Prodigal who?

The story of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15.11-32) is well known and has been written about with some superb insights around God's love for us (e.g. Henry Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son and John MacArthur's  The Prodigal Son). The majority of such books focus on the Prodigal and the welcome he receives from the Father. Yes, this is astonishing but what is perhaps even more astonishing is that the tale is not completed. There is no end. We all know that towards the end there is a discussion with the eldest son but we need to ask: What does the the eldest son do? There is nothing in the parable to tell us and it is up to us to come to a conclusion so that we can complete the story.

We are so often told to place ourselves into the mindset of the prodigal but in reality we need to really work on the mindset of the older son as more often than not this is our mindset, not that of the prodigal. We are often told that we need to acknowledge our sin and find the extraordinary love of God surrounding us. What happens when we are given the freedom of choice to do what is desired but refuse to and turn away deliberately thinking that we are better. The older son denigrates the father as the father holds out his love waiting for the older son to come into the house. Is not his sin against God just as great even when he has been in his fathers house all the time receiving the benefits of that love? Remember that all of the material possessions of the father actually belongs to the son. He knows he has a close relationship and yet he has not asked for anything willing to be a servant rather than receive the benefits of the estate.

Have we locked ourselves out like the older son?

Often having gained our inheritance we either squander it or we do not utilise it to the benefit of those around us. We try to hoard it and thus lose our relationship with God as we rail against the disasters that have come upon us. If we are the older son, what is our response do we go of in a huff because of our expectations of a generous handout when it already belongs to us? The older son appears to be more lost than the prodigal as the prodigal at least realises that he has sinned. Seemingly the older son has not. In the prodigal's realisation he has come begging and not expecting the generosity that has been given. Note that his plea to his Father loses the conniving end of the original thought as he is welcomed by the generous father (Lk 15.19, 21). This is the prodigal's real turning point as he is faced with the generosity and humility of the father in front of the village. Having the inheritance that we have been given are we not as rude in some ways as the older son as we often do not realise our own sinfulness and cannot repent in the face of the love that is given to us, rather we take offence, walk of in a huff, etc.

We are often in need of recognising both sides of the equation of repentance and forgiveness. Just as the pharisees listening to Christ tell this parable we need to be challenged not by the easy and foreseeable result of the returning prodigal but by the attitude and non-resolved situation that involves the older son. In our own situation and in the situation of our community whether it is the wider church or secular society we need to end the story and not leave it hanging as Christ does. We need to write the story in our answer to God, not for ourselves but for the new life that is promised as we climb beyond our own response to God's forgiving love.

Pride before a fall

In our Lenten journeys we are continuously looking at ourselves to strive towards the pattern that Christ lays before us in his life. Some of us may believe that where we are is where we need to be at which point we stop listening to God's presence in our lives and start thinking about ourselves. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians warns of the consequences of ignoring the lessons from the Exodus story (1 Cor 10.1-5). In a similar manner these warnings are for us today as we contemplate our own reactions to those things that occur around us.

We are very quick in our condemnation of those who belittle others and yet we fail to live out the teachings of God. An article appeared in Grafton with regards to our own inconsequential thoughts that change how we perceive the reality around us. In our communities around the globe we all say that we are inclusive, we are not like others in that we welcome all. These are the messages that we give each other and those around us. But I ask you are we? Are we actually as inclusive as we think we are? Sometimes it is hard for us to understand that our own rhetoric does not reflect what we project into the community. Then when we realise our faults we delve into them and make them our martyrdom, the cross on which we hang ourselves.

Our pride blinds us to our reality

God offers us more than what we can provide for ourselves, if we are only able to follow where Christ leads us. The gospel that we proclaim is one that does away with the idols that we set up for ourselves. Those idols are the ones that lead us astray. We allow the mind of the community to sway us because that is what they see and are blinded to the actuality of their own thoughts. If we truly proclaim inclusivity then we should not harbour anything but love for those who are outside of ourselves. Yet,we constantly align others and those who think differently from us. We are a listening people. In order or us to form a relationship, no matter how difficult we think it is we need first to listen. As a country and as a community of faith this is the one thing we are appalling at. We only listen to the voices of dissent whether from the past or from a perception of what we think is happening. If, we are at odds with someone then we stop listening to them and portray our own beliefs by ass u m(e)ing to bring it into conjunction with our own thoughts. This happens in small groups as much as in wider and larger groups.

