2025-03-30 Lent 4

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

Two boys, two brothers, two sons. One of them is a responsible, upstanding young man with a bright and glorious future ahead of him. The other one is reckless, impulsive and the proverbial class clown. One of them is an over achieving, valedictorian, voted “most likely to succeed” by his classmates. The other is at best a C- student on the best day, voted “most popular” at all the parties. Can you even compete or hold a candle to that perfect first born brother?! Might as well go the exact opposite direction! And, as is the custom pretty much the world over, the first born would inherit the farm. The second born would inherit $20 bucks and a suitcase! In fact, many immigrants to North America happened to be the second or third born sons with no land to inherit. Time to seek our entertainment and fortunes elsewhere!

Now normally, talk of inheritance happens when the old man kicks the bucket. But what do we see in Jesus’ parable, that only St. Luke records? The “Mr. Popular” younger bro is in a bit of a hurry. He has the gall to demand his portion of his father’s estate, today, right now, while his father is still alive and kicking! It’s an appalling thought. It’s like telling your old man to drop dead and gimme all your money! And in this parable, the papa is inclined to acquiesce to his request! He divvies up his estate between his two sons. The older gets the farm. The younger gets the cash. Unbelievable!

And we heard what happened in the parable. True to form, Mr. Popular takes his boat load of new found cash and ventures out to … properly invest it, starting a stable new life where he can thrive and build a family and a future and perhaps also invest in real estate and cryptocurrency! Um, no. That would have probably been the older brother’s playbook. Instead, he travels abroad with Contiki Tours, seeing the sights with all of his new friends! He is rich and the people are swooning around him! The ladies are jumpin’ barrels just like Donkey Kong to sit beside Mr. Fabulous and bask in his glory!

True to form, it’s all good times and sunny ways - until you run out of other people’s money. And that’s what the parable tells us. “He squandered his property in reckless living” (LK 15:13). Wine, gold digging women, bad bets on the horse track, it doesn’t matter. We’re not told precisely how, but the point is, it’s gone. Gone like yesterday. Daddy’s money has evaporated into the ether. And, just as one might need a nice little nest egg to carry one through the hard times, the hard times come! An enormous famine strikes. Hunger abounds. Unemployment is rampant. The economy moves from recession to depression. GDP is only 1.4% for a decade. Crime and violent crime are through the roof. What a nightmare the sunny ways have become. All of this and all of his resources are wasted.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The ‘Kosher Kid’ has to do the unthinkable and hire himself out as a swine herder. This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home! And right about now, he was starting to wish he had stayed home! He’s out there pushing pigs around all day in the heat and he’s starving. It’s so bad, he’s even drooling over the idea of eating the pig slop! But “no one gave him anything” (LK 15:16).

But then comes what we now know as the TSN Turning Point! This son has a revelation. We might even call this repentance. He realizes that he’s come to near complete desolation. His father’s hired men back at the ranch have food and shelter a plenty. So he gets out a napkin and writes down his plan. He rehearses his lines: “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” (15:18-19). No longer a son, but perhaps possibly a hired hand. The humility and the family rejection will still be better than starving to death on this pig farm!

He starts the journey home, back from that far off country, still stinking of swine manure. As he walks he rehearses his schpiel. As he turns the final bend in the road back to the ranch, there stands his father on the porch. He’s been there, looking down the road, hoping and praying every day since his son left, that one day, one day, his son would come to his senses and come home. And lo and behold, today is that day. He sees his son coming from a long way off. The boy is missing the distinct swagger of Mr. Popular, but no doubt, it’s him!

The old man runs to his son. Running was reserved for slaves and the hired help. Men of esteem and power wouldn’t lower themselves to such a thing. Yet the father does exactly this, his heart pounding in his chest with jubilation! You can see him plow the boy over with his bear-hug embrace! The tears of relief and joy streaming down his face. Junior starts in on his well-rehearsed speech but he doesn’t get very far with it. The overwhelming compassion, grace and mercy of the Father eclipse the repentance. “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” (LK 15:22).

