For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found! Luke 15:32
Family… As Dysfunctional As They Come – Parables Series 4 – Part 8
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
(Go to Parable Series 1 or Parable Series 2 or Parable Series 3)
REFLECTION
This week we've looked at the three parables in Luke 15. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. All three carry the themes of loss, searching, finding and joy. Take some time to read over any you may have missed and let the parables poke around in your heart for a while – that's what they are designed to do.
The parable of the lost son would be better called, “The parable of the lost brothers and the ‘figuring it out' father.” It’s a story about family dynamics, and I am so glad that Jesus told it. I am yet to meet a perfect family. And while there is a lot of love in my house, we are far from perfect, and in my extended family, we are as dysfunctional as they come. This parable encourages us that when something is missing and lost in our families and relationships, it is always worth it to search it out and make the family whole again. In fact, more important than inheritances and fattened calves and robes and rings and titles, is the love that exists between those we share blood with. And it pains me to write this because it's poking around in my own mess, even as I type…
What would you do for that which is lost? The answer these parables give us is, “whatever it takes.” That doesn’t mean that the story ends well. We don’t know how this parable ends. And that in and of itself tells us that the conviction to search and to reconcile is the gold of the story. We may never get the apology we want, we may never be forgiven, we may never be able to get our brother to ease his anger towards us, so let's do what we can do. The important thing is to give it a go. Love. Don’t push the issue. Break bread. Share a meal. Do the living. It’s here in these very human moments of life that our greatest work is done.
To end this parable, and the series for the time being, here are some closing thoughts from Amy-Jill Levine's book, “Short stories by Jesus.”
“What counts for the family also counts for the world… A father had two sons— Isaac and Ishmael— if either is sacrificed, then both are. Today some of the children of Isaac and Ishmael can find themselves at odds or at war, as the Middle East shows us. Yet these two sons reunite at Abraham’s death, and together they bury him. Ishmael’s hand was to be against his brother’s, but Ishmael here proves the prediction wrong. If Ishmael and Isaac can reconcile, perhaps their children can do the same.
A father had two sons— Jacob and Esau— one who stole birthright and blessing and one who vowed murder in revenge. And yet, when Jacob, wounded from his wrestling at the Jabbok River, encounters Esau, the two reconcile.
A father had two sons . . . The details can be filled in, and filled, by any among us. The scriptures of Israel give us hope for the sons in Luke’s parable. They should give us hope for our own reconciliations, from the personal to the international. We need to take count not only of our blessings, but also of those in our families, and in our communities. And once we count, we need to act. Finding the lost, whether they are sheep, coins, or people, takes work. It also requires our efforts, and from those efforts there is the potential for wholeness and joy.”
May you have the eyes to see what is lost, the courage to seek it out, the tenacity to find it, and the joy to celebrate it.
Much Love,
Lizzy (and Jesse)
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