circular thoughts

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Context...

con-text

- noun

1.  the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.

2.  the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc

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When we want to go deeper in our understanding of Scripture one of the most important steps is to study the context.  Failure to do so can result in at best a limited understanding of what is being taught and at worst a complete misunderstanding.  It is important to try and understand what has been said both before and after the passage we are studying.  It is also important to know as much as we can about both the historical and literary context of the passage in question.  In this post, I hope to answer some of the questions of context when it comes to the parable of the lost sons.

When I read this parable the first thing I want to know is to whom Jesus is telling the parable.  This seems to be a fairly important question as there could be two or three different emphases to the parable depending on how this is answered.  In Luke 15:1 & 2 there are two groups of people mentioned; the tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the tax collectors and sinners then we will most likely focus on the younger son and assume that Jesus is teaching the tax collectors and sinners about the grace and mercy of God the Father.  When we do this we will typically not know what to do with the elder son and just think his part of the story is either an afterthought or secondary.  On the other hand, if we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the scribes we will more likely focus on the elder son.  We will do this because we will see that Jesus is telling the Pharisees and the scribes that they are like the elder son in that they cannot extend grace and mercy to the younger son who represents the tax collectors and sinners.  A third option would be that Jesus is speaking to both the tax collectors and the sinners and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to this conclusion we would assume that Jesus has a message for both groups in the stories of the younger and elder sons.  So, which is it?

I think the key can be found in one word in Luke 15:2; the word grumbled.  The Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling about the fact that Jesus was defiling himself by hanging out and eating with the tax collectors and sinners.  In Luke 15:3 we see that Jesus told "them" a parable, well actually three parables.  Jesus had heard the grumblings of the Pharisees and the scribes and he answered them with the parables. We can also see evidence that Jesus was addressing the Pharisees and the scribes in Luke 16:14, which says that the Pharisees "heard all these things, and they ridiculed him."  In other words, the parable of the two lost sons, along with several other parables surrounding such, is sandwiched between the Pharisees grumbling and their ridiculing Jesus.  This should provide more than enough evidence to convince us that Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees and the scribes when he told the parable of the lost sons. 

Why is this important?  I think it adds weight to the argument that these parables were more of a warning than stories of what the Father is like.  I'll get into this more in future posts.

Another contextual issue that I think is important is that of the societal structure during the time of Jesus.  We who live in the Western world live very individualistic lives.  We don't really understand the communal nature of most of the rest of the world.  When we read this story through this individualistic lens we are going to miss much of what Jesus was saying.  The family dynamics during that time were such that in the story both sons brought shame to the Father.  This is an important factor that adds to the significance of the warning I spoke of above.  I'll go into details of this factor more in future posts.

The final contextual issue that I think is important to understanding this story is the significance of the two parables that precede the parable of the lost sons; that is the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin.  There is a strong connection between these three parables.  In all three, something was lost.  In all three, that which was lost is found.  In the first two parables, someone went to find and recover that which was lost.  This did not happen in the third parable and this is a very important factor, one that adds strength to my argument that these parables are more of a warning than they are stories of God's goodness and grace.  But, I'll save that for future posts...

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Introduction...

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about and studying the parable of the lost sons over the past month or so.  This parable, which is usually referred to as the parable of the prodigal son, is found in Luke 15.  It has been called the gospel within the gospel and has been used countless times to paint a picture of grace for those of us who have ever gone astray.  It is a beautiful story.

My study, however, has helped me to see that the typical understanding and presentation of this story, while beautiful, falls short of what Jesus was intending to communicate.  I have now come to see that this story is as much of a warning as it is a story of grace.

I plan to take the next few posts and share some of the things I have learned.  Most of what I will be sharing has come from a book by Kenneth E. Bailey called The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants.  I've owned this book for some time but have just now read it.  A second book that I will draw from is called The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller.   I also listened to a sermon series by Keller called The Prodigal God.  This sermon series tracks with the book.

