Jwquaker's Blog
Sermon
Delivered Over to Their Will
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 10, 2022
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Luke 23:1–49 (ESV)
1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.” 6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. 13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 I will therefore punish and release him.” 18 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. 20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. 26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
There are days within a faith tradition that hold greater importance. This may not necessarily be the case among Friends because we have a long history of regarding all days as equal, but even among us there are some days that seem to stand out. We are not the only religious group that has a history of this, and thankfully it has fallen out of fashion for the most part. Which to be honest I completely accept. Life would be pretty dull if we did not give ourselves an excuse to celebrate. In fact, this was one of the disciplines that Richard Foster promoted in his now Christian Spirituality classic celebration of Disciplines. In this book Foster tells us that we need to celebrate. It is important to celebrate, because in the celebration of certain days and events we build memories. If you were to think back on your life. If you were to consider the most important events of your memory, what are they? I would venture to guess that there was some sort of celebration attached to them. We remember Christmas because it is a day that is not normal. We do not generally give loads of gifts to children because it is Tuesday, there is some important event attached to it, either that particular Tuesday is December 25th, or it happens to be the anniversary of their birth.
We remember the things that are out of the ordinary. We remember the days that dad comes home early and plays baseball all afternoon, and the three hundred days dad worked until suppertime fade into the background. We remember the day of our children’s birth, not really because it was such a chaotic day, but because it was an event that changed the course of our existence. We remember the events, the days that become significant.
God actually encourages the use of celebration as a way to remember. This is why I disagree with some of the early Friends. God commanded Israel to reenact the Passover, He told them to go to the place of meeting to build booths or tents to remind them of the desert wanderings. God set a precedent within the religious community to set aside certain days to remember and celebrate. He did this because it is easy to forget. We can get so caught up in the things that are occurring all around us that we forget how we actually got to where we are.
I do, however, respect the first Friends in their bravery. They bravely stood against the social tide and refused to celebrate the traditional holidays for a reason. Sometimes we forget why we celebrate. Sometimes we get so caught up in the celebration and we forget the whole point of the day to begin with. Christmas is probably the greatest example of this celebration amnesia. Why exactly do we give gifts? Why exactly do we gather together with family? Why do we do it in December when traveling is not exactly the easiest or the safest thing to do? My family, my dad God bless him, tried very hard to keep the reason for the season at the forefront of the holiday. He tried very hard to tell the story, to read the scripture, to sing the songs, unfortunately it is a daunting task when you have four very excited children who have just eaten a plate of cookies focused.
These early Friends saw that there was a sort of selective amnesia occurring among the people of faith. They had gotten so used to the celebration that even though the priests were reciting the scriptures nothing was being retained because everyone was focused on the next thing. Or maybe they had gotten so used to the celebration that they had forgotten the deeper meaning of the activity. These early Friends would remove the holy days from their calendars, they would stop participating in perceived sacred ceremonies, they would teach that every day was holy because this is the day that the Lord has made, and they would say that every aspect of life is a sacrament to God. I respect their position. I respect their bravery. I respect their dedication. But like so many things, their lack of celebration became so routine that it caused the same problems as they protested against.
Today is one of those holy days. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. We celebrate but do we really? Do we really understand just what this day meant to the people two thousand years ago, and do we recognize just how it changed the course of history to this day?
We say we believe, we participate in celebrations, we recite our beliefs and our doctrines and teach them to our friends and our families, but have we allowed this day to penetrate into our lives?
Today is the day that Israel proclaimed Jesus as their king. Today a multitude in Israel shouted and paraded through the city of David escorting Jesus riding on a donkey’s colt from the edge of the city into its very heart, to the temple courts. Today is the day that sparked a revolution that would eventually spread through the entire world. But like so many things this simple day can sometimes be forgotten because of a multitude of other things that occur around it and after.
We did not read about the palms today, but the passion. I chose this reading because we are from a tradition that does not have significant holy days. In some faith traditions this upcoming week would be filled with Meetings for Worship. They have special names for each of the days, like Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday (Ok so maybe the PR department needs to become a bit more creative), Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. But since we tend to only worship one day each week, because all days are equal, we miss out on some of the story in collective worship. So often we forget that within a week’s time Jesus went from the King’s Throne to the Traitor’s Cross. Do we recognize how quick that change occurred, and do we realize just how vulnerable we are at repeating it today?
Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. I want us to think about this for a moment. The whole company. If we were to read the chapters prior, we would get the context, the company in question is what we know as the Sanhedrin, which is a governing body of religious leaders. This is like the board of elders today; they were the people that carried the most influence among the religious people within the community. But it is an extended community not just a local meeting. I am not sure how these leaders were selected. Maybe it is like it is among the Friends, maybe they had areas that met together and they appointed their representative, or maybe it was like other faith communities were people were appointed by leaders to serve on the board. I do not know because I am not part of that community. But what we can find is that there was some sense that they were in this together, sure there might have been some dissention, but we are told that the whole company was involved. This means that this entire body had come to the conclusion that this man (Jesus) needed to be dealt with.
