The Upside Down and Backwards Way of the LORD - Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Trinity

Fifth Sunday after Trinity
July 17^th, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Luke 5:1-11
The Upside Down and Backwards Way of the LORD

 Audio of this sermon is available HERE.

Lord, are you sure this is going to work?

   I had had enough.  Not so long before, on Mt. Carmel, it seemed like we were winning, and I was so stoked.  I mean, my name is Eliyahu, I think you pronounce it “Elijah.”  Eliyahu or Elijah, either way, my name means “Yahweh is my God,” or “the LORD is my God.”  And the LORD of Israel was my God; I was happy to be His prophet.  At Mt. Carmel, the LORD arranged a competition, the false god, Baal, and his prophets, matched up against Yahweh, the LORD, and me.  The challenge was for the prophets to call on Baal to send fire down from heaven to consume their sacrifice, then I would do the same with the LORD, and we would see who the True God really was.   

   Those false prophets arranged their sacrificial bull on the wood of their altar, and prayed to Baal to send down fire to consume the sacrifice.  All day they cried and wailed and even cut themselves, begging Baal to rain down fire.  But nothing happened.  Because, duh, Baal is just an idol, a carving made from wood, an imagined god, existing only in the minds of his worshipers.  Baal’s prophets prayed fervently, but not even a spark fell from the heavens. 

   As the evening drew near, I ordered that four jars of water be poured over my bull and the wood that was laid out on my altar.  I ordered water to be poured over it, three times, for the Holy, Holy, Holy LORD.  And of course, four jars three times makes twelve, the number of Israel.  On top of the excellent Hebrew symbolism, the meat and the wood were clearly soaking wet.  Only then did I pray to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Immediately fire shot down from heaven, burning up the bull, the wood, and vaporizing the water.  The people fell on their faces and shouted, “Yahweh, He is God, Yahweh, He is God.”  What a great moment.  Israel had wandered far from the LORD.   But now, surely, God’s people would return to Him, humbled, but newly faithful.  What a rush.  What a moment.   

    It didn’t last.  Despite the defeat of her prophets and her idol, the wicked Queen Jezebel was not overthrown.  The fervor of the people for the true God, Yahweh, didn’t last.  In fact, Jezebel swore that day an oath to put me to death.  When I heard of her threat, I gave in to fear, and I ran.  I just wanted to die, to be done fighting the good fight, to rest with my fathers.  But the LORD would not let me die.  After 40 days, I ended up at Mt. Horeb, also called Mt. Sinai, the mountain of the Moses, the very place where the LORD met him to deliver His covenant and His Word to His new people, Israel.  There, the LORD taught me an essential lesson, a truth that will still serve you well, today. 

    The LORD God is almighty, eternal, all-knowing, the source of all light and power and glory.  So, we assume, His ways and His works will be uniformly impressive.  We weak, fallen, needy creatures, are always impressed by powerful sights.  And we form our expectations of God accordingly.  But God is not like us.  He does not need to impress us.  Certainly, He does not worry about our expectations.  So, the LORD came to me at Mt. Horeb and asked me what I was doing.  I whined about all that I had suffered, and how I was the only faithful Israelite left.  The LORD was not impressed with me, but He was gracious.   He commanded me “Come out of your cave and stand before me.”  He wanted to teach me something. 

    I hung back, as I was afraid of standing before the LORD.  And for good reason.  First there came a wind that could fracture rocks.  Then earthquakes shook the ground.  Then fire blazed.  It was awesome.  But the LORD was not in any of these.  Then, a low whisper, a still, small voice called to me, the very voice of the LORD God Almighty.  I covered my face, and came out, for I knew it was the LORD.  Patiently, He inquired of my complaint, and He heard my complaint. 

    I thought I was the only faithful one left.  I thought that God’s word had been utterly rejected, by everyone else.  My life was in danger; my ministry was a failure; evil was winning the day. 

