The Wilderness of Decisions

Luke 15: 1-3,11-32

March 6, 2016

4 Lent

So Jesus tells us this story about two sons. And by the end,

the younger son has gotten himself into a terrible place.

You could call it a rock bottom.

He’s found himself as a slave to a pig farm

and he’s jealous of the pigs

because at least they have something to eat.

That’s pretty low.

His recent life has been a series of bad decisions.

You can map them out in the story:

He asks for his father for his whole inheritance

which is just kind of rude, like saying,

“Dad I’ve been imagining what it would be like if you were dead

and I was thinking the money would be nice.”

And then he leaves the care of his father at a young age

which is another thing he shouldn’t do.

And then he goes out and spends all of the money.

Not on good things either that he can sell or cherish,

but on dissolute living,

which is gambling, drinking and general frolicking.

Like some people do when they suddenly find themselves

with a lot of money.

Then he has no more money and he goes to the

pig farm and he’s at rock bottom.

These decisions were clearly bad.

He had options he could have taken that were better

and he did not take those paths.

But most of our decisions aren’t as black and white as that.

Sometimes we’re forced to make decisions based on

the circumstances that we’re given, and the options are not great:

We are laid off from our job and we have to get a new one.

We have to go into a nursing home instead of staying in our own.

Some people even turn to crime or underhanded

activity because they feel they have

no more options left to take care of themselves or their families.

Sometimes there are no good decisions to be made

every option is bad in its own way.

And lots of times, we go into our decisions with the best intentions,

with hope and expectation. Then the marriage falls apart,

the investment wasn’t good, the new job doesn’t work out,

the new house starts falling apart.

Sometimes we only understand our bad decisions in hindsight.

·         What was the best decision you’ve made?

·         What was the worst decision you’ve made?

·         How are you at forgiving other people’s bad decisions?

·         How are you at forgiving your own?

Our lives are full of decisions.

Not all are so clearly delineated between right and wrong.

But one thing is clear from Jesus story here:

Even in the case of horrible, mean, foolish decisions,

The father forgives.

The son who squandered his inheritance

came back to his father’s house, not with repentance

in his heart, not wanting to change his foolish ways.

He came back looking for a free meal.

 

He’s drawn back to his home because of his own need.

And still, the father runs out to meet him

in the middle of the driveway.

He’s so happy to see him and welcome him back.

Even though the sons decisions were

blatantly disrespectful and selfish,

he is welcomed and forgiven.

And God forgives our bad decisions.

Whether they were made innocently,

hopefully, naively, or selfishly.

God just wants us to come home again.

God forgives.

But then we have that older son.

That reliable one who always does what he’s supposed to.

That one that thinks this whole situation is unfair.

The one who was mad because he’s done everything

he was supposed to, he’s made all the good and

responsible decisions and he didn’t get fatted calf

Who here has ever resonated with that son?

I think we are all that son.

Until that time when we’re the younger son.

Until we see that our decisions have turned out bad.

Until we need to rely on God’s mercy and grace.

Until we need know that God will welcome us home.