4th Sunday in Lent
Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
A Fresh Start
"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable:" Luke 15:1-3, RSV.
"And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ’How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ’Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry. "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, ’Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ’Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, ’Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’""Luke 15:11-32, RSV.
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
"One day a teenage boy walked into a little cafe and sat down. It was a small place with only a few stools at the counter. The boy said, "I’m hungry, but I don’t have any money If you feed me, I will be glad to wash dishes."
While the owner was getting the meal, he asked, "Why don’t’ you tell me about it son?" And the boy told him that he had argued with his father and left home.
Then the owner said, "You know, your story is similar to my son’s. We got mad a few months ago, and I said a lot of angry things I would give anything to take back. He left home. He ’s been gone for months, and I have no idea where he is. I own this cafe. Materially, it’s not much, but I would give it up in a second to have my son back home. "
He added, "You have a father back home, and I imagine he feels about like I do. You didn’t know that did you? You are away, and you don’t know that he cares for you as he does . What I am saying to you is, "Why don’t ’t you go back home?"
The boy needed a fresh start with his father back home. As you know our gospel lesson this morning is that famous parable of the Prodigal son. A story which is very well known, but I wonder how many of you know what that word prodigal means ?
According to Webster it means: l. wasteful, 2. extravagant 3. abundant, so the word prodigal means to use excessively. Notice no where in the text itself is the word prodigal used. Throughout the centuries this word has been applied to the son who ran away, but I would like to contend that the word prodigal can be applied to each character, the run away son, the father, and the elder son.
First we will look at the younger son, the son who ran away. He comes to his father and asks for his part of the family fortune, the part he would be entitled to if the father would die, he asks for it early. He wants it now. He doesn’t want to waste his life living around the farm, he wants to go places and do things. The routine of the everyday and seasonal chores has gotten to him. He wants something more, something different out of life. So he asks for the money.
The father gives him the money and we will see why later as we study the father. The son goes with haste out of the country of his father to look and experience a fun time.
Finally, the boy runs out of money. Now what? He feels at this point he can’t go home, what would his father, his brother, the neighbors think? So he goes looking for work. He finds work on a pig farm, and for a Jewish boy this is the greatest of insults, the lowest form of work. Someone said,"that when we do as we please, we are seldom pleased with what we do." So with our boy. The more he forked and wallowed and ate with the pigs, the more sorrowful became over his actions.
So once he as Jesus said, he came to himself, which means repented, he was sorry for his action he decided to go home not as a son but as a hired man who would have to earn the respect of all once again. He was sorry, he would turn his life over to the hands of his father.
And when he did the father welcomed him with open arms. He was accepted back into the family as he turned from self and relied on the father.
The boy was extravagant with the family money, but also with his act of repentance, He turned his entire life over to the hands of father. He didn’t realize at the time of his decision what his father would do, he didn’t care he gave his life over to him.
Sometimes you and I are like that boy. We rely only on self. We forget about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We become extravagant with self pride, we our own accomplishment and we loose sight of ’Who’s we are". We are children of God.
This can be seen in the following:
A pastor says:
"I knew a minister who entered the seminary with dreams of his own grandeur along with a case of good old-fashion conceit. Things went almost too easy for him. He studied in 2 years what normally takes 3 years, he was ordained and went into his first parish like a little god self -self-contained and knowing.
Mistake after mistake were made. He did not relate well to the people, they rejected his self-appointed leadership style. His marriage began to fail, he began to drink.
Finally he was asked to resign after his divorce. He spent three years learning to deal with anger and learning to accept his limitations. Most important he saw that he needed to rely on Christ instead of himself. He turned his life over to the loving hands of Jesus. "
And that is what we can learn from the boy who went off on his own. We need to turn our lives over to Jesus to guide and care for us.
Now let us turn to the father and see in which ways we find him to be a prodigal or extravagant in his love for his wayward son.
First of all he was extravagant in his love which allowed him to give to his younger son his share of the family wealth now, before his death. He saw that maybe the only way the son would appreciate home, family, and his love for him would be to let him go it alone, leave the nest so to speak and see what happens. I would imagine, the younger son had been asking for many years to leave or be allowed to be on his own. So this time the father in a loving way, in a wise way gives in.
Notice, there was no strings attached to this money like, "If you spend it all don’t come home begging for me", or " Take it but don’t show your face around here anymore," or "OK go ahead, break your father’s heart and leave, I hope you feel guilty", or "Because you did this, you are no longer my son". None of these were attached.
The father is said to have been watching for his son each day, hoping he would come back, hoping he would understand the door was always opened. Then one day, the father sees a familiar sight coming down the road.. He is a long way off, he looks thinner and worn, but yes it is the son who was lost, he is home. The father picks up the bottom of his robe and runs to embrace his lost son. He runs out of the over-flowing love he still has in his heart for this son. He runs to welcome him back home. He runs to be sure it is him and to show him he is still wanted. He runs. He runs.
Dr., Buchheim says in his hook The Power of Darkness, "I received a modern understanding of this homecoming in a letter from a son to a father, the author is unknown:
Dear Dad,
I found your letter to me here on the desk..... Perhaps you didn’t want me to read it now, now that I have come back home. But I’m glad I did. I thank you for your patience, your understanding and love..... for your mercy andforgiveness. I thank you also for the wonderful celebration on my turn..
But father--it was not the best robe clinging about my starved frame-------Father it was not the ring; Nor yet the shoes, nor anything.......Your kind fleet-footed servant brought............Father ’twas the thought.............That you, from your sage righteousness, could run to your unworthy son.
Father--not the dancing nor the singing,....The feast, nor those who came..............Showed me your secret, and in part.......Your long sight and anguished heart,............Your friends and neighbors reverencing.............Your ways, might marvel at the thing----But I---my rather -----I, your son, A great way from you, saw you run."
The father was extravagant with his love for his younger son as God is extravagant with his love for us as he demonstrated that vividly on the cross. God died in Christ so that we might live
Now we turn to the elder son who was also a prodigal or extravagant. How was he extravagant, in two ways. He was extravagant in that he counted as a duty his staying with the father all these years. He was extravagant in his self-righteousness as he couldn’t welcome home this lost brother. There needed to be a punishment, not a party thought this son.
Dr. Buchheim says in his book, "Lo,these many years I have served you" These words tell us why. It was his impeccable ’ service ’ that prevented him from having a good time. It was hard for him to ’unwind’ ’because he was so busy ’keeping’ score’ to prove his dedication and responsibility. The ’adding machine spirit’ the spirit of always measuring and calculating are big road blocks to en enjoyment.. "All these years I have served you translated mean, someone isn’t doing their share or someone isn’t as responsible as I am. I am not appreciated around here! "
The elder son thought it wasn’t fair, but did he ever ask the father for a party? Did he ever seem like he enjoyed his work or did he always try to impress his father with how much he was doing for him ?
Sometimes you and I are like that with God. We are always trying to impress him with what we have accomplished instead of just living in His love for us.
What kind of prodigal are you?
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale March 15, 2004