My plan is to do five posts, including this introductory post.  The second post will be a discussion of the context of the story.  The third post will look at what we know about and learn from the younger son.  The fourth post will be a discussion of what we know about the father and what that teaches us about God.  The fifth and final post will look at the elder son, who is really the key to understanding what Jesus was saying.

I look forward to writing these posts and to our discussion as well.

2 Timothy 2:2 video

I wanted to share this video of what a 2 Timothy 2:2 network looks like.  This is the discipleship network for just one of the men we have trained in India.  It is one of many that we could show you.  Each name on the chart represents a house church.  This is what multiplication looks like.  Enjoy!

Have you ever had this thought?

From  The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus...

Thoughts on Christendom, by Frost and Hirsch...

We must admit that Christendom, particularly its ecclesiological and its missiological manifestations, amounts to something of a failed experiment.  To reiterate, by the term Christendom, we are referring to a period in history when the church assumed influence by its connection to temporal, secular power.  Its high watermark occurred in the Middle Ages and continued beyond the Reformation well into the 1700s.  Since the emergence of the Enlightenment it has been in decline, disappearing in the latter part of the twentieth century.  It is time to move on and find a new mode of understanding and engagement with surrounding contexts.  We can no longer afford our historical sentimentality, even addiction, to the past.  Christendom is not the biblical mode of the church.  It was/is merely one way in which the church has conceived of itself.  In enshrining it as the sole form of the church, we have made it into an idol that has captivated our imaginations and enslaved us to a historical-cultural expression of the church.  We have not answered the challenges of our time precisely because we refuse to let go of the idol.  This must change!  The answer to the problem of mission in the West requires something far more radical than reworking a dated and untenable model.  It will require that we adopt something that looks far mare like the early church in terms of its conception of the church (ecclesiology) and its core task in the world (missiology).

From The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, page 15.

More from Dr. King...

American Christians, I must say to you what I wrote to the Roman Christians years ago: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."  You have a duel citizenry.  You live both in time and eternity.  Your highest loyalty is to God, and not to the mores or the folkways, the state or the nation, or any man-made institution.  If any earthly institution or custom conflicts with God's will, it is your Christian duty to oppose it.  You must never allow the transitory, evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God.  In a time when men are surrendering the high values of the faith you must cling to them, and despite the pressure of an alien generation preserve them for children yet unborn.  You must be willing to challenge unjust mores, to champion unpopular causes, and to buck the status quo.  You are called to be the salt of the earth.  You are to be the light of the world.  You are to be that vitally active leaven in the lump of the nation.

- from Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. (pages 138 & 139)  This sermon was written as an imaginary Pauline epistle to the American church...

A word from Dr. King...

Every true Christian is a citizen of two worlds, the world of time and the world of eternity.  We are, paradoxically, in the world and yet not of the world.  To the Philippian Christians, Paul wrote, "We are a colony of heaven."  They understood what he meant, for their city of Philippi was a Roman colony.  When Rome wished to Romanize a province, she established a small colony of people who lived by Roman law and Roman customs and who, though in another country, held fast to their Roman allegiance.  This powerful, creative minority spread the gospel of Roman culture.  Although the analogy is imperfect - the Roman settlers lived within a framework of injustice and exploitation, that is, colonialism - the Apostle does point to the responsibility of Christians to imbue an unchristian world with the ideals of a higher and more noble order.  Living in the colony of time, we are ultimately responsible to the empire of eternity.  As Christians we must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality - God and his kingdom of love - to which we must be conformed.

- from Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. (page 22)

Standing in the gap...

Would you be willing to give up your salvation so that an entire people group could be made right with God?  I am not suggesting that this is theologically possible, but I do think it is a question we all need to ask.