So, they brought him before Pilate. Who is Pilate? We do not really know much about this man, but what we can find is interesting. Did you know that he was one of the longest serving governors over this region? He served in this position for ten years. And this is significant because this region was not exactly an easy place to rule over. There were constant cultural clashes between the people of Israel and the outside rulers. This constantly sparked riots and rebellions. And for the governor that was a problem, because they really only had three basic tasks to do. The first was that they commanded the troops stationed in the region, they oversaw judicial cases, and they administered the financial affairs. This does not sound so bad right. Basically, if you keep sending the tribute to Rome, you are golden, but if riots broke out and prevented you from making your payment you were in trouble. And if you happened to spend more money than was thought to be acceptable on those riots which might decrease the payment to Rome you were in trouble. And if by chance someone sent a letter to Rome saying that you were ruling with injustice you might be in trouble. As long as you were able to balance those three things and basically keep the money flowing to Rome without anyone getting to riled up you could last a long time. The problem is that the Jewish people lived by different standards. Pilate once brought the standards into the Holy City and these standards had images on them, and mere presence of these standards which every military unit carried, cause the people to riot, because they perceived them as being idols. Then there was the fact that every three months or so every faithful religious observant would come to this one city to worship. And this vast influx of people would come into this one area at one time, and one misstep by a political leader could cause mass hysteria that would make the protests in Minnesota a couple of years ago look like a walk in the park.
Pilate had a difficult job, but he was actually fairly decent at it. We are told that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great which ended around 3-6BC, and from that time since Jesus was approximately 33 years old, there had been four previous governors. Pilate started around the year 26 so these guys lasted about five years, and Pilate doubled that average. He knew how to do his job, but that does not mean he was a good man. There are at least three instances where Pilate was recorded as being brutal, one of which we mentioned a couple of weeks ago. And another the instance that eventually had him removed from office was when he slaughtered pilgrims in Samaria as they were going to worship at their holy mountain, Pilate had a problem with the Jewish festivals, He did not like these groups of people congregating in one place, and when it happened, he was swift and brutal.
It was to this man that these religious leaders brought Jesus. They knew that Pilate did not like their cultural traditions and he had a history of swift violent judgments. These religious leaders wanted Jesus eliminated but in a way that would take attention away from themselves so that they could maintain their standing within the community. No look at the accusations they bring. “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” They bring three accusations: Misleading the nation (basically prompting unrest), forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar (not paying taxes), and saying that he is a king (the arbiter of law and justice). These are the three jobs Pilate must do to remain in office.
These people are using the fears of Pilate to manipulate him into doing their bidding. But I want you to notice something. Of those three accusations Pilate only asks one question. “Are you the king of the Jews?” And according to the Gospel of Luke this is the only question that Jesus answers from the secular governments during this whole trial. “You have said so.” This is something profound because it is so off the wall. Jesus did not answer him, because the question is not even a real question. The only thing that Pilate even listen to is that they said that Jesus was the arbiter of law and justice, he is the king. That is what Pilate focused on. Pilate is looking at Jesus who is standing surrounded by people, religious leaders and soldiers. Pilate is looking around him as well seeing the makings of worldly power and government and he looks at Jesus this single man that cannot even remotely defend himself. And he asks one question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Pilate is looking at Jesus through the eyes of worldly power and making a judgement call. This man is brought before him, at best he can talk and cause some people to get excited, but not even the most respected religious leaders within this province care for him. There is no power here. And the question is not a question at all but a scoff. This is the best they have to offer. But they insist. They try to say he is more powerful than you think. “He stirs people up all through Judea, from Galilee and to this very place.”
Pilate raises his eyebrows a bit. So, he has followers even in Galilee. This does issue some concern but that is not his jurisdiction. If Jesus is doing something in Galilee, then who really cares, Galilee is under the rule of someone else, and if that guy cannot handle him, all the better it would just increase Pilate’s power. Pilate then says, Herod is here in town let’s talk to him. Herod was in town because the family of Herod converted to the Jewish faith. We often neglect this aspect of history; we tend to think that the Jewish faith is based solely on heredity but there are converts. We see this throughout scripture, some of those converts have become very important, like Ruth the great-grandmother to King David.
Now the company takes Jesus to talk to Herod. Herod is excited to see Jesus but there is something different about the excitement. Pilate was concerned with power; Herod wants to be entertained. I hope you see a bit of our contemporary life in this trial. We have those that are concerned with worldly success and others that are concerned with pleasures but both of these groups are being manipulated by others with their own agendas. Herod has heard of this man Jesus and had been wanting to see him perform some signs for him. To Herod Jesus is nothing more than a court jester, and he wants him to dance. But Jesus does not comply. Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate, because Jesus is a bore.
