Makeover Madness

2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” he announced. Then he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. “Strike One!” he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!” He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down, he swung again and missed. “Strike Two!” he cried.

The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!” Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. “Strike Three! Wow!” the boy exclaimed. “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”

Your attitude determines how circumstances impact your life. The little boy’s circumstances hadn’t changed, but his optimistic attitude turned a potential negative into a positive.

Attitude is a powerful thing. It will make your heart cold filled with devils and dust or it can be a source of energy to engage the world around you in a positive, loving way. Attitude is an important part of a healthy, positive, faith-filled life. Your attitude will determine how you live: joyfully in the freedom of Christ or miserably wallow in the depths of loneliness and despair. "Your attitude is like the aroma of your heart. If your attitude stinks, it means your heart is not right."[1]

Author and preacher Chuck Swindoll says that, “Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”

Every once in a while, we need an attitude adjustment and a spiritual makeover to keep us on the right track; like when a car needs a tune up. The parable of the Prodigal Son is a great example of this; a parable about the power of love, forgiveness and joy to transform into a new creation in Christ, if we chose to accept it.

There were some attitudes needing a makeover in Jesus’ day: those of the Pharisees and the scribes. Their arrogance reeked of disdain and contempt for those not as important as themselves. Their attitude was a sense of entitlement of the admiration and respect of the people.

I don’t like the attitude of the younger son. First impressions are lasting impressions, you know. He’s callous, rude, and offensive. He goes to his father and says, “Dear Dad, Drop dead! With love, your youngest son.” According to Jewish custom, the younger son received 1/3 of the inheritance which was usually received at the father’s death but which had been divided at an earlier time (1 Kings 1-2). That’s what is expected. For the younger son to demand his inheritance before his father’s death was irregular and cold-bloodedly offensive. “It’s my life. I know what’s best for me. Get out of my life. I want what’s coming to me.” His father willingly complies with his request and a few days later the boy is gone.

We all know what happens next: the dissolute living, squandering all his money with nothing to show for it, a major economic downturn hits the country with famine everywhere. No money and no resources: what will he do? Where will he go? Surely he has some job skills he can use to get a job of some kind, but times are tough. There’s not a lot of opportunity out there since the famine started and the housing bubble burst. Where is he? There’s a farm on the outskirts of town. Look for the big red barn, to the left of the barn is the pig pen. He’s in the pig pen eating with the pigs, living with the pigs, acting like a pig. It’s the only job he could find. How embarrassing! The shame of it all! No faithful, devout Jew would be found dead near a pig; it’s not kosher, they’re unclean. I can hear someone in Jesus’ audience whispering, “He’s abandoned his religion; he has trampled on everything his parents taught him.”

For an addict of any kind to want to get well, they must first lose everything and hit rock bottom. Sitting in the pig pen with the pigs, the younger son finally comes to his senses. When he’s finally slowed down enough and stripped down to the core of his being that’s when he begins to remember. He remembers the carefree days of his childhood when there was plenty of food to eat, parties to attend, playing soccer with the other kids in the neighborhood; even his father’s servants lived better than he is right now. He has a change in attitude. So he heads for home.

He’s coming home because he’s hungry; he’s hit rock bottom. You get down and out, I don’t care how much pride you have, sooner or later you’re going to come home. When you hit the wall, you’re going to come home. When you hit bottom, you’re going to come home. It’s not like it used to be; sit at the dinner table and discuss whether you’re going to the see the opera, or go to see a Shakespearean play, it’s a matter of, is there anything to eat? He needs a bed and a bath and a meal. That’s why he’s home. We all come back when it gets hard enough.

On the cover of your bulletin there’s a work of art by Rembrandt of the return of the prodigal son. The three main characters are all there. The younger son falls to his knees at the feet of his father in his tattered clothes, missing a shoe; his bald head resting on his father’s chest. The father, dressed in fine clothes with bold color, bends over with his arms outstretched upon the boy’s back. They are open hands, hands that wish to embrace rather than repel, comfort rather than terrorize, show mercy rather than judgment. The older son, standing to the side, in fine clothes like his father’s, with a beard and hair like his father’s, keeps his hands together one wrapped inside the other.

What a contrast of attitudes between the father and the older son! On the outside they look almost exactly alike, but on the inside, their attitude, couldn’t be more different. The father: love, compassion, forgiveness and joy. The oldest son: judgmental, callous, and disparaging. Which would you prefer?

The father has come out of the house to greet his son. “But while he was still far off” is a strong indicator that the father had been watching and waiting for his return, expecting his return. And as a parent runs to meet her son returning home from war, the father runs to him, put his arms around him, and forgives him.

And there’s going to be a party, a huge party. It will be the social event of the year. There will be wine, the fatted calf, and DJ Paulie D will be flown in from the Jersey Shore to provide the music. There will be dancing and singing. The whole town is invited. It’s going to be awesome! Why? Because our God is a merciful and compassionate God who loves all the earth and everything in it. Why? Because when one sinner repents it is celebrated with the angles in heaven. Why? Because “this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24).

While working in the fields, the older son hears some noise coming from the house. When he finds out it is a party for his younger brother’s return, he refuses to attend. He’s jealous, angry and resentful. He doesn’t consider his brother to be his brother. I remember wishing for that as a kid after fights with my younger brother. The father comes to him, pleads with him to come to the party and be a part of the festivities. His self-righteous, pompous, holier-than-thou attitude is evident in his response to his father. Why the attitude? Because he wants the praise and glory for the things he’s done on the outside, his good works, following orders, holding the line, maintaining the status quo and more. But his heart isn’t right because his attitude stinks!

So what are we do make of this very powerful and familiar parable? We all need a spiritual makeover. We all need a spiritual makeover because each of us, like the younger son, is fallen, a sinner. How often do we put ourselves ahead of God and others? How often does our selfishness get the best of us? How often do we think we know what’s best for us? We are need of redemption by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, if we chose to accept it.

We all need a spiritual makeover because we are the elder brother: arrogant, judgmental, and stuck in our ways. We cling to our tried and true ways of doing things; wishing that someone would simply acknowledge our faithfulness, if not with a “fatted calf”, then at least with a “young goat”.

We all need a spiritual makeover because we are forgiven by a merciful and gracious God, but don’t always live as a forgiven people. I pulled into a parking spot yesterday right next to a car that had just pulled in a moment earlier. As I am pulling in, the back door of the other car swings open and quickly closes. In my mind I’m thinking, “Why don’t you look before you open your door next time?” A short time later, in a different parking lot, D’Anna swings open her door right in front of a car pulling into the adjacent space. The incidents reminded me of what it means to live a life of grace and forgiveness with the world.

The parable of the Prodigal Son, or the parable of the father, offers an alternative perspective. It is a view from the kingdom that is often not acknowledged, much less seen clearly. Here, in contrast to “the way things should be,” mercy rescinds justice, abundance trumps anger, and wayword children of God are welcomed home by loving parents. This is the overwhelming scandal of grace, which is cause for great rejoicing.




[1] Facing the Giants by Alex and Stephen Kendrick (Sherwood Pictures: Albany, Georgia, 2006)