Luke 15:11-32
Rev. Nick Cheek
It’s one of the most well-known parables in the Bible. There is a father with two sons. The younger son asks his father for an early deposit of the promised inheritance. Taking it, he runs off to a faraway land and squanders it. He spends all of his father’s hard-earned money on himself. He runs out of money without a penny to his name just in time for a famine in his land. He has no other choice but to hire himself out. He finds himself working in fields and feeding pigs. One morning he arrives at his breaking point. Sitting on the muddy ground of the pigpen he stares at the slop in his bucket. But he’s not thinking about how disgusting it looks… instead, he’s thinking about how much he wants to eat it. This is not only a low point… this is his awakening. His spirit is broken and the reality of his error sinks in. His mind wanders to the servants of his father’s house – even they live better than this. Even they are fed with food from a table – even they have beds to sleep in and clothes to change into. [slow] He makes a decision to stand up, drop the bucket and begin his journey back home.
And this is where I want to pause for a moment. At this point in the story, the readers don’t know what is about to happen, nor do we. And this is why parables are such powerful stories, not only because they often reveal a spiritual truth… but also because they speak to the human condition – Who we are as flesh and blood… who we are as imperfect creations. Jesus used parables, not only to captivate and connect with the audience, but also so that they could connect the parable with their own stories – their own journeys. [Pause] Parables are incomplete … incomplete on purpose… Jesus leaves out the details – the particulars – he allows space… so that we… have to fill in the blanks. We have to ask the questions… to wonder, “What is going on within this story… between the characters… what led to this… ” As we ask those questions of the characters in the story… we also wind up examining our own lives, our own relationships and situations. We find ourselves in these stories.
And so, with our parable this morning we could pose some questions? For example, why did the younger son leave in the first place? What would compel him to do such a thing?
He had everything he needed, or so, we presume. A roof over his head, plenty of food to eat… and we know the family had servants, so they were well-off. Why leave all of that behind? Why wake up one morning and decide to tell his father… I’m done… I’m out… give me my inheritance so I can just escape… and leave you all? [Pause] Who behaves in this manner? … what compels someone to do that for no good reason? [Pause] Maybe there is more going on here than what’s on the surface? [Pause] Most of the time when we hear this story, we make assumptions – as with any story. We assume this younger son, acted this way out of pure selfishness. We assume he’s an awful kid. He was probably like this all along… unappreciative, nothing was ever good enough for him, lazy… disobedient. [pause] We make assumptions… When we hear stories about other families, other churches, other cultures, we, too, make assumptions, don’t we? But do we ever really know the whole story? Usually, we don’t. For example, we don’t know what role this younger son played within the household. Was he regularly compared to his older brother… Mr. Perfect? The one who did everything right? Was he labeled as the less-successful son? Did he always feel like he didn’t measure up to these unsaid expectations? Perhaps.
And what of the Father? We don’t get to know too much about him in the first half of our story. But, we do know this – when the younger son asked for his inheritance early (which was not a normal request for the time) the father acquiesces. And this is a curious action by the father. If his younger son had really gotten to the point when he wanted to leave… one would assume the father would have tried to hear him out… try to understand him… try to stop him. “Why? Why do you want to leave? What might I have done to encourage this…” Did the father want the son to leave? Did the older son say “good riddance” under his breath as his brother walked away? We don’t know. But we can make assumptions.
Church… these parables are filled with information we rarely, if ever, take the time to unpack. In part, this is because we’ve been programed to understand these stories a certain way… and certain way only.
Before choosing to interpret the parable allegorically, author, professor and rabbi Amy-Jill Levine encourages the reader to think of “kids as kids and dads as dads.” She also invites us to be careful with putting a title to it. Labeling the parable after the prodigal son shifts the focus of the story to the prodigal son – his actions… his failures… his defiance. But Jesus begins the parable with this line – “There was a father who had two sons.” The parable is about all of them. And so the question I am compelled to propose is this – Who’s really lost here? Is it the younger son whom we assume… or could it be the older son… or… god-forbid… is it the father? What if they were all… a little bit… lost.
Wouldn’t that make more sense when we think of families as families. None of us are perfect. We all go through seasons of change and heartache… seasons of loss. We fight, we argue, we say things and behave in ways we regret… but… we also forgive… we show grace… we let go of past hurts so we can walk forward in love. [Pause] Back to the story…
After eating his full share of pig slop… the younger son… decides to return home. The scripture reads… “He came to his senses.” While on his journey, he rehearses a speech. He believes it must be a perfect speech, because the law of the land is clear in this situation. Once a father gives over the inheritance to a son – if that son squanders it… the father has absolutely no obligation to receive him back. In fact, the father has no requirement to even call him a son anymore – the father can legally disown him and take away his name.
