The 4^th Sunday in Lent C

“And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling… So he told them this parable… ‘There was a man who had two sons’…” Luke 15:2a-3,11b  NRSV

The good news,

not so much for the self assured religious folk,

those keepers of the Word,

designers of tradition, defenders of morality,

not so much for the morally upright,

the one with a nose to the grindstone,

the ‘salt’ of the earth,

one majoring in absolute obedience,

or even a loving parent

having to watch a stubborn and rebellious child,

sink lower and lower into

the stench of a life unfettered, unattended,

The good news,

designed by an immature kid,

one still wet behind the ears,

then that crash; destitute, starving, lonely,

stooping to the stealing of pig food,

his body racked with hunger and filth,

having now to reassess his life,

turning from the values of hedonistic pleasures

into the responsibility

of that workaholic older brother,

daring to look beyond youthful dreams

into the fullness of life beyond selfish pandering

Good news to the Father,

the child returned home,

sad news to the father

the eldest filled with hatred and judgment,

one son off in open rebellion,

the other harboring evil thoughts,

one repenting now,

coming to himself and the values of grace,

the other wallowing in his self constructed pig pen

and the gracious father entreating the eldest to come party,

carefully offering no judgments

And within each of us lives;

Pharisee, Scribe, a gracious parent.

a wastrel child, a demanding responsible stuffed hat,

and good news breaking in upon each,

calling aloud with fresh new life

What a story, including and calling each of us, with all our masks, to come be honest, what a ride we take, the religious not so holy, the wayward accepted, an upside down world in the making. Jim Wilson

Note: Jim Wilson is a retired United Methodist minister with a close connection to PTS.