Sermon Tone Analysis

He wasted all of it

***Photo: David Lee Edwards & wife Shawna

46 year old from Ashland, KY who never finished high school, unemployed, living is his parents’ house with the water turned off.

Borrowed money from a friend to go on a date, bought a lottery ticket, won $73.7m.

Could receive that in payments.

Could receive that in payments of $2.9m per year over 25 years or a one time lump sum of around $27 million.

Began spending at an alarming rate.

Bought houses in Florida, a Lamborghini and such a fleet of cars that his neighbors complained he was making the place look like a car lot, and a lear jet.

A dozen years later he died penniless.

***Photo of Billy Bob Harrell, Jr. From stocking shelves at Home Depot to millionaire overnight with a $31 million lottery ticked, Billy Bob was a generous man who gave to the church, church members, and soon everyone who could bring some kind of sob story to him realized he’d give them money too.

Within two years his winnings were gone, and he died by his own hand.

***Painting: The son leaving home.

Murillo (Ma-RIE-oh)

***No/slide.

The Bible’s text describes the son’s descent from having 1/3 of his father’s fortune to nothing doesn’t even take 2 verses:

Rags to riches to rags

***N/S.

It’s a story we know too well, from lottery winners to successful entertainers to retired football or basketball stars.

Unless we have some kind of wisdom, we’re often not prepared to get what we want.

***Slide.

He’s reduced to feeding pigs.

For a man in Jewish culture, it doesn’t get much lower than a pig-feeder, as pigs were considered unclean animals.

He knows there’s a problem when he sees pig food and his mouth starts watering

He comes to his senses

***N/S he makes the long journey, mumbling to himself the line he’ll use when he reaches home:

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”

The wasteful son goes home

*** Again, Ma-RIE-oh’s figures.

prodigal

■ adjective

1 wastefully extravagant.

2 lavish.

Who is prodigal, wasteful?

*** Slide: Rembrandt’s interpretation gives us a clue to another character’s view.

In the light in this image stand the father and his wayward son.

In the background, in the shadows to the right, stands the son who has never left.

Even his body language shows his utter displeasure with what’s happening here.

He recoils in disgust.

The older brother: Dad is the prodigal

Wastefully extravagant with his love

Lavish in his kindness, willingness to reconcile

***Slide: In the older son’s telling of the story, the father may well be the prodigal.

He’s generous too generous with his love.

He’s prepared to forgive, too prepared to forgive.

He’s ready to restore he son, too ready to restore his son.

***No slide: 2 responses.

The Father’s prodigal love

1 John 3:1 (NRSV)

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are...

You are more important that the disappointment