But God, That's Not Fair! - Sermon

Luke 15:1-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³So he told them this parable:

⁴“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

⁸“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²²But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. ²⁵“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

But God, That’s Not Fair

It's probably a good thing that Jesus was telling the Parable of the Lost Sheep to Pharisees and not to Shepherds. I'm sure a real shepherd wouldn't have just taken this parable at face value and for the intended purpose - that is that God seeks out the lost.  Think about it - I don't know much about sheep, but I do know that if you have 100 of them, and if 1 wanders off, and if you leave the 99 to find the 1, well, what you come back to isn't going to be 99 sheep.  

Maybe in a more modern context we can compare this to toddlers.  First of all, let me point out that if your job puts you alone with 100 toddlers, QUIT YOUR JOB! But, to be faithful to the Parable, let's run with this anyway.  If you have 100 toddlers, and 1 wanders off, and you leave the 99 to find the 1; when you find that 1 and get back, well, I'd hate to see what you find when you get back.

Yeah, that wasn't Jesus' point. His point again, was that God cares about the salvation of 1 person - God is that personal and yet that caring and loving of all of humanity at the same time.

Then we get to the Parable of the Lost Coin. I have to ask, how many of you have cleaned house over 1 lost coin?  Maybe this illustration is antiquated to our present time, but what if we use the TV Remote as an example.  Have you ever noticed that even though the TV still has buttons, no one will use them?  They will search high and low for the missing remote instead of using the buttons on the TV.  And just like in the Parable of the Coin, when you find that TV Remote, it is the same feeling of all Heaven Rejoicing when one sinner repents. What was lost now is found!

But let’s focus on the story of the Prodigal Son.  Most of you have probably heard this parable a million times. Quite possibly, most of you could probably preach your own sermon on tis parable and give me a "day off," but,  I want us to try to look at this from a different angle, or through "different eyes.  Let's see if we can make this old parable somewhat "fresh."

We have the youngest son feeling very sure of himself.  I once heard an expression a parent used when her child was acting like this - as if he were grown while he was still a child - that he was "smelling himself.  I'm still not sure if I fully understand what that means, but I'm pretty sure it applies to the youngest son Jesus' parable.  He was definitely "smelling himself."  He wanted his inheritance and he wanted it NOW!  Ironically, the father didn't give a fight or even argue.  He gave him what would be his and let him go.

The youngest son left home to make a big name for himself.  Maybe today, we'd say he wanted to be a "rock star."  The problem is that he didn't want to do anything to get there.  He just assumed he deserved it.  He wasted his money and soon he was without everything.  He was flat broke with nowhere to go.

So, the youngest son made one of the worst possible decisions that a nice Jewish boy could ever make -  He worked for a pig farmer.  We can assume these were not "pets." These pigs were to be eaten.  So, not only was he violating dietary laws, he was stuck in the lowest of the lowest position.  And to make matters worse, that job didn't even take care of his basic needs.  The pigs were eating better than he was.  He wanted to eat what they were eating.

I'm no farmer, but I've been around pigs on a farm and I've seen pig slop.  The word "slop" really does describe what pigs eat!  They eat what we won't.  They eat our leftovers with whatever else farmers throw in there. And the son wanted to eat that!  Yuck!!!  And then, the son had a profound realization - his father's servants were eating better than he was.  They had food to spare.  Probably, their leftover food was going on to be slop for the animals while he was wishing to eat the slop.  He just wanted to go home.

How do you go home after you insult your own father the way this son did?  He made his mind up that he would go home and be a servant.  He insulted his dad so badly that he could never be a son.  He could only hope that his dad would let him work for him.

Dad had other things in mind.  Can you imagine the surprise the father felt when he saw this son walking toward the house?  I would guess that if I were in his shoes, I would have a mixture of anger and relief.  I'd be glad my son were home, but it would take time to regain the trust.  There certainly wouldn't be a party in my house...But that's not how this father worked!  This father not only welcomed him home, but he threw the party of the century for him.

And that's when the oldest son - the one who was always faithful - the one who was always there - the one who was always doing what he was supposed to - that's when he essentially said - "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

We can learn a few lessons from this.

LESSON # 1: FAIR IS NOT THE SAME AS EQUAL

*      If it were, Men and Women would have the same public restrooms

*   The father didn't treat the sons equally because the each had unique needs.  God doesn't treat each person equally because we each have unique needs.  Does that mean God isn't fair? I don't know, but that does mean that God doesn't treat us equally - and I'm glad that is the case!

Lesson #2: GOD GOES TO THE DEPTHS TO REACH US

*     Some of us have dramatic conversion stories while others are less dramatic - God has pulled some of us literally out of the ditches and others of us have always been with God.  Either way, God has reached down to all of us whether we know it or not.  God loves all of us whether we know it or not.

*      God reached from the highest imaginable place to down to humanity to let us know we are loved. Each of us is a special creation of God. Each of us is a hand made creation of God. No matter what the world tells us, God loves us.  The world made the son feel he needed more, but the father's love was all he needed.  The same is true of us. Are we willing to recognize that?

Lesson #3: IF GOD DOES THAT FOR US, SOMETIMES WE ARE GOD’S VEHICLES TO DO THAT FOR OTHERS

*     God went into some dark places to reach people, and sometimes, if we are "those people," God uses us to be the vehicle to reach others.  Our story may be the story which reaches others.  But let's not get too boastful.  It's not any one of us who reach someone else.  It is God's work through us that reach others.  Even if your story isn't dramatic, that doesn't mean it is not relevant.  People need to hear it.  God can and will use any story. We may not always see how the seeds grow, but we are told to plant them anyway.

*      The Church is called to be disciples, not just admirers and worshippers – Disciples learn and imitate.  We come to church on Sunday mornings to worship. We must worship. But it doesn't stop with worship.  We are then called to serve.  We all have different gifts and talents. We can use them for God's glory or we can use them for our glory, or we can complain about them.  It's our choice. Here's an example - God gave great relational skills, but no skills with helping when someone is hurt (such as bleeding or having a gaping wound).  If there is blood, hopefully there is a medical professional to take care of me while the bleeding person takes care of him or herself as I pass out.  I absolutely cannot do much in terms of medical healing.  But, God has given me relational healing gifts. I can see various view points from a neutral perspective and help others to do the same.  Others don't have this gift, but they have the gifts I don't.  God has given Christ's disciples different gifts for a reason - The world needs a healing presence, but there is not one method of healing.  There are many methods.  We are all vehicles of God's healing.

*      If we accept that we are sometimes God's vehicles, are we willing to go to the darkest places for the God who did that for us? – No conditions, No compensation, No expectations of success, No thank-you – except from God.

None of this is Fair! None of this is Equal! But if God were Fair, where would you be?  I know where I'd be, and it wouldn't be here.  I wouldn't have the blessings I have if God were fair.  And I can knowingly say that I never did horrible things, but I've done enough things that I shouldn't have done.  But compared to God's perfection, my imperfection is great.  I, for one, am glad that God is not fair!