Now Pilate has to do something. Jesus, in his mind is not anything of importance, He does not have a band of thugs following him around. In fact, if he had heard correctly the one guy that drew a weapon ran away, and one of his followers that they attempted to apprehend slipped out of his clothes and ran away naked, in case you wonder tradition tells us that brave soul was Mark the one that wrote the gospel of Mark. What exactly will Pilate do?
These people are instant they want blood, and there is really no reason for Pilate to do anything. And this is the injustice of the whole thing. Pilate and Herod get together to figure things out. Herod because Jesus would not entertain him, began to mock Jesus. Dressed him in fancy clothes and tried to get some sort of rise out of him. But Jesus did nothing. And we are told that Herod and Pilate became friends that night. This is important. Herod and Pilate were in competition. They both wanted to rule the other’s lands. Herod wanted to be like Herod the Great who ruled all of Palestine. And Pilate did not care about the Jews but If he could govern Galilee as well as Judea his political capital would rise and he might be able to make his way out of this Imperial backwater and get a better position somewhere better. They became friends, they united, formed an alliance with one another. They laid aside their differences over this one man. Herod mocked Jesus because he would not entertain, and Pilate decided to brutally beat the man and release him. An alliance of brutality and mockery was formed power and entertainment united together if we cannot get what we want we will watch this one man’s suffering while we eat together.
These men joined forces under the banner of injustice. They both would get what they wanted most entertainment and authority and all it would cost is the suffering of some insignificant man. They thought that this could appease the company standing before them. They thought that if they could just distract them enough, they would all just shut up and they could get back to what was really important. But the company was not appeased. They wanted more. You will crucify him they began to chant. Release instead Barabbas, a man that had actually been a treat to the authority of Pilate. A man that actually had a band of armed men that were ready to fight. Release Barabbas they chanted and crucify this man.
They did not care that Barabbas was a criminal. That Barabbas had actually done the very things that they accused Jesus of doing. They wanted that man because they could control him. Jesus on the other hand they could not control. He walked into their religious establishments and caused the people to question their own power and authority. He began to cause people to question how they related to God, and their livelihoods were based on the ability of the religious organization being able to keep the people buying sacrifices at the temple, changing money at their counters, and making that pilgrimage. If they actually let the people worship as Jesus said, “in spirit and in truth”, what would happen to them? They wanted Barabbas, the only threat he caused was that some poor Galileans might get some crazy idea to draw a sword and get killed by Pilate for his trouble. But Jesus, he threatened their ability to manipulate the people.
We see here three branches of life. The hearts of the people, the authority over the people, and entertainment. Just turn on the news and we can see the same strategies being played out every day. There is a war going on, one party is speaking to the hearts of the people, one speaks about authority and then there are those that are reports from the Oscars and the Grammy’s and can you believe they wore that dress. All of this is going on but what is really important?
When Pilate announced his judgement Luke tells us that, “He delivered him over to their will.” Pilate delivered Jesus over to their will. Jesus is being led up the hill and there are some weeping for him. Jesus stops and turns to them and says, “Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me but weep for yourselves and your children.” I want us to consider this, he was delivered over to their will. Authority lends itself to entertainment, entertainment lends itself to the heart, and the heart lends itself to authority. The cycles of power manipulation continue back and forth and we are all delivered up to our will. We will sacrifice Ukraine for the sake of NATO. We will allow war in Africa as long as it does not affect us here. We will turn a bind eye to the perpetuation of human enslavement as long as Apple releases a new iPhone next year and we can trade our old one in so we can get another camera. We will let our politicians spout lies about the other party and we will still vote for them knowing full well they are just as evil, and we justify it by saying our candidate is the lesser of two evils. That is rubbish. The reality is that we actually want and approve their evil more that the evil of the other person, because we do not want good, we only want to have our will delivered up to us and we will give power to whoever is willing to do it.
We are all delivered up to our will. But what is our will? We want to be seen as waving palm branches for the king, but are we willing to stand up for the people our king loves? We want to proudly claim our righteousness, but do we sacrifice our righteousness for something else. Something that speaks of manipulation of the heart, Authority, or entertainment? Jesus was turned over to their will. He was turned over to the will of humanity. The desire of knowledge of good and evil, that ushered in death and separation from life. And Jesus looks at us and says do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Why does he say this? Because we are still trapped in the cycles of our will. We still try to cling to the powers of this world and because of this we are constantly whipped to and fro like leaves on the wind. We are whipped about because we are delivered up to our will. How do we stop this cycle? We stop the cycle by recognizing and confessing the truth. The condemned man that hung next to Jesus confessed. “We are here justly but this man has done nothing wrong. Remember me when you enter your kingdom.” That man had the assurance that that day he would enter into paradise. That man broke the cycle, because he recognized the truth, he was not right, he was not righteous, he had lived his life according to his own will and that his will had led him directly to where he deserved to be. We all deserve that sentence because we all contribute to the injustice of the world. I might not have started the war in Ukraine, I might be outraged and speak out against the injustice of the situation, but what have I actually done to prevent it? I might have an opinion about the injustice that occurred in Sudan that is currently on trial, but what have I done to prevent it? I might not agree with the culture war waging in our own culture, but what have I actually done to alleviate the problems? All of this happens because we are given over to our will. And it will continue to occur until we like Jesus say not my will Father but yours. We might not be able to offer humanitarian aid directly to those affected by war, but we can recognize our own injustices here in our communities, and we can offer ourselves to His will here in our communities. But there is a question that remains. Will we be delivered to their will or His? Will we continue to perpetuate the cycles of injustice that required Jesus to go to the cross, or will we proclaim with Christ, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit!”
