2 Corinthians 5:16-21 & Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Lent 4 / Year C
St. Paul writes, “From
now on we regard no one from a human point of view.” We might want to ask, “What is a human point
of view?” and “What has changed so that we no longer categorize people in this
way?”
Well, let me illustrate
what a human point of view looks like.
Years ago I officiated a wedding and after the service, the wedding
party went off to take pictures at a lovely city park featuring a picturesque
lake with a charming arched bridge crossing at its narrowest point. At least 30 other parties were there for the
exact same reason. And, as you can imagine,
the bridge was a setting very much in demand.
Each individual group might hold it for twenty minutes or more as a
photographer clicked away from every possible angle. As soon as one wedding party vacated the bridge
another pounced to get it. All in all,
the scene was quite comical, like something out of a Monty Python movie. At one point I heard a photographer scream,
“The bridge is empty. If we most fast we
can take it!”, launching a full-on sprint by a young woman in a wedding dress
with her new husband hard charging right behind her.
The people gathered in
the park that afternoon could have regarded one another by any number of perspectives
they shared in common: all were young, all were celebrating a new marriage, all
are members of the human family. But how
did they view one another? As combatants
seeking to occupy the same ground. This
is one snapshot of what it looks like to regard another from a human point of
view.
Why does Paul say “we”
no longer regard any person from a human point of view? Because we are “in Christ”, made a new
creation by embracing God’s reconciling love for us. Everything about us before, including
perceiving others from “a human point of view”, has passed away. We now see the world in an entirely new light. We see every person as God sees them.
And there is no better
illustration of God’s perspective than today’s gospel reading… Jesus’ parable
known as the Prodigal Son. We find in
the father’s love for his wayward son an image of God’s love for us. Based on the father’s behavior we learn God
grants us enough leeway to choose our own path (even when it can be
destructive), is longsuffering as we stray, and receives us with open arms
whenever we return. Why? Because from God’s point of view we are
beloved, not because we earn it, but because we are. No conditions are attached. Our proper response to God’s unconditional love
is to come home, or as Paul says, to “be in Christ.”
In the elder brother we
see what it looks like to regard another from a human point of view. He sees his younger sibling in the full,
unvarnished light of all his misdeeds, slights, foolish decisions, and willful
disobedience. And this is not an
inaccurate assessment. He describes his
brother perfectly from a human point of view.
And did you notice how he sees himself from the same perspective? He thinks of himself as being hard working, deserving
on account of his loyalty and sacrifice, and (most of all) underappreciated. And again, from a human point of view, he
calculates his value accurately. But the
father’s calculation, like God’s, begins and ends with his unfailing love for
each of his sons.
Paul says we who are in
Christ now view everyone from this perspective.
In fact, we are appointed as ambassadors to manifest this in the world
and to proclaim it to all people… especially to Tyrell Montrel Echolas, a
40-year-old from Tennessee.
Why do I mention
him? Because last Wednesday he began to
send text messages to our parish members claiming to be me, pretending I needed
money to for some pastoral need. It was,
of course, a scam and I know several of you were confused by it. Someone shared with me information about Mr.
Echolas garnered from a web service (including the fact he has 62 criminal
infractions and has been in prison multiple times).
Armed with this report,
I thought about calling him directly and giving him a piece of my mind. From a worldly point of view, he deserved
it. But, because at the time I also was
pondering what Paul wrote, I began to wonder what it would look like to
approach him as an ambassador for Christ charged with sharing how God sees him
as beloved. I didn’t figure out what
Ambassador Keith should do before I learned from one of you his phone is not
set up to receive calls. Still, I ponder
the question because Paul says I should no longer view Tyrell from a human
point of view.
One of the blessings of being
a pilgrim on the Camino is how it transforms the way you experience others who
are walking the Way with you, be they companions or total strangers. The earthly perspectives of age, gender, nationality,
physical condition, and more, gives way to a realization we are all on a
spiritual journey. It is a connection
which becomes palatable as arriving pilgrims gather in the square in front of
the Cathedral in Santiago. We all had
finished what we had set out to do and each one of us was in some way
transformed by the experience. Sensing
this bond gives insight in what it looks like to see one another from God’s
point of view.
We who are in Christ aim
to live life informed by this reality.
We don’t need Mr. Echolas to remind us it can be a real challenge. But still, with every step we take in the
pilgrimage of life, we begin to connect with others from a perspective not
merely human. Gradually, more and more,
our lives begin to embody one of my favorite prayers in the prayer book:
“Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of
fellowship and show us your presence in those who differ most from us” (p. 840).
From now on, we regard
no one from a human point of view.