Going back to the Grafton article for a moment the community has the belief in the idol of inclusivity when they are homogeneous. We often proclaim our inclusivity .and yet exclude those we deem to be different from us. It is not in the big things but the small things that this often occurs. The Christian church proclaims an inclusive gospel of peace and love. Yet, more violence has been perpetrated in its name than anything else. We still set up the idols of ignorance and faithlessness as we follow our own paths and not the path of Christ. Paul reminds us to look back to our past in the scriptures and history to understand that we are imperfect as we look for God's presence. In our imperfection we set ourselves up for a continuous fall away from Christ's love. W allow our pride to show us the way rather than our humility to allow others to teach us. Scripture is there to teach us, the other is there to teach us and until we all start to listen we will not hear what there is to hear and we will not learn.

The consequences of the past

It is a strange world we live in. In the last twenty four hours we have witnessed one of the worst atrocities that the world has seen in recent months with the deaths of 49 people at the shooting in NZ. We have witnessed the shame of a politician who linked such tragic deaths to immigration policy. We have seen the outcry of many in the face of such utter vilification of people made in the image of God. Yet, I can foresee that in times to come this will be just another tragedy just like the fall of the tower at Siloam (Lk. 13.4). The scale may be different but the voices are the same in the blame game of culture and religion. In the same passage this is foretold as Christ himself states that this will continue until we repent but of what?

In the Philippians passage the writer suggests that we need to model our behaviour on that of Christ and he will be their as we transform ourselves into such a being that our transfigured selves can shine as a light to the world. What our problem, or at least one of our problems, is the holding on to of either untruths or truths that have been manipulated to conform to our wishes rather than those of God. We are like those that follow Christ in that we hold to our beliefs rather than to what scripture and God tells us. we place ourselves above those things that we should be believing and undermine our own beliefs. It is surprising for some that many non-Christians are more Christian than most Christians. Our belief systems often overlap with the belief systems of others but we are to engrossed in what we think we are meant to do that we fail to see others doing what we should be doing. We are quite honestly unable to conform to Christ more often than not as we uphold those who would have us  denigrate those not of our ilk. Our neighbours and our fellow inhabitants of earth are seen only as tools to be used for the benefit of ourselves and not for their own selves. Too often our sins are the sins that we perpetrate everyday without realising our own self hypocrisy.

Only when we see beyond the past do we see a new future

Today we are reminded of the covenant that was made with Abram at a time when he was extremely uncertain of the future (Genesis 15). The promise that was made at that time was a promise of land and of fecundity. This to a certain degree mirrors the promise that is made right at the start of Genesis at the creation for man created in the image of God to go forth and multiply. How else but through his and Eve's offspring to become a multitude on Earth. This same generosity of fecundity is being offered to Abram and his descendants even if none are apparent at the time. Yet, it is a promise that is not without its challenges. Challenges that are to be faced and are in turn a challenge to the descendants' faith, which we know through the scriptures is not always true. This then is perhaps the crux of our question and how we are true to God as God is true to us.

It is only when we remove our own petty hypocrisies that we are actually able to follow Christ and fulfill that which we are destined to. It is when we form our own self fulfilling dreams that we revert to the continuation of Siloam and all that that means for us. It is only when we recognise the truth of God's promises to us that we are able to fully transform our lives and live as Christ would wish us to. Then the petty hatreds of today will fade away and we will begin to understand what it means to love. It is the influences of the past that colour the thoughts of the future. If something has happened in the past that has angered, disappointed, depressed, turned us away, upset us, etc. then anything that is similar will cause us to react in the same way. We need often to let go our past experience and allow ourselves to experience God anew for us to step into a new future. We have to reset our lives in accordance with God's purposes and allow our new eyes to see more clearly through the obstructions of the past.

Perspectives on temptation

We begin our Lenten journey with an overview of Christ's time in the desert (Lk. 4.1-15). This is traditional as we look at temptation and what can become of it. The portrayal in the synoptic gospels is of three very traditional forms of temptation; power, fame and authority. These three seem to be the top of our agenda and it is important that when we look at them that we understand that they are a) not the only ones and b) dependent on what is done with the temptation. For us there is a recognition that these three things are paramount in how we interact within society and are the more usual failings in people. Yet, there are some more insidious temptations that face us, which need to be equally highlighted but they are not. Probably because they were either not seen in the society at the time or more likely they were quickly quashed by those in authority. In keeping with Christ's temptation, as these are often entwined let us take three examples; rumour, jealousy, gossip.

Rumour is based in a similar fashion to gossip on unfounded facts. However, what is insidious of rumour is that it has an element of truth and tends to undermine power. It is inherent and prevalent where there is power. We can see rumour operating today through out the world of politics as each side tries to undermine the power base of the other. Rumour is powerful when we do not have the whole truth. In any situation if there are two sides competing against each other for power we find that rumour can be unleashed to destroy the foundation of those who have power.It is a tool to be used by the unscrupulous and can be seen in the allegations and innuendos that cast aspersion upon those who wield power. We can see it operating every day in the press as they strive to bring the truth to light but are left only with rumour and innuendo from their sources who control what is sad. This means that rumour can breed in the darkness and when we allow ourselves to follow rumour we allow ourselves to become tools of those who are looking for power. As Christians we stand for truth not rumour.

