The Lutheran Hour
-
"Everything I Have Is Yours"
- Download MP3 Reflections
-
Text: Luke 15:1-32
-
It was the closest thing we had to a sports car, a cherry red 1995 Saturn, two-door coupe with a five-speed manual transmission, 124 horsepower, 1.9-liter engine. Can you picture it? It’s not much, but it’s what we had. My dad bought it and he promised that he would teach me how to drive it. I was 16 years old. I had just gotten my driver’s license, but I had never driven a manual transmission. And there we were, waiting at a red light, just a couple of blocks from Aaron’s house. We were driving Aaron home. I was in the driver’s seat. My dad was in the passenger seat, and Aaron my friend was in the back. And on that drive to Aaron’s house, I had stalled that car in all the ways that you can stall a stick shift.
You know, there’s many ways that you can stall a stick shift. There’s the quick death where you let up on the clutch too quickly and you don’t give it enough gas and it just dies right there on the spot. Then there’s the slow death when you give it just enough gas to torture the motor to death. And then there’s the violent death. You get nervous and you slam on the accelerator, but the timing with the clutch isn’t right, and now you’re slamming their heads against the car seats. I had stalled it every one of those ways on the drive to Aaron’s house, and my dad is trying to stay calm. So we’re there, waiting at the red light. It’s dark out, and in rearview mirror, I can see the rows of headlights, the line of cars waiting behind us. And in the mirror. I can see Aaron’s face, smiling. The light turns green. I try to get us going, but I kill it. Quick death.
I start the engine again, and this time it’s the slow death. And now we’re in the middle of the intersection and the cars behind us are flashing their lights and honking, and my dad’s patience is wearing thin. So I slam on the accelerator, but the timing’s not right, and I’m slamming their heads against the seats. And my dad says, “Get out!”
And I say, “What?”
He says, “Get out of the car.”
I say, “We’re in the middle of the intersection.”
He says, “Get out!” And so we do a fire drill in the middle of the street, and my dad drives the rest of the way. And I’m hanging my head in shame, and my friend Aaron is in the back, laughing. Parents are tested in their love for their children. Amen?
Moms and dads, they are tested. And sometimes they fail to be what they’re created to be. Other times though, parents rise to the occasion and they love their children in spite of their failures, in spite of their foolishness, and they show us the heart of God. In one of the inspired biographies of Jesus of Nazareth known as the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus tells a story about a father who rises to the occasion. His father knows just what his children need. Sometimes he hangs back and lets the situation develop. He lets them have space to make decisions and to deal with the consequences of those decisions. Other times, he rushes in and takes action. Sometimes he pursues them. Sometimes he waits for them. At all times, he loves them.
And we need to hear Jesus tell us this story because we need to know the heart of God, His Father. We need to know God like Jesus, His Son, knows God. We need to know that Jesus has come to make us God’s children, and nothing will stop Him—not our failures, not our foolishness, not even death, death on a cross. Now to help us hear this story about His Father, Jesus shares two shorter stories first. And these stories show us God’s heart for His lost children. And He shows us that there are at least two ways of being lost. As one Bible commentator said it: you can be lost by being very bad, but you can also be lost by being very good. As you listen to these words of Jesus, ask yourself, “Where do I fit into the story?” It starts like this.
Now the tax collectors and the sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear Him, to listen to Him. And the Pharisees and the teachers of the law grumbled, saying, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” And Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep, and he loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders. And after he goes to his home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, and he says to them, ‘Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, who turns back to God, than over 99 righteous persons who have no need of repentance.
“Or suppose a woman has ten coins and she loses one of them. Does she not light a lamp and sweep the house and search diligently for it until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and her neighbors, and she says, ‘Rejoice with me. I have found my coin that I lost.’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered together all that he had and set out for a distant country where he wasted all his wealth on wild living. And after he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the land, and he began to be in need. So he hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, yet here I am wasting away with hunger? I will get up and I will go and say to my father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired servants.”‘ So getting up, he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and moved with deep compassion, he ran, and falling on his neck, he embraced him and kissed him. And his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Go. Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Go kill the fattened calf. Let’s have a feast and celebrate because this son of mine, he was dead and now he’s alive again. He was lost and now he’s found.'” And they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was working in the fields, and as he came up to the house, he heard music and dancing. And calling one of the servants, he asked him, ‘What is going on?’ And he told him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ And he began to be very angry, and he did not want to go in. And so his father came out and pleaded with him. And he said to his father, ‘Look, all these years, I have slaved for you and I never disobeyed your commands, and you never gave me even a young goat to have a party with my friends. But this son of yours, after wasting your property on prostitutes, comes home and you kill the fattened calf for him? For him?’ And his father said to him, ‘My child, you are always with me. Everything I have is yours. Yet we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and now he’s alive again. He was lost and now he’s found.'”
