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"Robes, Rings, and Sandals"
Readings: Luke 15:11-32
Preached at Beckley Presbyterian Church on March 18, 2007
The parable
of the Prodigal Son, about two brothers, is one of the best known passages in Luke’s Gospel. One brother takes what
he should not have asked for, wastes it, then comes to his senses and decides to return to his father, offering himself as
a slave, and is embraced on his return. The other brother, who is the eldest son, is not impressed. He doesn’t want
to join the party.
At the center of the story stands the father,
a father unwilling to accept his child as anything other than his child. “This
son of mine was lost, but now he is found, dead but now he is alive.” And
in the midst of his welcome home we find these words, “The father said to his servants, Quick! Bring the best
robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”
What’s with the robe, the ring, and the sandals? What significance could these gifts have for those of us in the
twenty-first century who are seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ?
A good place to start exploring their significance is to grasp a picture of what the parable is about. It is not so much
about either of the sons, but about the awesome love and grace of the father who accepts the repentant son back into the family.
The father represents the love of our Father God, a love that we, like the younger son, can run away from before its significance
really strikes home to our hearts. Or like the elder brother, we can live with it constantly but still shut it out from our
lives.
That love finds its fullest expression when, upon seeing the younger son return, the father runs to embrace him and declares
to him that he will not hear any talk of him being a slave, but rather he is a son, forgiven, free, and restored to all the
privileges his rebellion had lost him. The robe, the ring, the sandals are gifts bestowed on the son as evidence of his restoration
to the family and to equip him to function as a fully fledged family member.
As such the robe, the ring, and the sandals are symbols of what Jesus Christ offers to us when we turn to Him with repentant
hearts and lives. Consider first;
THE ROBE
It is hard to truly capture a picture of what a state that younger son
had gotten himself into. His body bore the scars of poverty and abuse. He is half-starved. He is clothed in rags. He is filthy.
Had the story been set in a contemporary setting, then his arms would bear the scars of drug abuse; he would have tattoo’s
bearing the names of unwise liaisons, and piercings’ that would be less attractive than the rings through the nose of
the pigs with whom he had been sleeping and whose food he would have eaten had the opportunity been given him!
This wasted wreck of a child is the one that the father runs toward,
and hugs and kisses. Although scarcely recognizable, the father knows his own and welcomes him home as though nothing had
ever happened. A preacher of a former generation, Alexander Mclaren comments, “God’s forgiveness is essentially
the communication of God’s love to us sinners, as if we had never sinned at all.” The
first gift that the father gives his child is one of covering. A robe that covered the nakedness, the scars, the signs of
rebellion and neglect.
There are some wonderful scriptures that illustrate the robe’s
significance. In a vision of the prophet Zecheriah, the prophet witnesses the renewal of God’s servant and describes
it like this: "Remove his filthy clothes." … "I have freely forgiven your iniquity and I will dress you in fine
clothing." (Zecheriah 3:4)
The prophet Isaiah rejoices in God saying; “My soul shall exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
(Isaiah 61:10)
In the Book of Revelation the neither hot nor cold
church of Laodicea is counseled
to seek “White garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen” (Rev 3:18). In the writings of Paul, such as his letter to the Ephesians, he
counsels his converts “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness
and holiness.” (Revelation 4:24). In our parable, the father takes
the best robe, in Greek literally “that robe, that principal robe” and places it upon the son.
When we in faith give our lives, our compromised, scarred, imperfect
lives into God’s hands, they are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to
transform us, from what our rebellion against God has made us, into something new. Only Jesus Christ can cover us and renew
us and re-clothe us and make us fit to sit at the Father’s table.
When God forgives us, God doesn’t just let us be. God
doesn’t let us off with a hug and a kiss. God begins to reclothe us and equip us to start living like we are once again
part of the family. The first gift is the robe. The second is…
THE RING
There’s a story back in the book of Genesis about Joseph being accepted in the house of
Pharaoh. You remember
Joseph and his Technicolor dream coat and the way he became the Pharaohs head honcho? We
are told that “Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's
hand” (Genesis 41:42). The father in
our story places a ring, probably a family signet ring, upon his restored son’s hand.
