4^th Sunday of Lent, C              March 18, 2007

It’s storytelling time.  This tale comes from the Middle East and sheds light on the plight of the forgotten character in today’s parable, the older son.

Once upon a time there was a rich king with two princely sons.  The king owned vast areas of the most fertile and valuable lands in the kingdom.  One day, while out inspecting their lands, the king and his sons discovered a hidden crack in a dam on a river running through the middle of the fertile land.  It was clear the dam would soon be undermined and break, and there was nothing they could do to stop the river from flooding their land and making it worthless.

They thought, “What shall we do?  If we sell the land at a great profit and the dam later breaks, we will be accused of knowing about it and defrauding the buyer into paying a lot for worthless land.  We’ll lose our good name.  But if we don’t sell, the dam will break and our rich land will be gone.”

Thus, they concocted the following scheme to safeguard their riches and their good name.  For the king’s birthday all the nobles in the kingdom were invited to a lavish feast.  After all the guests arrived, the two sons made their grand entrance.  Soon, after drinking a little too much, the sons got into an animated discussion with their father, the king.  In the heat of the moment voices were raised, hurtful things were said, and the argument degenerated into a shouting match in front of the guests.  In the end the sons threw down their glasses and stormed out of the banquet.  Despite repeated pleadings from their friends and influential nobles, the two refused to return to the party.

A few weeks later the king and his sons sold their valuable land at a handsome profit to an unsuspecting buyer.  Eventually the dam on the river broke, flooding the land and leaving the new owner with nothing.  But the king and his sons were suspected of no shenanigans.  Why?  Because in that culture, for a son to refuse to party with his father was considered an unpardonable sin.  So great would be the shame of the father after such a debacle that everyone would understand that the father had to sell his home and lands.  For what father could continue to live in the same house where he was so dishonored by his son?

Now back to the parable.  There’s a lot wrong with the older son.  His father pleads with him to come into the party.  And what does the older son say, “Look, all these years I served you, and not once did I disobey your orders.”  Now there’s a guy with an attitude problem.  He thinks his dad is a master drill sergeant, and he’s a dutiful servant.  Hint, the parable is about God and us.  Who among us has the wrong attitude about God?  Who thinks that God carries a big stick and barks out orders for us to follow?  Bad attitude! 

The older son continues, “But when your son returns, you throw a party for him.”  Notice, it’s not, “When my brother returns,” but, “When your son returns.”  He refuses to acknowledge he is a brother to someone who did not live up to his expectations.  Whom do we refuse to accept as a brother or a sister because they messed up and we don’t like it?  Finally, the older brother commits the unforgivable sin; he refuses to party with his father when his younger brother, the prodigal son, returns home.

Recall what Jesus said, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 others who have no need of repentance.  I guess we could say, “God help us if we’re not in sync with that heavenly party.”