Good Shepherd sermon March 30, 2025. Luke 15: 1-3, 11(b)-32
“The Heart of God”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Before we move on with today’s lesson from Luke, I would like to share a few notes to this wonderfully familiar parable Jesus shares with his disciples and us.
The first thing is just that – a parable. Parables are stories basically designed to disrupt the status quo. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what Jesus does. He disrupts the usual, the normal, and helps us to see there are other ways of thinking, feeling, and living.
In essence, parables are to have the hearers – US – think in different terms to which they are accustomed. With this parable, I’m thinking that Jesus’ “goal” was to have folks begin to think, then subsequently live more compassionately, more generously, loving more abundantly.
The second thing is the meaning of the word, “prodigal.” Back in the day, the word was defined in a couple of ways. One, people gave it the meaning of, “to return.” In reality that doesn’t work. Oh, it may sound good, but not a good fit.
The other meaning might have been, “wanderer.” Well, that isn’t the right answer either.
What works is that the word, prodigal, means squander, not wander. You know, to be reckless, wasteful, even extravagant. If I was going to share a synonym I would use the word, lavish. That’s what the dad with his love for the young son – lavished him with love.
Thirdly, what you and I know about ancient Jewish society is that most everything was governed by certain laws and practices. Well – guess what???
The same was true for family inheritance.
In their tradition, the eldest son would always receive a double portion of the next son, regardless of how many sons there were in the family. So when “junior” pretty much demands his “share” of the inheritance, dad will divide it up so the older of the two will get twice as much than the younger. Just keep that in mind, OK?
My question to you today is…do you identify with any of the three characters? Ladies, just because men are referred to in the parable, can you recognize “you” here?
Do you recognize yourself with the squanderer? The one who leaves his security and family to do what he wants to do? I ask that, as truth is, there are probably many of us who have made some knucklehead decisions in life that have propelled us to return to where we needed to be all the time.
Like when “sonny-boy” realized that his dad’s hired hands are eating better than he was? I mean, he is doing something so counter-cultural in the Jewish world. Of all things, he is feeding pigs! And let’s remember that in the eyes of the Jews, pigs were unclean animals, yet here he is feeding them. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? Talk about shame! It seems that day by day the young man was sliding downhill faster and faster.
Pssst –
We are kind of like the younger son, aren’t we? Truth be told, each of us is a living mixture of restoration worth celebrating as well as a pattern of commotion. Of course, you may be thinking, “I wasn’t as bad as him!” That’s just like our species, isn’t it? We compare ourselves to someone else or some situation far worse than ours just so we can look better than we really are.
So, let me ask again. Any personal characteristics similar to the younger son? He realized what he had done with his selfishness and how much he had hurt the father he loved while taking advantage of the dad’s self-LESS-ness.
What about the older son? Do we sheepishly identify with his attitudes and behavior? Listen to the hurtful phrase in verse 30:
“But when this son of yours came back,
who has devoured your assets with prostitutes,
you killed the fatted calf for him!”
Have we ever said, or thought that kind of thing before? I can only speak for me, but yes, I do believe I have. And, in the case of the older son, what the father says next should end the anger and egocentric attitude harbored by him:
“Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But 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.”
And that is the end of the story.
Or is it?
Isn’t it interesting that there is no real ending to the story? Did the dad and Number-One son ever reconcile? Did the elder ever tell the younger he was glad he was alive? How was the mood of that household now?
You know, I think the open-endedness calls on Luke’s readers to reflect on what they would do if they were in the older brother’s sandals. Closer to home, how about us? Would we accept the sinner home and celebrate, or would we be too worried about ourselves to share in the joy of the return? The parable obviously implies that we should respond as the father calls the older son to do. We should pursue sinners and welcome them with joy when they return home.
If we are honest, I hope you would agree that we have all been rescued by the God of perfect love right to this very day; yes, our unfinished stories even when many times our pain seems more apparent than restoration, and our suffering is greater than liberation. The Truth is, and you have heard me say this constantly – God is always with us.
As a pastor I have been involved in many a discussion about someone’s personal shame; intolerance of others with much finger-pointing going on. Folks who are chained to sins from their past, and others who can’t/won’t trust others because of what’s happened to them in the past. I’ve seen what depression and low self-esteem can do to people and trust me on this – not one of them had done anything God can’t or won’t forgive.
I know, I’ve been one of them.
Yes, the parable from which Jesus is teaching is all about God’s grace and forgiveness; his never-failing, never-ending, transcending love.
That’s what this story has to offer to us today.
That is what we must remember –
A story of God’s lavish love and grace.
AMEN.