http://lectionary.wolsblog.com weekly reflections and commentary on the revised common lectionary texts, lectionary blog Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:15:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://lectionary.wolsblog.com/jesus-john-the-baptist-the-priority-of-grace-over-judgment/the-parable-of-the-prodigal-and-his-brother-the-grace-that-refuses-to-disown-us-luke-15-11-32/comment-page-1/#comment-429 Giving Up « Scream Without Raising Your Voice Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:37:40 +0000 http://lectionary.wolsblog.com/the-parable-of-the-prodigal-and-his-brother-the-grace-that-refuses-to-disown-us-luke-15-11-32/#comment-429 [...] For anyone looking for a great exploration of the Prodigal Son have a look at Lawrence Moore’s Disclosing New Worlds blog.  Lawrence did a fantastic series of bible studies on Grace at URC General Assembly in 2006 and his weekly thoughts on the lectionary are always worth a look! [...] [...] For anyone looking for a great exploration of the Prodigal Son have a look at Lawrence Moore’s Disclosing New Worlds blog.  Lawrence did a fantastic series of bible studies on Grace at URC General Assembly in 2006 and his weekly thoughts on the lectionary are always worth a look! [...]

]]> http://lectionary.wolsblog.com/jesus-john-the-baptist-the-priority-of-grace-over-judgment/the-parable-of-the-prodigal-and-his-brother-the-grace-that-refuses-to-disown-us-luke-15-11-32/comment-page-1/#comment-324 lent 4 Year C at disclosing new worlds Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:15:34 +0000 http://lectionary.wolsblog.com/the-parable-of-the-prodigal-and-his-brother-the-grace-that-refuses-to-disown-us-luke-15-11-32/#comment-324 [...] Repentance, forgiveness and restoration: these are the themes of today’s texts from Joshua and Psalm 32. They are different from our New Testament texts, however: the Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother is not a parable of repentance (if you’re not on the Home page of the blog, you will need to go to my detailed study of the parable here. I am presupposing its contents)! The point is that the Prodigal does not repent – and yet is restored! The pattern of forgiveness and restoration following repentance is broken. What we have in this parable – a key parable – is a situation in which the father-son relationship is broken beyond repair. It is not only that repentance seems inadequate: if we read the parable through fresh eyes (rather than through eyes conditioned by decades of “repentant son finds surprising welcome back at the homestead”), we discover that the son doesn’t actually appear to want a restored family relationship. Rather, he wants bed and board in return for indentured labour – and instead, finds a father who welcomes him as a long-lost, infinitely loved and precious son! And if the son is converted, it is this astounding grace that converts him. It is this same grace about which Paul writes – the grace of God in Jesus Christ that breaks the former rules and order, and ushers in what he can only call a “new creation”. [...] [...] Repentance, forgiveness and restoration: these are the themes of today’s texts from Joshua and Psalm 32. They are different from our New Testament texts, however: the Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother is not a parable of repentance (if you’re not on the Home page of the blog, you will need to go to my detailed study of the parable here. I am presupposing its contents)! The point is that the Prodigal does not repent – and yet is restored! The pattern of forgiveness and restoration following repentance is broken. What we have in this parable – a key parable – is a situation in which the father-son relationship is broken beyond repair. It is not only that repentance seems inadequate: if we read the parable through fresh eyes (rather than through eyes conditioned by decades of “repentant son finds surprising welcome back at the homestead”), we discover that the son doesn’t actually appear to want a restored family relationship. Rather, he wants bed and board in return for indentured labour – and instead, finds a father who welcomes him as a long-lost, infinitely loved and precious son! And if the son is converted, it is this astounding grace that converts him. It is this same grace about which Paul writes – the grace of God in Jesus Christ that breaks the former rules and order, and ushers in what he can only call a “new creation”. [...]

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