Rabbi Jesus

Luke Chapters 13-16

I have been using my blog during Lent to summarize and reflect on the Gospel of Luke as The Good Book Club has organized its reading during this season.  And I will do that today as well, but I am also mindful that today is the 1-month anniversary of the Parkland, FL shooting, for which our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. William “Chip” Stokes (a founding member of Bishops United Against Gun Violence), has called for a Day of Lamentation at Trinity Cathedral in Trenton.  As I write this, he and others are there offering prayers and repentance for our neglect of human rights by our own hands and laws.  The tag line for the event is, “First we pray, then we act,” which is an important reminder that justice requires both.  I pray you will join with the Bishop and me to offer our own prayers for guidance of how best to support responsible gun ownership and stop mass shootings.

As always, Scripture is the source for our learning and understanding of how to follow Jesus or answer the question, “What would Jesus do?”  The paradox that we are faced with following Jesus’s teaching is that it is both simplistic and extremely difficult.  We are called to love God, which also means we love our neighbors and ourselves.  In order to do that, we must let go of all the world has taught us and be transformed through that love – that’s the hard part.  Because teaching others about something that is so beyond their ability to comprehend is challenging, Jesus did it through offering parables and moral stories to invite his students and listeners into a shared context.

Parables are a unique teaching tool because they are meant to illustrate a point.  Jesus used them to explain what the kingdom of God is like.  In this section of Luke’s Gospel, there are eight parables and 2 moral tales.  I won’t go over each of them, but I’ll refer to one well known one – the Parable of the Prodigal Son (15:11-32).  I cannot do justice to this parable in the short space I have, but we can parse it out to use in our study of other parables.

Jesus always starts his parables with the phrase, “The Kingdom of God is like,” setting up a comparison of something that humans can understand.  Notice that the term like.  The intentional use of that work reminds us that we cannot fully comprehend what God’s realm is because it is wholly other.  But Jesus wants to offer us a glimpse of what life and relationships are like there, making the picture so appealing and compelling that we will want to be a part of it.

In parables, the first character is always extremely important.  In this case it is a man, who has two sons.  What the man does (and doesn’t do) is very important to the story.  We learn that the younger son makes the outrageous demand that he is given his inheritance before his father is dead, and then goes off to live a life of debauchery, only to end up destitute.  He returns home and is welcomed by his father with love and rejoicing.  We are told that the father “runs” to meet his son, which is something a Middle Eastern man would NOT have done!  That is surprising, as well as this acceptance of his son who acted so dishonorably. 

However, what makes this parable so compelling is the reaction of the older son, who is angry about how his father has accepted his younger son back into the fold with such a celebration.  The older son did what he was “supposed to do” by staying on the farm and working hard every day, but he did out of a sense of obligation than loving service.  In truth, he had as much to learn about his father’s love as his brother did. 

What I love about this parable and others in this section (13:6-9; 14:15-24) is that they end with no definite conclusion.  We don’t know how what the characters choose to do.  This is effective because it invites the listeners – US – to see ourselves in the story and think about what we would choose to do, and the consequences of our choices.  Letting go of righteous angry is extremely difficult, especially when our society thrives on righteous angry.  But does it accomplish anything?

We can and should be angry about the egregious news of gun violence in this country. But being angry won’t change the fact that 17 people are dead – this time.  However, if we can find a way through love to make a difference, are we not called to follow that path?  Is it difficult? Yes. But that is what Jesus came to teach us. 

Being a Christian is not easy, but it is rewarding when we choose to follow his path of love.  That doesn’t mean we ignore the sins of those who cause death and destruction, but eventually we are called to forgive and learn how to create God’s kingdom on earth, where the factors that caused a person to act that way are transformed.  This takes time, dedication and a lot of prayer.

So offer your prayers today for all the innocent victim here and around the world.  Then we need to act.

With Lenten Blessings,

Rev. Valerie+