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Far From Home
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friend Church
March 27, 2022
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Luke 15:1–3, 11b-32 (ESV)
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 11 “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
There are stories in scripture that we all know. We know them so well that at times we no longer think about them. This is one of the points, especially with the dealing with the parables of Jesus. Jesus’s parables cover the normality of life. Often, they take an extreme stance, but the point of the story is so mundane that they point can be overlooked.
This is what happens with the parable of the sons. We find ourselves identifying with one of the characters but do look at the larger story. We know this passage by a name, “The Prodigal Son,” this directs our attention to one aspect of the story, but there is a fallacy in this. When biblical scholars within the English traditions add this title to the parable it directs our thought. At times these titles can so direct our attention that it can distract. We must always be careful when we read. We need to understand and recognize the aspects that are part of scripture and the things that are not. The things like titles and verse numbers were added. Most of the New Testament was written in Greek, not in English or Swahili. When people wrote in these ancient languages, they did things that we are not accustomed to. The first thing you would notice if you were to look at the ancient manuscripts archeologist have found is that the writing is that the letters, the words, and the sentences are written in a complete block. There are no spaces, punctuation, or anything that would give us a clue that these things are narratives. In fact, when most of us would look at them it would resemble the seemingly random printout a computer makes when there is a printer error. Solid blocks of symbols all run together.
Why did they write this way? They did this because paper and ink in ancient days was expensive. They wanted to get as much information onto a single sheet of paper as possible. We do this ourselves too. Think back to when you were a child in school. You are following the lines on the paper and suddenly you come to the end of the sheet but you have more to say, do you go to another page? No, of course not that would potentially break the train of though so you start to curve your writing up the side of the margin, you completely fill the sheet. We have limited space, and limited resources, so we make seemingly logical decision to make the most efficient use of what we have available.
Our computer systems do this as well. If we were to look at the actual code within a document it would be squeezed together to get the maximum amount of information in the least amount of space possible. Little pieces of code would tell us where one word ends and another begins. And once we begin to understand the context we can break the blocks down into words, sentences, and paragraphs. We use these ques to translate these larger blocks into the language and grammar we can understand, and as biblical translators work through these blocks, they developed verse numbers and joined certain blocks of information together so that we could have chapters and subchapters so that we can get to certain portions of information quickly.
We added chapters and verses, not because they were there but so that we can easily find the information. But we might notice at times that these verses and chapters do not always break up in grammatical coherent groupings. There are times when one sentence is broken up into several verses. And at times a chapter will end before a complete thought is made. It is not always broken up as we would break up a book today. This is done not for reading but for copying. These verses are broken up so they are easier to transcribe. These are tools used by the bible translators, and these translators give us a document that we can read and hopefully understand. The thing is that when the translators do their work, they work within a language. And depending on the language the structure is different. In German this parable is not known as the prodigal son but the lost son. These subtitles give us a clue as to what is going on, but not the complete story. Some scholars have entitled this section the two sons. The subtitle is not part of scripture, but it does help us. It directs our attention to who or what the theme the words are discussing. Unfortunately, sometimes our commonly held and commonly used subtitles can distract instead of focusing our attention. That happens with this passage. What is the focus: The lost son? The loyal son? Or the Father? All of these have been presented as potential titles, but all of these fall a bit short. Because this is a story of relationship, grace, and our ability to participate in reconciliation. But those themes do not have good catchy titles that would grab our attention.
Enough of this nerdy stuff. We all know the story. We have all read this story from a perspective of the lost or prodigal son, maybe a pastor has taken an approach to direct our attention to the older brother or the loyal son. Others might encourage us to look at the story from the perspective of the father. None of these perspectives are wrong, but they do not give us a complete picture.
The passage begins not with the story of the sons, but several verses before. Jesus begins this line of teaching for a reason. There were Pharisees and scribes grumbling because, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” They were upset because people like tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus and listening to his teaching.
