The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son, 4/24/16

Sermon April 24 – the prodigal son          Lk 15:11-32

The context – vs the Pharisees

The Pharisees statement – tax collectors and sinners

Lost sheep, lost coin, lost son

They are cast as the elder son, the sinners as the prodigal

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Series on parables

Prodigal son

Timely even in Jesus day

Even in Jesus day, people had trouble w their kids

The fact that Jesus told this story tells me that Jesus cared about this

He had no children, but he got it

People worried about their kids

People still worry about their kids

Don’t let your worry about your kids ruin your life

Side bar, he ignores the law……. Jesus was unscriptural [not a biblical literalist]

There is a new way, a new sheriff in town – focus on the law is gone, now we focus on grace

¹⁸ If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰ They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹ Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.  Deut 21:18

Retitle the story – the parable of the lost sons.  Both are lost.

Some of us have had the prodigal but we have all been the prodigal

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory romans 3:23

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way; Isaiah 53:6

The sons request means—he wants his father to die.

This is horrible……… you cant die soon enough for me… I want it now

And so we are all pulled by the voice of the world—where he found no consolation; only an empty longing for home;

We long for return - Henry Nouwen

To be united with our parents to be connected

Me and Dad – I didn’t even know what I did…………..

There is so much sadness in this story.

So much needless suffering.  Most of it self inflicted.

Whatever he had lost, be it his money, his friends, his reputation, his self-respect, his inner joy and peace—one or all—he still remained his father’s child.

When we cant see the grace- HOW SAD

But we have trouble returning because of the older brother

We have low self esteem

And someone is going to judge us

Older brother

Last week we talked about the unmerciful servant and how he focused on what someone owed him, instead of what the king had done for him.  Jesus wanted peter to think not about what was done to him, but instead to think about what was done for him by God

If you catch yourself being plagued by jealousy, anger, touchiness, sullenness, or a subtle self-righteousness.  If you catch yourself complaining and being riddled with resentment, you might just be dealing with older brother syndrome.

The sad proximity of virtue or sainthood and self-righteousness

Self-righteousness so easily becomes attached to our virtue and we are no longer virtuous

  the resentful “saint” is lost but it is so hard to see because it is so closely wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous.

Returning home from a lustful escapade seems so much easier than returning home from a cold anger that has rooted itself in the deepest corners of his being. 

 resentment is not something that can be easily distinguished and dealt with rationally.

Then there is the Father!  Thank God!  This story just took a turn for the better!

Many Xians would have the prodigal kneel and beg for forgiveness

Extravagant.  Wasteful!

·        Here is the God I want to believe in:

·        a Father who, from the beginning of creation, has stretched out his arms in merciful blessing,

·        never forcing himself on anyone, but always waiting,

·        never letting his arms drown in despair,

·        but always hoping that his children will return so that he can speak words of love to them and let his tired arms rest on the shoulders. 

·        His only desire is to love us.

Here lies hidden the great call to conversion:  to learn to look not with the eyes of my own low self-esteem, but with the eyes of God’s love.  As long as I keep looking at God as a landowner, as a father who wants to get the most out of me for the least cost, I cannot but become jealous, bitter, and resentful toward my fellow workers

or my brothers and sisters.

Party – a party was thrown

I realize that I am not used to the image of God throwing a big party.  It seems to contradict the solemnity and seriousness I have always attached to God. 

We can eat out any time that we want.

No big deal for us, huge for people that live in food scarce times

But when I think about the ways in which Jesus describes God’s Kingdom, a joyful banquet is often at its center.

We long for return, so do it

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, Come home, come home, ye who are weary

But the good news here is not just that we come home.

Jesus sets and example for the Pharisees and the sinners present…….

We are invited to Become the father