The God Who Runs: Part 2

Luke 15:11-32

Last week we heard the very familiar parable of the prodigal son and after that story I told you all that I believe that the story that Jesus is telling is about three people: two sons; one who seems foolish on the surface and the other who seems self-righteous, and the father who in my opinion is who the story is all about.

Jesus is telling this story because there are some among them who take issue with Jesus eating with the sinners and tax collectors.

Jesus responds to this gossip by drawing a comparison between two sons and as a result, he shows us the extravagant love of the good father.

Now last week, I asked you all to reflect upon these three questions in preparation for our gospel lesson today:

What is the meaning of the word “prodigal”?

What does the father’s interactions with the two sons tell us about the father?

And when have you experienced this sort of love in your life?

Friends, I invite you to sit and silence and reflect upon these questions as I read to you again, the parable of the prodigal son from the Message Version. Hear now the word of the Lord.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 15

THE STORY OF THE LOST SON

11–12  Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’

12–16  “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

17–20  “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

20–21  “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’

22–24  “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.

25–27  “All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’

28–30  “The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’

31–32  “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’ ”

This the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

We would do anything for the people whom we love. For JaLease and Gianna, I would give my life.

If each of them needed a kidney, without hesitation, I would give up both my kidneys so that they could have life.

We all can relate to this kind of love. A love that results in us giving up our last just to show our loved ones we truly love them.

The most extravagant expression of love is the willingness to give of ones’ self. The willingness to leave pride and dignity at the door just to make sure that our loved ones life is better.

Think about that for a moment. Is there someone in your life whom you would leave your pride and dignity at the door for even when that person has been less than good to you?

It could be a son, a daughter, a grandchild, a niece, a nephew, a sibling. There is someone in our lives whom we would do anything for.

Friends to me, what I described to begin this sermon is actually how we should define the word, “prodigal”.

In his book entitled “The Prodigal God.” Timothy Keller writes,

“The word prodigal does not mean wayword but, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “reckless spendthrift.”It means to spend until you have nothing left. This term is therefore appropriate for describing the father in the story as his younger son. The father’s welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless, because he refused to reckon or count his against him or demand repayment.”

Prodigal means to reckless spendthrift. It means to spend all until there’s nothing left. Now certainly in this story, the younger son is prodigal based on the true definition of the word.

However, have we ever considered that the father was prodigal as well.

Let’s take a look at why I say that.

Think about how the story begins. The youngest son tells the father that he wanted his inheritance now.

Jesus saying this would have jarred everyone listening, particularly the religious leaders.

Telling you father in that time that you wanted your inheritance early essentially tells your father, that you wished that he was dead.

Not only that but the son has an older brother which meant that the older brother was entitled to at least 2/3 of the inheritance.

Now in those days, a middle eastern father would have license to beat and disown their son if their son disrespected them in this way but notice what the father does.

He goes against the cultural norm and gives his son his share of the property.

Again this act of the father would have jarred the people listening to Jesus because land and possessions was as much apart of a person’s identity as their children.

Think about the thing that defines you and what everyone knows you for and multiply that times ten.

The father is essentially shaming himself culturally by giving so freely that which he owns to his son before he even dies.

We all know the next part of the story. We know that the son spends everything up and eventually winds up in a pen with pigs eating what they eat before he comes to his senses and returns home. At this point the people listening to Jesus are probably saying,

“ah ha! that fool finally got what he deserved. He disrespected his father and now God is punishing him. Don’t try and come home now idiot.”

The son returns home and watch what the father does in verse 20.

He runs to the son.

Y’all this is the part of the story that almost brings tears to my eyes.

The father lifts up his garb and runs to meet the son. Kisses him and essentially rejoices because his son has come home.

Y’all this is beautiful, this is the father’s love oozing out.

To contextualize this for you. Think about your kid or grandkid doing something stupid that puts their life in danger. You’ve warned them about speeding or they broke curfew and you get that call that they’ve been in a bad wreck.

You pull up to the site and you see the car all mangled and you think to yourself, “There’s noway my child is alive after this.” Then suddenly you see your child walking towards you without a scratch on them. What’s the first thing you’re going to do?

You’re going to leave you pride and your dignity at the door ad you’re going to run to that child and embrace them with everything you have. You’re probably going to be crying and slinging snot but you don’t care because your child is safe. Your child can return to the comfort of their home with you.

This is the father in this story. He doesn’t care how the son violated the relationship. He doesn’t care that the young man has been sleeping with prostitutes. He doesn’t care that the young man is physically, spiritually, and ceremonially unclean.

What matters to him is that his son is alive and well. His son is home. The family can be made whole again.

Y’all, it was beneath the dignity of the patriarch to run. It was the son’s responsibility to run to the father. The father doesn’t care about cultural norms. He doesn’t care how people view him. He doesn’t care about his dignity. All he cares about is his son. The love is again oozing out in this text.

Then you have the father’s interaction with the oldest son.

Whether we realize it or not, the oldest son has also disrespected the father. Look at verse 29 as the son says to the father,

“Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!”

The brother is so wrapped up into himself that he doesn’t even realize that he’s just like his younger brother. Here it is he has watched his father grieve the absence of his son and yet all this fellow could think about is himself and his devotion to his father.

He doesn’t even have enough respect to call his father by name.

He doesn’t even refer to his brother as “brother”, he refers to him as “your son” or as it reads in some translations, “this son of yours.”

Notice how both brothers are lost. One knows that he’s lost and the other doesn’t and the one who doesn’t know that they’re lost is the one who is self-righteous.

There are two wayward sons in this story and they represent two people in this entire narrative.

The younger son would be the people who Jesus is eating with. The sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors.

The older son represents the people who are complaining about Jesus spending time with the younger brother.

The father in this text is God.

Notice the patience and grace that the father extends to both his sons. Notice the love he has for both. He knows that they both are wayward but he refuses to give up on them.

As a matter of fact, he seeks out both in this text when their waywardness shows.

He runs in an open field to one, recklessly abandoning his dignity and pride.

He comes out of the feast to check on the other son.

Both sons have violated the relationship.

Friends at some point or another, we are one or both of these sons and we are in need of the love of the father in this text.

And each and every time God has done for us what he did for the sons. When we didn’t want anything to do with God.

He sought us with a fervor and ran to us in an open field abandoning his dignity and pride as we came home.

When we were outside of the feast with self-righteous behavior, he came and comforted us while reminding us that his love is deep enough and wide enough for all.

Y’all this is the love of the good father. We serve a God who runs to us. A God who cares nothing about his dignity. A God who will give up everything for us. A God whose life will be poured out for us in less than two weeks.

That is the God we serve. So, as we meditate on this, let us listen to this song before we take holy communion.