of being Christian is being nonviolent and peaceful. That's the way. That is the way. And so, you know, if you're in one of these families or you're somebody who serves, you know, in a in a situation where you need to practice violence for your job, this is a big burden if Jesus is calling you to a life of nonviolence. And the honest truth is you don't have to serve in the military or be a police officer to practice violence or nonviolence. We're all violent in small ways. In every, you know, I hit a squirrel with my vehicle on the way to work yesterday. Easter morning. I'm I'm I'm marveling at the sunshine and God's beautiful creation and how wonderful the birds are and how cute the fuzzy little animals are, and boom-boom, I whack a squirrel. You know, you we are all violent people. And the call to non-violence, I mean, does that mean I can't drive a car? You know, does that mean I can't? Yeah, right. So these are burdens. There's no clear answer. I'm not saying you can't drive a car. I'm saying maybe feel burdened by driving a car and think about that a little bit, you know. Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. And it's so interesting to have him teaching the cost of being a disciple, you know, mid-ministry before the disciples even understand what he's talking about. Of course, Jesus will carry his own cross. And uh and the resurrection will change what this means to carry a cross. Verse 28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, This person began to build and wasn't able to finish. What tower is he talking about here? No, he's talking about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God. We're gonna set out and build the kingdom of God. We're gonna renew humanity, we're gonna bring peace to all people, we're gonna bring shalom and wholeness to all things. Nothing short of a new creation. Don't you know what that will cost? That will cost a ceasing of violence, that will cost an end to death, and everyone who lords death over others, it will cost it will cause the earth to shake and and a new reality to come forward. And so Jesus is willing to go all the way there, and he's saying, if you want to be a part of this messianic banquet, this salvation, this kingdom, understand that you can't enter that kingdom and hate your neighbor. You can't enter that kingdom and not be reconciled. So figure out how to practice forgiveness. Figure out how to practice peace. Figure out what that will cost you. It might cost you some of your pride if you have to practice forgiveness. Might cost you that chip on your shoulder. It might cost you uh your own autonomy if you become a part of a true community where you rely on people. It might cost you some of your privacy. What will it cost? It will cost your life, your old life, not your new life. You'll gain your new life. You'll gain something in the future. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he sit down and consider whether he is able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? If he is not able, he will send a delegation, while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. Isn't this interesting? Jesus is gonna conquer the Roman Empire and he is the delegation. Right? He could call down legions of angels to go to battle against Rome, and instead, here's one delegate asking for peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything, you cannot be my disciples. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, it is thrown out. So here he is. Uh we we've all heard this. You are the salt of the earth, he says in Matthew, here in Luke, he's saying salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, I don't know if you're like me and you read this, like um many are called, but few will enter type conversation. If you if you consider this cost of being a disciple, how hard that is, if you if you sometimes sort of tremble like me and think, well, I don't know if I'm a part of it then, because this does seem difficult. And I haven't said no to everything in order to say yes to the one big thing. I don't always do that. So am I in? Am I saved? Am I good? Am I okay? And Jesus then, right as people are sort of worrying maybe about their status, he says something really powerful. He says, Salt is good, but if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? You are the salt of the earth. This is who you are. Through and through, you are the salt of the earth. Now, are you worried about losing your saltiness? Yeah. I'm worried that maybe I'm not as salty as I should be. The good news about salt is that it is a mineral that cannot actually lose its saltiness. If you take salt and you destroy it, or you dissolve it in water, you put that water out in the hot sun and let the water evaporate, and that mineral is still there. You are salt means your true self cannot be destroyed or abandoned. Your true self is like an immortal diamond. It is like a salty mineral that cannot lose who it actually is. Maybe you've become a little diluted, maybe you've become a little dissolved, maybe you're spread a little too thin and you're not paying attention, and you have these reasons to not enter the banquet because you just got married, or because you've got a busy season at work, or because of X, Y, and Z. Maybe you've got a job and you don't know if you can leave that job in order to pursue this kingdom, you're a little diluted. The good news, if you are salt, is that you're always salt.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

