"God of Judgment and God of Grace"

A sermon preached on The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 16, 2007 at Edgemont Chrsitian Church (Disciples of Christ) , by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. The sermon is based on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 and Luke 15:11-32.

Perhaps there is no parable in the Bible more beloved then the story of the Prodigal Son. As George Murray once said; "it is the most divinely tender and humanly touching story [that has] ever been told." Charles Dickens describes it as "the finest short story ever written" and Cosmo Lang wrote; "It is regarded as a mere fragment of human literature, it is an incomparable expression of the patience and generosity with which human love bears with and triumphs over human wilfulness and folly." Therefore, it is little wonder that such a story is so popular and beloved. Through this story we see two responses to the youngest son’s repentance; that of jealousy and envy from the eldest son, and that of love and grace from the father.

When reading this parable, I couldn’t help but think of William Shakespeare’s words, "The wise man knows himself to be a fool, but the fool thinks he is a wise man." Perhaps, those words could be rephrased to, "The wise man knows when he is lost, understands the source of his homesickness and returns to a father who loves him." These words, without a doubt, define the youngest son. However, the oldest son could be described as a "fool who thinks he is wise" and in his wisdom doesn’t realize that he is actually lost. I find it interesting that in this story both sons could be considered "lost." The youngest son came to realize his condition after taking his inheritance, traveling to a far country and wasting it away. On the other hand, the eldest son’s jealousy causes him to be lost; and yet, he doesn’t even realize it.

Many pastors and teachers tend to focus on the loving, forgiving and gracious character of the father or upon the repentant youngest son who becomes the recipient of grace. However, we must not overlook the eldest brother, whose jealousy and envy caused him to miss out on the opportunity to express grace and thus experience it himself. Archbishop, Desmond Tutu once wrote, "A jealous person is doubly unhappy - over what he has, which is judged inferior, and over what he has not, which is judged superior. Such a person is doubly removed from knowing the true blessings of grace [and, undoubtedly, God’s grace]."

Grace requires a person to be as patient with others as we want others to be with us. It assumes that deep in the heart of every one of us is the desire to be redeemed and for that redemption to bring about a greater good or a transformation. Such was the grace the youngest son hoped to find when returning home, and such was a grace he received. However, we quickly learn in the story that not everyone in the family is willing to offer such a warm and inviting reception, as the father. In fact, in verse 30 we read, "But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." The fact the oldest son says, "this thy son," to his father, is an indication that he has not receive his brother back as a member of HIS family. He does not refer to him as "my brother."

Someone once wrote; "When jealousy and pride fester, the heart becomes cold and the rewards of grace cannot be experienced."Several aspects of the story leap from its pages, especially when one considers the love and grace the father administers to his youngest son. First of all, in his return home the father greets him with open arms. The picture is beautiful and heartwarming! The reader can imagine the father sitting by the window day-after-day, awaiting the return of his youngest son, when from a distance, one day, he catches a glimpse of him and comes running out to greet him with a kiss and an embrace. Oh, what a heartwarming picture! What a beautiful picture that is! Secondly, the father gives the son a robe and a ring. Most scholars agree that this is a reference to a ring bearing the family seal, further emphasizing that the son is still a part of the family. And finally, there is the fatted calf. It was uncommon in those days for families to eat meat, unless it was a significant occasion. This was such an occasion - the father’s son had returned home. One cannot help but draw the connection to the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur or the "Day of Atonement." In much the same way, the best lamb would have been used for the Feast of Atonement. This was considered the youngest son’s Yom Kippur - it was his Day of Atonement and fittingly the best calf was offered. It is evident that it is the nature and character of this father to be gracious, just as it is in God’s nature and character.

Some would argue "well, you reap what you sow." And while, in many ways that may be true - your choices do, oftentimes, determine your circumstances. Still, The idea of grace is, as Philip Yancey explains in his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?; "There’s nothing we can do that will make God love us more... or less." In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father never stopped loving his youngest son. I can imagine not a day, much less a minute, went by without the father thinking of his son’s well-being. Yet, it was the son who had to discover his father’s love and grace again, and this was done only by knocking down the wall of greed. It was in his emptiness that he realized that his father still loved him. Jesus offers a picture of a God who embraces all of his children, those who stay at home and those who wander off. God’s grace is without limits or boundaries, all inclusive - all inviting. However, as we learn through this story, man’s grace is not quite as boundless, or inclusive, or unlimited.

