Fourth Sunday of Lent
In the State Hermitage Museum, in Moscow, Russia, is a
famous painting by the artist Rembrandt called The Return of the Prodigal
Son. In 1986 the famous author,
priest, and theologian, Henry Nouwen visited that museum and was granted permission
to sit and study this painting each day before the museum opened daily for the regular
public. Shortly after this, in 1992 he wrote his famous book, The Return of The Prodigal Son/ A Story
of a Home Coming, In his book he
reflects on his study of the picture and what it meant to him in terms of his own
personal life and the issues of forgiveness, and reconciliation with which he
was trying to understand in his own life. Nouwen
comments in his book how Rembrandt depicts each character in this gospel parable.
For example, Rembrandt painted the prodigal
son not in the rich garments as he would have worn at the beginning of the
parable when he had been granted his inheritance.
In
the painting, the prodigal son kneels before his father in rags with sores all
over his body. He is a mere shadow of who he was before he squandered his
inheritance. Now he returns to the father dejected, sorrowful, and embarrassed.
His identity as the father’s son is
totally erased in his own mind, and he wants only to be treated as one of his
father’s hired workers. In
the background on the right-hand side of the painting is the older brother who has a very judgmental
look on his face as he looks down at his younger brother. He does not even
recognize him as his brother but only sees someone that he judges as not worthy
of the father's attention, let alone the father’s compassion and forgiveness. There is little no compassion in this older
brother. In fact, the older brother is angry even with the father for the ways
he has received his son back into the household- “put a ring on his finger and a robe of on his back, and sandals on his feet.” says
the father to the servants. The
older brother is looking for retribution not forgiveness. He is looking for
punishment, not compassion, for his younger brother. Which of these three characters would we
identify with, the prodigal father, the prodigal son, or the eldest brother? Nouwen
description of the different characters in the painting holds the reader's
attention as he points to seemingly unimportant things that might go unnoticed,
like the way the father’s hands which he placed on his son. It is difficult to
tell in this photo, but Nouwen notes from his observation of the painting that
one of the father’s hands is almost feminine, delicate, and well groomed, something
like a woman’s hands. The other hand, Nouwen
notes, is like that of a man who has worked hard all his life. That hand is rough and gnarly and imprinted
with age. In other words, one hand is
the hand of compassion, and one is the hand of age and wisdom. Both are
necessary for the father to receive back his wayward son in the manner that he does. While the name of the gospel and the painting are called The Return of
the Prodigal Son, it is interesting to note that the word
“prodigal” has two meanings. The first
meaning,
according to the Oxford dictionary, is- “spending money or resources freely and recklessly.” And certainly, the younger son by his
behavior in the first part of the parable fits that definition. He is so
reckless in how he spends his wealth that he finally ends up in utter poverty. He no longer is an independent person but
rather someone who is at the mercy of everyone else. Are there times in our
lives whether because of our choices or our behavior, where we have found
ourselves in places where we needed mercy and compassion from others, but it
felt like there is none for us. The
second definition of the word prodigal is- “having or giving something on a lavish
scale.” And this is certainly an apt description
of the father's reception toward his wayward son. As he says to the servants “Take
the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast.” It is also,
I think, interesting to note that the father goes out daily from his house to
look for the return of this son. We know this because when the wayward son is
on that road, but yet “a long way off” it
is the father who is looking for him. So,
the inference is the father was always
looking and hoping for his wayward son.
How like God who is always looking for his children to return to Him
when they have strayed away; when they have been enticed by the world and
forgotten who they are (i.e., the beloved of the father). The wayward younger son bewails his predicament and his folly from the pig
stye where he finally finds himself. And
it is finally from the lowliness of that place wisdom enters his mind and he knows
what he must do- “I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned……” And when
he can do that, he is able to start the journey back to wholeness through the
forgiveness of his father. Paul, his letter to the Corinthians this weekend, also remembers the
forgiveness that God has offered to him and the forgiveness that God has for all
his children as he writes “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them...”
In other words, God wants so much to forgive us but for us to know that
forgiveness and reconciliation with God, we must make the first step. We must
turn and return to him. And if we will take
the first step, He like the father in the gospel, will come running to hug and
hold us and restore us to the spiritual health we seek. This is what Lent is
about, a restoration of ourselves to as sons and daughters with our God. The
story is told of a certain priest who was puzzled by a shabby old man who went
into his church at noon every day and came out again almost immediately. “What
could he be doing,” the priest thought. So, the priest decided to question the
old man. “I go to pray,” the old man said. “Come now,” said the priest, “you
are never in the church long enough to pray.” To which the old man replied,
“Well, you see, I don’t try to pray a long prayer. Every day at twelve o’clock.
I just go into church and say, ‘Jesus, it’s Jim.’ It’s just a little prayer, but I guess He
hears me.” Sometime later, Jim was
injured and taken to a hospital. There, he had a wonderful influence on the
entire ward. Grumbling patients became cheerful, and often the ward would ring
with laughter. One day, the supervising nurse said to Jim, “The other patients
say that you are responsible for the remarkable change in this ward. They say
that you are always cheerful.” “Yes I am,” Jim replied. “You see I can’t help
being cheerful. It’s my visitor.” The nurse was puzzled. She knew that Jim’s
chair beside his bed was always empty, for he had no relatives. “When does your
visitor come?” the nurse asked. “Every day,” Jim answered. “Every day at noon
He comes and stands at my bedside for a few seconds. I see Him and He smiles at
me and says, ‘Jim, it’s Jesus.”2.
Yes, to the world, Jim didn’t look like a very religious person, but he was. He knew that Jesus heard him whenever he prayed and he believed with all his heart that Jesus accepted him as he was, even when he looked like the shabbiest of worshipers. Why, might you ask? Because Jesus doesn’t look at the outside of us he looks at what is in our heart. So, when Jim could no longer come that distance to Jesus, Jesus came to him. Just like in the gospel when the wayward son started on his way home, it was his father that came running for him. So, it doesn’t matter what sins we carry, what our state of life has become like, if we are willing to take the first step in returning to God, we will find that our prodigal God, our lavish, loving God is waiting for us. He waits not in retribution for our sins, but with open arms to welcome us home. So, Lent is that time-To Go home!
1. 1.The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of
Homecoming, Henri Nouwen, 1992, Random House Publishing Group, 1994
