Jesus continues to receive, and eat with, sinners -- both those who are objectively immoral like con artists and serial fornicators, but also those whose professions are considered inherently dishonourable. Those include tax agents, shepherds, donkey drivers, peddler, and tanners!
As Son of God, Metaphor of God, Rabbi Jesus must act out God's unconditional love and forgiveness, which are the roof of all real change. and he does in personal hospitality.
When the scripture literalists and religious professionals criticize Jesus's openness towards the marginalized and despised, he responds like a good rabbi by telling an illustrative story. The story of the Prodigal Son.
Most of us know the basic details well, The progidal can't even wait until his father is dead to get his half of the inheritance. He inappropriately asks for it in advance, and the father agrees. Then that younger son goes to out and blows the money on hookers and high times. Soon he is broke and has to get a job herding pigs, which no respectable Jew would ever do. Finally coming to his senses, he decides to go home and ask to be a hired hand. The father, seeing him in the distance, runs to him, accepts him and calls for a party. No oriental patriarch ever ran, for any reason. But the text reflects God's unexpected, insane, lavish love for the lost and his joy when an errant person returns to him.
But there is another character in the tale: the elder brother who thinks he has never screwed up, is always right and is angry because his dad never gave him a party. At times in our lives we probably have acted somewhat like the prodigal, but we are at risk of being like his brother. First of all, his brother thinks of himself as not being a sinner and he won't forgive his younger brother. If he were convinced of his own sin, the elder would know that God will "forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." There is a terrible manifestation of pride, lack of self-awareness, and self- centring in the elder brother. We can be like that. Yet God disguised as the patriarch in our story, begs his son to join the party. No patriarch would do that either. God is crazy in love with us.
When I did clinical pastoral education at Austin State Hospital, on one occasion I had to preach on this text. My audience could only relate to the elder brother. As mentally ill people they had lost touch with themselves and with grace. We must not make that mistake.
The philosopher Simone Weil talks about the "soft side of belief." In the cosiness of church we can settle in and not be challenged. We forget that our God "comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." We can get too comfortable. The great Anglican theologian C. S. Lewis stated on occasion that if one is looking for solace, he would not recommend Christianity. Yet in our own community there is a "Solace Church." It is an interesting concept to put first in the life of a faith congregation. Let us be dedicated to being uncomfortable and accept the challenge to get out of our comfort zone, out of the pew and go forward to being Christ in the world, especially ministering to those on the margins.
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