    No.  Do not think so highly of yourself, counseled Yahweh.  Go, appoint new kings, and a new prophet, to take your place.  And do not doubt that I have sustained a remnant of faithful people for myself, 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee and kissed Baal.  Everything my eyes and ears could take in, all that I could perceive screamed that the way of faithfulness to the LORD had been defeated. 

    But no, the LORD corrected me.  He reminded me, “My faithfulness has no end.  I will prevail, despite how bad everything seems to you, right now.” 

    Your man Luther called this the Theology of the Cross.  That God usually hides His power, mercy and victory under things that appear to be weak, cruel and defeated.  The Glory of the LORD is hidden under opposites.  Christians are called to look through the surface of things and realize that the LORD, Yahweh, He truly is great, the only One who is great.  And He will prevail, for His Name’s sake, and for your blessing. 

    This is what Simon Peter learned from the LORD Jesus.  A Jewish fisherman’s common sense led Peter to acknowledge Jesus as a Master, as a special teacher.  But then Jesus gave ridiculous fishing advice to a professional fisherman.  After borrowing Peter’s boat as a make-shift pulpit, Jesus tells Peter: “Put out your nets for a catch.” 

    Oh man, here we go.  Fish in the sea of Galilee are hard to catch.  Successful fishermen know to cast their nets at night, in the very deepest water.  Not at midday a few feet away from the shore.  But, this fellow Jesus can really preach.  (Luke doesn’t specify the content of His boat sermon, but I think Jesus preached about Elijah and the still small voice.)  Reluctantly, Peter agrees: "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."  

    The LORD is mostly present in His still, small voice.  But, at critical moments, He will do spectacular things, to get people to pay attention.  Despite the wrong hour and the wrong place, Peter cast his nets, and within seconds they were bursting with fish.  The LORD of heaven and earth has command over the schools of fish, the birds of the air, and over the lives of men.  Peter, a simple, honest believer, realized that the Master he had grudgingly obeyed was actually the LORD God Almighty.  He fell to his knees:  "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man."

    All of that may seem upside down to you.  But what comes next is so much more counter-expectational.  Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."  Of all the potential ministers among all the people of the earth, God was choosing an uneducated, smelly fisherman from the backwater region of Galilee.  Choosing him to be a foundation stone in His Church.  Of all the men Jesus would eventually call as His disciples, in training to be His Apostles, His sent ones, not one of them was worthy.  None were good candidates for the task.  That the men called into the LORD’s inner circle should be so unworthy shocks our sensibilities. 

    And this was a good warm-up for the main event.  For as unlikely a bunch of candidates as were Peter, Andrew, John, James and the rest, the upside-downness of God’s way of salvation is so much stranger.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”    

    God could have destroyed all evil, in an instant, as soon as it entered into this world.  But that would have meant Adam and Eve would have been destroyed, cut off from God and every good thing forever, and we would never have been born.  God didn’t want that.  He wanted you.  So, instead of destroying all evil, and humanity along with it, the LORD Almighty decided to take our problem, our weakness, our sin, into Himself.  Jesus stood in our place as the Sinner, in order to destroy sin’s power to separate us from Him, forever. 

    The net that Peter cast into the shallow waters was a regular 1^st century fishing net.  The net that Jesus taught to Peter, and to all His Church, to be cast into the world, is His very upside-down and backwards story of salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus, crucified, and resurrected.  He who knew no sin became sin for us, that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.  No human would ever have imagined such a way of salvation.  But God, before the foundation of the world, rejoiced to commit Himself to this plan. 

    What does it mean to be a Christian?  It is to know your sin and the just condemnation that you deserve, but also to know, trust and cling to the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus lived and died and rose again to deliver to you. 

    The same God who rescued me from Jezebel and preserved 7,000 faithful in Israel, the same LORD who called and used Peter to build His Church, this same God is on your side, and will be with you when things seem to be falling apart.  Listen to His still small voice, hear His Word, whenever you can, and through it, the Holy Spirit will strengthen you and maintain your faith.    