I have been reading in Exodus.  This week I came to the story of the golden calf, in Exodus 32.  You remember the story.  Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to meet with God, but had not come down as quickly as the Hebrews thought he should.  They went to Aaron and requested that he make them gods that they could follow.  Aaron gathered up all of their golden earrings.  He threw all of the earrings into a fire and, poof, out popped a golden calf.  The Hebrews started worshiping the idol and they had a big party.  God told Moses what was going on and then said that he was going to destroy the Hebrews and start over with a great nation from Moses.  Moses stood in the gap for his people:

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.  Exodus 32:11-14

I have read this story many times and have always been intrigued by the fact that Moses changed God's mind.  I have not explored the theological implications of this, but it is truly amazing and it does speak to the impact our fervent prayers must have on God. 

I have read the rest of chapter 32 many times over the course of my life.  This week, however, I noticed something I haven't noticed before:

The next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin.  And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."  So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin.  They have made for themselves gods of gold.  But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written."  Exodus 32:30-32

Did you get that?  Moses not only stood in the gap for his people, he also offered his own salvation in their place.  I immediately underlined this passage and wrote a note out in the margin:

Would I be willing to do this for Muslims, or Hindus, or Buddhists, or...?

The Holy Spirit then reminded me that Moses was not the only example of this kind of sacrificial prayer.  I remembered that Paul prayed a similar prayer.  It took me a day or two to find it, but Paul prayed this about his own people:

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  Romans 9:1-3

I know what most of you are thinking, because I thought it too.  I mean, this is Moses and Paul and, well, these guys were spiritual superheroes and we can't be expected to live up to their standards, can we?  Oh, the slippery slope of dualistic thinking...

Father, help me to walk in this way.  Help me to love my neighbor as I love myself.  Here am I, send me.  Do your work among all Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and ALL who have yet to hear of your great love.  Do your work in me until my heart breaks with great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the unreached.  Father, forgive them, but if not, please blot me out of the book you have written...

Go here for a good place to begin praying for the unreached...

My friends are praying...

From time to time, when I am in town, I have the privilege of teaching for a small Chinese congregation in my city.  I have been doing this for a couple of years now and just love it.  These friends are amazing people, who support our ministry and pray with fervency. 

As soon as we learned of my mother-in-law's pancreatic cancer, the following prayer item has consistently been in the weekly worship service bulletin: 

I always bring the worship service bulletin home and show it to Brenda, reminding her that many people are praying.  Of course, she is extremely grateful. 

Brenda and I have had a running joke about the prayer item.  It would typically go something like this:

Eric - Look Brenda, they are still praying for you.
Brenda - Great.  What does it say?
Eric - I'm not sure, let me see.  Hmmm...Well, I can only read three words, you try.
Brenda - Let me see, I can read Eric, and Brenda and Eric.
Eric - Well, looks like we just have to take their word for it.

We would do something like this every time I brought it home.  Yesterday, I asked my friends what it said.  Here is the translation:

Brenda, Eric's mother-in-law, has pancreatic cancer and is receiving chemotherapy.  Please pray for mercy and healing for her from the Lord.  Please also pray that the Lord will strengthen Eric's family in this difficult time.

Thanks friends...

Kiva...

I just made my fourth loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. When the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.  My plan is to leave the money that is paid back with Kiva and loan it out again.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Hameedan Allah Rakha in Pakistan. They still need another $225.00 to complete their loan request of $1,125.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking here to make a loan to Hameedan Allah Rakha.

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

I hope you will join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Thanks!

Eric

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What others are saying about Kiva:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
-- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
-- Entrepreneur Magazine

Our brothers and sisters in Palestine...

My friend, Bob Roberts, posted a timely plea for us to remember our brothers and sisters in Palestine.  His post is titled Evangelical American Pastors - Meet Evangelical Palestinian Pastors!  Please go and read it.

My favorite quote from Bob's post...