Jealousy is so easy to stoke in today's day and age. Fame and fortune are a temptation for many but with fame and fortune comes the ravages of jealousy. Should anyone rise towards fame then there is a tendency for others to become jealous. In jealousy the poison of envy lurks and destroys as we can see in our social media. The need to troll or to slander others so that those who are achieving can be brought low is seen everywhere. Fame when it is not sort may well be of benefit but when we drive ourselves towards it we will leave in our wake those that are jealous and will look to destroy the good that has been achieved so that I too can have my time in the spotlight.

We need to deal in the open not behind backs

Our third, gossip twins itself with rumour just the same as power and authority seem to be entangled in our imaginations. Difficult to separate but two slightly different things. Gossip comes in the form of out right lies not just things based on a sliver of truth such as is found in rumour. The lies that are devised are done so in order to undermine the authority that is over us in some form or another. They may seem to have a basis in truth but have no basis in truth. Is it that we do not like or appreciate someone else's talents or leadership. Let us start some gossip that will detract from their worth. Let us scatter fragments of untruth amongst those who do not know so that there is an outcry that cannot be stopped. In this manner we ourselves are protected because it is always someone else who started the gossip. Furthermore, at the end of the day the person or group we do not like is undermined and eventually has no standing no authority.

Just like the temptations of Christ we need to reject these temptations and respond not with hatred but with love. Not with the use of similar tactics but with the truth. This is a narrow way that is fraught with danger and often becomes a cause for our own hurt and martyrdom. Yet the way that Christ asks us to follow is the same as his that of rejection of evil and not the embodiment of the temptation. Remember it is not the temptation but what we ourselves do with it.

Transformation, transfiguration and the impetus to change

Christ calls us to transform our selves and change so that we may become transfigured in his image. This seems an amazingly difficult undertaking to transform and change so that we become transfigured. We need to really understand these terms and how we use them. This last Sunday of Epiphany is the day that is often used to celebrate the transfiguration as told in the gospels (Lk 9.28-36). The term used in the Greek is metamorphoses but in Latin transfigure which seems to indicate both transformation (metamorphoses) and transfiguration. So what are we actually being asked to undertake and perhaps become?

The possibilities are endless as we transform ourselves into newness of life

Perhaps, it is true to say that the very first thing we are being asked to achieve is change. No amount of words can get around this fact. We are all reluctant to participate in change unless we ourselves become enamoured and enthused by the process. The only way that this will actually occur is if we ourselves change. That seems a bit of a chicken and an egg and perhaps it is but the seed of change is introduced into our lives at baptism. It needs to be watered and nurtured so that change can take place. This does not mean that someone outside ourselves has to enforce the change or be the continual source of water. They may inspire us and trickle some water into our lives leading us to a starting point to begin the process of change but cannot do it for us. So, our first port of call, so to speak, is our selves. In understanding our selves we begin to understand the issues that initiate our ability to encompass the transformation that Christ requires of us. Simply put Christ is asking and drawing us away from our selfish inner selves towards a transformation that opens our hearts to those who are other. This is perhaps the first stage in the process of transformation, an understanding of our own being that shows us the accumulation of harmful debris and sheltering obfuscation that prevents us from opening our hearts.

In beginning this process we begin the process of change and transformation. Like a caterpillar cocooning itself we breakdown our internal selves to allow a reformation into something different but the same. If we ourselves do not undergo this transformation our glory will not be available for our transfiguration. Christ shows us his glory in his transfiguration, not his transformation, for he does not need to transform it is we who need to transform. If we were to try to become transfigured we would expose only our ugliness to the world. Our hatred, our vilification of the other, our darkness because that is what transfiguration does it exposes our inner selves to the world. That is what Christ exposed to his disciples the pureness of his inner self that was not different from himself. It is this state of being that we are called to in Christ for if we are in Christ the pureness of our being will be shown to the world.

So this brings us back to our own selves and are ability to change from who we are into what Christ calls us to be. It is our transformation that is asked for at Baptism not our transfiguration. Until we are able to embrace this change, the change that totally changes our very being into something more glorious, we cannot strive towards our transfiguration. This is the hard journey. This is the journey that takes us beyond even ourselves so that we can embrace our totality and not hide the darker side of our selves behind the falseness of everyday living. We cannot and should not shy from this task and our coming Lenten journey is a place for us to start, or continue, or end our own transformative process.