I am convinced that the reason Pope Francis picked this year to be the Year of Mercy is because we are reading from Luke’s Gospel which is known as the Gospel of Mercy. In every one of Luke’s parables he shows us a different aspect of mercy but the message is always the same - God wants us back, wants us home with him, rejoicing in his house. The 15th chapter of Luke has three parables of mercy in it. The first one is the story of the lost sheep and the second is about the lost coin. Both are stories about searching, seeking what was lost and bringing it home. These stories tell us a lot about our merciful God. A God that leaves 99 sheep to look for one that could already be dead. A God that spends all his time and energy looking for one silly coin when he has 9 other perfectly good ones. Everyone that heard these stories must have stood there shaking their heads. Crazy, doesn’t make sense. No-one would do that. But our God does because he wants us back! Then we come to today’s parable, a story about a father, two sons, sin and mercy.
Both of the sons are away from home, one in a far distant land, one out in the field. And each has sinned, the younger through what he has done, taking the father’s gift and then destroying his relationship with him, leaving his father and his love. The older son through what he failed to do. He failed to see himself as a beloved son. Instead he thinks of himself as a slave and his father simply as one who issues orders. He lives with a resentment that finally boils over when the younger brother returns. He even refuses to acknowledge him as his brother, calling him, “this son of yours.” Most of our sins, like Adam and Eve’s, are ultimately rebellion against God. Aren’t we sometimes like each of the sons? Like the younger one, don’t we sometimes take God’s gifts and then leave him behind to do our own thing? Are we ever like the older son, seeing our relationship with God simply a servant-master relationship where all that is required is strict obedience. No love, no acknowledgement of others as our brothers and sisters? In what I have done and in what I have failed to do.
Mercy is all about God’s response to sin. Sometimes mercy involves searching, like with the lost sheep and lost coin, other times it involves waiting. Some of the most beautiful words in this parable are, “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.” God the Father was waiting, watching for his lost son. He doesn’t let him crawl home in shame, no he runs out to meet him, puts a ring on his finger, restoring their relationship so everyone knows they are again father and son. He wants him home. Meanwhile, the older son refuses to enter the house but that doesn’t stop the father. He goes out to him because he wants him home, part of the celebration. Everything I have is yours: grace, divine life, a father’s love. Join me in the house. Our God is a God of second chances, a merciful God who always runs out to us, wanting to restore our relationship with him.
Lent is a good time to ask ourselves which son are we? The truth is we are probably each son at different times. Sometimes we are like the older son, self-righteous. We can’t forgive others. We slaved away, we obeyed the rules. And we hate to see others not have to pay for their mistakes. Especially our own family members who went off and made poor choices,. And there are times we are the younger son, taking God’s gifts and simply forgetting about him, wandering away to do our own thing.
Lent is a time to remember our God is a God of second chances, a merciful God who runs out to us. A God that wants to lavish his love, his grace on us. A God that wants us home with him!
Both of the sons are away from home, one in a far distant land, one out in the field. And each has sinned, the younger through what he has done, taking the father’s gift and then destroying his relationship with him, leaving his father and his love. The older son through what he failed to do. He failed to see himself as a beloved son. Instead he thinks of himself as a slave and his father simply as one who issues orders. He lives with a resentment that finally boils over when the younger brother returns. He even refuses to acknowledge him as his brother, calling him, “this son of yours.” Most of our sins, like Adam and Eve’s, are ultimately rebellion against God. Aren’t we sometimes like each of the sons? Like the younger one, don’t we sometimes take God’s gifts and then leave him behind to do our own thing? Are we ever like the older son, seeing our relationship with God simply a servant-master relationship where all that is required is strict obedience. No love, no acknowledgement of others as our brothers and sisters? In what I have done and in what I have failed to do.
Mercy is all about God’s response to sin. Sometimes mercy involves searching, like with the lost sheep and lost coin, other times it involves waiting. Some of the most beautiful words in this parable are, “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.” God the Father was waiting, watching for his lost son. He doesn’t let him crawl home in shame, no he runs out to meet him, puts a ring on his finger, restoring their relationship so everyone knows they are again father and son. He wants him home. Meanwhile, the older son refuses to enter the house but that doesn’t stop the father. He goes out to him because he wants him home, part of the celebration. Everything I have is yours: grace, divine life, a father’s love. Join me in the house. Our God is a God of second chances, a merciful God who always runs out to us, wanting to restore our relationship with him.
Lent is a good time to ask ourselves which son are we? The truth is we are probably each son at different times. Sometimes we are like the older son, self-righteous. We can’t forgive others. We slaved away, we obeyed the rules. And we hate to see others not have to pay for their mistakes. Especially our own family members who went off and made poor choices,. And there are times we are the younger son, taking God’s gifts and simply forgetting about him, wandering away to do our own thing.
Lent is a time to remember our God is a God of second chances, a merciful God who runs out to us. A God that wants to lavish his love, his grace on us. A God that wants us home with him!