In wedding services before
a couple exchange rings I usually speak of how throughout
the centuries rings have been used to seal important covenants. How a King would wear a ring with the seal of his country
upon it and how its stamp signified royal authority. How in marriage the golden ring has a particular significance, its precious
metal reminding us of the sacredness of marriage and its never ending circle pointing us to the permanence that marks a true
love relationship.
So the ring that is placed onto the son’s hand signifies both belonging
and authority. The son wants to come home and offer himself as a slave, as a hired hand. This is not good enough for the father.
There was no way that child could ever earn his place back into the family or back into the father’s favor. No work
that he offered could ever do that. There was only one way - through the father’s grace, acceptance and love. Only through
accepting that he was a child of his father could their relationship be restored.
It is no different for us. We can try and earn the love of God, we can
try and strike a bargain, we can covenant with God and say, “Oh, I’ll work so hard, I’ll slave away at it
if you will only accept me on those terms;” and God says, “No, nothing you can give me will ever be enough. Nothing
you can do can ever atone for the way you walked out on us. Only one thing will I accept. That you be my child and I be your
Father. Come, let me put this ring on your finger.”
That’s why the parable finishes with the elder son getting so mad.
“All these years,” he says, “I’ve
been here slaving away and you never threw a party for me.” This unconditional
acceptance, this lavish over-the-top grace was offensive to the elder son because all his life he had worked so hard to be
accepted and worked so hard to earn his father’s love.
This one thing the elder struggled with. Love was not something to be
earned, but something to be accepted and received. And it didn’t matter how much you thought you did or didn’t
deserve it. When it came to God’s love it was all about receiving what you could never give yourself, like a ring being
placed on your hand.
That ring was one of privilege, but it was also one of authority. It
opened doors. It meant that what the father had responsibility for was now also the son’s responsibility. Do you remember
how Matthew finishes his gospel when Jesus makes a final resurrection appearance to His disciples? Do you remember what He
tells them? It’s almost as though He places His Father’s ring on their fingers.
Matthew 28:18-20; “And Jesus came to them and spoke unto them, saying, ‘All authority has been given unto me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them
to observe all things which I commanded you: and listen, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world’.”
Through Christ’s death upon the Cross, we are
forgiven. The robe of His righteousness, His covering is placed over our lives. We are also commissioned to do His Father’s
work. The family covenant signet ring is placed on our hand. Next comes…
THE SANDALS
We are clothed in God’s love and commissioned to God’s service
for a purpose, that we may take the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. The
gifts of grace and forgiveness, the privileges of restoration and renewal are not for us to wallow in, but gifts we are to
invite others to share in.
When we place our lives into the hands of God we are set free to do God’s
work. We no longer work just to eat or just to live, but we have a higher purpose.
We move from a position of slavery to sin, to a position where we call God, ‘ABBA’, and ‘Our Father’… and everything that such a relationship implies.
The difference between slaves and free persons was that slaves went barefoot,
whilst the free person had shoes on their feet. There’s an African American spiritual that slaves used to sing in hope
of freedom which declares, “God’s children got shoes, All God’s children have travellin’ shoes.”
Shoes are important. Life can be a rough road to travel. There are
many things we can stumble over. The road can be a messy, we have to watch where we are treading! When Paul writes to the
Ephesian church about putting on the whole armor of God, he advises them to have their “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”( Ephesians 6:15)
Be ready to share the love of God with
others. Let them know what your Father God has done for you. You are forgiven. You are set free. And all of this in spite of who you are, not because of you are…. all of this
because God is love, and God so loved the world that whomsoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This is the core of the
gospel! This is what the world needs to hear. The Grace and acceptance of God is just waiting on people’s response.
No wonder the prophet Isaiah declares “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good
news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say, "Your God reigns!" (Isaiah
52:7)
Today, God offers to us;
- THE ROBE: The promise that as we come to Christ we are forgiven and reclothed in His righteousness.
- THE RING: We are restored to the family of God. We are God’s children and citizens
of God’s eternal Kingdom.
- THE SANDALS: We are commissioned to carry the good and great news of the gospel to others.
In Jesus name, inspired by His Spirit,
may we learn to live in a way that is worthy of the gifts that our Father God bestows upon our lives. AMEN.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt
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