{"id":4528,"date":"2022-03-27T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T16:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/27\/a-lost-family-based-on-joshua-59-12-and-luke\/"},"modified":"2022-03-27T16:36:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T16:36:26","slug":"a-lost-family-based-on-joshua-59-12-and-luke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/03\/27\/a-lost-family-based-on-joshua-59-12-and-luke\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Lost Family\u201d based on\u00a0\tJoshua 5:9-12 and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

I spend a lot of my time learning about trauma, and
\nconsidering ways that the church might be part of trauma healing. \u00a0If
\nI had a guess as to why this catches my attention so deeply, it would
\nbe this: as I grew up and realized how broken things are, I started
\nwondering \u201cwhy!?\u201d \u00a0Until I heard about the Adverse Childhood
\nExperiences study, and started reading about trauma, very little
\nseemed to adequately answer my question.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nSo it may not be surprising that when I read Joshua, and
\nhear \u201ctoday I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt, \u201c
\nI find myself wondering about trauma healing. \u00a0The story says that
\nthe people had been enslaved for hundreds of years, and then spent 40
\nyears wandering in the desert, as a means of leaving behind that
\ntrauma and preparing for the new life they were going to live. \u00a0This
\npassage, today, is the moment of transition.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIn life, \u00a0there isn’t an end to healing as a gradual
\nlessening of the grasp trauma holds on a life. \u00a0But, also, 40 years
\nsounds like a good time frame. \u00a0It is not instantaneous, by any
\nstretch, and it represented multiple generational changes. \u00a0It takes
\nseriously the long tail of healing, and the impact on generations.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI don’t really think the story means that the trauma of
\nslavery is over for the ancient people of God. \u00a0But, I think this is
\nanother step in that process. \u00a0To be told, \u201cyour disgrace is rolled
\naway\u201d is a really important piece, and I rather respect it taking
\n40 years for the people to be ready to hear it.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI also love that there is this intersection of healing
\nand relationship. \u00a0So for those 40 years, the people were said to be
\nfed directly by God. \u00a0The manna on the floor of the desert provided
\nfor them, along with occasional quail. \u00a0Or, perhaps we might say,
\nthey were hunter-gatherers and aware in that process of their
\ndependence on God. \u00a0This passage represents a shift to being farmers,
\nwho are still rather dependent on God, but take more of the
\nresponsibility for active food production (especially in a desert).<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile healing, the people needed to be cared for. \u00a0They
\nalso needed to be able to move freely. \u00a0They needed space. \u00a0They
\nneeded time. \u00a0They needed a dependable caregiver to keep on teaching
\nthem that they could trust. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen they had healed enough, and when they were ready to
\nhear \u201cyour disgrace has been rolled away\u201d which I think means
\n\u201cyou are no longer defined by what others did to you,\u201d they were
\nready to bring that time of healing to an end, and begin caring for
\nthemselves and each other. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nHave I mentioned how much I appreciate that this
\ntimeline isn’t more aggressive? \u00a0 I love, also that this happened at
\nPassover. \u00a0The first Passover was when the journey began, and it came
\nfull circle, to the remembrance of that journey and to eating the
\nfood in a new land as a new people, before the journey ended.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI don’t know where exactly the family trauma in the
\nparable starts, but I can see its fingerprints. \u00a0This is, sadly, not
\na healthy family. \u00a0On the upside, it looks familiar enough to enough
\nof us that we can at least know that the Bible knows how REAL
\nfamilies work. \u00a0We can see that God sees and knows families as they
\nare, and still works within them. \u00a0This family may or may not have
\nMAJOR trauma, but it is definitely struggling with at least a pile of
\nminor ones.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nBefore I delve into the parable, it seems worth taking
\nthe time for a little reminder of what a parable is and is not,
\nbecause truthfully a lot of preachers get this wrong, and you may
\nhave been misled along the way. \u00a0Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, New Testament
\nprofessor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, has done amazing work with
\nher book \u201cShort Stories by Jesus\u201d \u00a0and my reflections are guided
\nby her.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nParables are stories, sometimes quite short, that resist
\neasy interpretation, and understandings. \u00a0Dr. Levine says, \u201cWhat
\nmakes the parables mysterious, or difficult, is that they challenge
