rebels, rule-followers, and rescuers

Based on Luke 15 and the story of the Father and his two sons.

Grace and peace from God the Father and the savior Jesus Amen.

Two people.  Two very different worlds.  The rebel and the rule-follower.  The rebel resists authority; the rebel is self-indulgent, following his or her passions or cravings; the rebel is not typically religious unless it benefits him or herself; the rebel is not concerned with the law, sees himself as above the law, is willing to break the law for selfish gain.  They are not interested in rewards or entitlements, they prefer to take what they want; The rebel values personal freedom above all else, even if the exercise of that freedom hurts others; The rebel likes chaos; the rebel is often not a planner; The rebel takes risks, chooses adventure over stability; they want to have fun; and thinks rule followers are hypocrites.  The rebel lives excessively and love extravagance and likes to share it with others; They think everyone should be a rebel.

The rule follower despises the rebel; they value obedience above all else; they follow authority whether they agree or not; the rule follower is self-righteous and judges others based on the rules they follow; non-compliance is a betrayal, treasonous; rule-followers believe in conditional rewards and entitlements, they expect to be rewarded for good behavior;  the rule-follower is religious because it’s right to be so and because they anticipate a reward for fidelity; They think you get what you deserve; they practice stability, consistency, hard work, thoughtful planning, thriftiness, discipline. Think boy scout.  They appreciate simplicity.  They think everyone should be a rule-follower and those who are not should be punished. 

Now, a show of hands---who self-describes as a rebel?  A rule-follower?  Neither?  Then you’re a rebel.  Unless you don’t think you are…then you’re a rule follower. 

Some of you might think, I’m a little of both.  These are generalized caricatures, to be sure. And there’s a dark side and a light side to both, right?  We can identify people who conform to these persona though, can’t we?  There are people who rigidly follow the rules and people who go their own way.  We admire people who are purists in both camps.  Superman is a rule follower.  Batman is a rebel.  You can be either of these and be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, black or white, man or woman.  These types cross cultural, social, economic borders.  Because they speak of the human condition.  Think of famous pairings; Cain and Abel.  Jacob and Esau. Laverne and Shirley; Bert and Ernie.      

The whole gospel is contained in the story we heard this morning.  It’s a story told to self-righteous rule-following religious Pharisees and rebellious tax collectors and sinners; It’s a story about these two brothers; the rebel and the rule follower.  The younger son demands his inheritance, one third of the family property.  He wants it immediately, thus abandoning his place as a son, and rejecting his father.  You get an inheritance after all when a loved one dies.  And his father divides it up.  He had to sell off a third of his livestock and land to pay off the younger son. This will affect retirement and the elder son’s inheritance. No one in their right mind does what the father does.  But people do.  More often than we care to discuss. 

The younger son takes off to another country.  Spends all the money on lavish living. He goes broke and a famine strikes; when he runs out of everything, he gets a job slopping pigs on a farm.  This is rock bottom for the Pharisees in the room. Can we get a collective “EW”?  Thanks.  When he’s finally realized how bad things are, he comes up with a plan.  Highly unrebel-like. He rehearses a speech. He doesn’t expect entitlements.  He’s willing to be hired as a laborer. He’s still not willing to be the son.

He makes his way home.  And then the father runs out to him.  He does not wait for the son to come groveling.  He meets him on the road.  The son starts his routine.  I wonder if he thought the father might beat him.  Instead he embraces and kisses him.  Go get the best robe in the house (his own robe), the ring and prepare a feast.  The son is reinstated, restored, welcomed, received.  He hardly apologizes. He shows up dirty and broke.  And the Father throws him a party?  What? No consequences?  He says, “he was dead and is alive again, lost and has been found.”

The elder son catches wind of it and refuses to join the fun.  Not sure this guy would know fun if it bit him in the you know where.  He’s angry, bitter, indignant.  When the Father leaves the party to beg him to come in, the elder son says, “All these years I have slaved for you and never disobeyed you but you never gave me even a goat to have a party with my friends; but when this son of yours (denying brotherhood) who spent all your money on prostitutes comes home, you through him a party?  He sees himself as a slave, not a son.  And he doesn’t want a relationship with the father either, just enough reward to enjoy a dinner with friends.  Of course reinstatement means the elder’s inheritance will be divided with the younger again, so he’ll get less than 2/3 of the original estate.   

The Father is concerned about only one thing; Coming home.  My sons are with me.  He is willing to share everything with both of them.  He is mostly concerned about the younger, who was dead and is alive, lost and is now found.”  Will the elder son come around and embrace his younger brother? Will they live happily ever after? What does this teach us?

Jesus represents a third person, another way.  The reconciling rescuer.  He stands between the two groups, the two brothers.  He welcomes the younger rebels home with open arms (he eats with them) and invites the elder rule followers to open their hearts and do the same.  Jesus comes to rescue us from ourselves and to reconcile us to one another and to the father who loves us all extravagantly, absurdly, and unconditionally.  Jesus represents the rule-follower who loves to be with the rebels. He restores the only condition of our humanity that truly matters; we are one family to the God and Father who loves us all. Come home, he says.  Come home.   Amen.