Fourth Sunday in Lent Year C  (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32)  03-14-2010

At the beginning of this season of Lent, we gathered on Ash Wednesday and prayed for the observance of a holy Lent, “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” And throughout Lent we have started each service with the Penitential order, to remind ourselves that our repentance shapes our Lenten journey and brings us closer to God. We invest much hope that our repentance brings forgiveness for our wrong doings, but if we have been wronged, is repentance enough for us…or do we need something more? Do we desire some compensation for the wrongful acts that have been committed in order for justice to be served? This morning, we are asked to reflect on repentance and forgiveness…and how these charitable acts challenge our understanding of justice.

Throughout this past week, as I have reflected on our lesson of forgiveness, I have been reminded of Navy food and a certain cook that was assigned to the submarine I served aboard. Shortly after I joined the submarine crew, we left for a 3-month deployment to the North Atlantic. I quickly learned that any fresh food was gone after about 2 weeks and slowly the menu changed to food that came from a can (fruits and veggies) or magically appeared after you added water (milk and eggs) or was made from a recipe of ingredients that could be safely stored (bread and rolls, being the favorites). The cook was a nice man, but he often struggled in the kitchen as he cooked each night. After being at sea for nearly 2 months and suffering with all types of interesting varieties of baked goods, one of the senior officers had had enough when the dinner rolls were heavier than hockey pucks. The officer marched into the kitchen that evening and asked the cook why he couldn’t follow the Navy recipe cards and create baked goods like the other cooks. “The Navy recipe cards?” replied the cook, “We have recipe cards for the baked goods?” The officer was astounded that the cook had never heard of recipe cards and spent the next several hours instructing the cook on the use and benefits of using recipes. The quality of the cook’s baked goods improved immediately and all was forgiven…at least until the day of the blueberry muffins. One early morning, there were blueberry muffins in the kitchen (a favorite of the officer who had instructed the young cook) and he joyfully poured a cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy his muffin. As soon as the first bite of the blueberry muffin reached the officer’s tongue, he knew something was horribly wrong. The cook had accidently used salt instead of sugar and the entire kitchen staff looked on with great enjoyment, as they had discovered the salty disaster hours earlier. The officer was not happy and someone needed to pay for this sinful experience!

In our Gospel lesson this morning, we hear Jesus telling a story in response to the Pharisees concern with Jesus’ decision to eat with sinners; something the Pharisees consider to be a sinful experience. The story is about a father and his two sons, two sons who have vastly different approaches toward life. We first meet the younger son: a man full of carefree living and adventure – not taking his father, his brother, or his responsibilities very seriously (the sinner of the story). At the end of the story we meet the older brother, who appears to be a faithful and hardworking man, never disobedient to his father’s commands (an upright and righteous person). And standing in the center of the story is the father: a man who is revealed to be a loving, forgiving, and just parent.

As the story begins, we hear the younger son demand his inheritance and he quickly squanders the entire sum. And for his foolishness, the younger son can easily be ridiculed, but the younger son’s difficult experience of devastating loss has opened his heart and mind to the hope of forgiveness from his father. The son heads home and upon his return, the father’s love overflows for his son as he rushes out to meet him in the fields…overjoyed to have his young boy back home again. If this was a simple story, this would likely be the end and everyone would live happily ever after. But Jesus is telling us a parable and parable stories have surprise endings. Our surprise is that the older brother, who has always been faithful and obedient to his father, is acting against his father when he discovers the father’s generous act of charity toward his brother. The older son’s anger and contempt is much like the Pharisees’ concern for Jesus’ behavior of eating with sinners: sinners are not good enough for God’s love – they haven’t earned it (so say the Pharisees).

Jesus’ parable story means to tell us that the older brother’s actions are not only surprising, but they are not consistent with the depth of God’s forgiveness and the abundance of God’s love. Chapter 17 of Luke’s Gospel account tells us of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness. Jesus teaches his followers, “If another [disciple] sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” (Lk 17: 3b-4) When we ask forgiveness from God or from others, our hope rests in Jesus’ command to forgive the repentant one; but our parable story demands more from us this morning. The story asks us to consider how often we behave like the older brother, how often we behave like the Pharisees; how frequently do we demand more than just repentance from those who hurt us and then ask for our forgiveness.

The sinful experience of the salty blueberry muffin certainly demanded some attention. After the kitchen staff was done having a good laugh at the senior officer’s expense, he threw his muffin away, marched directly into the kitchen and selected the best dozen blueberry muffins he could find. He carefully arranged them on a fine china plate and then watched, with great delight, as every single officer came into the wardroom, picked up a muffin and took a bite – experiencing the same horrifying moment he had experienced earlier in the morning. The cook was forgiven for his honest mistake and the entire episode was transformed into something of a practical joke. In this season of Lent; a season in which we prepare for the saving action of Christ’s death and resurrection through prayer and penitence, we are asked to forgive as much as we ask to be forgiven. As we continue our Lenten journey together, let us pray for the strength to love and forgive our brothers and sisters as the Lord forgives us. As the prophet Micah has written: “[God] has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)  AMEN.