I think I find great comfort in that. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what he's talking about there. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Chapter 15, the parable of the lost sheep. Again, we're worried now about who's in and who's out. What if some people are too far gone? What if some people are lost? Luke is a genius the way he puts together these stories. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. So now specifically, tax collectors and sinners are the two categories, listening to Jesus. Do we like tax collectors and sinners? We do, but they don't. I love a good tax collector. Yeah. Now we're getting in on the act when we can see okay, the people who are first entering the kingdom are gathering around Jesus, but the people the religious institution are judging are being talked about here.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Tax collectors are king in the way.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Now the tax collectors and sinners, the greedy people and the broken people, were all gathering around to hear Jesus. I mean, if you're uh Yeah. They want to know that they're salt too. Right. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. We're right back to that banquet. Who's invited? Can you believe he eats with those people? You know? I pause there and ask yourself, who could you eat with that somebody in your family would say, get out? Not that person, stop it. You I is there someone you could go and break bread with today that somebody else you care about would actually judge you about? And if you're saying no, think harder. I'm sure you could find someone that someone in your life would say, I cannot believe you're eating with that person. Yeah. Jesus is eating with that person, right? Okay. Yeah. Then Jesus told them this parable. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? I I believe Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law here. They are supposed to be good shepherds who help flocks stay safe. Right? Uh so supposing one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of you, don't you, Pharisee, go and leave the ninety-nine in the open country and find the lost sheep? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. I don't know if you're living a life today where you think you're in the right, where you think everything about you is nice and squeaky clean, where you think that you can do no wrong. Hear the warning that you're a part of the 99. I don't know if you're living a life right now where you feel lost, where you wonder if your saltiness has been a little too diluted, or you wonder if you've said no to that invitation, or you wonder if what you've done cannot be forgiven. Know that you're the one that Jesus comes to find. And when he finds you, he puts you on his shoulders, brings you back to the flock, and there is great rejoicing. There is a party. Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you in the same way that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. He tells another story to prove the same point. Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one, doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. I love this story because I imagine this woman with ten coins, this might be all she has. You know, if there's a woman living in the ancient world without a patriarchal system supporting her, and this is all she has is 10 coins, uh, 10 days' work, which would be a lot saved up for a poor person, and she loses one of those coins, how scared she would feel, how sad she would feel, how urgent she would feel to find that lost coin, and then to make her God, right? To say, this is God. When God loses one of his coins, which is one of his people, which is one of his children, God searches with urgency and fervency and rigor to find what has been lost. People need to realize that one, God is on their side, and two, if they think that they are lost, God is coming to find you, to love you, and to celebrate that you are being found. And when you're found, throws a party. And he goes into this world, this dark, scary world, and finds his lost sheep and brings them back to the fold. And when you think about the 50-day sort of period between the terror of the crucifixion and the confusion of the resurrection, and then the slow finding of lost sheep and the regathering of the flock, all the way to that Pentecost festival when Peter preaches, this Jesus is risen from the dead. He is risen indeed, and 3,000 people join this movement. It's it you just marvel at how God wants to gather a flock. God is calling a lost people to be found. And I love that. I love that God comes to find us. I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. I think a lot of times we think in order to get to heaven, we've got to climb a ladder. Or in order to get to heaven, we've got to do the right thing. Or in order to be saved, we need to make a bunch of little changes in our life. But the honest answer is salvation comes to you as grace. God does this for you, like a good shepherd finding you, picks you up and puts him on his shoulders and carries you back home. You fall, but you fall into God's goodness. And repentance is accepting it. Repentance just says, yeah, okay, I do want to come to this lunch party and eat this food. I do there's a seat at this table for me. Okay, I'll come. I do want this. Repentance is a change of your heart to accept the grace and love of God, which is constantly pursuing you all through your life. Verse 11. Jesus continued, There was a man who had two sons. The young one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. So we get the parable of two lost sons here, uh, or the parable of the prodigal son, as some people call it. If a son comes to a father and says, Give me my share of the estate, is that a respectful thing to do in the ancient world? No, that's like, Dad, I wish you were dead, so that I could get your money now. The the money owed to me when you die. Thank you very much. Um So if this is the younger son and he gets a certain portion of the wealth, the dad has to liquidate asset, sell farm and fields in order to grant the the gift to his child, or he gives the farm or fields or whatever it is that he has, the property to the child, and the child is suddenly managing this property. You know, one of the two. This is a this is a tough situation. This is a broken family. This is not good. Right? So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. Now you can use your imagination about what his wild living was. I like to imagine he goes to, I don't know, Las Vegas and he bets it all on black and he loses it right away, and it's just like bam! Oh, that didn't take long. And then he's got to start scraping by. