Joshua 5:9-12 / 2 Cor 5:17-21 / Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Generally speaking, human beings have five senses – sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.
These five senses provide the brain with the necessary data for perception and interaction with the surroundings.
Then there is the sixth sense, which may be termed as intuition, or it could be some kind of awareness that cannot be explained in terms of normal perception.
Of course what must not be forgotten is “common sense” which we are supposed to have but somehow we seem to be unaware of it or we don’t seem to use it that much.
Common sense tells us what is obvious about life but somehow we don’t pay much attention to it.
For example, no matter how tall we are, we won’t be able to see what is going to happen tomorrow.
No matter how big a car we drive, we still need to walk to the bed.
Yes, that is the common sense about the reality of life, but somehow our awareness and our perception of it seem to get dimmed by the busyness and anxieties of life.
And that’s why we need to be constantly reminded of the basic common realities of life, the “common sense” of life so to speak, because we do forget and then we let “nonsense” be the direction of our lives.
The gospel begins by saying that the tax-collectors and sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what He had to say.
But why did those sinners want to seek the company of Jesus and hear what He had to say?
Could it be that they realise that their way of life is not making any sense and that what Jesus was saying was bringing them back to their senses and awakening in them the love of God for them?
The parable that Jesus told, often called the parable of the Prodigal Son, may seem rather irrational and even nonsensical. But that’s the purpose of a parable, because a parable is about a divine revelation in a human situation.
So it is not the divine revelation that is irrational or nonsensical. Rather it is the human situation that is irrational and nonsensical.
What the younger son did was totally irrational and nonsensical. He asked for his share of the property and he got it. He did the stupid thing of leaving his father for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
And when he was totally down and out, he did the unthinkable of going against his Jewish tradition of hiring himself out to look after pigs.
But it was in that pigsty that all his senses rebelled against him – the sight, the stench, the sound, the filth and the hunger – and then, as the parable puts it, he came to his senses.
And as his senses awakened, common sense and all, he decided to leave that place and go back to his father.
We may have heard this parable countless of times, but we have to admit that what the father did was very surprising and unexpected.
And this is the divine revelation in the human situation. No matter how gravely we have sinned or how far we have turned away from God, God is like the father who saw his son while he was still a long way off and ran to him, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.
Indeed, that is God’s revelation in a human situation, and that may also leave us with a question. Can it be possible that God can forgive just like that? Maybe it is possible for God but not for us.
Because forgiveness is so difficult. And even if we can forgive, then we still cannot forget.
That was what the Pharisees were saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” They cannot accept sinners, much less forgive them.
That’s also the elder son, when he said, “This son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing your property … “ The elder son can’t forgive his younger brother.
But unforgiveness is actually irrational and nonsensical. Because unforgiveness is a spiritual disease and it is manifested physically in our health issues.
Unforgiveness is also manifested emotionally, as we become angry easily and we burn with resentment and bitterness.
But through the gospel parable, a profound divine revelation comes into a profane human situation.
God forgives, He is merciful and compassionate, He runs towards us even though we have sinned, He takes away our shame, He clasps us in His arms and He wants to heal us of the wounds of our sins.
So let us join those tax-collectors and sinners in the gospel and listen to what Jesus has to say to us.
May we come to our senses, be healed and forgiven, and be ambassadors of Jesus to bring about reconciliation, forgiveness and healing.