Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were
coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were
grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with
them." 3 So he told them this parable:
11 "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." 22 But the father said to his slaves, "Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31 Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' "
11 "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." 22 But the father said to his slaves, "Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31 Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' "
There was a man who had two sons.
· We know this parable so
well that I could stop talking right now and we’d all retell the story in our
minds. What does each character look like in the movie in our heads? Is the
father short and sort of roly-poly? Is the stay-at-home son all muscular and
grumpy? Is the son who left scrawny and rumpled and hollow-eyed with hunger?
· We might also assign
people or groups of people to each of those roles. You know how that’s done.
However, that can be unfair and who we assign each role to says more about us
than about the parable and its message. Let just say the father is God and
we’re… everybody else.
· First of all, this
parable of the “Prodigal Son” or the “Prodigal Father” is the third in a series
of parable about finding the lost. If we took our Bible and read the verses in
chapter 15 before this parable – and we should – we’d see a parable about
turning the house upside- down to find a lost coin (and then throwing a party
at whatever cost to celebrate the find) and then a parable of finding a lost
sheep, even if it means leaving 99 others by themselves. Both of these parables
seem impractical, but we might remember that Jesus is not running a seminar of
proper business decisions.
· Each of these
“finding’ stories reveal the heart of God who rejoices in finding what was lost
even if what was lost was impolite, nasty, or just stupid. (The so-called
prodigal son told his father “you’re dead to me, so give me my inheritance!”
The stay-at-home son was grumpy, petty, and jealous. The lost sheep just
wandered off and a business person would call it “the cost of doing business”
or “acceptable losses.”)
· If we take the father
in the story to represent God, we have a character who has been watching for
the lost son (But while he was still far off, his father saw him),
waiting and hoping for his return. He doesn’t wait to ambush the boy at the
farm gate, to chew him out; he runs to greet him and ignores the son’s
realistic apology and attempt to rejoin the household… as a farmhand. Nope!
It’s party time! Fatted calf time and fancy clothes time! Quite a welcome for a
boy who burned through his cash in dissolute living, and I’ll
let you imagine what that could mean.
· So where do we fit
in? Are we the younger child, who demanded his cut of the will while his father
was alive? Who spent his money wildly on what might appear only in our wildest and
most sordid dreams? Who starved while working in the meanest, nastiest
environment we could imagine?
· Or are we the older
brother… obediently and maybe pride-fully working in the fields, who wrote off
his younger brother as a ne’er-do-well? Who pouted and grumped when the stinker
came home and got the great party just for showing up? Who complained about how
unjust dad was and how they were having fun all wrong?
· It really doesn’t
matter which we are (and we might be both or either any day of the week.) No
matter which son is focused on, the father leaves his place and goes out of his
way to invite them in. He ran to embrace the youngest while he was still
far off. He left the party and went out to talk and plead with the
older boy to come to the party because this brother of yours was dead
and has come to life; he was lost and has been found. Dad even
calls him “my son”, the Greek using a word that is tremendously familiar and
tender… τεκνσν – “Child”
· The younger boy was
dead because he shattered every rule. The older boy was dead because he kept
every rule and expected the world to do the same. One commentator on this
parable wrote that they’re both dead and still needed to die more.
· The younger died to
his pride by coming back. The elder needed to die by leaving his rules behind. The
commentator wrote “You OWN this place,
Morris. And the only reason you’re not enjoying it is because you refuse
to be dead to your dumb rules about how it should be enjoyed.”
· If we know anything
about Jesus and his preaching and life, we know that life comes through death –
dying to self, dying to give life, dying to give yourself. To use a shorthand
phrase, it’s ultimately called “Resurrection.” And that’s really what our Lent
is all about.
We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was
dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.
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