We’re still trying to drive foreign policy through speculative theology. I don’t know how Jesus will return, I do know he’s called all of us to share the good news of who he is and to serve others. I don’t know when he will return, I do know what he’s called all of us to do until he comes. We have traded the Great Commission for the sake of an eschatological foreign policy - Jesus told Peter to put down his sword - he put the ear back on the soldier - he is about an eternal kingdom. He will come at the behest of the father, not the contrivings of religious power brokers trying to play global politics.

Amen!

I have traveled extensively in the Muslim world.  I have initiated and facilitated kingdom work in more than 20 Muslim cultures.  The most consistent hurdle to receptivity of the gospel that I have experienced is without question the American church's uncritical support of the modern nation state of Israel.  God does not have favorites.  (Acts 10:34-35)  Should we?

Lost in translation...

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

Have you ever noticed how Jesus seemed to exhort us to chase after two things?  We are to pursue both the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God.  Are these two separate things, a restatement of the same or a prescription of how one comes about?

My understanding of the kingdom of God starts with Jesus' teaching on prayer:

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10

The kingdom of God is God's will being done, both in heaven and on earth.  To chase after the kingdom of God requires us to chase after God's will being done here on earth.   In other words, the kingdom of God looks like heaven on earth. N. T. Wright suggests that this prayer is a longing "for the kingdom of God to become fully present: not for God's people to be snatched away from earth to heaven, but for the glory and beauty of heaven to be turned into earthly reality as well" (Matthew for Everyone: Part One, page 59).

How do we do this?  How do we chase after God's will being done here on earth?  We pursue righteousness.  But what does that look like?

Righteousness is defined by W. E. Vine as "the character or quality of being right or just" (Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible, page 320).  Dictionary.com defines righteousness similarly, with the emphasis being on morality and right behavior.  My understanding of righteousness had always been comparable.  To chase after the kingdom of God had always meant to pursue my own morality and to teach others to do the same.  Unfortunately, this path often led me to judge those whose level of morality was not up to what I thought it should be. 

My study of the kingdom of God in recent years has challenged this understanding of righteousness.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God is limited to a future heaven, then our understanding of righteousness will most likely be limited to a pursuit of individual behavior that results in our being qualified for entrance into that future heaven.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God also includes the here and now, then our understanding of righteousness must be deeper than a pursuit of personal morality.  I say this because our pursuit of personal morality typically results in a judgmental spirit, which is certainly not God's will.

My journey took me to the original language.  I learned that the Greek word dikaiosynē can be translated into English as either righteousness or justice.  In other words, when the Bible translators come to dikaiosynē they have to make a choice because there is not a word in English that fully covers the meaning of dikaiosynē.

The justice of dikaiosynē carries a meaning of restoration and liberation.  This justice is the act of making things right; according to God's will.  It is the holistic return to what God intended in creation. 

We find the justice of dikaiosynē in feeding the hungry, in giving to the poor and in rescuing the oppressed.    We find this justice in loving the orphan and the widow.  We find this justice when we fight against human trafficking.  We find this justice when we peacefully stand in the way of violence and war.

This relatively new understanding has transformed my thinking about the here and now.  When I read or hear news stories about injustice I now listen through a kingdom of God perspective.  I now ask myself how the kingdom of God needs to come in this circumstance and how can I chase after it.  Sometimes I am simply led to pray for the will of God to be done; for God's justice to be known by those who are suffering.  Sometimes I am led to get involved through more than my prayers; by going, giving or taking action to seek justice.

My reading of scripture has also changed.  This understanding of the interconnectedness of righteousness and justice has caused me to replace the word righteousness with righteousness/justice. For example:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness/justice, and all these things will be added to you.  Matthew 6:33

and

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice, for they shall be satisfied.  Matthew 5:6

and

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness/justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

My prayer is that you will join me in chasing after the kingdom of God by chasing after the righteousness/justice of God; always in a spirit of mercy and grace. 

Prosperity gospel cartoons...

These two cartoons showed up in my Bloglines reader today.  They came from the folks over at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus...

