God Reaches Out to Us: 4th Sunday of Lent
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Fourth Sunday of Lent – Year C
Sermon and Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Reconciliation with God and Neighbour! Let us reconcile with God! God reaches out to us! The Compassionate Father!
Point of Reflection: The Lenten period invites us to reconcile with God and our neighbour! We are halfway through the Lenten season, and today’s liturgical readings present God who reaches out to his lost children. In the first reading, the Exodus generation was lost due to their disobedience and idolatry. Still, God reached out to their descendants, fulfilling his promises, and giving them a chance for a new life. In the second reading, St Paul shows how God reached out to sinful humankind through his Son who brought about divine-human reconciliation and thus initiated a “new creation”. St Paul describes his apostleship as “the ministry of reconciliation”. Sin, in its various forms, separates humanity from God and requires reconciliation. The gospel story of today shows a God who reaches out to those who separated themselves from him, either by sin or by self-righteousness. These examples provide a powerful assurance that the hand of God is always extended to his lost or separated children.
Those who reach out to God can be confident of the truthfulness of the Psalmist’s words, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
First Reading: Joshua 5:9, 10–12
Psalm: Psalm 34:2–7
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17–21
Gospel: Luke 15:1–3, 11–32
Sermon (Reflection): Despite the popular title of today’s gospel reading so-called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”, the story has a two-fold paradigm shift which I prefer to call it “the Compassionate father with two prodigal sons”. The story is about the father reaching out to his two lost sons not only the one lost son who asked for his share of his father’s wealth. The characters of both sons must teach us a lesson of reconciliation in our Christian journey.
First, the younger son who is a prodigal son represents the tax collectors and sinners in the context of Jesus’ timewho were the religious outcasts of Jewish society because they committed acts that violated God’s laws and harmed others. To the younger son, he was truly a sinner as he squandered his share on prostitutes. Are we not sinners too? Normally, the family property can only be divided after the father’s death. By demanding his share of the property, the younger son acts as if his father was already dead. He then separated himself from the family and squandered everything living a life of debauchery. He ended up becoming a servant of a gentile and eating pig’s food. From the Jewish point of view, he was an utterly disgraced man, permanently excluded from the family and the community. But like the sinners who approached Jesus, he returns to the Father with an honest acknowledgement of his sins.
As Christians, do we recognise our sin? And then ask for forgiveness and reconciliation?
Second, the older son who holds anger represents the Pharisees and the scribes in the context of the time of Jesus who strictly followed God’s command and law. This is what merits the elder son with his utter devotion to his father and to the family as the un-sinful son and following the father’s command. But this led him to a self-righteous conviction that he alone deserved his father’s favour. For this reason, the older son refused to enter the household where the banquet for the younger brother was held. This, ironically, made him the other “lost son” who separated himself from his celebrating and reunited family because of his self-righteous convictions. As Christians, let us not live in anger but live in love and reconciliation. Both sons are lost! The father is the central figure of mercifulness and compassion.
The father is the true hero of this story, for he reaches out to both of his lost sons. To the sinner son, he offered unexpected and astonishing forgiveness, restoring him to the full status of a family member. To the older son, to overcome his anger and bring him back into the household, the father offered an assurance that he was his rightful heir who “is always with him”, thus, the story focuses on the father who reaches out to his lost sons to restore them both to the family. The sinner son returned to the family by asking for forgiveness and then accepting it. Interestingly, the story does not report whether the self-righteous older son accepted his father’s words and re-joined the family. Telling this story, Jesus was making a point that God reaches out to all, both sinners and self-righteous, with an unqualified offer to be his children.
During this Lenten season, let us be reconciled with the Father so that we celebrate Easter with clean hearts.
Christian Act in Word of God “Let us accept sin and get reconciled with the Father who is all compassionate”
Parents are often compassionate to their sons and daughters. Generally, parents see something of themselves in their children. In their children, they see the flesh of their flesh and bones of their bones. Even those who are adopted parents often develop an affinity for those under their care and this creates a strong bond. During this Lenten season, as Christians, we are invited to reconcile with the Lord and our neighbour and make a strong bond.
In the first reading, the book of Exodus looks at Israel’s entry into the promised land. The very first act of Joshua after the crossing of the river Jordan was the circumcision of the new generation of the Israelite men. The original Exodus generation failed the test of faithfulness and broke the covenant with God. Still, God reached out to their successors, fulfilling his promises, and proving his fidelity. This new generation of Israelites would have to make a new beginning. As Christians today, we need a new beginning and this the calling message for the fourth Sunday of Lent.
In the second reading of today, St Paul describes his apostleship as “the ministry of reconciliation”. Sin, in its various forms, separates humanity from God and requires reconciliation. As Christians, in one way or another, we have sinned, but what do we do after sinning? Do we ask for forgiveness and reconciliation? The Corinthians who were the gentles at that time had lived sinful lives in ignorance of God and his commands. The Israelites followed the law, but sins still frequently occurred and sacrifices for reconciliation had to be repeatedly offered in the Temple. Then, God reached out to sinful humanity in an entirely new way through his Son. Jesus offered one-time self-sacrifice on the cross which reconciled humanity to God in a definitive way. To describe this, Paul makes a puzzling and difficult statement that Jesus was made “sin” for our sake. Paul means here that Christ, even though himself sinless, suffered the fate of a sinner and experienced death, which is a direct consequence of human sin. Christ underwent death for the believers’ sake, so that sin and its fruit, which is death might be overcome. This victory happened when God raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore, those who are “in Christ” are no longer under the power of sin, they are reconciled to God through Christ, they are a “new creation”. As good Christians, we are invited today to be a new creation through the sacrament of reconciliation.
During this season of Lent, dear Christians; God calls each one of us back home. He calls us to come back not because he wants to punish us for sins committed but to offer us the balm that would heal the festering wound caused by sin. His arms reach out to us, not with a blow of the fist but a glow of a feast. He wipes away our tears and fills our hearts with the light of joy. Today, we need to pray for reconciliation. In the second and third weeks of lent sermons, we shared about recognising sin and repentance. And this week we are inviting each other to reconciliation as the Father is so compassionate and let us reconcile with ourselves in love.
Action: This week, I am going to open my heart to be reconciled with the compassionate God and neighbour.
Prayer: Eternal Father, today, we accept that we are sinners as the two lost sons in the Gospel of today, we open our hearts to be reconciled with You who is the compassionate Father who always reaches out to his children. Through your Son Jesus Christ who revealed to us your compassionate face, may we be renewed today and deepen our faith and help us to be compassionate in love as children of God, grant this through the same Son Christ our Lord, Amen.
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