Luke 15 1-3, 11-32 2007
Lent 4
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
March 18, 2007
"The Two Sons and the Father"
The Word of the Lord from I John 3:1: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! This is the Word of the Lord.
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. It’s not just about one troubled boy., this is a parable about a father with two sons who are very different from each other in temperament, in work ethic and in actions. However, though very different, they both suffer from the same sin. So do you and I. Listen to their stories and see if you can spot the sin they have in common. Here's one clue: Remember to whom Jesus is speaking-Tax collectors(known sinners),and Pharisees (those that tried to live right lives and thought they were holy). These two groups have the same sin in common, too.
The younger son is the one we know best. He's the brash, ungrateful brat who goes to his father one day and demands his half of the inheritance-even though his father is clearly alive and well. In other words, he is basically saying that he wished his father were dead. The father gives him what he asks for. Once he gets the goods, he leaves home and family behind. So, it's off to a faraway land, and a chance to live the high life.
He lives large with the bling-bling of his new found wealth. It is nice while it lasts. It attracts a lot of friends-maybe not the best kind, but he always had company around. However, it also takes up an awful lot of cash, so it's only a matter of time until the younger son finds himself dead broke, penniless, and just in time to be in real trouble when a severe famine hits the land. Soon enough he is hungry and work is hard to find. Finally, he lands a job as a pig keeper. Remember, Jesus was speaking to the Jews who considered pigs as religiously disgusting animals. This job was the lowest of the low.
Could the circumstance be any worse? The pigs are eating better than he is and he craves there food. But sometimes, suffering like that has an upside: This is true in his case, he remembered what he left behind.
The young man wants to go back, but can he? When you've cut and run with half your father's goods, when you have basically told him that you wished he were dead, when you have lived as if he were, what chance is there? This son comes up with a plan. Listen to the strategy he outlines in the text: How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."
It actually sounds reasonable, doesn't it? It's a two-part confession: First, he admits that he's forfeited his right to be a son. Second, he offers to be a servant, to earn his keep. He'll be working for his wages, but he'll be safe again.
So the son starts the journey home. While he is still a long way off, the father sees him and has compassion. He runs to his returning son, embraces him and kisses him. It's quite apparent that the father delights to see his son again, and the son begins his confession. He gets through part one just fine: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." This part is true, and the father lets him say it. But before he can get to the part about being a servant and earning his keep, the father cuts him off. He calls a servant and says, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
Behold what manner of love the father bestows upon his son! No matter the sins and the folly of his boy, his boy is still his child. Therefore, the father will not hear of an offer to become a servant. Instead, he declares that his lost son is found. He was dead, but is now alive and back in the family once more.
That's the story of the younger son. Now we turn to the older son and the sin he shares with his brother. The older son is the reliable one. He respects authority and has a good work ethic. In other words, he's the one who's been slaving away in the family fields the whole time that his good-for-nothing brother has been away.
It's at the end of another exhausting day that he gets near the house, and he's surprised to hear music and dancing. A celebration is going on. A servant passing by tells him: "Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf." The worthless brother has found his way home after losing everything-and the father celebrates?! What gives, you have got to be kidding? There is no way that the older son is going to be a part of this.
The ever-patient father comes out to plead with this son, now; and he must endure the older brother's torrent of frustration. Listen carefully to his words, and see if you can spot the sin: "Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots; you killed the fatted calf for him." To which the father responds, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Behold what manner of love the father lavishes on his son; despite the son's bitterness, he reminds him that all is his.
The brothers are so different in every way: Do they really have anything in common-even when it comes to sin? The younger brother has a list that includes disrespect of his father, greed, waste and immoral living. The older brother is guilty of anger, resentment and bitterness toward his brother. But beyond all of these, there is a sin they have in common. Have you spotted it?
It is this: Both believe that their father's love depends on what they do. Both believe that their son-ship depends on their obedience. The younger son, the Prodigal-believes that, because of his sins, he has forfeited his son-ship, he desires to be no more than a servant. The older son believes that he's more of a son than his brother because he's been the one who has been working hard in the fields. Therefore, he should be favored because he's earned the right.
