March 27 – Lent 4

LUKE 15: 1-3, 11-32

Sermon writing is a process, and sometimes I think to myself, we have heard this over and over again.  Then I remember that there is a reason for repetition.  The more we hear something the easier it is to remember and to internalize into our everyday habits.  An analogy would be some of the things we heard over and over as children and teens.  Lessons that were very important to learn such as: look both ways before you cross the street, or don’t run with scissors in your hands.

Today, our Gospel lesson is about the Prodigal Son.  A story that we have heard many times, but a story that holds several important lessons for each of us. Of all the parables that Jesus spoke, this one featuring the prodigal son may be the most touching and best remembered.  The word “prodigal” means “spending one’s resources carelessly or indulgently.”   So, this parable focuses on how the younger son squandered his inheritance and much more.  As we read the account, however, we can’t help but be captured by the story of a father’s love for his wayward son.  Not only does the father forgive this wayward son, but he does it with great joy and celebration, suggesting that the son will now have a life of abundance.

When we understand that a parable is an imaginary story to illustrate a spiritual point, we can quickly perceive that Jesus is using this account to teach us of God the Father’s love for each of us.  And while we are all sinners, as was the prodigal son, it is heartwarming, comforting and, yes, almost incomprehensible that God the Father is willing to accept us back, given the mistakes we have made.  The story shows us that God is compassionate and is filled with grace, and we as sinners are given much unwarranted grace.

The prodigal son, or lost son, was an abuser of grace. Grace is most often defined as unmerited or unearned favor. He had a loving father, a good home, provision, a future, and an inheritance, but he traded it all in for earthly pleasures.  If we are honest with ourselves, at times we have been and perhaps are the prodigal son.

Often, when we hear the parable, we can identify with one of the two. Maybe we’re like the older brother, who snubs the grace given to him by the father. Even though he’s home, he is never truly is home.  He feels that he has not been given his just award for what he has done for the father by staying home and tending to the family fields.  And when the party starts, he refuses to go in to celebrate the return of the lost son.  Why should this son be honored for his bad behavior and he who has been a rock for the father, not be honored, and at this point, he is also a lost son to the father.

Or perhaps we identify more with the youngest son. Like him, we had squandered our wealth and ran as far away from the church and the faith as much as possible.

The prodigal son, or lost son, was an abuser of grace. Grace is most often defined as unmerited or unearned favor. He had a loving father, a good home, provision, a future, and inheritance, but he traded it all in for temporal pleasures. We are the prodigal son.  We think we know better and we go for those worthless earthly treasures.   Isaiah 53:6 tells us that, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…,” and Luke 15:10 tells us that “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

At times we all have relationships that break down.  Pride and anger can cause deep and hurtful divides between family members or friends.  Yet, another key lesson of the prodigal son is that there is always hope for reconciliation, just as there is always hope that we can be reconciled to God when we have strayed.

 

Perhaps you actually find yourself at present in a position similar to that of the son in the parable. You have been estranged from a parent or friend and feel you cannot return to him or her. You can’t bring yourself to pick up the phone or reach out and begin to mend a broken relationship.

It’s a sad feature of life today. We’re connected by so much social media yet we can’t always connect at the deepest level of love and meaning. You can have hundreds, even thousands, of “friends” on Facebook but be all alone in your life at the most critical moments. It’s vital to have friends and those we can talk with to receive counsel, encouragement and support. It also takes effort to keep the lines of communication open.

As we leave here this morning, let us remember that unless we see ourselves as unworthy, we cannot possibly fall upon the grace of God.  We are all like the two brothers in the parable of the Prodigal Son, at times we squander our time, energy and perhaps even our money, and at times we still hold feelings of hurt and resentment from things that have happened to us over our lifetime.  Henri Nouwen in his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, says that when anger, resentment, jealousy, antagonisms and rivalries bubble up in his life, he knows they are obvious signs that he has left home.  Let us all recognize these signs in our lives and turn back to the grace of God.  Let us realize in every moment of our lives that God, our loving Father, is eagerly waiting, hoping, and watching for us to return when we have strayed from the path.  Let us also remember that it is never too late to reconcile with family and friends.

Let me leave you with these words from Ephesians 2: 8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”   Amen