Where do you see yourself in the story? Are you in the situation of the elder brother or the younger? Maybe you are in the place of the younger brother. You’ve run away from God, and now you’re starting to come back, but you’re ashamed. And you say, “Maybe I can just be a servant. I’m not worthy to be a son or a daughter. Maybe I can just serve.”
No, that’s a lie from the devil. It’s not true. Jesus gave His life. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus sent God’s Spirit and promises to return so that you could be God’s child. So talk to Him. Say to Him, “God, Father, I want to come home.”
Maybe you’re in this situation of the elder brother. How do you know if you’re in the situation of the elder brother? Do you get angry when good things come to people who don’t deserve them? Are you jealous when someone gets praised, who hasn’t earned it? Do you think God owes you a good life because of the good things that you’ve done? Then you might be in the situation of the elder brother. Somewhere along the way you got lost from God, by being very good. And this is the most dangerous situation of all.
Jesus, in fact, tells this parable against you, not to hurt you, but to help you, to turn you around. Because if you don’t turn around, these good things that you’re so proud of could end up dragging you down to hell. So, talk to God. Tell Him, “Father, I don’t understand Your love. I’ve been trying to be good, but I think I may have gotten lost.”
Now it’s possible that currently you’re neither in the situation of the younger or the elder brother. So where do you fit? Well, you get to be in what might be the best part of the story. You get to rejoice with God over one sinner who repents. You get to be there when they come home, put a ring on their finger and sandals on their feet. You get to celebrate as God brings the lost ones home: the ones who knew they were bad and the ones thought they were good.
It was the closest thing we had to a sports car, but we only had it for a year because my elder brother totaled it. We were visiting our family in rural Illinois. My parents sent my older brother, Matt, on an errand to go into town to the grocery store or something. So Matt drove the Saturn into town. And on the way back from the store, Matt must have been driving that thing like he was Lightning McQueen in the Piston Cup, because when the tires hit that patch of gravel, the wheels started to spin. And Matt overcorrected and the car swerved off the road into a corn field. And when the car hit the ditch, the momentum caused it to flip, and it rolled three times. And somehow, by the undeserved mercy of Almighty God, my brother Matt survived unharmed. Matt walks back to the house and tells my mom and dad what happened. At first, they’re upset. But when they see that crumpled car in the cornfield, they know it’s a miracle that he is safe and sound.
Now I remember sitting on the front porch of my aunt and uncle’s home, and I was so mad at my brother Matt. I couldn’t even look at him. My dad comes out to talk to me, and I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something like, “I was just getting good at driving that car, and you hardly ever let me drive it with my friends. But this son of yours, he goes out and totals it in a cornfield, and all you and mom can talk out is how he’s safe. How he’s safe!?”
“Michael,” my dad says to me, “It’s only a car.” What’s your “it’s only”? What’s the thing that’s keeping you from loving someone who doesn’t deserve it? What’s the thing that’s keeping you from loving like your Father loves. What’s the thing that’s keeping you from giving your life to bring lost ones home? My dad said to me, “Michael, it’s only a car.” It took me a while to calm down and to see how ridiculous I was being, and to feel ashamed at the way I was at acting. And it makes me wonder, how can a poor miserable sinner like me, like you, ever love like God the Father loves? It’s only by hearing His story. It’s only when we see His heart for us. It’s only when we rest in His promise. “Child, you’re always with Me. Everything I have is yours. Everything I am is yours.” Amen.
Reflections for March 20, 2022
Title: Everything I Have Is Yours
Mark Eischer: You’re listening to The Lutheran Hour. For FREE online resources, archived audio, our mobile app, and more, go to lutheranhour.org. Now back to our Speaker, Dr. Michael Zeigler.
Mike Zeigler: We’re visiting again, with Dr. David Lewis. He’s a professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. A pastor prior to becoming a professor. Welcome back to the program, David.
David Lewis: Thank you, Michael. It’s great to be here with you.
Mike Zeigler: David, you specialize in teaching the New Testament, focusing on the Gospels, these biography accounts of Jesus. But you also have this side hobby or project in analyzing films. You’ve said this before that when it comes to Jesus films, usually the less Jesus in it, the better. Why do you say it that way?
David Lewis: A Jesus film is a film where one of the characters is Jesus of Nazareth. You have an actor playing Jesus of Nazareth. The other type of film I like to analyze are Christ-figure films where you have a character who’s not Jesus, but he serves as a Christ figure in the film. And Christ-figure films, I like them better than Jesus films, because a Christ figure isn’t Jesus and so I’m not expecting him to be Jesus, right? But if I see Jesus in a film, I’m expecting him to be Jesus.
And what I mean by that really is I’m expecting him to conform with my own mental picture of who Jesus is. My own belief is after watching a lot of Jesus films is all of them eventually have some scene that’s completely cringe-worthy. And so, you take a risk if you decide to put a lot of Jesus in your film. My favorite Jesus film is Ben-Hur. And if you know Ben-Hur, you know that Jesus hardly appears in Ben-Hur.
