Sermons for the Month
A Parable Of Prodigals
DATE: March 21st, 2004
SERVICE: Fourth Sunday in Lent
TEXT: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN Today we heard the story of the Prodigal Father. In it we also were told the saga of the Prodigal Sons, but it's the Father who really is the focus of the parable Jesus told. He gives this account of the Prodigals in response to some religious folks who are put out because Jesus is spending time with sinners. He is accepting the unacceptable, they complain. In response Jesus tells three parables, the third of which we read today. He describes a lost sheep, a lost coin and ends with a story of the Prodigals. In each case something important has been lost, a person searches or watches for that which is lost and when it is discovered there is celebration.
But, it's not that which is lost that should be our focus. Instead, our attention should be drawn to the finder, the watcher, to the Prodigal Father.
Why, you might ask, do I keep using that word Prodigal that way? We have known this story since childhood as the Parable of the Prodigal son. Well, it so happens that the word prodigal does not mean bad or wayward as many of us might think. Instead, prodigal means generous, abundant and also wasteful. So, in this story there are three Prodigals. There is the younger son who wastes his inheritance and his Father's love. There is the elder son who wastes his Father's forgiving grace. And, there is the Father who is abundantly generous toward his children.
So, let's meet the Prodigals.
We are most familiar with the younger son who asks for his share of the property. What is stated simply in the story actually is quite complex in that culture. Since there are two sons in this family - and the elder one automatically received a double portion of the inheritance - the younger son would have received one-third of his father's wealth. His request - while the father is still living - is the same as saying, "Drop dead", to his father. This son is so bad that he asks for what is not yet his and then uses it for his own pleasure. There might have been situations when a father gave an inheritance before his death, but the expectation would have been that any land that was passed on would remain in the family and that the son would stay home and provide for his parents in their old age. This son's conduct is shameful before he even leaves the house.
But, it gets worse; the son wastes his inheritance and then ended up in the depths of degradation for a Jew when he was reduced not only to serving pigs - an animal that was considered unclean and thus defiled the person who came into contact with it - but even coveting their pig food.
Suddenly this Prodigal is keenly aware of the situation in which he finds himself. I've always thought that, given everything we know about him thus far, his response lacked a tone of true repentance and was probably self-serving. Any thing, even groveling, would be better than feeding these pigs!
There's no doubt that this younger son is a Prodigal, wasting his Father's resources and taking advantage of his love. But, the elder son, who we meet at the end of the story, also fulfills his Prodigal role well.
It's true that he has been a faithful son; there's no indication, though, that he has been taken advantage of. He has a place to live, food to eat, that for which he is caring will someday be his. He'll end up with two-thirds of what his father owns simply because he was born first. His father respects him, no doubt, and is thankful for this reliable son.
In a sense, what has happened with the younger son is none of his business. If his Father chooses to give him an early inheritance, or if he decides to welcome him home with a party, really does not change the elder brother's situation.
But, this Prodigal wastes his father's forgiving grace by being resentful and self-righteous. It's almost as if he's saying that if his wayward brother wants to come home let him grovel and suffer and pay his debt. Make him prove himself. Why welcome him with such lavish forgiveness and obvious joy? So, while the first Prodigal left home and family behind, and has now returned, the second Prodigal by his refusal to join the celebration alienates himself from his brother and from his father.
Do you see that picture of the Prodigals that Jesus is painting? One is separated from the Father - that is from God - and from other people, because of rebellion and a self-serving attitude and the other is separated from God, and other people, by self-righteousness and resentment. The first could be viewed as an obvious sinner, while the second might be viewed as faithful, but the fact is that they both are Prodigals. They both have wasted the generous love of God.
In his story Jesus is pointing out that there are two varieties of sinner. There are those who understand that they are sinners and those who do not see themselves that way. And the point is that the Prodigal Father loves them both.
The Prodigal Father, abundant in love, rushes to meet his self-serving son and takes immediate steps to not only meet his needs but to heal the hurt with a celebration. This is far better than the son hoped for and far better than he deserves.
And then the Prodigal Father, abundant in love, also goes out to his self-righteous son. He seeks reconciliation and a new beginning, inviting this Prodigal to join the celebration of second chances. Will he do so? The question is left unanswered in the parable.
The point is that the Prodigal Father loves them both! He loves them in spite of themselves.
This also is true for us, whether we find ourselves on the side of the rebellious, self-serving son or the side of the resentful, self-righteous son. Or, to quote the colorful language of Richard Donovan, "The bottom line is that none of us deserves an invitation to the part, but God wants us there anyway. That is good news! It's good news for the big-spending, hard-drinking, prostitute-loving younger son. And it's good news for the humorless, faultfinding elder son."
In a world of Prodigals, it is the abundantly generous Prodigal Father who comes to us and invites us to the party of second chances. He comes to us. That's so important; it is the detail of the story that cannot be ignored.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of see the Dance Theater of Harlem perform at EJ Thomas Hall. It was one of the most beautiful and creative examples of ballet that I have ever witnessed. But, I left feeling unsettled.
The troupe enacted today's parable. It was breath-taking, humorous and innovative portrayal. But the ending was wrong. The younger Prodigal Son staggered home, fell at the gate, and his Father came out of the tent to investigate the commotion.
This Father then stood, motionless, eyes unseeing, as the Son painfully crawled inch by inch to his Father and literally climbed up his body until, finally, the Father engulfed him in his massive robe. It made for dramatic dance, but it did not accurately portray the drama of our lives.
Our Prodigal God runs to us, finds us, welcomes us and brings us into the celebration of new life, of the Prodigal's life of generous, gracious forgiving love. May we see our Prodigal God coming to greet us, and hear our names being called, as each day we wake up to a day of second chances. AMEN