Welcome to the Party!

Job 7:16-21, Luke 15:1-2, 11-32  

Preaching professors advise students not to bring too much of their research into the actual sermon. Folks do have a tendency to doze off when they hear preachers rattle on about the joys of Greek verb tenses. At the same time, as the TV commercial proclaims, "People are smart." And sometimes taking a closer look at a few technical points helps us to grasp the impact of Jesus’ familiar teaching better.

In chapter 15 of his gospel, Luke tells three parables in a row. You remember parables are not simple stories. Parables are stories designed to tease our mind into action and to give multiple possibilities for understanding and application. Here, Luke tells three parables in a row–the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and today’s reading, the parable of the prodigal son. Some scholars call these parables of losing and finding. Other scholars call them parables of joy. But all three parables are told in response to what actually happens in verses one and two.

In verses one and two Luke says "all the tax collectors and sinners" are "coming near to listen to Jesus." You remember the tax collectors are Jews who work for the Roman Empire . Since they work for the Romans, often skim money for themselves, and take money from their own people they’re considered the scum of the earth. Along the same lines, the "sinners" Luke mentions are not just ordinary, garden-variety sinners like you and me. The word here means people who make no attempt whatsoever to follow the law. These are people known publically for their sins. And these people, tax collectors and especially notorious sinners, are the very ones who’re coming to Jesus. It’s a scandal to the religious folks of the time.

It’s such a scandal that Luke says the Pharisees and the scribes are "grumbling." The Greek word here means to complain and grumble aloud the way people sometimes do in a crowd. Can you hear them grumbling? [Let me hear you grumble]. This word for grumbling is only found twice in the entire New Testament. It’s found here. And it’s found in Luke 19:7 when Jesus tells the tax collector Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, because he’s going to stay with him. So this word for grumbling is only found when Jesus is closely associating with infamous sinners. And not only is Jesus associating with them but Luke says he’s welcoming them and eating with them. The word for welcome here means to receive somebody as a brother or sister. And, of course, in Jesus’ time (even more than in ours) eating with someone shows acceptance of that person. Can we see why the Pharisees and scribes are so upset? All the time we spend warning our kids not to hang out with the wrong crowd because that crowd might be a bad influence. All the time we try to make sure we develop relationships with people who share our Christian values. All the time we spend hoping to develop a reputation for being kind and honest. And there’s our Lord, attracting riff raff as fast as they can come running. There’s our Lord having them over for dinner. Hey Jesus, let’s just have a sinner block party while we’re at it! No wonder the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling.

But instead of just telling ‘em off, letting ‘em have it, both barrels, Jesus tells three parables, ending with the one we heard today. A man has two sons. And the younger son says, "Dad, gimme my share of the property now." In other words he’s saying, "Dad, you’re already dead to me. Just gimme what I’m gonna get when you’re physically dead, and I’m outa here." Can that younger son be any more rude or offensive?

But, of course, we’re like that son when it comes to God. You see, Christians believe everybody is a sinner. Everybody rebels against God. Everybody walks away from God with thoughts, words, and deeds we know in our hearts are wrong. That mean thought or that lustful thought we had about somebody. Our failure to forgive another. That snippy attitude with a salesperson. That ugly insult we spewed at a stranger or even a loved one. That opportunity to help somebody that we ignored. The Sabbath we’ve not kept. The supposedly little white lies we’ve told. Our apathy about poverty and injustice, and our quiet support of public policies that perpetrate it. We’re all like that younger son.

And we know how the story goes. The younger son goes off to blow his inheritance. Finally, everything’s gone. And he ends up feeding pigs–walking away from his faith and starving to death. So he comes up with a plan. He’ll go and confess it all to his father. Ask to be taken back as a slave, not a son. So he goes. But the story goes off track here. The father should be angry and reject him. But instead, the father must have been watching and waiting for him. From a distance, he sees his son and does the unthinkable in Jesus’ culture. He runs. In Jesus’ culture, fathers wear long robes. Fathers are dignified. Fathers don’t run. But this father does. He runs and welcomes his son home with a hug and kiss. He tells his slaves, "Bring a robe, a ring, and sandals for my son. Kill the fatted calf so we can have a party big enough for the whole neighborhood." So he welcomes his son home not as a slave but as a dearly loved member of the family. He was dead but is alive. He was lost but is found. Welcome to the party!

I noticed that the Christian preacher and professor Tony Campolo is coming to Christ Presbyterian Church in Chesterland on September 4 to help celebrate their 50^th anniversary. Tony tells this story in one of his books. I’ve seen a few slightly different versions of it on the Internet. A few years ago, Tony had flown to Hawaii. He was supposed to speak at a large conference the next day. But he’d gotten a case of jet-lag. Well, it was 3:00 in the morning (Hawaii time) and Tony was wide awake. He couldn’t stand just sitting there in the hotel room, so he decided to leave the hotel and find a nearby coffee shop. He found a little greasy spoon diner in downtown Honolulu. Tony was the only customer in the place. So it was three o’clock in the morning. Tony was eating a donut and drinking a cup of coffee and then several prostitutes walked in. One of them's name was Agnes. Interestingly enough, these prostitutes at 3:00 a.m. were not quiet people. They were loud and crude. Kind of hard to ignore if you’re the only one in the place. At one point Agnes announced to the other prostitutes, "You know what, tomorrow is my birthday. I’m gonna be 39." One of the other prostitutes said, "So what do you want from me? A birthday party? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing ‘Happy Birthday’?" And she said, "Come on. Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you. That’s all. Why do you have to put me down? I was just telling you tomorrow’s my birthday. I don’t want anything from you. I mean, why should you give me a birthday party? I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?" After a while the women got up and left.

Tony and the guy working the counter were the only folks left in the room. And Tony asked, "Do those women come in here every night?" "Yeah" he said. "What would happen if we threw her a birthday party, let's do that. Can we throw her a party?" And the man behind the counter said, "You know that's really nice. I think we can do that. Agnes is one of those girls that nobody does enough nice things for her. I think that’d be great." And so they planned the party.

The guy behind the counter baked a birthday cake and Tony took care of the decorations. Sure enough, the next night they got ready, and about three o'clock in the morning Agnes and her friends showed up. Surprise! Everybody was excited and they brought out the cake and sang "Happy Birthday." Agnes cried, of course. Then they said, "Go on, Agnes, make a wish and blow out the candles." She was quiet for a moment and then she blew out the candles. They handed her a knife and said, "Go ahead, Agnes, cut the cake." And she just held the knife for a second and then said, "You know nobody has ever done this for me, ever. Would it be all right if I just kept this cake just for a little while?" "Sure Agnes. If that's what you want to do, you keep the cake. It's yours." She said thanks and took the cake and carried it out the door. Everybody in the restaurant was quiet. And finally the guy behind the counter looked at Tony and said, "Just who are you?" He said, "I'm a preacher. I'm here on a conference." And he said, "Nah, you're not a preacher. I don't know any preacher that would do that for someone like Agnes. What kind of church do you belong to because if you're really a preacher I’d belong to that church." And Tony says, "I don't know what it was, but I had the presence of mind to say I belong to a church that believes in throwing birthday parties for prostitutes at three o'clock in the morning."

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