We might see this debate in contemporary circles as well. There are arguments surrounding the concept of making the worship services seeker sensitive, or relevant. The argument is that if we make the service sensitive to the seekers, we might be watering down the message. The reality is it is not easy to follow Christ. Even the most righteous among us struggle, and it should be a struggle. It is difficult but it is also open and available to all. There were teachings within the first century that closed the religious observance off from those deemed socially unacceptable. This is an actual prayer among the Pharisees during that time frame: “I thank you Lord, my God, that you have set my portion with those who sit in the sanctuary, and not with those who sit on street corners. I rise early and they rise early: I rise to attend to the word of Torah, and they to attend to futile things. I exert myself and they exert themselves: I exert myself and receive a reward, and they exert themselves and receive no reward. I run and they run: I run to life in the world to come, and they run to the pit of destruction[1]”
This is what Jesus is speaking to. He is highlighting the tension between the godly and the seemingly ungodly. He is explaining that access to God is not based on our works, but our lives should reflect the belief in our hearts.
It is from this perspective that we need to look at the story of the prodigal son. It is not just a story of sin and redemption but relationship. “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his propter between them.”
As I studied this, I found that there are two terms used for property or inheritance in this section. The first deals primarily with wealth or the financial aspects, the second deals with life. The son asked for the wealth, but the father did not just give his wealth he invested his life into the sons. This is important to consider, because we often only regard the passage from the financial side of things. We neglect the fact that the father did not just give the son a financial means, but he sacrificed his very livelihood, his lifestyle, his essence so that his son could go off to this distant land. This tells us a bit about what true parenthood involves. We do not simply provide for the financial wellbeing of our children but we invest our lives in them. We give ourselves so that they can succeed. It is not about our success. Everything we do once children are involved is done so that they have a greater chance than we had.
The inheritance would be divided equally between the sons according to the society’s norms. That being that the oldest son would have a double portion. In this case, there are two sons, so the property would be divided in thirds, one third would be given to the younger and two thirds would be given to the older. If there were three sons it would be divided into quarters, and the oldest would get half and the others would get a quarter each. The reason for this was that the oldest son had the greater responsibility. If anything happened, it was the oldest son’s duty to protect and preserve the family. The younger sons could go out to do whatever they could to make a name for themselves, but no matter what happened the older would be the source of security for the family. The younger sons could always come home.
This is the part of the story we often miss. The younger son was not necessarily sinful in the idea of going off to make a name for himself, the problem is in the relationship between the two. The younger son did not want to remain in the family. He did not respect or want to associate with the current direction the family was going. We get this because the younger demanded his inheritance before the father had died, and he gathered all he had and took a journey to a far country. This request does not translate well into English. He has put away social protocols, meaning has spoken out of turn. The eldest speaks first, and if the father lives the father is the eldest. The eldest carries the greatest respect and honor, but the younger son clearly has a problem that he speaks to. He feels as if he is not being heard, and that his ideas are not being honored.
By making this request, the son is not only requesting his property, but he is expressing that he no longer wishes to live within or be identified by the family. He is dissolving any connection with this life.
I mention this because this is the argument that the Pharisees are making. To become a tax collector is in effect a member of Israel turning their back on their family and their faith and aligning their future with the Gentile world. They are not looking to the traditions of their family for they future financial security but they have sold their inheritance to a foreign land.
This is the unforgivable sin among the faithful. To turn your back on the traditions of your ancestors is basically saying that you do not accept your history. By recognizing this we can understand the tension between the two sons.
We all know the story the younger son goes to the distant land and lives with the Gentiles. He goes and he squandered his money. We think that he lived recklessly but the reality of the wording is that he socialized. He lived in the manner of that society. But the son falls on hard times, and we are told that he hired himself out to one of the citizens. This to us seems a bit ambiguous. We understand if you cannot make enough on your own, you get a job. This makes good financial sense, but the word translated as hire or hired has a deeper meaning than he just got a job. It means to bind oneself closely to another or to cleave to. This man did not just get a job, but he removed himself from everything he previously knew and he became a citizen of this country. He no longer identified as what he was before and became fully vested in the country he lived. And as a citizen of this distant land, he was sent out to the fields to feed the swine. This basically means that he has become fully incorporated into that life and lifestyle, he is living as they lived, he eats what they eat. In the end he begins to realize that the glamorous life he once thought he was moving into is what he thought.
When I spent a summer in Ukraine, most of the students I worked with wanted to come to America. In their mind all Americans were rich. We were trained not to speak about things in terms of money. I at the time made a pretty good living. I was making $10 an hour, today that doesn’t sound like much but in 2000 that was a good wage especially for where I lived. The dollar amount does translate well. In Ukraine $10 an hour sounded like $50 an hour, and Kansas City $10 and hour sounds like poverty. The context is what is important. They thought if they could only get to America and make that income all would be well, but it costs much more to live in the United States than it does in Ukraine, or in other countries. What this story is saying is that this man came to America thinking that he was walking into the promised land. He took what seemed like a fortune in Ukraine. He got a nice apartment and tried to live like everyone else, but soon he found that his fortune was not translating well and he needed a job. Once he got a job, he became vested in this new culture. He started paying taxes, he had to go to school and now has student loans, he is connected to this culture but it is not what he thought. He is broke, he is working harder than he had ever worked in his life, and he suddenly gets home sick. I should go home.
