Sunday Homily, September 15, 2013, 24th Ordinary Time C
Readings:
Exodus 32, 7-11, 13-14, I see how stiff necked this people is.
Psalm 51, I will rise and go to my father.
1 Timothy 1, 11-17, I am grateful to him who has strengthened me.
Luke 15, 1-32, The Prodigal Son (The Best).
Exodus observations :
What : a story, a long parable. It has 2 parts, the exodus or exit from Egypt
and the years wandering in the desert.
Who: the work is all about Moses, but he
did not compose it. Rather, it was put
together by a committee during the Babylonian Captivity, 555 before Christ.
Subject: it appears that the purpose of the
work was to encourage the people during the Babylonian Captivity. It is not history and borrows stories from
other cultures. For instance, the
parting of the Red Sea comes from a Mesopotamian creation myth and the 10
Commandments resemble the Code of Hammurabi.
Our Subject: The people have been bad, God is
mad at them, and Moses defends the people.
Sources: Good News Bible,
The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Wikipedia
The Prodigal Son: A Work of Art
This story is my favorite parable of the whole Bible. Note one thing: this is story, not
history. The author carefully crafts
his work of art to show how much God loves us unconditionally. Let me give you three observations about the
son, three about the father, and an extra three to show you how astounding this
story is.
First, the younger son:
1. He has no right to ask for inheritance. None.
By asking he is saying he wishes the father and the older son dead. A symbolic murder. Father can kill him for this.
2. He works feeding pigs instead of asking for
help from the temple. This means he
rejects the religious tradition and is considered a traitor not only to the
family, but to the religion.
3. So, as a horrible failure as a son of the
family and a son of the religious tradition, he decides to return. He makes up his little speech and heads
home. He is hungry to the point of
dying. Do this or die. Many listening Jews would say, Die.
The Father: he actually commits as many crimes and sins as
the son.
1.
He runs down the road to
the son when he sees him coming. A very
undignified action. Outrageous. People who emphasize conditional love point
out that the son at least came back.
Despite this point, all the other elements of the parable point to a
father with unconditional love.
2. He embraced and kissed the son. Huge violation of Jewish religious custom and
law. By doing this the father positions
himself outside of the religious & cultural community. He is a reject like the son.
3. He cuts the son’s speech off before he can finish, eliminating the last sentence, “treat me as you would one of your
hired workers.” And to make it worse, he
orders the servants to bring the finest robe, ring, and sandals.
The robe, the ring, and the sandals:
1. The robe: restores the son’s dignity.
2. The ring: gives authority to the son, even
equal to the father and certainly more than before he left.
3. The sandals: gives the son freedom. Slaves were not given sandals so they would
not run away. The father is doubling the
message he gave when he cut the son’s speech off before he could say the third
part about being treated as a servant.
A word about the older son, because we so often identify
with him. Two additional and final
points.
1. That he tells his father how he feels. Great.
In those days, it meant the father can kill him. Today: communication.
2. What is his challenge: acceptance of his
brother, his father, and himself; focus on gratitude for all he has; move from
trying to be a good boy to loving? Any
one of these? Or all? All.
I apologize for so much data. There is even more. The point is that the story is a carefully
crafted literary work of art that attempts to describe how totally unconditionally
loving our God is.
How does this image of God reflect your image of God?
Source: The
Liberating Stories of Jesus, Francis Vanderwall (Dallas’ Open Window will
present Francis Saturday, September 28, for an all day seminar. Welcome.
More info below. Sunday he will
be with us at Vines. He is an ex-Jesuit
and one of my best old Jesuit buddies.)
Download Fall 2013 Conference 9-20-13