    How does God grow His Church?   Through the net-casting of His forgiven children.  Pastors from pulpits, parents at bedtime, and Christians in their everyday lives are moved by the Spirit of Christ to speak of God’s cross-shaped love, in still small voices of truth.  This doesn’t always seem like such a good plan to us.  But it is the LORD’s plan, and He makes it work, perfectly.    

    And so we cast our nets, and the Holy Spirit continues to draw sinners to the Holy One, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.     

 

Fearless! Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Trinity

Fourth Sunday after Trinity
June 23^rd, Year of Our + Lord 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
Genesis 50:15-21, Romans 12:14-21
Luke 6:36-42, Psalm 27:1-2
Fearless! 

Audio of Sermon available HERE.

   Fearless!  The Word of God before us today includes a call for us to be fearless.  As in, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  No fear for the faithful followers of Yahweh; we go on boldly, from triumph to triumph. 

   Except when we don’t.  And God knows this.  So does King David, who wrote Psalm 27.  In fact, in the same Psalm, after the verses we used for our Introit, David makes this not so fearless sounding plea for help: “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!”  Crying aloud for help when danger draws near, which is wise, but doesn’t exactly seem like fearlessness.

   It’s helpful to think of proper Christian fearlessness and our all-too-common struggles with fear and
doubt as two aspects of our existence as sinner-saints: simul justus et peccator, at the same time just, and sinner.  Christians in this life are fully just and declared to be holy before God, in and through Jesus.  In Christ, you are a holy one, that is, a saint.  At the same time we are sinners through and through.  The Christian knows and recognizes the dangers of this fallen world, and also knows the old Adam, the remaining sinful nature that clings to us all, alternately hating God and doubting His promised protection. 

   The new Adam, the believer that we have been created to be by the Holy Spirit, has no fear.  Rather, the saint in us trusts firmly and fearlessly in the LORD, who has finished and delivered the work of salvation, for me and to me.  “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”   

   Still, even as we know Jesus, we know ourselves, our weakness.  In wisdom we follow the exhortation in Hebrews 12, for us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.  Likewise, David begins Psalm 27 staring right at the Lord, focusing on the Source of light and life, the bright beam of salvation which drives out all his fear.  The fearless Christian looks to Christ and cries out: “Lord, I believe.  Help me with my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) 

   This is how Christian fearlessness works: when the eyes of our heart clearly see who God is and what He has done and is doing for us, the fears and worries of this world fade.  We may even act boldly for the Lord.  But, when we focus on the threats and evil that surround us, and then we are reminded of our personal weakness, our confidence can fail.  If we are not refocused on the delivered promises of God, we may act in fearful or even cowardly ways. 

   Like Joseph’s brothers.  Their sinful nature had made itself abundantly clear throughout their lives.  They are squabbling, jealous, spiteful brothers, just barely held together as family under their patriarch father, Jacob, whom God had also given a second, new name, Israel.  The sons of Israel focused their hate on one brother, Joseph, at least in part because Jacob loved Joseph best, and favored him.  Patriarchs were sinner-saints too.  The brother’s sibling rivalry spills over into violence, and Joseph ends up sold into slavery in Egypt.  The brothers had indeed meant evil for Joseph. 

   But God protected and promoted Joseph, through years of downs and ups.  In the end, he was raised up from slavery and prison to rule all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh the king.  From this position, Joseph was able to rescue his whole family from a devastating famine, bringing Jacob and all his children and grandchildren to live and thrive in Egypt. 

   But then Jacob died.  Their father was gone, and the brothers feared that Joseph had been secretly nursing a grudge for years.  They worried that now he would punish their earlier evil.  They had already been rescued, forgiven and reconciled by Joseph.  But they did not believe his mercy was real.  Their lack of faith and fear of punishment led them to lie about their father’s last words and seek to manipulate Joseph. 

