March 10, 2013 Luke 15.11-32 Year C Lent 4 Sermon
Scripture: Luke 15.11-32 (NRSV)
The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother
Narrator 1: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them
said to his father,
Younger Son 2: ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will
belong to me.’
1: So he divided his property between them. A 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. When he had spent everything,
a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in
need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have
filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him
anything. But when he came to himself he said,
2: ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to
spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and
I will say to him, “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.”’
1: So 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. Then the son said to him,
2: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.’
1: But the father said to his slaves,
2: ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring
on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and
let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found!’
1: And they began to celebrate. Now his elder son was in the field; and
when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied,
Servant 2: ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted
calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’
1: Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and
began to plead with him. But he answered his father,
Older Son 2: ‘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. But
when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with
prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’
1: The father replied,
2: ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we have
to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
*Meditative Music: “No. XV Melody” (Caleb Simper)
**Chancel Anthem: “Heaven is My Home”
Sermon
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed
away; see, everything has become new!” (II Cor. 5.17)
Wake up and smell the roses!
That’s the advice one would give the Prodigal son when he headed off to
squander his inheritance, leaving behind his loving family, well, a loving
father at any rate, and an older brother who was .. well, an older brother.
He thought he would have a bit of fun.
But one day, he woke up.
I know someone who was like the prodigal son – perhaps you do too.
Someone who can take a perfectly good life and make a royal mess of
it.
The prodigal son I am thinking of changed when he was in his twenties.
He repaired his relationships with his family and rebuilt his life into
something fine. I asked him, years later, ‘what happened? What caused
you to grow up?’ He told me about one night, or early one morning,
when he had been out partying with a woman he had known for a year –
but whom he would never have introduced to his mother. He was driving
his old van home – the vehicle he had convinced his father to give him
when he left. He had been drinking and he fell asleep, fast asleep. The
next thing he knew, was waking up to fountains of water spurting up
through the floorboards. He had driven over a fire hydrant, and all that
pressurized water was finding every rust hole or aperture in his vehicle.
He said, ‘that was the moment I really woke up’.
For the prodigal son in the story, it was a pig sty – and the way his
people felt about pigs, it must have been the worst possible place to find
yourself in. So he went home.
And what was home like? A party!
As Paul worte, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything
old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
When Jesus told this story, he was talking about more than people
making peace with their relatives and getting on with growing up. He
was talking about people finding their way back to a loving God, and he
promises that this relationship, this place, ... the kingdom of God is not a
stuffy, solemn place, but a joyful celebration to which all are invited.
So we are called to celebrate our relationship with God. Our salvation
through Jesus Christ calls for a joyous shout, not a long face.
So how about the older brother – the ‘other prodigal son’ as someone
called him? He gets his own rude awakening, but his comes when the
younger brother comes home, and he realizes he can’t accept him. But
dad has a word for him too – and invites him to the party.
When Jesus told this story, he was talking about more than people
making peace with their relatives and getting on with growing up. He
was talking about people finding their way back to a loving God, and he
promises that this relationship, this place, ... the kingdom of God is not a
stuffy, solemn place, but a joyful celebration to which all are invited.
In Frederick Buechner's Book TELLING THE TRUTH....THE GOSPEL
AS TRAGEDY, COMEDY, AND FAIRY TALE ... he has a great
discussion about this text ... he says ....
I think the parables can be read as jokes about God in the sense
that what they are essentially about is the outlandishness of God
who does impossible things with impossible people........And if it is
a joke about the preposterousness of God, its also a joke about
the preposterousness of humankind ....blessed is the one who
gets the joke...with God nothing is impossible!
Here are two universal figures – we have likely known or been one or
both of them. And the good news is the same for both of them. God
loves us and invites us to the party.
So we are called to celebrate our relationship with God. Our salvation
through Jesus Christ calls for a joyous shout, not a long face.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed
away; see, everything has become new!” (II Cor. 5.17)