Sermon for Sunday March 27 2022 - The Prodigal Father
GOSPEL: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
The holy gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.
1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3So he told them this parable: 11b“There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
25“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his 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 even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Perhaps you are like me,
and you enjoy unwinding with a good book,
movie or television show.
I remember visiting my grandparents when I was a kid,
and right around noon,
it was time to leave Grandma alone
so she could watch her soap opera stories.
Lately I have been enjoying a show that is dubbed
a dramatic soap opera.
The character’s brokenness is on display,
there is so much drama,
they say and do the wildest things.
My wife and I find ourselves laughing
at just how outrageous their words are.
I think many of us enjoy over-the-top soap opera drama
because it is so out there and so outrageous that we think
“at least my life isn’t that dramatic!”
We enjoy books and shows and movies
in which the characters
make decisions that we would never make.
We enjoy the drama of other lives because
it is a distraction from our own.
Perhaps you’re like me
and you’ve found yourself reacting to a good drama
with words like:
I would never say that!
I would never have done that!
I can’t believe they got away with it!
Well, Jesus is a master story teller,
and not unlike the Bold and the Beautiful,
the Young and the Restless,
the Days of Our Lives,
and All My Children
Jesus offers us all the dramatic, soap opera
Parable of the Prodigal.
By way of definition;
prodigal means spending money or resources freely and recklessly;
being waste-fully extravagant.
Or to give something on a lavish scale.
The son asking for the inheritance early
might seem surprising to us,
in a soap opera kind of way,
but I think we miss some of the intended shock.
I was reading an article by Rev. Naveen Sarras,
(https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-luke-151-3-11b-32-5 )
who is a pastor in the United States,
and a Palestinian Christian,
born and raised in Bethlehem.
She offers some cultural insight into this story;
particularly the shame-honour culture.
Asking for an early inheritance is incredibly rude;
it is the equivalent of saying to your father
“I wish you were dead.”
How many times have we heard that soap-opera line
“I wish you were dead”
“I can’t believe they said that!
I would never…”
Those hearing this 2000 years ago might add
And I can’t believe the son got away with it!
How could the father give him the inheritance!?!?!?
Back to the shame-honour culture,
this child would have lost his respect and honour,
and he would be ostracized from the community.
Any father would be furious,
beyond angry.
For the average Palestinian,
in ancient times and in current times,
the relationship would be irreparable,
irreconcilable.
The child and the parent would be dead to each other.
This is what happens in the parable;
it takes the son a couple days to gather all his things,
and he takes off.
The father is dead to the son.
The son squanders this wealth
and ends up feeding pigs.
The son does this partially to get by in a famine,
but the son still had choices.
He could have found work tending a field,
or feeding cattle,
or something.
He chose to feed pigs,
and choosing to feed unclean pigs,
making himself unclean
would be another act to shame the presumably Jewish father.
We should be shocked by the levels of the son’s disrespect.
As the parable continues,
the son came to his mind
- another way of saying he repented -
and came crawling back home.
Thinking again of the shame-honour culture,
returning as a failure would cast additional shame on the family;
multiplying their embarrassment.
It doesn’t get any lower than this for the son and the father.
But while the son was still far off,
his father saw him and was filled with compassion;
the father ran and put his arms around him
and kissed him.
This should shock us too.
In the shame-honour culture,
senior figures have too much dignity to run anywhere.
But the father does.
The father ignores arthritis and cultural norms
and runs to the son
and forgives him, recklessly.
The son,
covered in filth and shame
is instead covered with a fine robe
sandals on his feet and ring on his finger.
His empty insides
are filled with the father’s gift of finest food.
The family’s shame and embarrassment,
the son’s failure,
is replaced with worth and celebration.
Yet the soap opera isn’t over…
the other son isn’t happy.
That fatted calf should be saved for a real celebration.
That first son has gifts lavished on him,
which would come at the expense of
the second son’s inheritance.
No shock or surprise here;
That second son can’t celebrate.
He distances himself from his family.
The father leaves the party,
not to scold the second son, as we might expect
rather just to be with him,
and to comfort him
and welcome him too.