With his speech prepared, the younger son approaches the edge of his father’s Land. He takes a few steps forward to the horizon. A soft breeze brings to him the smell of the wheat fields he used to run through as a child. He takes a few more steps and notices sheep huddled under the large dogwood he and his brother must have climbed a million times. A few more steps and he sees the home his father built with his bare hands. And then… he sees his father… standing on the front porch, peering out into the distance. [Pause]
Their eyes catch. And for a moment the son hesitates. The thought crosses his mind to turn away and flee (the shame is too great) But he has nowhere else to go. “What will my father do?” He wonders to himself. “Will he be angry? Will he seek to chastise me… to point the finger… to ridicule… to condemn.”
The son stops in his tracks… tears of sorrow fill his eyes. But the father doesn’t wait for him to arrive…he doesn’t want for his son to crawl up the steps and gravel for forgiveness… Instead he darts off the front porch in a dead sprint – his father comes to him – the father takes the responsibility of crossing the long expanse to get to his son… so his son doesn’t have to do it. [Pause] When he arrives, the son begins his shaken speech… he’s shaking… but before he can even get a word in, before the son can even compose himself… the father has already thrown his arms around him. “But Father,” the son pretests, “I have sinned against you. I’ve made a mockery of your love… I’m no longer worthy to be your son”. [Pause]
The Father doesn’t even acknowledge his son’s plea for punishment… because the father doesn’t care where his son’s been… he doesn’t care what he’s done… or how much he has messed up his life… he doesn’t care about the money. This loving parent is simply overjoyed to have his son back in his arms again – to feel his heart beat, to hear his son’s breath – to know that he is alive and well. That is all he cares about. [Pause]
The son’s homecoming turns into a celebration of joy. The father covers him in a robe, puts a gold ring on his finger and asks the servants to start a roast. The joy is contagious… it pushes away the sadness…it melts away the shame and remorse… that they both may have had – the son leaving… and the father letting him go.
It’s a beautiful reunion… but at first, not for everyone. The eldest son watches the celebration from afar… with blood boiling. He doesn’t run to embrace his brother. “This isn’t fair. “I’m the responsible one, I’ve followed the rules, I’m the one who’s worked hard and done what is expected of me.
But today… we celebrate him? Today we throw a party for him and not for me? Does my father really love him more?” [pause]
This is where… we realize… the older son is lost as well. [Pause] The older son believes… that a chastisement is what his brother deserves… not forgiveness.
But the Father is focused on mercy, love… and reunion. He sees this as an opportunity for his family to become whole again… This is the Father’s shining moment. A moment when he can move past his regrets… a moment when he can accept his own failures in raising his two sons… and more importantly… a moment when he can finally start focusing more on love than law… more on grace… than perfection… more on being present than on being right. This is where the Father can begin to love his two boys… simply for who they are… not for what they can do… not for how well they perform… not for the trophies on their walls… or the grades on their report cards… not for the colleges they attend… or how successful their careers are… not for their nice homes… or the funds in their bank account… (hmm mm) Just love… just love.
The father sees the older son outside of the celebration… far off. And Again… and this is important… the father crosses the divide between them… he goes to the older son. Looking at him feeling his anger… the father realizes that he too needed reconciliation and embracing. The words of the father to the eldest speak again of mercy. “Son, all I have is yours… it always has been… always will be. Do you not know… if you and your brothers’ stories were switched …? I would run to meet you just the same… and I would throw my arms around you just the same and I would call a celebration just the same.” [Pause]
We encounter this parable in the middle of lent, because lent is a season of longing. It is a season of wandering… and confronting the truth about our lives – that they are indeed imperfect. Our journeys are filled with seasons of plenty when all is well… and love and grace is abundant… but they are also filled with seasons of want… of pain… of hardship – where we may even find ourselves feeling lost – searching for our way back home.
But there is an incredible truth in our story this morning. It was the wandering season this family went through that ended up bringing them all back together again. The prodigal’s return refocused all of them on what really mattered… Aren’t some of our own wandering seasons like that? Don’t they put things back into perspective for us? After we get through them… we often look back and see God at work in the midst of it. We never know what God is up to, Trinity.
God is up to something here. We are entering a season. We are in the midst of a transition. As your transitional pastor, I am tasked to walk alongside you through it. As we journey together, we do so knowing that Christ is our guide. We do so believing, in faith, that even a little bit of wandering will produce good fruit. We do so, knowing that God has a hopeful plan for this congregation and for its ministry to each other and the world we have been called to serve. [Pause]
Our parable this morning, doesn’t have a strong ending – there are no details. And I think Jesus does this on purpose again so we can envision it. We can imagine how we want it to end. When I think about the father and the two sons – this is what I hope for.
As the father embraces both of his sons… tears of relief and tears of recent pain… fall upon their shoulders… and they remember… all of them… what love really feels like. It is a feeling like no other. Love feels like… coming home.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirt Amen.