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. Uh there's obviously a lesson in wisdom here about uh preparing for the future and being fiscally responsible. And do you have the means to survive when a famine comes or not? This is a this is this is something um echoing Israel's story, right? They experience famine a couple different times. There's the famous famine when Joseph is down in Egypt, and Joseph's brothers have to go and see their brother who is not impacted by this famine. And so if you wonder, are we talking about uh a Jewish family here dealing with famine? Yeah, there's a lot of echoes in this story. Okay, so after he spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. Now, if you're a good Jewish boy and you have lost, you've disrespected your father, you've lost all your money and your inheritance, and now there's famine and you're starving, and the only chance at work is to go work with the pigs. How far have you fallen? Rock bottom with pigs. Pigs are unclean. So your entire existence now, according to Levitical law, is unclean. You have not honored your thy father and mother, and your your entire existence is dealing with an unclean animal. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. There's a lesson in poverty here, right? When you are hungry, what will you eat? Anything. I watch this show alone, where people try to go out into the wilderness in northern Canada and survive alone, and they all starve to death. That's the show. It's like they are alone and isolated, and then the fish run out, or they don't get a moose, or they don't get a you know, a mule deer or whatever. And then like day 37, they're just like they've lost 48 pounds, and they're literally their bodies are shutting down. And they're at that point, what will they eat? Anything. Right? Anything. When people are that hungry. You almost have to get to that point to eat anything, though, right? And Jesus is telling a story like this in response to Pharisees asking him, uh or critiquing him, saying, You eat, you welcome tax collectors and sinners and eat at those tables? You eat with those people. Now he's telling a story about maybe why somebody might be in the category of unclean or in the category of sinner, or in the category. He's made some bad choices in his life, but also now he's desperate, and I feel empathy for him. I don't know about you. I feel empathy for him. I want him to have some of those pods. I want him to get out of this situation. I want him to try going home or to ask for help. I have empathy for this poor guy, this poor kid. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up and went to his father. I find such beauty in that, because I I see a man who has learned that he needs help, that he can't go it alone, who can see that part of this is his own fault, and he's ready to say I'm sorry. I find it so moving when people are ready to say I'm sorry. I just do. A lot of the problems we face in our world, if we could figure out how we share a little bit of the blame and could say I'm sorry, some things might change. Some people can't say they're sorry. And we're seeing that more and more today, especially on social media. There's not a lot of hum humble apology. In fact, it it's become advantageous to like double down on your non mistakes, and that is, I mean, it's narcissism, it's dangerous. It's a total lie and a sham and a crock, and it is driving our world in the wrong direction. To be able to admit that you're wrong, I think is the definition of being a good human being. Yeah, I made a mistake, I'm sorry. And I want to change. I want to go back to my father and see what happens. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. So has the father yet heard his son apologize? No. Does the father have compassion before or after the son grovels before him? Before. That's important. We ask how to get right with God. Do you need to say I'm sorry to God before God comes to find you and rescue you? No. Grace is extending compassion while you are still a long way off. This is what the father's doing. He sees the son coming up the road. He is a long way off. The father probably assumes he's going to come back and do the same thing he did before and ask for more money. He's desperate. Now I'm going to learn all the bad things that he did, right? And while he's still a long way off, before the son even has a has a chance to say, I'm so sorry, the father has compassion and he ran to his son and threw his arms around him and kissed him. And in the ancient world, you have to know how how rare this is. Talk about like the disruption of societal norms. This guy asking and insulting his father for the inheritance is a disruption of societal norms. Well, now the father himself is dis disrupting a societal norm by running. Men did not run in public. A good Jewish man wearing a nice tunic and a robe would not run in public. You know, the Romans, when they had to run when they were fighting wars, they didn't have long flowing robes. Why? Because you look like a Sally if you have to hike up your robe to run. So this father humiliates himself in an honor-shame world in order to get to the sun as fast as possible. He hikes up his dress and runs, making an utter fool of himself, in order so that he can extend compassion and grace and love to this son while he's still a long way off. And he smothers him with public affirmation of love and kisses. He throws his arms around him, all before the son has even gotten a chance to say, Dad, I'm sorry. Then the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet. That ring is the family crest, right? Put that for me it'd be that Schmidt family the the the men in my family have these Schmidt family rings. It's really weird. I'll get my dad's when he dies. You know, Dad, I'm ready for my ring, I might say to him, but then I'd be just like this boy before the yeah. So put the family ring back on his finger. Put sandals on his naked feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. Jesus is explaining to the Pharisees what the Messianic banquet is. We have this vision of a messianic banquet all throughout the Old Testament of someday humanity will feast on the side of the mountain, bone marrow and wine, fattened calf, thanksgiving food, right? And and is that something that we earn by being a good person? Is that something we we get by following the rules? Is that something that is achieved by our own devices? No, it's a gift of God's profound, compassionate love for all of humanity. It's a gift of grace. And who gets invited to that feast in this story? It's a son who is a rotten scoundrel and hits rock bottom. And before he can even say, I'm sorry, the father is loving him and running to him and making a fool out of himself in order to find that lost sheep. And when he brings him back, throws a party. Kill the fattened calf. I mean, he's barely had a chance to even learn this guy's story where his son has been, what terrible things he's done while he's gone. Has the son washed himself ritually to be clean from living with pigs before we get this feast? No! There is no ritual washing. The sun is dirty and stinky of an unclean animal and he's being welcomed to the banquet feast. Meanwhile, the older son was out in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. Now, what do we know about this old son? Nothing except he's working hard. He's out in the field. Has he been invited to the party? He's been out working in the field. He gets close. He hears music. He hears dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him, What incarnation is going on up at the ranch? Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. Now we don't know exactly what happened when the younger son asked for the inheritance, but um it's entirely possible that the father didn't liquidate the assets, and the older son has been working a double dose of fields extra hard to cover his idiot brother's behavior. Or it's entirely possible that the family inheritance just shrunk quite a bit because their ability to grow the family business just shrunk quite a bit, and so ultimately, you know, the brother's inheritance is lessened by his brother's idiocracy. I think every older brother would be not happy that the idiot younger brother is back, right? So I have empathy for this older brother too. The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. Remember, we started our discussion, who gets in. Jesus tells a story about a banquet. People are invited. People are saying, no, I don't want to go to this banquet because they're too busy at work. Here, somebody's not coming to the banquet. Why? Because they're angry. Because they don't want to be a part of a party where people like that are invited. No way. I don't want to go to the wedding if that person is going to be there. I don't want to go to the party if my brother is there. So the older brother became angry and refused to go in. Again, how does the father treat him? Does the father stay inside the party, waiting for his son's heart to change, waiting for the son to apologize, waiting for the son to get over it and earn himself a seat at the table? No. The father leaves the party, comes outside, finds the new lost son, the new lost sheep, which is the son who is stewing in bitter anger and frustration and inability to forgive. He comes and he finds this boy. So his father went out and pleaded him, pleaded with him. But instead of repenting, this son doubles down. He answered his father, look, all these years I have been slaving for you. Notice how the other son was willing to become his father's slave again, a household servant. Now this son, the truth comes out. I've been earning this this entire time. It's mine. I've been slaving for you, he's screaming. I've never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never even gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. God, I've been doing all the right things for you my whole life, and you've never rewarded me, the older brother is saying. Do you get that he's the Pharisees? Do you get that he's the teachers of the law? He's the good, upstanding Jewish person who does not want that Samaritan coming to the kingdom, who does not want that pagan coming to the kingdom, who does not want that lost brother being reconciled and brought home? No. I have followed your rules, your Torah, my entire life. You know what? I'm not going to let that person come to my communion table because they're not doing it the way that I would have them do it. We go right back to the like open table versus closed table at communion. Why do some churches have a closed table? I'm sorry, but our Catholic brothers and sisters, we love you so much. You're like the older brothers if you've got a closed table. Because you think you're following the rules correctly. If the rule is grace, you're not. Right? Anyway, so the father comes outside and he pleads with this boy and asks him to forgive, essentially, asks him to understand what happened to his little brother. And the and and the brother just screams, Look, all these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours has squandered your property with prostitutes, comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. My son, the father says, You see, this kid's salt. He will always be a son. He will always be salt. He's just a little dissolved right now. My son, the father says, You are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. Everything I have is yours. You don't think I've rewarded you? I've planted you in this world. Have you seen squirrels and birds? Have you seen grass and flowers? Have you seen this goodness in this creation? Everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad. Because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and seen. And the story ends. And the and the credits roll. And if this is a movie we're watching or a book that we're reading, we close the book, and it's one of those stupid books that ends without us knowing what happens. What happens? Does the older brother recognize that his little brother was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found, and enter the party rejoicing, or does the older brother stay outside the party fuming? What do you think? You think he goes in but holds back? Yeah, maybe. I think he stays outside fuming. I I think it takes longer. Anyone think he gets over it, forgives the person, and goes in and celebrates? That's what we should hope for. So Jesus tells the story to the Pharisees and to the teachers of the law and to his beloved brothers and sisters who have a rigid interpretation of Torah, and he's asking them to see what's happening with tax collectors and with sinners and with prostitutes. Thank you very much. With people like Mary Magdalene, who had uh 50 million demons and has been healed, with with people who are pagan and don't know that eating pork is so bad, you know. See what's happening here. The dead are coming alive, the lost are being found. What is unclean is being made clean by my own grace and my own welcome and my own love. And you're invited to get in on it too. If only you want to. And we end there asking if we want to come to that kind of a party or not. All right, friends, that'll do it this week. Grace and peace.