Interesting timing in light of my recent post...

Cancer and the prosperity gospel…

Many of you already know that my mother-in-law, Brenda, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. What you may not know is that she is already a cancer survivor having overcome uterine cancer several years ago. She also lived through severe blood clots that were so pervasive the doctors were puzzled as to how she was even alive when the clots were discovered. She is a strong woman; full of faith and possessing a positive outlook.

The support and encouragement we have received from our friends and family has been an amazing gift from God. We are truly grateful. Brenda is doing very well. She has received several chemotherapy treatments and has been spared from nausea, pain and hair loss. We continue to ask for healing, believing that God can do it. We will continue to trust, worship and follow God, no matter what he chooses to do.

I have been surprised by the differing forms of advice and encouragement we have received. There does not seem to be a consistent doctrine out there when it comes to praying for and expecting healing. Most people have said they are praying and believing and hoping for healing. For this, we are thankful.

One thing I have noticed in some of the encouragement we have received is a fairly significant leaning toward the health and wealth or prosperity gospel. One person actually told me that the cancer was caused by the sins of bitterness and unforgiveness and if Brenda would only recount her life experiences and forgive everyone who had wronged her she would then be healed. Several have told me that Brenda would never be healed of her cancer if her faith was weak. What Brenda needed was an increase of faith. She just needed to name healing and claim healing. Others have suggested that it is our faith that needs to increase. We simply need to let go and let God. These real examples remind me of the friends of Job; lots of answers, little experience and very little empathy.

I have never been a fan of the health and wealth or prosperity gospel. Why is it only the preachers who seem to be prospering? How do we reconcile the message of prosperity with the call to take up one's cross? I just don't see it.

Some of the most popular health and wealth ministries have recently been asked to provide detailed financial reports to the Senate Finance Committee. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this review, which has been fueled by stories like this. The previous link also has a good history of how this doctrine of prosperity is a fairly recent development.

I firmly believe the name it and claim it, health and wealth, prosperity gospel is not really the gospel at all. This teaching places way too much emphasis on what we do. It is as if God is some magician up in the sky waiting on us to get the formula right so he can come through and bless us. This is not biblical; it is hocus-pocus.

I do not see anything in the gospels that consistently teaches that healing or blessing or the miraculous is dependent on our level of faith. I see someone asking for more faith (Mark 9:24). I see a man being healed because of the faith of his friends (Mark 2:5). I see a humble begging, not an arrogant demand (Matthew 20:29-34; Luke 5:12). I see healing to prove a point, where there is no discussion of the level of faith of the person being healed (Luke 6:6-11). I see healing in spite of a lifetime of disappointment (John 5:1-17). I see the miraculous in the presence of doubt (John 11:38-44). I see great faith (Matthew 15:28). In other words, I see God doing what only he can do in many different situations. To suggest that God only works when our faith is strong is proof-texting at its best, or worst, depending on how you look at it.

God can not be manipulated. We can not conjure up enough of anything to convince him to love us more than he already does. To suggest that it is our sin that keeps God from working in our life is ridiculous, for in our sin he first loved us (Romans 5:8). To suggest that it is our lack of faith or weak faith that keeps God from working in our life is dangerous, arrogant and judgmental. The unspoken message that these types of encouragement sends is not one of grace and love. Instead, it is a message of doubt, discouragement and hopelessness, and this is not good news at all.

My hope is to always be like the friends of the paralytic, as found in Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26. May we consistently take each other to Jesus, in love, hope and compassion.

There goes the neighborhood...

Several of us went Christmas caroling in the neighborhood last night.  Our friends Bruce and September organized the outing.  What fun we had.  This is our third year to do this and last night was the best time so far.  I think our neighbors, those we know and those we don't, seemed to enjoy our singing.  I know we had fun.  I heard one of our neighbors say that she had never had carolers pay her a visit before.  It was a great way for us to kick off the Christmas weekend.