\nus to look into the hidden aspects of our own values, our own
\nlives.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\n Or, to be more direct: a parable is not an allegory. \u00a0Each character
\ndoesn’t \u201cstand in\u201d for someone else, where it appears to be one
\nthing but is actually about God. \u00a0Or to be EVEN MORE DIRECT: please
\ndon’t take the father in this story as God. \u00a0It won’t go well for
\nGod, and it will deny us the chance to hear the story as it actually
\nis.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nLuke is the only gospel writer to tell this story, and
\nit puts it after two other stories about things getting lost. \u00a0First
\nthere are 100 sheep, and one gets lost. \u00a0The shepherd finds it and
\nrejoices. \u00a0Then there are 10 coins, and one gets lost. \u00a0The woman
\nfinds it and rejoices. \u00a0So we’re well set up here. \u00a0A man has two
\nsons, one gets lost.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nHmmm, \u201cThere was a man who had two sons…\u201d \u00a0That
\nshould actually get our brains lighting up with memories. \u00a0Or, at
\nleast, it would have for the first listeners. \u00a0\u201cTwo sons? \u00a0Oh yeah?
\n I’ve heard that one. \u00a0Cain and Able \u2013 older one was more than a
\nlittle bit of a problem, and God preferred the gift of younger.
\nIshmael and Issac, older one had to be sent away entirely, younger
\none got the blessings. \u00a0Esau and Jacob \u2013 yeah, OK, there is a
\npattern here, I get it. \u00a0So, tell me about how the younger son is
\nbetter than the older and how God inverses my expectations, I’m
\nready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich means, of course, that Jesus inverses THAT
\nexpectation. \u00a0This younger son isn’t a pillar of anything. \u00a0I believe
\nyou know this part. \u00a0The younger son asks for his inheritance,
\nreceives it, and an unexpectedly generous portion at that, sells it,
\nleaves, wastes it, there is a famine, and he gets hungry. \u00a0He then
\nrealizes that he doesn’t have to live like that \u2013 he can go home.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nDr. Levine doesn’t entirely believe his contrition, and
\nshe makes some good points about that. \u00a0While he claims to be going
\nhome to just be a laborer, the word \u201cfather\u201d keeps being
\nrepeated, which actually keeps him in his position as son. \u00a0Also, the
\nline, \u201cI have sinned against heaven and before you\u201d is the exact
\nphrase Pharaoh mouths in order to stop the plague, which isn’t a
\nflattering repetition. \u00a0It has been said that his words could be
\nsummarized as \u201cI’ll go to Daddy and sound religious.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n \u00a0He has a rather good idea that this may be sufficient, this is a
\nfather who already gave him his inheritance, already have him a
\nlarger portion than he should have, and may well have offered him a
\nsafe place to land if ever he needed it. \u00a0The father is a bit
\nindulgent.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe father is, of course, thrilled his son has come
\nhome. \u00a0The son has been gone for quite some time, and has been
\nfunctionally dead to him, and possibly dead. \u00a0(I know you don’t need
\nthis reminder, but they weren’t’ face-timing while he was away.) \u00a0The
\nfather’s rejoicing mirrors the shepherd who found the sheep, and the
\nwoman who found the coin. \u00a0YAY! \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis also fits human nature, right? \u00a0Most parents would
\nwelcome home the wanderer, no matter where they’d been or what they’d
\ndone. \u00a0That said, Dr. Levine concludes \u201cI still have a picture of a
\nmanipulative, pampered, and perhaps relieved kid at the fatted calf
\nbuffet.\u201d \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich is important. \u00a0Because at this point the younger
\nson disappears from the story, and it becomes clear that this is the
\nSET UP for the real story. \u00a0The father thought he’d lost his younger
\nson, but in truth it looks like he’d lost them both. \u00a0The younger
\ncame back, but the elder is still lost. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNo one told the elder brother about his brother’s return
\nnor the party. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat the hey?<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThey didn’t notice he wasn’t there? \u00a0They didn’t think
\nto tell him? \u00a0This sounds \u2013 sadly- like a story I’ve heard from
\nlots of people. \u00a0The pain of being forgotten in their own family.
\nThe so called \u201clittle\u201d slights that add up over time to people
\nfeeling like they don’t matter to the ones they love. \u00a0Furthermore,
\nbased on all the other stories in the Bible with 2 sons, it is
\nreasonable to guess there were some issues between the brothers, and
\nthe father’s rather extreme generosity to the younger one likely
\ndidn’t help the relationship between them.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNow, the father does seem to suddenly get that there is
\na larger family dynamic issue, and he does rush out to greet his
\nelder son. \u00a0Good! \u00a0 \u00a0However, as Dr. Levine says:<\/p>\n

