The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
I suspect that every one of us, at one time or another, has looked back at our lives, maybe our whole lives or maybe just a portion of our lives, and thought, "If I could only start over again, knowing what I know now, how differently I would have lived (or done that)!"
That's the basic theme of today's readings, and that is also the basic theme of Lent. What it all boils down to, you see, is that God loves us so much, and wants so much for us to live with him and be his children, that he is forever giving us second chances...and third chances...and fourth chances.
Let's start with the reading from Joshua. The people are fresh from their 40-year wandering in the desert, led by Moses. You remember the story. No matter how happy they were to be free from slavery in Egypt, human nature always finds things to complain about. No food...but when God supplied manna, pretty soon they started complaining that they were eating the same old manna every day and were sick and tired of it. So God sent meat, in the form of flocks of doves that came every evening. But after awhile they felt that the same old meat was boooorrrrring all the time. No water...so God provided miraculous water, and of course, they complained...ugh! It tastes horrible! The fresh water God provided didn't even get a "thank you" from the people. When nothing else was around to complain about, they complained about Moses. Who was he to tell them what to do? Why couldn't they choose their own leader instead of having to put up with one God picked out for them? And so it went. Along with the constant complaining, they acted out like naughty children. We know about the golden calf. We know about the various rebellions and attempted revolutions. We know they even wanted to go back to Egypt and be slaves again, instead of forever walking through the desert. It is easy for us, several thousand years later, to listen to these stories and feel that WE would know better, WE would be more grateful, WE would obey God more willingly. But...if we are honest, we have to admit that we would probably be and do exactly what the Israelites were and did!
God got so mad at them for their attitude and constant complaining and disobedience that he almost killed them all off, several times. Moses went to bat for them, every time, and convinced God to give them another chance. And God did. Finally, after a much longer journey than was really necessary, in fact it was made 40 years longer than it had to be, as a punishment for all that complaining and rebellion, they came to the borders of Canaan, the land God had promised to give to Abraham and his descendents (who were these same Israelites) to be their home forever. And now, Moses was taken from them and sent to his death, and Joshua was set over them as the new leader...another leader chosen by God. What we have read today tells what happened when they finally made it across the Jordan River and were standing, at long last, in Canaan, which they re-named Israel. They were beginning a new life. No more manna. No more doves. No more water from rocks. No more Moses to tell them what to do (although they had had to listen to a whole day's reminders about the various laws God had given, just before Moses' death.) A new life, in a new land, with everything new and wonderful. It must have seemed like heaven, or a dream.
Well, it was no dream, and we all know how they promptly began forgetting God's laws and messing up again. Just like we do with our New Year's and Lenten resolutions to change.
Also, they were now on their own again. They'd have to plant crops and raise flocks, instead of having free food handed to them twice a day. They'd have to find their own water, and care for the land. They'd have to CHOOSE to follow, or not follow, God's laws. Moses wasn't around any more to get God to change his mind about punishing the lawbreakers. They would have to take responsibility for their own actions, now. Freedom isn't free, you know. It costs. Accountability, responsibility, self-discipline are the cost we pay for our right to stand on our own feet and be ourselves, instead of being slaves told what to do every minute of the day.
The reading today from Paul's letter to the Corinthians repeats this theme. If we are joined to Christ (and we are joined through our belief that he is God the Son, and also through our Baptism), we are new people. We are not the same old sinners as before. We have been forgiven, and this is something we didn't do for ourselves, it is something we certainly did not earn by our good behavior and hard work. No, it is a gift from God, just as freedom and the land of Canaan were gifts from God to the people of Israel. Again, this freedom from sin is not something that comes free. It comes with great suffering from Jesus who died on the cross. It comes with accountability and responsibility and self-discipline from us...discipline to keep God's laws, responsibility for others in need and for care of the earth, accountability at the day of judgment.
Today's Gospel is the beloved story of the Prodigal Son. Some call it the story of the Prodigal Father, since the father gave prodigious (or enormous) amounts of love and forgiveness. Of course the father is a symbol for God. The sons are the symbols for us. Some of us want to have our own way and do whatever we want. We call that "freedom," but it isn't really freedom. In looking for that kind of freedom, based on our selfishness and greed, we become slaves to selfishness and greed and uncaringness. The other son was a slave, too. He was a slave to self-righteousness, a mean and critical attitude, and complaining.
The "bad" boy finally faced the truth about himself and came home again. Did he start a new life, based on his new understanding of his father's great love and generosity? Or did he go back to the old habits of looking only for pleasure and for "freedom" to do what he wanted? The Bible doesn't say. The older son...did he ever understand the nastiness of his own way of thinking and living? Did he ever start a new life? The Bible doesn't say.
I suspect Jesus left the story unfinished like that, so that we could fit ourselves into the character of one or the other son, and live out the rest of the story ourselves. You have been given a new life, as Paul said. Will you live that new life, or go back to the slavery of the old one, as the Jews wanted to do while they walked through the desert? The Bible doesn't say. Only you can say.
Amen.