   Grudges are for unbelievers.  Thanks be to God, Joseph trusted in the mercy of the Lord.  He believed that forgiveness is the way of life, that resting in the Lord’s merciful plans, however bumpy the ride may be, is the only way to live.  His brothers lied to him and sought to establish the made-up last wishes of Jacob as the foundation of mercy.  Joseph now had the excuse and more than enough power to avenge himself on his brothers.  “But vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”   Faithful Joseph was happy to let God be God. 

   In response to his brothers’ pitiful lie, Joseph showed mercy: “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹ So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”  Joseph emulated the mercy of his heavenly Father.  He practiced the righteousness of Christ, from which flows fearless forgiveness. 

   Our readings today are full of exhortations to do the hardest things in Christian living.  It starts with forgiving others, including people who have truly done evil to you.  We are even called to bless our persecutors, as they continue to persecute.  You are to do good to those who hate you.  Such acts of mercy may frighten us.  It takes godly fearlessness to be merciful.  Our sinful flesh cries out, “No, don’t do it. Doormats get walked on, and showing mercy is for suckers.”  So suggests Satan, offering bitter counsel: “You better judge and condemn your enemies and persecutors, before they do it to you…”

     No, says Jesus, do the opposite.  Do the Godly thing.  Be a disciple of your teacher, the Master Teacher, Jesus, who loved His enemies perfectly.   

   But doesn’t it seem likely that things will get worse if we do good to our enemies?  Won’t they just take advantage of us?  Maybe.  Things might get worse.  But they won’t get as bad as things got for Jesus, when He loved His enemies, when He loved us, unto death.  He spent His whole life showing mercy to the downtrodden and loving His enemies, without fear of the evil He would receive in return.  Because Jesus knew the plan.  He knew that, despite the coming suffering, mercy and righteousness would win the victory, on the Third Day.  Fearless mercy is only possible for us when we are steeped in the wonder of God’s love for us and all sinners, love poured out on the Cross of Calvary.  

   One note: There is a difference between forgiving others and being reconciled to them.  We want reconciliation with others, just as God has reconciled us to Himself, through Christ Jesus.  But we do not control reconciliation, any more than we produce our own righteousness or earn our own forgiveness.  These miracles of mercy belong to the Holy Spirit. 

    For our part, we seek peace with all.  We cannot endorse lies or participate in the countless immoral things now called good by our culture.  But we still seek peace, despite very real differences.  Peace even with Democrats, and Republicans.  Peace with your gay, lesbian or gender confused neighbor, and the couple pretending marriage doesn’t matter.  Peace with that anarchist prepper on the next property.  Peace with everyone is our goal. 

   However, if our enemies and persecutors refuse to stop, we do not have to keep going back for more punishment.  For ourselves, and even more for our family members, we can and should set proper boundaries.  But, even when prudence dictates that we limit our interactions, we still do good for our enemies by praying for them, by speaking calmly and kindly to them, and about them.  Most importantly, we keep our eyes fixed on the light of Christ, so that, should the burning coals of our good words and deeds bring an enemy to the point of repentance, we will be ready to tell them the reason for our hope.  Because our hope is their only hope, the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Through loving our enemies, we may receive the privilege of telling of our hope.  And then we pray that God will do the greatest work of all, and bring our enemies into His family, His kingdom, by faith in Jesus.     

   Forgiving others and doing good to our enemies is difficult.  Indeed, it can even be hard for us to simply to weep with those who weep.  We may struggle to commiserate with a brother or sister in Christ. 

   Have you ever shied away and failed to simply weep those who weep?  Someone in your life suffers a blow, a tragedy, and you are torn.  The saint in you has compassion and yearns to comfort them, to come alongside them in their time of need.  But the doubting, selfish sinner in you is not so sure.  Because you know that weeping with a weeping friend and coming alongside them might get uncomfortable.  It might cost you time and resources, physical and emotional energy.  And of course, we fear doing or saying the wrong thing. 