I understand this feeling. I just spent a few days back home. I love the farm and am also connected to the city because I love our church. There is a constant draw to go home at times. My son may not know that draw like I do, but for me I will always be an outsider in this place. I am always a farm boy. As much as I may want to be something else, I am not. I am still connected to the farm.
This is what Jesus is saying. Although this man turned his back on his family and his faith there is something pulling him back. This is where Jesus wants the focus. No matter how far away you travel the father is always at home ready to welcome you back, because God is the God of all people no matter where you are from.
The younger son begins the journey home. We are told that the father sees the son while in the distance. This is interesting because this is the same word used to describe the country the man went to. He sees his son not just down the road, but in the distance, in the place of his sin. Just as Jesus spends time with the tax collectors and sinners. He is not spending time with the irreverent, but he is meeting them in the distance. And it is while the son is at that distance that the father runs to meet him. We are all far from home. We are all in the distance, but the father runs toward us. We have been in this distant land for so long that at times we do not even realize we are still in the distance. We might think we are where we need to be, but the father is still running out toward us and will take us, escort us back to our home.
He yells out to the servants. Go get a robe, a ring, and some sandals. This son has taken the very life that his father has invested in him and squandered it in a foreign land. The things valued in his homeland and that of the foreign land are not equal. And the son quickly finds that life is different. And he has turned his back on everything he once knew. Yet his father looks in the distance and sees his son, and he calls out to those who are with him to restore his honor. His honor is restored in the distance, not when he gets to the house but in the distance. While we are still sinners, while we are still in the distance Christ restores our honor.
But what about the other son? What about the son that remained faithful, the son that stayed at home? We might think that this son has a perfect relationship with the father, but even this son has problems. He sees that a celebration is happening, but who does he talk to? He does not approach the father, but he calls to servants. His brother was at a distance, but so is this older son. He too is distant from his father. He calls the servants. And his father comes out to him while he is in the distance. His father explains that the lost son has returned, but the older son expresses just how lost he himself is. You have killed the fatted calf for this son of yours, but what about me. I have never done this, I have never disrespected you, I have never disobeyed, I have never…and you have never given me a goat so I could celebrate with my friends. Notice the I’s. I deserve better, not so that we enjoy life together but so I can celebrate without you. This older son may not have gone to a distant land a thousand miles away, yet in his mind he is just as far away. Both sons are distant from the father, and the father meets them where they are.
We are all far from home. Our sins might be different but the distance is similar. The father will meet us in that distance and escort us back home. It does not matter where we are or what we are doing He meets us there, but we need walk the distance back home with him. We might believe we are where we need to be or we might realize we are far from home. The reality is there is a distance between us and home. What are we going to do? Where are we looking and where are we walking? We might be in a distant land or distant mind, but the father is still running toward us ready to restore us to the place we were meant to be. As we move through our lives, let us assist each other to turn toward the father instead of creating greater distance.
[1] James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2015), 433.
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Worse Sinners?
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
March 20, 2022
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Luke 13:1–9 (ESV)
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
I think I am going to nerd out a bit this week. I have mentioned often that I think studying scripture is one of the most entertaining hobbies one could have. I say this because there is always something new to learn. I literally spent every evening studying for this week’s sermon. I read this passage many times. And took enough notes to probably speak on this for a couple of weeks. But you are lucky that about ninety percent of everything I learn, I do not put into my messages.
When I speak. I speak only on the things that I find to be the most interesting or the things that have convicted me the most. If anyone were to think I might be reading your mind, I don’t, I can’t. What is going on is that you and I just happen to be on the same wavelength. The things God is convicting me of today might be the same things that God has been working with you.
There is rarely a week that I am not fascinated with scripture. And to study scripture is not just to look at the words on the page. It is to learn about the people, the places, the surrounding history, and cultural influences that interact with the people writing or even reading what was written. It is looking at our own history, our own culture, the things that we are encountering and considering how all of this seems to intertwine. Scripture is not a book of answers. Scripture is not exactly a book of laws, although you can see that within it. Scripture is a conversation. It is a call to look deeper into yourself and to imagine yourself in someone else’s place. Scripture is inspired, it is infallible not because God sent the words directly from heaven, but because when we truly engage with scripture in study and in prayer, we do not leave unchanged.
I start in this manner for a reason. This past month has been challenging to me. My emotions have been all over the place. I pull up the news on my phone, I watch reports from various news outlets, I have watched commentaries, interviews, history presentations and pretty much anything that I could to gain a better understanding of why things are happening in our world.
