March 14, 2010 — Fourth Sunday in Lent
“Which Son Are You?” — Vicar Mankin
Listen to the sermon with the player below, or, download. (Right Click)
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for today is from the Gospel of Luke which was previously read.
My mother has a saying that I am quite fond of, “There are two kinds of people in this world. People that make messes, and people that clean them up.” I would normally hear this from her when I was talking about needing to clean up someone else's mess at work. However, when I think about it, there are really three kinds of people: people that make messes, people that clean them up, and people that stand around and complain about the other two.
Jesus tells us about all three kinds of people in our Gospel lesson. The Prodigal Son is one of the most beloved and well-known parables in the Bible. The idea of running around and living wildly really seems to resonate with people. Unfortunately, the title is a little misleading. The Prodigal Son, is not the only, or even the main, figure in this parable. A better title would be: The Prodigal Son, His Older Brother and The Gracious Father. I believe that all of us can find ourselves in one of the sons at different points in our lives. So, WHICH SON ARE YOU?
We see two brothers in this parable, one that makes a mess of things and the other who complains about it. The younger brother, The Prodigal Son, for some reason, is no longer able to live under his father. So, in what is almost an unbelievable act, he goes to his father and says, “Give me the share of property that is coming to me.” In other words, “I don’t want to be a part of this family anymore. Give me my inheritance; I’m out’a here.” For one reason or another, the son just can’t live with the father any more. In the parable, Jesus really doesn’t say why he wants to leave. Maybe he thinks the father expects too much of him; maybe he thinks the father doesn’t care enough about him. Who knows? Maybe he just wants to be wicked and doesn’t want it to reflect on his father. Maybe he just wants to be bad. By asking for his inheritance in this way, it was if he is saying “You’re dead to me.” Someone turning on his father, who only wants what is best for his son, and saying, “Thanks for everything, but
I’m gone,” can cause heart-wrenching division in a family. I think all sinful people feel this way about God at some point in our lives. Being a Christian is just too hard. I don’t want to have to follow His rules. I want to live my way. If I want to spend the night with someone, that’s my business. After all, I’m an adult; it is my body. Every time division in the family happens, God is as heart-broken as the father in our parable.
Then after the Prodigal Son made his break from the father, he lived happily ever after. Not quite! He, like most of us, made a mess of things. He squandered all that his father had gave him. He had wasted everything. He was left with no choice but to hire himself out to one of the locals as a pig watcher. A pig watcher would have been the lowest of the low to the Jews that Jesus was telling his parable to. Not only was the son tending the most unclean of animals, pigs, he was working for a Gentile and he had dishonored his father. But not only that, he longed to eat the food he fed to the pigs and no one would even give him that. The people who had been his friends when he had money were nowhere to be found. This would be like living on the street, doing whatever you had to just to keep from starving to death -- not a pleasant prospect.
Then the son “came to himself.” In a moment of clarity, he came to his senses, realized what had done and repented. This is not just a moment of realization that his life is a mess, but he realizes it is his own fault. Even his fathers hired servants were living better than he was. Then he decides what to do: "I will arise 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 as one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father." (Luke 15: 18-20 ESV) This was truly the inner-workings of a
contrite heart. You almost get the sense that the son was worried the father would not take him back -- even as a servant.
Let’s not talk about the father's reaction to all of this just yet. I’m sure that most of you, by this point, know the parable well enough to know the father warmly receives him back. Instead let’s talk about the one who stands around and complains about the other two, the older brother. Upon returning from a hard day of work in the field, he comes up and finds a raucous party going on in his house. Then he learn that his shiftless, reckless, little brother has returned and his father is going overboard for this rogue. He is furious at this. How many of us relate to this older brother? We see some idiot make a total wreck of his life, then come back and he is being rewarded. Not just taken back, but, a big fuss is being made over him. What must be going through the older brothers mind: Now my inheritance will be even smaller; I don’t see why I should have to share with that cad; I’m so unappreciated. So when his father comes out, he is going to let him have it. "Look, these many years I have served you,
and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!" (Luke 15:30 ESV) This is so unfair.
How many of us feel this way about God? We see complete blasphemers, heathens, atheists spend their whole lives mocking God; then being saved and on their death beds. I can just see it -- we get to heaven and the worst person we can think of is standing there. This is just so unfair. I’ve been a faithful Christian my whole life. I taught Sunday School. I only missed church during the Superbowl. I’ve never killed anyone. I only lied when I had to. I even recycled. I was so good. I was so much better than he was. It’s very easy to look good when we compare ourselves to the worst person we can think of. But what about comparing ourselves to what we should be -- perfect, like Christ. Not so proud of ourselves now, are we?
The older brother was so clouded with pride and self-righteousness, he let his indignation over his father’s graciousness compel him to anger. At this point the older brother is as bad as the younger brother. Jesus tells us in Matthew, “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22 ESV) The older brother let his self-righteous, works-righteous attitude lead him to sin, and at this point, unlike the younger brother, is too angry to repent of his sin.
We now have seen two of the three kinds of people I said there were at the start of this sermon: Those that make messes and those that complain about them, but what about the one who cleans them up? What about the father? When Jesus told this parable, he was speaking to two groups of people: the sinners/tax collectors and the Pharisees/scribes. The sinners are represented by the younger brother, and the Pharisees by the older. So, who is the father? Well, I hope by now you have figured out it is God. But, what do we learn about our Heavenly Father from this parable? First, the father never stopped loving either son. Even when we try to sever our relationship with God, and He still loves and cares for us. So, like the younger brother, when we make a mess of things, when we turn our back on Him, our Heavenly Father is still there, loving us.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20 ESV) Before the son could even get out his confession of repentance, the father showed his love for him. In this culture the image of a father pulling up his tunic and running after such a child would have been somewhat distasteful. This is not the way an earthly father would behave. When a child turns his back on his family how many of us would run to bring him back? How many would take the son back? Jesus tells us in a parable a little before this one, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7 ESV) Our Heavenly Father is joyful when we repent. He cleans up our messes willingly. In another act that could appear somewhat distasteful, God ran to us, when we were still a long way off, in Jesus. Christ went to the Cross to “clean up” the mess we have made of things. He lived that perfect life that we could not. Where we ran off, Christ was faithful even unto death. Jesus lived and died so that the wayward can come home. We can be made whole with the family again because of Christ. The Father’s love for man goes on. "But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate." (Luke 15: 22-24 ESV) We were dead to God, but made alive in Christ, and God gives us his best: a robe of righteousness in Baptism; a ring on our hand showing we are part of the family of God; shoes on our feet to carry the good news of our redemption and the fattened calf for the celebration of our reunification into the family. He does all of this, not because we are so good, but because he loves us. And to the older son all of this was always there for him. The father loved him too.
So which son are you? The one who has made a mess of things, or the older brother? It doesn’t matter, both can be forgiven. All can receive a robe of righteousness in Baptism, incorporation back into God's family. He has even prepared a feast for us. So come, come up to God’s table; enjoy the feast that He has prepared for you. Amen.
