Luke 15, v1-3 and 11-end. March 30th Morning Prayer.
Introduction.
This is a well known parable. Maybe one of the most. It was Dutch priest Henri Nouwen and American pastor Tim Keller, who really opened my eyes to so much more in this parable…
I wonder what name you would give this parable? Return of the Lost son. But which one is the lost son – or is there more than one?
What about the Running Father – as artist Charlie Mackesy says.I like the title given by an African theologian – the Waiting Running Embracing God!
It is probably best know as – the return of the prodigal son.
Why is that – well prodigal in English has two meanings. Prodigal – having spent everything. The younger son – ‘’after he had spent everything there was a severe famine.’’
Yet the word has another meaning ‘’recklessly extravangant’’ = again you could say that the younger son was that – he squandered his wealth… Yet Tim Keller believes that we could call this parable, the Prodigal God –the Father is an image of God, and the Father is recklessly extravagant – can you see that image in the story?
A second thought to hear in mind. Nouwen very helpfully explored the story, suggesting that in our lives, we could be or have been or will be each of those main characters – the time we have been like the younger son, when we have been like the father, and when we have been like the older son…
Which one do you identify with most today?
1667/1670, oil on canvas, Gift of the Avalon Foundation 1948.12.1
Looking at Passage.
At the start of the parable, it is busy! Tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear him. That is the first group.
But we have a second group – Pharisees and Teachers of the Law – who are not there to listen but they mutter! Tax collectors and sinners – they are like the young son – they ran off, they lived as they wanted… Pharisees and teachers of the law – like the elder son – they stayed at home, they lived a good life and they compiled with expectations.
So Jesus tells a story.
Two sons – the younger one who asks for his inheritance early. Is given, he leaves. Now in that culture, that was not done; it is like the son saying – Father I wish you were dead, so let’s say you are and can I have the money…
Older son. He stayed. Yet we see the issues behind his anger – When the younger brother is welcomed, and he says to the Father – ‘’all these years I have 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 your yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home you kill the fattened calf for him!’’
You can feel the rage.
The younger son. Didn’t want the Father – he leaves, he only wanted the father’s wealth and what he could give him.
The older son – he didn’t want the father either – he wanted the father to do what he wanted. He gets angry when the father doesn’t do what he thought the father should do.
Both sons were trying to get what they wanted. One son, got what he wanted by being rebellious; The older son was doing it by being obedient. Remember the younger son – the tax collectors and sinners; the elder son – the Pharisees.
It says – we can rebel against God, by breaking his rules; but we can also become alienated from God, by keeping them. How can that be? It is to do with why we keep those rules? Why are we obedient to God?
To explain this – I will share a long quote from Keller as he puts the issue very well. ‘’There are a lot of people, a lot of Christians, with an elder brother type of heart. If in your heart of hearts you say: ‘’I try very hard, I try to be obedient. I go to church. I pray. I try to serve Jesus. Therefore God you owe it to me, to answer my prayers, to give me a relatively good life,and to take me to heaven when I die.’’
If that’s the language of your heart, then Jesus is your model. Jesus is your example. Jesus is your boss, But he’s not your saviour. You are seeking to be your own saviour. All your morality and all your religion, its all just a way to get God to give you the things you really want and they are not God himself.’’
We hear the challenge – do we want the Father, or do we do all obedience and activity, because we want his benefits?
The challenge gets deeper.
You see, Keller’s words can apply to people who are religious – they have always been that way – that is how they understand the Christian faith to be.
But you can also become that elder brother, which is a great danger. We begin with grace.
And then slowly in our hearts we move – maybe after years – to no longer focusing on the Father, we focus on his benefits and then it becomes, ‘’God you owe me…’’
Now we can see a big problem.
The elder son – his whole life has been about keeping the rules believing the father will do what he wants.
