Embracing Love -- A Message for March 27, 2022

 

            This morning, in the middle of our season of Lent, we take a deep dive into one of Jesus’ most important parables, the story of the Prodigal Son. This parable teaches us about God’s gracious love.

Hear Jesus’ words are they are recorded in Luke 15:

Scripture Reading                        Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable

 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 

The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 

After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 

So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 

He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 

So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 

Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 

So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 

‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 

But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 

But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Message                              Embracing Love   

            Although we know this parable as the “Story of the Prodigal Son,” perhaps we should change its name to the Parable of the Forgiving Father. Despite all of the mistakes the sons in this story make, their father forgives them. And, Jesus used this story to teach us about God’s love for us…..despite all of the mistakes we make, God forgives us and loves us.

            Charlies Dickens, the author of A Christmas Carol and The Tale of Two Cities, is quoted as saying the Parable of the Prodigal Son is “the finest short story ever written.” No matter how many times we hear this parable, we can relate to the plight of the people in the story. We can imagine ourselves as the forgiving father, as the son who messes up, and as the dutiful son who craves appreciation and acknowledgement.

            Before Jesus told this parable, the Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus.  They complained and said: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” They were like the older brother in the story – they were working diligently to do everything right, to follow the Law of God, to live as careful Jews. The Pharisees wanted to be acknowledged they were doing everything right. They wanted that gold star on the preschool sticker chart. And, that is ok. But, it is important to remember that God is always seeking to embrace and welcome the return of people who have messed up and need to be forgiven and want to be restored to God’s good graces, like the prodigal son in the story.

            And, The Prodigal son really, really messed up according to the rules of most Middle Eastern cultures.  He asked for his inheritance early, which would have insinuated to his father and his neighbors that the son wished the father dead. People just didn’t do things like ask for their inheritance before their elder relatives died. And, when the father graciously gave the son his inheritance, the son moved as far away from his family and his homeland as he could. So, it was like declaring he wished his father was dead and he was so embarrassed by his family that he moved to a different country to get away from them. He was saying to the world that “his family was dead to him” and he was no longer a part of it.

            Then he spent all of the money. He spent it on unsavory and selfish things. Instead of using his assets to start a business or buy land to farm, the son spent it on partying and drinking and women.

            And, when he was broke, he became a hired man who cared for pigs. Jewish people have a religious aversion to pigs – they are not supposed to touch them. They are not supposed to eat them.  And the formerly wealthy son was reduced to the humble, dirty job being a hired man caring for pigs. The pigs had more to eat than he had.

            So, with his tail between his legs, the son returned to his homeland and returned to his father’s home.

            In the Middle East, people don’t throw parties for people who have failed. And, the son failed – he insulted his dad and implied he wanted him dead, he moved away and came home with nothing, he wasted his resources and wasted his time. By the standards of 1^st Century Israel, and by the standards of 21^st century America, the son was a failure.

            But, when the son returned, his dad threw him a party. He literally ran out to hug him and welcome him home. The father welcomed the son back to the family.

            And, despite the older, faithful son being annoyed and jealous, the father was gracious and loving. He loved both of his sons. And, he welcomed home the son who messed up in the most generous way possible.

            We are all the characters in the story. We are the parents who may face inner-conflict about how to treat our children, our children who sometimes mess up.

            Sometimes, we are the dutiful son who tries to do everything right and then becomes jealous if we feel others are getting special treatment.

            Sometimes, we are the screw ups – we fail – we make terrible mistakes. And, we worry we won’t be forgiven. We hope for forgiveness, even perhaps halfway forgiveness, and we doubt we will be accepted.

            This story is about God’s love. God loves us when we work to follow Jesus’ teachings. God loves us when we worry about how to understand our children, and our relatives, and we are unsure we are being fair. And, God loves us when we royally mess up.

            Every once in a while, I talk to people who tell me things like… “I want to start coming to church, but I have get my life in order first.” “I want to be there, but I will have to stop drinking first.” “I will come when my kids get their act together and won’t embarrass me.” 

            The thing is, we are never going to be perfect. Our lives will never have everything perfectly arranged. We all have messy lives, and messy things going on in our lives all the time. We have difficult relationships with our loved ones. We don’t always do the best job at work. We aren’t always kind to the annoying person in line in front of us at the grocery store. We make mistakes. We fail.

            God loves us and wants us to be in-relationship with us. God loves us and wants us to return to fail in God. God loves us and forgives us. Nothing we can do is so bad that we won’t receive forgiveness from God. Nothing.

            So friends, take heart, we are the loved and beloved children of God. This is the Good News. Now, it is our job to go out into the world and try to share that love with others.

            May we do so. Amen. 

Photo by monica dahiya on Unsplash