The Prodigal Son And His Homecoming

(Based on a sermon preached 10-22-2023 at First Baptist Church, Chamois, MO; not an exact transcription. Full disclosure: many sermons have been preached on this text and any overlap is accidental and not intentional. I have not knowingly used anyone else’s words in this message without attempting to give credit where due.)

Introduction: The University of Missouri had their homecoming celebration yesterday! Some of our members were there yesterday and, as I understand, there was quite a crowd there, right? (Affirmative response from one of the members!) Now, with this in mind, I felt led to speak about the Prodigal Son and his own homecoming. The text comes from Luke 15, beginning at verse 11:

Text, Luke 15:11-24, KJV: 11 And He said, “A certain man had two sons; 12 and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth between them.

13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’

20 “And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ And they began to be merry.”

1 The home the son had left

Jesus began this story by telling two other parables. The first one He told dealt with a shepherd who lost one of his 100 sheep. This shepherd, as the Lord related, wasn’t content to settle for the 99 he still had; he went as far as he had to in order to find that last, lost sheep. I have to confess that I don’t know much about sheep; in fact, I’ve never been in “touching” distance of a sheep! The closest I ever came was at the State Fair where I’ve seen, heard, and smelled things which I hope to never experience again! This was especially true when I did come close enough to actually touch a sheep—but I never did.

What was funny, to me, at least was that the sheep’s owner was about the age of a high school junior or senior and said, with a bit of a wry smile, that his sheep was a “pet”.

Uh huh. Sure, he was.

“Sheepie” seemed to have other ideas when it came time to walk up a kind of ramp in order to get a wool haircut or fleece job. Nothing doing, so the lad applied his shoulder to the back of the sheep’s hind leg and got “Sheepie” to get up where he (I guess) was supposed to go.

Well, the shepherd found his lost sheep, carried it on his shoulders (as if to say, “You’re staying with me, wolf bait!”) and rejoiced with his friends because he found his lost sheep.

Then, Jesus gave a somewhat briefer parable about a woman who lost a silver coin. According to Strong’s concordance, this coin was a “drachma” which had varying amount of value—but to lose one of ten was bad. She lit a lamp, and swept the floor until she found the coin! She was so happy that she called her friends to rejoice with her after she found the coin.

Now that the Lord had set the stage, He went on to tell one of the most beautiful stories ever, if not one of the most moving. He told how a certain young man decided he was tired of the routine at home and wanted to leave.