   Walking alongside hurting Christians and sharing their burdens is a concrete part of my vocation as pastor.  And it certainly took training and practice for me to learn to do it.  But, to encourage you to not shy away, I can tell you this: While weeping with those who weep and coming alongside Christians who are struggling has cost me a little, from time to time, I have never regretted doing it.  The blessing of sharing Christ’s love with a fellow Christian in need has always been a blessing, not just to others, but also to me. 

   So do not be afraid.  Rather, weep with those who weep.  Reach out and dare to speak, dare to get involved.  Jesus will help you through it, for the good of all.  Befriending hurting people and loving our enemies are both very tough.  You probably haven’t always done them that well.  I certainly haven’t.  But then, we disciples of Jesus aren’t done training yet. 

   I recently heard the remarkable story of a police officer who performed fearlessly and very well in some extremely dangerous situations.  His colleagues and friends all spoke of his meticulous preparation, his constant training.  Uniquely focused on mastering the techniques of police work, his training served him, his comrades and his community very well, when the time came to confront evil, violent men.  Training well is really important to overcoming fear.  At critical moments, good habits take over, allowing one to do what is necessary, despite the danger.  And yet, this officer also spoke of another key factor: he plainly stated he could not have done the things he did without his faith in Jesus Christ. 

   That’s pretty close to what Jesus says to His disciples today:  “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”  In other words, Jesus says, become like me, your teacher, be fully trained in the way I have lived in mercy, in forgiveness, loving my enemies.  Be trained by Me by growing in My Word, by receiving My gifts, which will deepen your faith.  And, I will be with you in the difficult moments. 

   Be filled up by Jesus and His Spirit, and your fear will dissipate.  Then you will begin to love and serve a bit more like Jesus has loved and served you.  Practice repentance and receive forgiveness daily.  Let Jesus take the logs of sin, error and fear out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to help a brother or sister, with the mercy that you have received. 

   Resting in Christ’s forgiving love, we truly have nothing to fear.  God grant each of us to grow in faith and wisdom, our eyes fixed on Jesus, so that His fearlessness becomes a part of our daily walk, 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.   

 

The Loving Father - Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Trinity

Third Sunday after Trinity
June 16th, Year of Our + Lord 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Our Loving Father   Luke 15:11-32

Sermon Audio available HERE.

   Happy Fathers’ Day!  Although these don’t seem like great days for fatherhood.  When did it all start going sideways?  Many still celebrate godly fatherhood, but other influential voices deride or reject it.  Instead, our culture more and more celebrates perversion.  Our families are on the ropes.  Biologically impossible ideas are touted as the most beautiful displays of bravery.  There is a full-scale war against the way that God has ordered His Creation, and millions of souls are being crushed, in the name of progress.  We need more fathers and mothers with the relationships, the wisdom and the courage to protect their children from the madness.

   When did it all start going sideways?  I recently heard a woman, a social and political commentator.  She expounded with both compassion and hard-nosed clarity about the lies and the danger of the transgender movement.  Women and girls are exposed on playing fields and in locker rooms, in college dorms, prisons and military barracks, exposed to biologically intact men who are pretending to be women.  It’s unfair, and dangerous.  Children who mention the slightest confusion about their identity are given dangerous hormone treatments and even surgeries that do irreversible harm to their bodies.  The  woman I was listening to plainly, and, given the current climate, bravely stated that these things were bad, were dangerous, and must be resisted, for the good of ourselves, and of our neighbors. 

    And yet, the woman who said this is “married” to another woman.  And the speaker was in her third trimester; she and the woman who is her “spouse” are about to celebrate the birth of their first child.  Except of course, the child is not “theirs.”  The child is the fruit of some kind of interaction between this woman and some man, the father of this child who presumably will play no part in his or her raising.  It is just as false, biblically and biologically, to say that two women or two men can have children as it is to insist that men can become women or women can become men.  This commentator is living a lie, in the same way as a disciple of the transgender contagion.  Will her baby ever know his or her father?  Who knows?  What will be the negative effects of growing up without a dad?  Well, we actually have dozens of studies that track the disastrous impact of absentee fathers.        