This parable, often called the ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son,’ really should be called instead the ‘Parable of the Father’s Grace.’ Because that’s what it’s really all about. Grace and mercy and compassion run down the road to embrace the rebellious kid who wished him dead, who wasted all of his wealth and who now reeks like a pig pen! There’s no room for bargains. No room for deals. There’s no inspection of the sincerity level of this kid. “Is he really repentant? Is he truly sorry for what he did?!” None of that. He’s too busy covering over his sins with the best robe and adorning him with jewels and Nikes! Throw Bessie on the barbie and let’s party!

So the grander lesson in all this parable is that it paints the picture of who God is. This insanely gracious and loving Father who wants nothing more than for His wayward children to return to Him in repentance. And the wayward children are us. We ourselves are that younger son in our sins, wasting the inheritance, wallowing in the pig pen of sin and iniquity. That’s us, trying to live our lives independent from God, even wishing Him dead. But then, through the working of the Holy Spirit Who calls us by the Gospel, we wake up. We realize that we’ve been complete and utter schmucks! We come to our senses. We realize that we stink, not like a pig pen, but way worse! Our sins have separated us from God and from each other. We might even start trying to cook up little deals in our hearts and minds, hoping to bargain for forgiveness.

But this parable tells us that the Father’s embrace is already running to us. He never disowns His children, no matter how bad the situation has become. No matter how rotten the sinner, the home, the ring, the robe, the shoes, they are yours because Jesus, the perfect Son of the Father, has been born for you. He has died for you destroy death by the cross. He has risen for you to bring you life and abundant life at that. This is a sacrifice of celebration as the embrace of God for sinners is extended far and wide for all who believe it. The party of all parties continues without end, rejoicing erupts in heaven all because you are home again by faith.

It is at this point that we remember that this Father has two sons. The older son, remember him? The first-born, ever dependable and duty bound, what’s he been up to? Oh look, he was in the field, doing his work. Just like he always did, day after day. He’s also coming home, hot and sweaty from the days work in the sun. But today is different. As he gets closer to the ranch he hears … music playing. Is that … Kool and the Gang … “Celebrate good times, come on!” What’s up?? Dad brought in a pop-funk disco band from 1980! Something really important must be happening! As he gets back, he asks one of the servants about all this. “‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound’ (LK 15:27).

Older Bro is immediately filled with white-hot rage! He’s furious and storms off into the pasture. The Father gets his steps in again running out this son too! Come on, Son! We’re celebrating good times in here! Come get some Bessie brisket! … You can see the utter detest in the older son’s eyes! He is angry, bitter and enraged. He shouts “’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 -{not my brother, but YOUR SON}- who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” (15:29-30).

Turns out the first son has been keeping tabs on the sin and righteousness books. Not only his, but also those those of his father and his now detested younger brother too. It’s the wild grace and compassion of the Father that has this son all riled up. He can’t reconcile it. The warmth and light of the Father’s grace for the prodigal son is perceived as a raging inferno to the older son! But we notice that God doesn’t change. The grace for sinners is there, regardless. The change happens in how people perceive it. To the forgiven sinner, it is heaven. To the self-righteous sinner, it is hell. But it’s the same God and the same grace for all. This is a concept that is absolutely mind blowing for most people.

“‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found’” (LK 15:31). The Father still speaks compassionately to his boys. He implores his son to see the bigger picture. A dead man lives! The lost is found! Drop the righteous record keeping routine. Grab a glass and rejoice! There’s a ribeye with your name on it! And boom, that’s it. The parable ends right there. The lights fade, the closing credits roll.

Will Mr. Perfect join the celebration? Will he also repent of his sins, just like his lost prodigal brother did? Will he see the bigger picture that he himself is no better than his pig stench laden sibling?! Or will he reject it all, his Father, his brother, the ranch, the whole kit and kaboodle because he simply cannot stand the bitter taste of unearned and undeserved grace and mercy? The parable ends with this question on purpose. It asks, which brother are you?

No doubt we see the heart of God, our Father here in this parable. He wants His children to come to the party! He runs to greet and embrace the prodigals. He surrounds us with abundant blessing that is unearned and undeserved. He welcomes sinners and eats with them. For the Lamb of God has prepared the feast of victory for His people, a banquet without end for all who will receive it in repentance and faith. Taste and see that the Lord is good and abounding in steadfast love, now and forever more. Amen!