Coming to His Senses
Who is there like you, the God who
removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not
persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have
compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths
of the sea all our sins; You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to
Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from days of
old. Micah 7:18-20
Coming to his senses he thought, 'How
many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am
I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to
him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer
deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired
workers."' Luke
15:17-19
Piety
Carry
on my wayward son,[i]
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a madman
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say[ii]
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a madman
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say[ii]
(“Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas)
Study
When we hear the word
“inheritance,” most people probably think about the kind of money and material
possessions that the Prodigal Son demanded from his father. However, we inherit
so much more than material possessions.
Like DNA. It is hard to avoid
exposures to the omnipresent ads for Ancestry.com and 23andme.com. These companies want to get a little of your
DNA and then trace you back to your ancient tribe.
According to www.23andme.com (and
a vial full of saliva), my maternal haplogroup is H2a1 out of eastern Africa.
Historical evidence suggests that Luke the Evangelist, author of today’s unique
Gospel story of the Prodigal Son (and the Acts of the Apostles), may be a
common ancestor of mine. He was born in the city of Antioch in ancient Syria in
the first century C.E. At first, the
Christian community buried Luke's body in Thebes, Greece, before being
transferred to Constantinople and then finally to Padua, Italy. He rests there
in the birthplace of my other cousin – St. Anthony of Padua. Hi, Cousin Luke!
My paternal line descends
from haplogroup J-M267, one of two essential branches of haplogroup J. J-M267
split away from its brother lineage in the Middle East between 31,000 and
36,000 years ago, but the most dramatic chapter in its history has been in the
last 10,000. As the climate warmed dramatically, people living in the Fertile
Crescent learned to domesticate the first cereals and livestock (and the grains
they fed to livestock). These new ways of life were spectacularly successful,
and populations began to boom. The Prodigal Son himself may have been part of
this same J-M267.
Beyond material possessions
and DNA, we also get other things from our ancestors such as attitudes and
dispositions. In our first reading, we
hear how even back in the days of the Prophet Micah, the God of the Hebrew
Bible was known for his propensity to forgive.
That compassion toward us spilled over into the New Testament and our
theology today.
Is that trait part of our
very nature or is it something that can be learned? The “nature versus nurture” debate touches on
whether our environment or our genetics determine human behavior. The Ancestry/23andme crowd wants to have
science explain much of what goes into our being. However, that would imply that people cannot
change or adapt. Our very creation in
the image and likeness of God means that we have freedom of choice and can grow
and change if nurture with love by our parents.
In today’s reading, perhaps neither wayward son
inherited the “generosity” and “forgiveness” genes of the Prodigal Father. After the Great Homecoming Banquet, both came
to grow closer to each other and reflect the nurturing and forgiving behavior
of that wise parent. After all, there is
no place like home, especially if it is Kansas.
Action
Let’s not wait for the crisis to strike –
abject poverty, hunger or disease – to drive us back to our compassionate
Father. Let’s use this Lenten season to
“come to our senses” and abandon a world revolving around material possessions.
Let our search continue until we reflect the traits Jesus wants to see in all
of us.
[ii] This was written by Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren. According to Livgren, the
song was not written to express anything specifically religious, though it
certainly expresses spiritual searching and other ideas.
Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and has said that his songwriting to that point was all about "searching." Regarding this song, he explained: "I felt a profound urge to 'Carry On' and continue the search. I saw myself as the 'Wayward Son,' alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end ('Surely heaven waits for you') seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic."
Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and has said that his songwriting to that point was all about "searching." Regarding this song, he explained: "I felt a profound urge to 'Carry On' and continue the search. I saw myself as the 'Wayward Son,' alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end ('Surely heaven waits for you') seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic."
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