Mike Zeigler: That’s right.
David Lewis: When He does appear, you never see His face. When He does appear, He’s always doing something extraordinary, and it presents a high Christology. And what I mean by that is you have a portrayal of Jesus where He is the Son of God in human flesh who does mighty miracles and teaches with authority, dies to redeem us from sin, and then is going to rise again. That’s what I want to see. And Ben-Hur does a very artful job of not giving us too much Jesus.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. You mentioned Ben-Hur, I remember seeing that and I think what’s so powerful about Ben-Hur is it doesn’t portray Jesus, but rather the impact of Jesus on the characters, the very human characters that you’ve come to know.
David Lewis: And throughout that film, you have people responding to what Jesus has said. You don’t hear Jesus say something, but you hear people respond. And so Charlton Heston in the final scene when he reunites with his love interest, Esther, he just witnessed the crucifixion and he mentions, and it’s Charlton Heston saying, “As He was being crucified, I heard Him pray, ‘Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.'” And then he says, “His words took the sword out of my hand”—that he was all bent on revenge, but when he heard Jesus pray that, suddenly he’s no longer out for revenge anymore. He’s been restored as an Israelite and as a human being, because of what Jesus said. But you don’t hear Jesus say it, you hear Charlton Heston tell us what Jesus said.
Mike Zeigler: A more recent attempt at depicting Jesus on film or in film is this internet-based series about the life of Jesus titled, The Chosen. And they’re two seasons out. I’ve seen both of them. What was your overall reaction?
David Lewis: I checked The Chosen out, because my colleague and mentor, Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, he knows of my interest in Jesus films. And he told me this is really good. And so based on that recommendation, when I finally had some time I downloaded The Chosen online and it’s one of those things, I think you’ve all experienced this, if you’ve been watching these shows online, is the first episode sucks you in. And then you have to see the second episode; it sucks you in. And the next thing you know, you’re five episodes in.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
David Lewis: And the whole night you should have gone to bed three hours ago, but the whole night has gone by, but you’re thinking, “Yeah, I don’t really need to sleep. I need to see what the next episode is about.” And I would say, The Chosen is one of those rare exceptions for me, where I think overall the portrayal of Jesus is really, really strong
Mike Zeigler: What gives me so much delight is that I recommended The Chosen to the Gibbs, to Jeff and Renee Gibbs.
It’s so cool to see how that’s come around. And a friend recommended it to me. The actor’s name I believe, is Jonathan Roumie. And I agree, he does a really, really nice job, at least, as you said, admitting that it probably just fits my prior image of Jesus in my mind pretty well.
David Lewis: I think the betrayal of the various disciples of Jesus has been very strong, too. You can begin with Mary Magdalene in the first episode. The drama there, I don’t want to give any spoilers, but Nicodemus is portrayed as an exorcist, right? An official exorcist from the Sanhedrin who fails to deliver Mary from demonic possession, but then Jesus succeeds. And then Mary suddenly, she becomes Jesus’ disciple and you see her gathering, I think Philip and James the Less, come to her house for the Sabbath. And then she invites two marginalized people to her Sabbath celebration. And you can see the impact of Jesus’ love for her as she’s showing love to people. She’s enacting what Jesus tells us to do in the Gospel of Luke. “Don’t invite people who can invite us back; invite people who can’t invite us back.”
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
David Lewis: This is the meaning … the title is The Chosen, that’s not referring to Jesus, I don’t think, but it’s referring to the disciples. This is about Jesus gathering disciples, they’re the chosen. No Jesus film is going to be able to perfectly capture what we find written on the four Gospels, which is why we should read and listen to the four Gospels. What is more, I think it is completely impossible for the director and the producer of a Jesus film to be completely objective. If you decide to make him the tallest guy on the set, which is what happened in Ben-Hur, they made sure Jesus was taller than every other actor, you’ve made a choice. If you decide to make him shorter than everybody else—that’s the Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, I think he’s the shortest actor plays Jesus. You’ve made a decision; you cannot claim pure objectivity when you make a Jesus film. You the director, you the producer, you the screenwriter are going to be making choices. And so no Jesus film could ever be a substitute for what we’ve got in God’s inspired, inherent Word in the four Gospels.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. Well said. And we’re talking about The Chosen, we’re not here to promote The Chosen, if you want to watch it great, if not, no big deal. But what we are here to promote is Jesus as He’s revealed in the four Gospels. So we’ll just echo the creators of The Chosen: go hear the Gospels start to finish. Binge Mark, binge Luke.
David Lewis: Yeah. That’s right, yeah.
Mike Zeigler: Thanks for joining us, Dr. Lewis.
David Lewis: You’re welcome.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“May God Bestow on Us His Grace” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)