Sunday 30 March, 2025

Reflection:    "Homeward Bound"

Joshua 5:9-12

Psalm 32

Luke 15:1-32

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

​In Chapter 15, Luke gives us three stories about people losing & finding things (a sheep, a coin and a son).
We’re going to focus on the third of these in a story often called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (the word prodigal meaning “wasteful”), but it could also be called “The Parable of the Loving Father”, because it emphasizes the graciousness of the father, more than it does the sinfulness of the son (or even the anger of the older brother).
 
I’m sure that those of you who have heard sermons on this story before, will know that Jesus is referring to God when he talks about “the father”.
 
It’s not too hard for us to imagine a teenage son, or daughter wanting to leave home and go out into the world to live the good life, but we probably wouldn’t be too happy about giving them a large percentage of our current wealth, whilst we’re still alive. As a farewell gift!
 
Neither Jewish, nor Roman, law permitted the father to have total control over the disposal of his estate.
The property was always given to the sons at the father’s death, with the firstborn receiving a double-share.
 
In our story, this younger son didn’t sound like he really gave too much thought about his family, but instead was totally focussed on himself – a trait that we wouldn’t have trouble recognising today in some of the “it’s all about me” people we might know.
Off he went on his great journey, living life to the fullest and making plenty of friends.
Due to a mixture of high living, drought and famine, his money (and his friends) soon disappeared and he was left looking for work and something to eat, until one of the farmers, a non-Jew, gave him a job feeding pigs.
These animals were considered unclean under Jewish law and therefore such work was all-the-more humiliating.
 
Eventually the young man became so hungry that even the pods that the pigs ate looked tasty!
You can see how our sin degrades and mocks us!
It might seem attractive to satisfy lust, or to live without concern for any morality, but look at the price-tag!
This young man found that his sin had cost him both his self-respect and his happiness.
He knew, in the back of his mind, that he still had a caring father and that even their servants, back home, used to eat nourishing food. So, he decided to go back - not as a son, but as a servant.
Therefore, he rehearsed his lines about not being worthy, etc. and set off on his homeward journey.
 
I think we’re always heading for trouble whenever we value “things” more than people, pleasure more than duty, and far off places, more than the blessings we have right here at home.
If the sheep that Luke had mentioned earlier, was lost through foolishness - and the coin, through carelessness - then the son was lost because of wilfulness.
He wanted to have his own way, so he rebelled against his father and, as a consequence, he broke his father’s heart.
 
This drama is our Lord’s way of emphasizing what sin really does in the lives of those who reject the father’s will.
Sin promises freedom, but it only brings slavery; it promises success, but brings failure; it promises life, but we’ve probably all heard the old saying that “the wages of sin is death”.
The boy thought that he would “find himself” on his grand adventure, but instead, he lost himself!
 
Even though the father thought he’d lost his son, he never gave up and was always waiting for him to return.
Luke says “But while he was still far off, his father saw him”, so the father must have been keeping a weather eye out for him all that time and the father, full of compassion for his son, ran to him (not something elderly Jewish men did very often), and hugged and kissed him, not even listening to the young son’s rehearsed speech.
Instead, he had the servants prepare a banquet to celebrate the son’s return.
Jesus intentionally used the banquet story again, as he had previously spoken of a banquet to symbolize the coming Kingdom of God.
Those who were listening to Jesus tell this story would have easily realized the significance of this feast.
Sinners (whom the young son symbolized) were entering into the Kingdom because they were coming home to God. They believed that they needed to return to God and be forgiven by him, before receiving their glory.
 
The parable’s final scene describes the attitude of the older brother, who symbolized the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who had the same attitude toward the sinners, as the elder son had toward his prodigal brother.
 
Coming home from working in the field, the elder brother heard what was happening and he got angry.
Similarly, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were angry with the message that Jesus was proclaiming.
They didn’t like the idea that people from outside their nation, as well as outcasts and sinners from within the nation, were also to be a part of the Kingdom of God.
Like the elder son, who refused to go to the feast, the Pharisees refused to enter the kingdom that Jesus offered.
 
Interestingly, the father went out and pleaded with the elder brother to go to the feast.
Likewise, Jesus ate with Pharisees as well as sinners, but didn’t exclude the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.
The message was that everyone is welcome in God’s Kingdom.
 
As important as the older brother’s traits, such as obedience and diligence are, they’re not the only tests of our character.
Jesus taught us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others, but the older brother broke both of these.
He didn’t show love for God (represented in the story by the father), or his brother.
The older brother would not forgive the brother who’d wasted part of the family inheritance and disgraced the family name, but neither would he forgive his father who had so graciously welcomed his brother back home.
 
God, like the father in this story, is constantly watching out for us.
When we turn back to him, he comes to greet us, quietening our confessions, with assurances of his love.
How exciting it is, when we’ve experienced our father’s love and we’re invited to be with him in his Kingdom.
 
How many of us have met people who have preferred to nurse their anger, rather than enjoy the fellowship of God and God’s people?
Because they won’t forgive, they’ve alienated themselves from the church and even from their families.
They’re sure that everyone else is to blame and they alone are right.
They can talk loudly about the sins of others, but they’re blind to their own sins.
 
Everything the younger son had hoped to find in the far country, he discovered back home: clothes, jewellery, friends, joyful celebration, love, and assurance for the future.
The difference?   Instead of saying, “Father, give me!” he now said, “Father, forgive me!”
He was willing to be made a servant!
 
The father didn’t ask him to “earn” his forgiveness, because no amount of good works can save us from our sins.
In that far country, the prodigal learned the meaning of misery; but back home, he discovered the joy of mercy.
 
Can you put yourself in the position of any of the characters in this story?
 
Do you see yourself as a prodigal child, trying hard to recover from your mistakes and homeward bound, or someone angry at God for some reason, maybe because you don’t think you’ve received what you deserve?
 
There’s only one way to come home to the Father, and that is through a faith in the risen Christ.
 
You might be wondering how this story fits in with our period of Lent.
Consider this: instead of giving up things like meat, chocolate, etc., maybe we should try giving up on anger, resentment, pride, hate, mistrust - I’m sure you can add more to the list.
 
So, instead of standing outside grumping to anyone who’ll listen, we should go in and enjoy the feast!
 
Pastor Rick