The Outrage Of Grace

This is what we are going to do. We are going to pretend just for a moment that we are first century Jews. We live in a poor and dusty land. We scrape a living together by working hard. We are committed to our families because family is our lifeline, our best chance of survival. We are oppressed both politically through Rome and spiritually through our religion. Our religion has become a heavy yolk of tradition and regulations. There are rules for everything. How to wash your hands, how not to eat, when to work, when not to work, what to wear, what to say, when to say it.

The meetings at the synagogue reinforce the oppression. It seems that rabbis and rulers add new rules, or new steps to ensure God's favor every week. They read from the Torah and then tell parables to illustrate their point. One of their favorite parables they have repeated all of our lives in order to serve a warning for those who ignore tradition and law is the Parable of the Ungrateful Son. It goes something like this.

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
As he approached his Father's House, I saw his father waiting, with his hand on his hips and a stern look upon his face. When he finally reached his father, he fell to his knees, grabbed his father's feet and said 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'
His Father looked down at him and said, I have but one son, who is here with me. You have left my house and dragged our family reputation through the mud with you. You are an ingrate and are not worthy to be a servant of my servants! Depart from me, I never knew you.
As the ungrateful son left, the older, beloved son embraced his father and said 'Father, thank you for showing justice and for protecting the family name'.

Our teachers tell us that the father in the story is Yahweh, God. The ungrateful son is the Jew who doesn't appreciate what Yahweh has provided, one who ignores the rules, the tradition. The ungrateful son can be used to for one who has broken any part of the law. This is the burden that we first century Jews share.

Lately there has been talk of a new rabbi from Nazareth who has been traveling from town to town. We have heard that he has healed the sick, forgiven sins, and is a new kind of teacher. His teaching have our religious leaders nervous. Some have even said that he might be the long awaited Messiah. Finally on day this teacher comes to our town. We all gather to see what the fuss is about. Deep down we hope that he will free us from our oppressors. Under the shade of trees just outside of our village we listen to him teach of The Kingdom of Heaven. One of us asks "Rabbi, what is the Kingdom of heaven like?". He smiles, and says

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like this; There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them...."

We are a little disappointed. This teacher with such a big reputation as a great teacher is telling us the same old parable we have heard so many times before. Yes, Rabbi, we know, The son spends the money unwisely and ends up feeding sheep wishing he could go home. We know. He continues...

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father."

He pauses, look at us with a smile, like he is going to shock us with what happens next. But we know the story, we know the moral of the story is to follow the rules and God will reward us, yet he continues still.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him..."

Wait..he's not telling it right. No good Jewish man would have compassion for such a son. Not to mention that no good Jew would run after him, what kind of Rabbi is this? What will he say next?

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate"

This hit us like a punch in the gut. We wonder how this could possible have anything to do with God. Our faces show our confusion and his face almost seems to shine. He is delighted to purposefully mess up the age old story, and particularly excited when he speaks about the son receiving a welcome he doesn't deserve. Our minds race with the implications; Is he saying God is willing to welcome those who choose to ignore the rules and spit on tradition? It sounds promising, almost hopeful to our ears, but it flies in the face of everything we know. We don't get it. On one hand it makes sense, but accepting it would mean that our Scribes, Rabbis and Pharisees are wrong. Dead wrong. We ponder, we question, we discuss among ourselves what this all means.

What if God is like the father in his story?

What if we are forgiven completely?

What if we can be free of the burden of our religion?

How will this change our lives?