Learning from Jesus: come and join the party
The Pharisees listened, no doubt grudgingly, as Jesus told three symmetrical stories - of a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son, and of the celebrations when they were found. They had accused Jesus of consorting with sinners, and he had answered by illustrating a spirit of sacrificial seeking. Maybe they were prepared to concede that it was good, as indeed the law stated, to seek and care for the lost.
But they were used to listening to stories, so they had probably noticed that Jesus prefaced the third by saying 'a certain man had two sons'. Jesus' account of the elder son didn't follow the pattern of the preceding stories. Rather, it formed an uncomfortable contrast. The dutiful son turns out to be a nasty piece of work - self-righteous, jealous and resentful.
Being used to listening to carefully-structured stories, the Pharisees would also have noticed that something was missing from this last one. Each of the previous three ended with a celebration, thus completing the same pattern of possession, loss and recovery. The final story should have ended with 'And so he went in and joined the celebrations'. It's as if a traditional European story was suspended in uncertainty, waiting in vain for 'and so they lived happily ever after'.
Jesus was, of course, turning the table on the Pharisees, and this was the climax of his whole discourse. Yes, he was saying to them, God does love the lost. But he also loves you, and longs for you to embrace the scope of his love. Rather than standing in their own self-righteousness, they must be willing to welcome the good news of the kingdom.
Might Jesus be speaking to many of us in the Western church today? Wedded to our traditions and prejudices, are we in danger of denying the untidy glory of Christ's church? Are we willing to embrace change, new circumstances and 'fresh expressions'?
But the celebrations were to take place in the father's house. This is not a call to heresy but to looking at the gospel with fresh eyes, not blinkered by our own history, culture and traditions. 'Come,' Jesus says, 'and join the party.'
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