\nYears of resentment have finally boiled over and found
\nexpression. \u00a0The son’s fidelity has been overlooked. \u00a0Once again the
\nproblem child receives more attention, or more love, than the prudent
\nand faithful one. \u00a0By announcing that ‘there is more joy in heaven’
\nfor the one who repents than for the ninety-nine who need no
\nrepentance, Luke reinforces this preference. \u00a0We might think of the
\nolder son as speaking for those ninety-nine who have no need of
\nrepentance but who appear to bring less joy.3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nRight, so this sounds like families I know. \u00a0It sounds
\nlike my own family at times. \u00a0It sounds really familiar. \u00a0And I think
\nthat’s part of the genius of the parable. This as come around to
\ndealing with responsibility and irresponsibility, enabling,
\nresentment, and the huge question: how to respond to it all? \u00a0This
\nsounds like life. \u00a0It is difficult and imperfect, and requires a lot
\nfrom us just to get through things \u2013 even the things that are
\nsupposed to be good. \u00a0His brother is alive! \u00a0He came home! \u00a0And it is
\nCOMPLICATED.<\/p>\n

\n
The father does well here. \u00a0The first word of his
\nresponse is best translated as an endearment \u201cChild.\u201d \u00a0Perhaps we
\nmight hear it as \u201cchild of mine.\u201d \u00a0The father acknowledges this
\nolder son who has also been lost. \u00a0And the father acknowledges a
\nliteral truth: \u00a0having given his property to his sons, all that he
\nhad is now the property of his older son. \u00a0 AND, \u00a0he needs to
\nrejoice. \u00a0He is a father who has had his son restored.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNow, this is where I think the parable is most
\nbrilliant. \u00a0After the father’s speech it just… ends. \u00a0Does the
\nelder brother go into the party? \u00a0Would you? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThis family has all been lost to each other. \u00a0What will
\nit take to bring it back together? \u00a0Do they have the ability? \u00a0Do
\nthey have the commitment and desire to fix things? \u00a0Will they? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWould you? \u00a0Amen<\/p>\n

1<\/a>Amy-Jill
\n\tLevine, Short Stories by Jesus <\/i>(USA:
\n\tHarperOne, 2014), page 3.<\/p>\n

2<\/a>Ibid,
\n\tDr. Levine however is quoting David Buttrick ,54.<\/p>\n

3<\/a>Ibid,
\n\t64.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spend a lot of my time learning about trauma, and considering ways that the church might be part of … Continue reading \u201cA Lost Family\u201d based on\u00a0\tJoshua 5:9-12 and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,1661,1265,1660,1659,1484,1658,902,1662,56,57,1663],"class_list":["post-4528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-dr-amy-jill-levine","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-lost-family","tag-maybe-prodigal-is-misnamed","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-prodigal","tag-rejoice","tag-restore","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-would-you"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}