In our First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we are given a picture of a God of Judgment and Grace. Keep in mind, by Jeremiah’s time in the last quarter of 7th century BC, only the Southern Kingdom - Judah, remained of the once great kingdom or empire of David. The threat of invasion from Babylon to the east and Egypt to the west was real and almost constant during Jeremiah’s ministry. This threat continued over the last 40 years of the nation’s independence until the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC. The bulk of Jeremiah’s ministry and messages expressed this judgment that would come. Hence, Jeremiah wasn’t a popular prophet - in fact, because of this, he was labeled the "Lamenting Prophet" - the Pessimistic Prophet, the Negative Prophet, the Prophet of Doom and Gloom.
Like the youngest son in the parable of the Prodigal Son, Israel had to discover for themselves God’s love and grace. They had abandoned God - they had abandoned their father, if you will, but God never stopped loving them.
Sharee Johnson once wrote; "Out of death comes resurrection. That’s the promise of Easter. Death is the direct consequence of sin, God’s judgment built into the universe from its very creation. But there is another law built into the universe - that in life, new life, resurrection follows death!" And how true that is! You see, everything dies - people die, ideas die, relationships sometimes die, feelings die, cultures and nations die. But everything lives anew, recreated by the power of God the Creator, who is constantly working for good in every experience of living, because God is the God of Love and New Life. In fact, our very lives are being reformed and recreated by God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Although, the people of Judah would have begged to differ at the time, Jeremiah was God’s prophet of love and resurrection. That may be hard for us to believe when we read Jeremiah’s words, but his message was an Easter message, long before Christ’s death and resurrection had occurred. But, Jeremiah was also God’s prophet of judgment, pronouncing God’s judgment on the people of Judah for their sins. You see, Jeremiah brings the Word of God to the people of God.
I love Jeremiah’s powerful metaphors. First, he uses the metaphor of the sirocco winds which did and still do today, come from the desert east and south of Israel, bringing with it scorching heat and whirling sandstorms and dust. Jeremiah uses this image to describe the judgment and destruction that would befall Jerusalem, which would occur in 586 B.C.
He tells the people also that their foolish ways have caused a sort of uncreation, if you will, to occur. In fact, he uses the words "waste and void" and "darkness." These Hebrew words are the same ones found in Genesis 1:2, which reads; "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." I think it is interesting to note that the word "was" is translated "became" in the original Hebrew transcripts. Giving us the idea that out of this "waste" and "void" and "darkness," whatever caused it, God begins to create or, perhaps, I should say, recreate.
Yet, in the midst of pronouncing such judgment, God speaks through Jeremiah words of grace. The return of the people of Israel from their captivity in Babylon following the destruction of Jerusalem would prefigure the resurrection of Christ. God allows judgment to happen as a consequence of our missing the mark, of their abandoning him, in much the same way the father willingly let his son take his inheritance and go. God gives us freewill and free choice, but God continues to bring life from the deaths we experience.
Although we have the power to destroy, we have within us a greater power - and that is the power of God’s re-creative Spirit. Life is always stronger than death! Love is always stronger than hate! Grace is always stronger than grudges. Yet, we have a responsibility, we have a choice, are we going to be like the eldest son in the story of the Prodigal Son and refuse to be instruments of love, and grace and life, or are we going to choose with God’s help to be those who live life fully and love deeply, acting as partners with God to bring about resurrection in our world and in the lives of the people we meet?
The people of Israel, like the prodigal, had to rediscover for themselves God’s love and grace. And this was done by knocking down the wall which they had built between themselves and God. We all build walls between us and God, but it is once we knock down that wall of separation and embrace God’s love that we realize that God is the God of love and grace, and it is then, that we can begin to embody these wonderful qualities.
The Apostle Paul writes; "Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others" (I Corinthians 10:24). The challenge then, is to emulate such a love, and grace and life. When Jesus called his followers to love their enemies, his gave examples. One can only hope that the father’s example of grace will encourage the eldest sons of this world to find their way and in the end embrace their sisters and brothers as Jacob did his brother, Esau. That’s God’s calling but, more importantly, that is God’s example in the life of God’s people!