    When did it all start going sideways?  Long before today’s insanities, we Americans embraced sexual promiscuity, abortion on demand, and no-fault divorce.  We have made a mess of things.  But on this Father’s Day, we should consider just how foundational the denigration of fatherhood has been to the decline of our society. 

    Certainly the modern feminist movement is a key factor.  Women are of course just as valuable and important as men, equally made in God’s image.  And it is true that some men have often ignored this fact.  Worse, sometimes men twist the order of creation to justify the subjugation of women.  These have been continuous problems, ever since Satan sought to drive a wedge between the first man and the first woman.  To devalue or mistreat women, individually or categorically, is sin.  God loves women.  Men, and especially fathers, should do the same.    

    But the feminist movement didn’t seek to correct the situation, it sought revenge.  Feminism needed an enemy, and “men” were the obvious foil.  Because we male descendants of Adam are so prone to shirking our duties and taking the easy way out.  Like Adam did.  “What’s that, you say, a serpent is talking to my wife, trying to confuse her about what God has said?  Oh well, no big deal, I’ll just stand over here, say nothing.  Man, I’m hungry.  I hope somebody offers me something to eat.”     

    Whatever it has done, modern feminism has run down the value of men, and demanded boys behave like girls supposedly behave.  Men and women were created for each other,  to love and support each other.  Feminism declares that men are the problem.  Hold the door for a lady?  Defend a woman who is being harassed?  Signs of patriarchy and condescension, we are told.  So, unsurprisingly, men by and large stopped doing it. 

    And why wouldn’t a man growing up during the last 50 years stop trying to be a good guy?  Sex is available without commitment, and video games came along to fill our spare time, the time we don’t spend hearing and meditating on God’s Word, or trying to build a life and a family with our wife. 

    Being a faithful husband and father who loves and cares for his wife and family, this is the highest earthly calling any man can receive.  No man does it even close to perfectly.  But the value of an imperfect dad, truly trying to love and care for wife and children, cannot be overestimated. 

    When a culture holds up the ideal of fatherhood, then men will strive toward it, and society will be better.  Boys and young men should be taught the manliness and joy of honoring women, finding a wife, and raising a family.  But instead we have been upholding the wrong ideals for 5 or 6 decades now.  Sleeping with as many women as possible is celebrated.  Infidelity, shirking responsibility and absentee fatherhood are promoted in our culture.  The damage is profound. 

    The state of fatherhood seems grim.  But we will not give up hope.  Instead, we will give thanks.  For on this Father’s Day, God’s Word for us is the parable of the Loving Father.  Those who have attacked traditional fatherhood, knowingly or unknowingly, have been foot soldiers in a diabolical attack that seeks to separate human beings from God the Father.  But God the Father will not have it. 

    And so we rejoice in our Gospel this morning.  For we see the truth about God the Father, His loving heart, and His great work of salvation.  When we know who and how God the Father is, we begin to understand the true honor, value and power of good fathering.  Ultimately, only the love of God the Father, revealed in Jesus His Son, can help us reverse the trend towards failed fathers, ever more broken families, and an ever feebler society. 

    The value of good earthly fathers for our world is discovered in the remarkable selflessness of the Loving Father.  He loves, no matter what.  We in the 21^st century can grasp the exceptional heart of the father in Jesus’ parable.  He never loses his focus on loving his two sons.  If we step back into the culture of 1^st century Israel, where the honor and authority of the head of the household was perhaps the most important value in life, then his attitude and behavior towards his ungrateful progeny is that much more remarkable.  Human conceptions of honor demanded that fathers maintain their dignity and achieve authority through stern expectations and swift punishment.  But not the loving father.   

