St Mary’s Wendover – 31 March 2019
Gospel Luke 15:1—3;11b—end
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So, he divided his property between them.
13 ‘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.14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 ‘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! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” 20 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 round him and kissed him.
21 ‘The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
22 ‘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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So, they began to celebrate.
25 ‘Meanwhile, the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”
28 ‘The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So, his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
31 ‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 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.”’
Sermon
The last-minute chance to talk about the Parable of the Two Lost Sons is too good to pass up, even if I cannot do it justice in the time available to me.
I’d like to introduce you to a Middle Eastern theologian whose name is Kenneth Bailey. His book Jacob and the Prodigal interprets Jesus’s retelling of the Genesis story of Jacob, traditionally known as The Prodigal Son.
What sets Bailey apart is that not only does he scrape the barnacles of time from the parables but he explains in detail how the characters would have behaved, and the reaction of the tax collectors and sinners to what they heard—all through Middle Eastern eyes.
The story opens with the background. A father has two sons. The younger son makes a request. He wants his father to divide up his inheritance without further ado.
What is not clear to us today is how shocking is the younger son’s request. His father is likely the head man of the village, or at least a very important and powerful individual. Property was not passed on until death—and the elder son would have inherited the entirety. The younger son’s request was tantamount to wishing his father dead, as well as depriving him of his standing in the village and authority, and robbing his brother.
Jesus’s audience would have gasped at the sheer horror and sin behind the request.
Most people would have expected the father to react with fury—and his fellow land owners to have gathered together to shun the younger son for what he had done. But the father accedes to his son’s request—no doubt to the consternation of the elder son.
When the Prodigal Son gathered together his new-found wealth, and set out for a distant land, no one wanted to see him back ever again. But after squandering his money on riotous living, he was left penniless and starving when famine struck, and all his fair-weather friends deserted him. He was abandoned in Gentile territory, as we know from the mention of pigs whose food he was reduced to sharing.
But we are told he repents—and comes to his senses. There was nowhere further to fall—he was at rock bottom—and decided to throw himself on his father’s mercy and repent. The best he could hope for would be to be taken on as one of his father’s servants. The worst—utter rejection.
But the younger son’s reception by his father was full of grace. Had other men from the village spotted him first, they would have banded together to chase him away, exclude him from the village to protect his father from further unwise action, and very possibly kill the son. But his father sees him from far away—and literally runs down the main street to meet him and welcome him home.
The senior men in the village were horrified. They would never run, and never hitch up their robe to expose their legs. Instead, the father is extravagant in his forgiveness without precondition, and the other villagers can only fall into line, since to refuse an offer of a great celebration would cause grave offence to the host who has asked them.
The parable does not end here though. We tend to forget there is an Act 2. This concerns the elder brother, who to most of the villagers had behaved impeccably throughout, never refusing to work for his father, but ever resentful for the way his younger brother had been treated.
Returning home from his work in the fields, the older son asks what the noise of celebration is all about. No one seems to have sent for him in the fields—he hears from a servant that his father has killed the fatted calf and showered honours on his wayward and sinful brother. Who can blame him for his deep resentment and anger? Who would join the revelry—given what the younger son had done—who would have thought the father could be so weak-minded and unfair?
When the elder son refuses to go in, what does the father do? Does he wait for his son to come in and show proper respect? No—the father reaches out to his son, in exactly the same way he did for the younger one. He leaves the feast in search of the missing son.
Of course the wronged brother has a point. He should have had the entire inheritance—now he has to make to with half—he should have been honoured for his stalwart service—instead his brother is treated with honour and respect, and he is left out in the cold.
The punchline of the story is hard to swallow:
31 ‘“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 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.”’
Who is who, in this parable? Clearly God is represented by the father. Through grace, he has humiliated and shamed himself in order to forgive and receive back his sinful sons. What is surprising is that the Prodigal Son repents of all his wrongdoing and is freely and fully forgiven. The older son’s actions are commendable, but he shows no grace and remains mired in sin, without repentance, and asking no forgiveness.
Who are the two sons meant to represent? Well—I’ll leave you to decide. Perhaps the two sons stand for you and me? If so—which is me? Which is you? Amen
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