Where might you find yourself in this story?
Are you son number 1,
or son number 2?
Are you celebrating at the party?
Or are you hearing this story like a dramatic soap opera,
thinking
At least my faith life,
my spiritual life,
my actual life isn’t that dramatic.
Sometimes we enjoy the dramatic soap opera
to distract ourselves from our own lives,
and our own problems,
but we are in this story somewhere.
Some of us are estranged from family and friends;
some of us have a broken relationship that is irreconcilable.
We might not have demanded an early inheritance,
but we might have thought about another person with words like
“I wish they were dead”
We are all made in the image of God,
we are all image bearers of God,
and you might not reject, shame and dishonour God
like the first son,
Yet I can’t help but think that
as we reject or shame one person made in God’s image
we reject or shame God.
Sometimes we are just like the second son,
we go to church,
we sign up for the thing,
we serve,
and in our own ways we might ask
Where’s my reward?
We’ve got our own take on shame and honour,
and though we know we are one in Christ,
sometimes we might act like my opinion
should count more than that person’s.
Or perhaps we hear this parable like a dramatic soap opera,
and we separate ourselves from it,
saying I can’t believe they said that!
I would never do that!
I can’t believe they got away with it!
My friends,
This parable is about the Father,
and it is also about you,
about all of us.
Again, by way of definition;
prodigal means spending freely and recklessly;
being waste-fully extravagant.
Or to give something on a lavish scale.
This is not the parable of the prodigal son;
it is the parable of the Prodigal Father.
Yes, the son spent the inheritance freely and recklessly,
but how much more freely and recklessly
does the Prodigal Father give;
lavishly extravagant in gift giving;
ignoring cultural norms,
forgiving freely and recklessly,
to those who think they deserve it
and those who know they don’t.
God, our Prodigal Father, welcomes you just as you are.
You may feel filthy,
you may feel shame and embarrassment,
you might think so little of yourself
or so little of others,
yet our prodigal Father is running to you
with loving embrace.
God, our Prodigal Father,
gives you the gifts of the Spirit lavishly,
forgives you recklessly,
welcomes you unconditionally.
In our own ways,
We will all come before our God like the first son,
begging on our knees;
filthy,
dirty,
and shameful.
Over these past few months,
I have had a powerful experience of God’s grace,
of the loving embrace of our Prodigal Father
who has run out to find me in my own soap opera.
Sometimes we run away from the soap opera happening around us
and sometimes it's from the soap opera happening inside.
My eyes have been opened to the image of God in me,
I finally get that I don’t need to earn my inheritance.
I thought I’d never be good enough
for God
or for my family,
or for you
or for myself;
I was so focused on my mistakes
the second son inside me
had been looking down and saying terrible things
to the first son inside me.
I’ve been trying to measure up,
to do anything to avoid shame
and rejection
and failure;
distracting myself from the dramatic soap opera
going on inside of me.
Yet all along,
God, our Prodigal Father has been running to me with arms wide open.
I finally believe that I’m not defined
by my shame and bad choices,
I am more than my anxiety and fears,
I’m a child of God,
I’m welcomed and accepted for me.
I don’t earn God’s love or my own,
but I am sure worth it.
I share this with you because maybe you’re like me,
and like unwinding with a good drama,
we like to avoid or distract ourselves
from thinking we don’t deserve to be loved;
distracting ourselves from the soap opera
going on inside of us
or distracting ourselves from the fact that
we are empty without God’s lavish gifts.
Wherever you are at today:
God, our Prodigal Father, loves you, as you are,
period, full stop.
Our Prodigal God accepts you, as you are,
period, full stop.
Our Prodigal God welcomes you, as you are,
period, full stop.
So wherever you find yourself in this parable,
whether crawling to God empty and broken,
or waiting for your reward,
or saying “I would never do that”
wherever you find yourself today:
May you trust that God’s arms are wide open to you
and to all of us.
May you put on that baptismal robe
and be filled with good food at the Lord’s Table.
And may you live in the Prodigal Father’s presence always,
and be filled with the lavish gifts of the Spirit.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