I spent two months in Ukraine. I went to Ukraine during a very important time of my life. I went in the summer of 2000. I was an unmarried father, still in school, trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I was in a crossroad of life. Was I going to be like every other person I knew my age, would I just pay child support and do my own thing or would I be a man? Would I become someone that stood for something important or would I just live for my own self-indulgence? I went to Ukraine that summer, I went to help organize and teach conversational American English classes to college students. I went to help, but I never imagined that those two months would change the course of my life.
I was a small-town farm kid. The largest city I have ever spent a large amount of time in was Wichita, Kansas. And I lived for two months in Odesa, Ukraine. I spent my entire life in the center of a continent and I spent a some a short walk to the shores of the Black Sea. I spent twenty-one years of my life speaking only if I had to, and that summer I taught classes, interviewed students, attempted to make calls to set up meetings using an extremely broken Russian language, and I also first began studying scripture in a more in-depth manner.
I was a painfully quiet person. It would not be uncommon for me to spend the entire day without say more than ten words prior to that summer. But that summer something changed. Seeds were planted deep within my being that began to sprout. And by the next December in less than six months my entire life changed. I was studying crop science, and as I sat in my car eating lunch one day, I heard a pastor read from John 21. “Do you love me more than these,” Jesus asked Peter. God took me to the other side of the world to show me something. He took me across the ocean and to the eastern regions of Europe to show me that no matter where I am there is something the same as what I am used to. Ukraine is flat. Ukraine in many ways is just like the rolling hills of Kansas. He took me across the world and showed me that people no matter where they live are basically the same and once, we can get through the barriers of language and our own oddness we are all interesting and have more similarities than differences. I heard that pastor read the words Jesus spoke to Peter, and I did not hear anything else that pastor said. All I heard was Jesus asking if I loved wheat more than him, if I loved corn, sorghum, or sunflowers more than him. I heard Jesus calling me out of everything I thought I knew and he led me into a life I have embraced for the past nineteen years. God called me to study scripture and to share what I have learned. God spoke to me, but he first had to get my attention by taking me to the other side of the world and showing me that we might all be different and yet we are the same.
I have spent many evening near tears as I have watched tanks moving down roads, and buildings being turned to rubble because those were the places I had once traveled. Places that to me and my life’s story are holy ground. It was in Ukraine that God really got my attention. It was in Ukraine, in a field of sunflowers where I began to realize that there was more to life than I first imagined.
Today we see Jesus in a conversation. He is again talking with the people within a community and during this time of conversation, like many others, Jesus teaches something profound. We might not get the teaching at first, we might look at these words and simply see Jesus giving some weird altar call. “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.”
There is something very interesting about this verse. The sense of the wording is that these people had just returned from one place and were sharing the current events that had happened along the way. This is something that had seemingly happened recently. This is intriguing. If we were to investigate the works of the Jewish historians, we can find a couple of instances where something like this has happened, although many scholars would be quick to point out that the timing makes it seem a bit off. Some would say that this would make this portion of scripture less accurate, but the thing is that this historical source places events like what is described both before and after the accepted time frame of Jesus’s ministry. This tells me that it is probable. The depictions are so similar that we can determine that these events most likely happened during the feast of the Passover because that is the only time the sacrificial animal is slaughter by the worshippers.
This is important to note because Passover is one of those feasts where the entire Jewish community comes to one place, the temple. They travel from the far reaches of the world, from western end of the Roman Empire as well as from the Eastern regions of what we would know as Persia. I want us to think about this. The Roman Empire stretched the entire Mediterranean and as far north as the British Isles. And the Empire of the Persians stretched as far east as India and up into the areas we would be bordering what is now consider Russia and Ukraine. The entire known world at the time had pockets, communities of Jewish people. And many of them at some point would make their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. Imagine now you are a Roman official charged with the security and taxation of this land. Imagine three times a year people from all over the world were congregating in your province, carrying with them ideas, news, and goods. It is a security nightmare. And the annuals of history tell us this. Several times the Roman soldiers used deadly force to keep the peace.
Now at that very time, men that had just returned from Jerusalem had come to talk to Jesus. They told him about this injustice that had just occurred in their holy city. These Galileans are also interesting people. For those of you who have visited Israel, you know that the land of Galilee is beautiful. Galilee is filled with rich farmland and other resources. This is the land that was coveted by the various occupying empires. As these occupying forces came in, they would displace the current inhabitants and place their own people into those areas. People were removed from the homes their ancestors occupied. And they were given a couple of options. Either they had to pay rent to continue to farm the land they had always farmed or they would be removed.
This caused great social, political, and economical unrest in Galilee. The people of Israel were forced to live in towns, they were forced to go into debt, they were forced to find jobs that they were not accustomed to. Disease was rampant because people were living closer together than before. Work was hard, poverty was high, and archeology has found that nearly fifty percent of those buried in Galilee died before they reached adulthood.