The younger son broke all the rules – and has been totally accepted back. He is immediately to be given a ring, a robe, sandals and a fat calf. There is no probation period – welcome back son, let’s see if you are a changed person… he broke all the rules and has been welcomed back to the same standing as the elder son.
Elder son was about keeping the rules to be where he is. He thought that was all it was about. That is why we can say – there are two lost sons in this story. The younger is lost, so is the elder one.
Keller then really helpfully says what unites these two brothers. They are both lost. They both wanted control. They both were distanced from the father. Both did not love the Father. Both wanted happiness… With both sons, the Father goes to them. For both sons, he invites them to a feast. Both sons are loved by the Father…
Love
I used this illustration in the yesterday devotional but I repeat it here.
The Shabaks are a minority Muslim ethnic group living mostly on the so-called Nineveh Plains, east of Mosul in Iraq. There is currently no Scripture available in Shabaki but a team is working on translating the Gospel of Luke into their language. Salim, an older Shabak man, helps with testing translated Bible chapters for comprehension. When he was given this chapter of Luke to read, Salim was sure he had identified the turning point in the parable of the prodigal son, understanding it to say:
“While he was still a long way off, he saw his father, ran to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
In Salim’s world, this was the only way to interpret the passage as the God he knows wouldn’t run to reach the lost. The parable was just as confusing to him as it must have been to the original audience that Jesus spoke. The team clarified that no, the passage was about God the Father running towards the sinner.
The recklessly extravagant father – the prodigal Father – he runs, he embraces, he gives the ring, the robe, the sandal, the calf, the feast. He just pours it out – the son may take the ring, the robe and go off again! But the Father is extravagant. He was looking for his son – maybe hourly or regularly – he runs – he needs to see him.
We see such love for the son, we see such grace shown to him; then later such love is shown to the elder son – he goes out – and despite his poor behaviour, anger etc, there is such grace offered – come into the feast, let’s be a family…
What an image of God shown by the Father!
The elder brother.
There is a final point in this passage, which Keller points out which I’d never seen. This chapter is the only place where Jesus tells three parables back to back. We only heard this one, but just before it, he has told about the lost sheep and the lost coin. In both, someone goes and searches for what is lost. So, while the Father watches, there is no one who searches for the son.
In fact Keller argues this recalls that story of Cain and Abel, Cain is told – you are your brother’s keeper. The elder brother should have gone and looked for him. But he did not.
Edmund Clowney, an American pastor, told a true story of a young man who was a soldier who fought with the US Army in Vietnam. He became missing in action. When the family could get no official response about what happened; the older son flew to Vietnam and risked his life, searching jungle, swamp, battlefields for his lost brother. Clowney says that despite the dangers he faced, he was never injured, because both sides had heard of his search and dedication. And they respected it.
In fact some people simply called him ‘’the brother.’’ The Elder brother should have went out to seek the lost. Someone should seek the lost.
Who is the true elder brother?
It is Christ of course. He said himself he has come to seek and save the lost. It is him who is searching for the lost – the tax collectors and sinners – and Jesus welcomed them and did not drive them away. He is doing what, in fact the elder brothers – the Pharisees – should have been doing than muttering in a corner…
The parable asks – someone should seek. And we know someone has – the one telling the story. Someone who seeks the lost to bring them home.
Jesus in his ministry is seeking the lost. And when they are found, they are brought home, not to be slaves and devalued, but welcomed into the home. And there is a feast in heaven. Yet let’s forget we are in Lent, and in two weeks it is Holy Week, we need to remember the cost Jesus was to pay to bring us each home… as Keller says – ‘’you need to be moved by the sight of what it cost to bring you home.’’
Conclusion.
Henri Nouwen said each of us at some point is the younger son, the elder son or even in the place of the Father. By the Father, he meant that whether we are the younger son or the elder son, we are called to become like the father… Nouwen says – ‘’the return to the Father is ultimately the challenge to become the Father.’’
So which one do you identify with today?
Shall we pray in silence for a few moments…
In Jesus name. Amen.