    The younger son wishes his dad were dead, wants him only for his money.  The older son reveals an angry, sullen heart that begrudges the father’s generosity to others.  Still today, and especially two thousand years ago, very few people would think badly of the father if he should disown his sons.  They both deserve it. 

    But no.  For the father in our parable, as for God the Father, to live is to love.  Pride of self, material things and wealth are nothing compared to relationships.  Hope for reconciliation is the unfailing beat of the Father’s heart.  And the greater truth is that what the loving father did for his two sons is just a shadow of what God has done for all of us.  God has loved the world in this way: despite seeing the coming destruction of fatherhood, marriage and family, despite the pain and tears that would flow from Eden, God, before time began, resolved to fix it, so He could have us and every sinner back in His household.  God loved the world in this way: He sent His only-begotten Son, not to condemn the world, despite what we deserve.  No, the Father sent the Son to save the world.  Because God is love. 

    Justice is the other side of the coin of love.  Evil and injury and sin are truly horrible and must be corrected, must be put right.  So, restoring the guilty required punishment.  But, not wanting to let that punishment fall on us, God’s Son, Jesus, came to take responsibility for the hatred and dissolution of the prodigal, the younger son.  We all know this guy: utterly selfish, always and only seeking pleasure, oblivious to all his parents had done for him.  We all know sons, and daughters, like this guy.  Maybe some of us have been this guy in our lives.  Jesus went to the Cross to pay his debt, and the debt of every ungrateful child, including your debt.   

    And Jesus did not stop with the younger son.  The older son is all too familiar to us as well.  Outwardly he was a good boy.  But inwardly he was angry and resentful, toward parents, and especially toward any sibling who seems to be getting spoiled.  Such a bitter heart is a sign of unbelief, a sign that one rejects the God who is loving and merciful, the God who freely blesses people, as He sees fit.  Jesus made the way for all such bitter hearts to be made sweet and whole, by draining the bitter cup of the Father’s wrath against all human sin. 

    Jesus paid for it all at Calvary.  Finishing His atoning work on the Cross was also the final act in His perfect fulfillment of the First Commandment, also done for us, in our place.  God justly expects that we love Him and obey Him, as His creatures, as His children.  The Son of God has lived in perfect love and harmony with the Father and the Holy Spirit, from eternity.  Now, as a man, as a human being, Jesus, God’s Son has perfectly obeyed and loved His Father, in our place.  Just like His suffering, His life of divine-human good works was also lived and done for us, to be credited to us, by faith.   

    It is easy enough to see ourselves in Jesus’ parable.  Which character we are depends on the day.  Which son are you more like today, the thoughtless pleasure seeker, or the angry child, pouting over the blessings of others? 

    Regardless of which sinner we are more like today, we can also find our new identity in the parable.  When the love of the father breaks through to reveal who God the Father truly is, how He truly thinks of and treats us, this unexpected Truth changes us.  The embrace for the filthy prodigal returning home, that welcoming embrace is for you.  The best robe, washed in the blood of Jesus, is for you.  The grand celebration over his return is for you. 

    Likewise, when your foolish pride leads you to reject and avoid God, to be angry at His mercy toward others, He nevertheless comes out to seek you.  In love the Father seeks you out and invites you to come into the party, reminding you that life from death for sinners is exactly what God the Father wants to celebrate with everyone, everywhere.  Including you.    

    See the Father for who He is, and rejoice!  See the Father for who He is, in the gift of Jesus, for you.  See the Father for who He is, and you will appreciate the family He has placed you in, the roles in life, the vocations, the identity, He has chosen for you.  Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, child?  Rejoice, for when you were placed into an earthly family, however imperfect it is, you can be sure that it is God who has placed you there.  He is also preparing your forever place, in His house, in and through Jesus Christ your Savior. 

    A happy Fathers’ Day, indeed, Amen.