From the writings of Josephus, we know that it was from Galilee that the rebellion against the Romans began. From the Book of the Maccabees, we find that is if from Galilee that the rebellion against the Greeks began. Galilee was known as violent and rebellious people. And Pilate sees a group from Galilee congregating in Jerusalem. Imagine what you might think, this group had a stereotypical reputation, and Pilate acted with swift ferocity.
These men came back to Galilee and they shared the news. They brought the news to the synagogue. They shared the news with the men within their community, and they began sowing the seeds of rebellion. But Jesus does something profound. He does not let the talk of nationalistic pride take root around him. He does not speak about these men as martyrs of the faith. He listens to their words and says, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?”
Jesus is doing two things with this question. He is pointing out their pride as well as their hypocrisy. The teachings of the Pharisees at this time were that the reason bad things are happening in your life is because you have sinned. If you got an illness, it is your fault because you were not following the law faithfully enough. If your crops failed, you were not righteous enough. If your husband died, it was because you were not a good enough person and God was judging you. We often get into this trap even today. There are teachers within our churches that will preach that the only reason you have not overcome an illness is because you do not have enough faith. There are teachers that will say that the reason you are in poverty is because you have not claimed your receipts in heaven so the blessings are not flowing. And yet these good men of Galilee died. Their blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrifice.
Do you see the hypocrisy? These men died in such a terrible way because they were sinful, and yet those same teachers would rile their countrymen up in nationalistic and religious pride saying that these men were martyrs of the faith. They were holy and righteous and we should take up arms to defend their honor. Jesus asks, were they sinners? Were they worse sinners than everyone else? “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Jesus answers.
What is he saying? He is not holding these men as being martyrs, and he is not condemning them as heretics. Jesus is calling the people within their community to take a step back and consider what they are doing. He is calling not for war, but peace. He is calling not for fire and brimstone, but repentance among the righteous. Look at yourselves.
Twenty-two years ago, I boarded a plane that took me to Ukraine. In the months leading up to this trip, I remember my grandfather tell me that he would be praying for me because I was going to the frontlines to face the enemy. He told me that he would pray for their repentance and my safety. I love my grandfather. I think he is one of the greatest men that on Earth, but that statement has never really sat well with me. I boarded that plane nervously. I boarded that plane with the self-righteous fervor that I was about to embark on a holy crusade against the heathens. I quickly found out that nearly every student I spoke to were Christians. Most attended worship multiple times a week. I was not converting heathens, the only thing that I was engaged in was mutual discipleship. They taught me just as much about God as I taught them.
Jesus that day encouraged the people of Galilee to stop looking at the people around them as enemies. He encouraged them to stop looking at everything that happened to them as a sin against them or a sin they had committed, and instead to look at how they were living their own lives with each other.
To me Russia has invaded the holy land. They have desecrated that thin space where God got my attention, they have contaminated my holy mountain. I am angry. I am furious. I, at this moment am not a great example of the Quaker testimony of peace. But then God speaks to me, “do you think that these Russians were worse sinners?” And I am taken aback. I listened to their political leaders use scripture in their speeches. I remember that they are the largest Christian nation. We might not agree because they are not Evangelicals and they do not believe the same things that we believe, but that is not the point. They are who they are and they believe that they are following Christ. I listen as the leader of this invading army used scripture to justify something offended my faith to such a degree that I shook with anger.
And I read this passage again. “Are they worse sinners?” We too misuse scripture to manipulate others to do what we want. We too believe our actions are just and our cause is righteous. I still think Putin should withdraw from Ukraine, and I think it in words that are more colorful than I should utter, but I too have sinned.
Jesus is telling us, “Are they worse sinners? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” My demands for better service, my snide comments at the customer service desk, the words that I utter out of frustration and anger, are an invasion of sacred ground. When I demand a refund beyond the true value I am contributing to the violation of God’s sovereignty. Why? Because each human being on the face of this earth is created to bear the image of God. When I think of myself as greater, I have declared war on God. I need repentance, and if I do not repent, I contribute to the continuation of sin and death in this world. I am damning those around me from the blessing of life with God because I speak in God’s name, but I reflect something else. What they see is no better that what they see all around them. What they see in some cases is worse than the things I declare as ungodly.
Over the past few weeks, God has shown me my own hypocrisy. I say I am antiwar, and yet I will get into a shouting match with my own child. I say that I believe all people are created in the image of God, yet at times I will make sure the doors on my car are locked when I come to a stop light. I say a great deal of things, but how do I live? Are they worse sinners?
As we enter in our time of Holy Expectancy we will listen to No Man’s Land by Eric Bogle
If you would like to help support the continued Ministry of Willow Creek Friends Church please consider donating online:
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To help support the personal ministry of JWQuaker (Jared Warner) online and in the community click to donate.