[Warm up on metaphors: Learning the right lesson… not the wrong one.]
Luke 15:11-32
Today’s message; “Let’s get out there and break something!”
The lesson of the Prodigal is that when we mess up our lives we need to wake up and come to our senses. God is our understanding Father; not our judgmental and self-righteous brother… he’ll get us back on our feet again.
Don’t learn the wrong lesson. If you think it’s about staying home and not taking risks, you aren’t reading it right.
The Gospel is not about being comfortable and risk-free, [if it’s about risk] it’s about taking the right risks for the right reasons.
Christ is the only begotten Son of God… the place of perfection (heavenly throne) is His. Did He stay there?
- NO. He went out and shook things up; took on frail and vulnerable flesh – why?
- YOU KNOW WHY: HE DID IT TO GET THINGS DONE. [Philippians 2:1-11]
- A misreading of the parable – one based on risk-aversion – would interpret Christ as wasting His father’s inheritance. DON’T GO THERE. Exegesis Rule #2 [Rule #1: we are the Jews; Rule #2: Christ is the example of everything good].
God has given us gift – our inheritance as mighty creatures made in His image (if you will) – what are we going to do with it?
- Certainly aren’t going to horde it and use it just for ourselves or to make ourselves feel more comfortable. That’s the older brother. And it is the BIGGEST TEMPTATION OF ESTABLISHED PARISHES. But it isn’t us. And if we do fall into that temptation, we repent or our complacency!
- Nor are we going to waste that inheritance on riotous or prodigal living. That’s the younger brother. But it isn’t us. And we do fall into that temptation, we repent of our selfishness!
Let’s follow the example of Christ and His disciples. The ones who took risks so that “some might be saved”. [1 Corinthians 9:19-23]
Are we going to fail? Sure, sometimes. But even if we do,
- Let our failure be a GREAT FAILURE like the one at Thermopylae – where the lives of the 300 Spartan warriors became a signal that brave people risk everything to stand and fight against the overwhelmeing hordes of evil.
- Better yet, let it be the failure of the Christ Himself, who went so hard against the darkness of the world that it stripped Him, and beat Him, and hung Him on a cross.
Remember that the heroic battle of 300 at the Hot Gates became the rallying call for freedom across Greece, a call that resonates with us still.
And the supposed defeat of Christ at the Cross became was just the beginning of the battle that ended with Christ storming Hades and annihilating man’s greatest enemy: death itself.
Christ’s strength is our strength (John 14:12). He has not given it to us to horde or squander it – but to use it.
May this Liturgy and the Eucharist it offers give us the strength and courage to do this thing.
