Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
March 31, 2019
There's an old story about a man who went to the movies, and upon seeing the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer roaring lion, decided he had already seen that movie, and so left. And that's a danger for some of our gospel stories, especially the ones we hear every year during Lent. In today's gospel, Jesus tells a parable and you may know the parable as soon as he begins, "There was a man who had two sons.” It is one of the most familiar and well loved parables in the scriptures. But as we listen to it today, let's listen with fresh ears; listen with the realization that, while John describes the audience as tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees and scribes, it was most likely directed at the Scribes and Pharisees. So let's try to listen to it as new to our hearing and as his listeners would have heard it.
March 31, 2019
There's an old story about a man who went to the movies, and upon seeing the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer roaring lion, decided he had already seen that movie, and so left. And that's a danger for some of our gospel stories, especially the ones we hear every year during Lent. In today's gospel, Jesus tells a parable and you may know the parable as soon as he begins, "There was a man who had two sons.” It is one of the most familiar and well loved parables in the scriptures. But as we listen to it today, let's listen with fresh ears; listen with the realization that, while John describes the audience as tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees and scribes, it was most likely directed at the Scribes and Pharisees. So let's try to listen to it as new to our hearing and as his listeners would have heard it.