Both arguments make sense, but both of them insult the father's love. The younger son is saying, "My father's love is conditional. He cannot love me as a son because I have sinned. Therefore, he will only help me if I earn it." The older son is saying, "My father's love is conditional. He should love me more because I've earned it more." They come at it from two opposing directions, but both are declaring that their father's love is limited, conditional and dependent upon their own actions.
Now, remember: The father of the parable is none other than God the Father, and those two sons are very much like the tax collectors and the Pharisees. On the one hand, penitent, prodigal tax collectors might well be tempted to think, "I have sinned against God so much that He will only forgive and love me if I prove that I am worthy. Once I earn it, then He will forgive me." On the other hand, the Pharisees are tempted to believe, "God loves us so much more than those tax collectors because, while they've been living a sinful life all this time, we've been hard at work to keep the rules and be good sons." But both have this in common: They both believe that God's love for them is based upon their performance. It makes sense to sinful ears; but it also says that God's love is conditional.
We can't point fingers at the sons, the Pharisees or the tax collectors, because the same sin lurks in us. It sounds sincere and well-meaning, but it is sin all the same. To say that "God will not love me unless I do better" is to say that God's love is conditional and must be earned. To say, "God must love me more because I've been in church since day one" is to say God's love is conditional, and that you've earned it.
Saying that God's love is conditional is bad enough, but there is a greater offense at work than this: It insults your Savior, the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. He goes to the cross, suffers and declares "It is finished!" But sinners respond, "No, it's not. God will not love me just because of you. God will only love me if I earn His love." This says that Jesus' death isn't enough-He didn't get the job done. How terrible a sin is that…?
Let me ask you this: When you were a child, what did you do to earn the right to be a son or daughter in your family? Did you pay dues? Take vows? Sign a contract? No. You did absolutely nothing. You were born-given an unearned life, and that is how you became part of the family. When you obeyed your parents, were you more of a son or daughter? No. When you disobeyed them and got in trouble, were you less of a son or daughter? No. You suffered disapproval, but you were still part of the family. Your membership in the family didn't depend on your behavior: Whether you were the perfect angel or total brat, you were still a son or daughter. In the parable, the father loves the sons because they are his sons, not because they earn the right. Once the sons get past their sins in the text, this is good news: Whether they have a good day or a bad one, the father still loves them.
Why does God love you? Because you are sons. Whether male or female, the Bible declares you sons of God, and this is no more sexist than saying that men are part of the bride of Christ. You are sons of God in that you are heirs of the kingdom of heaven.
Why are you God's sons? It is not by your own reason or strength, your doing or worthiness. It is because of God's only-begotten Son, who has redeemed you on the cross. He has suffered the judgment for the sins that would keep you eternally out of the family of God. Rejoice, for Jesus did not die to make you slaves or servants who now must earn your keep. He died to make you sons-family members, children of God who are part of the family now and forever.
Thus the Lord declares to you: "You are Mine, and of this you can be certain. You can be certain because My Son paid the price for your salvation by His death on the cross. You can be certain because you Father has adopted you as His children in Holy Baptism.
Yet we still sin. Children disobey their parents all the time, but they are still in the family. They may need discipline and forgiveness, but they are still loved.
Sometimes we live as God’s obedient children. This doesn’t make us any more loved. The Lord has already given us all of His unconditional love. We need to also remember that keeping the Lord’s Word and following His will is good for us. It is good because each sin and act of disobedience pulls us away from God. If we are dissatisfied with what God has given us through His Son Jesus Christ we may eventually reject our Father and run away from home. This is the only way that a person can be lost-by removing oneself from God’s family.
Whether you are more like a sinner or a Pharisee, more like the younger son or the older son, here is the Good News: You are a son. You are a son for the sake of Christ. And so, on account of Christ, we rejoice with St. John once again: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Of this you can be sure: You are a beloved child of God, because you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.[i] Amen
----
[i] Pastor Tim Pauls