COMING HOME – Luke 15:11-32

The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most familiar stories told by Jesus.  It is seen as the ultimate story of forgiveness and restoration and is commonly referred to when encouraging healing of divisions within families and communities. It is a story that resonates with those who are seeking a way back to God – seeking for one more chance.

The main characters are three: the father, the good son, and the bad son. At first it seems that this is a straightforward story of two sons. The one who stays at home is the good son who helps his father run the family farm while the other son wants something different. The youngest son asks for his portion of the inheritance and the father gives it to him.

The younger son takes his newfound wealth and leaves home.   His newfound freedom and wealth soon burn a hole in his pocket, and he finds himself impoverished, homeless and hungry.  He ends up going to work for one of the local gentry and is given the task of feeding the pigs; he is only allowed what even the pigs do not want.

Given his situation, life back home doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe he does have to listen to his father; maybe will have to work with his brother but surely it is better than what he is enduring in his present situation.

But can he return?  What could he possibly say that would encourage his father to take him back? After all, he had squandered a small fortune - money that his father had spent a lifetime accumulating. Maybe his father will let him become one of his servants. As hard as that may be, the alternative would be far worse – he would surely die.

As he is coming into view, his father sees him.  But instead of rejecting his son, he welcomes him home with open arms. He calls upon his servants to get the best robe, to put a ring on his finger, shoes for his feet and a fatted calf for a celebration.

The elder son is miffed - to say the least. He wants no part of this reprobate who has taken advantage of their father’s good heart and now is being received back as if nothing had happened.

The father does know what has happened. He is very aware that this son had wandered away and had chosen to follow a path in life that was leading him to a place of darkness and despair. The father was also very well aware that he did not need to remind the son that he had made questionable choices and decisions. No “I told you so” or no “see what happens when you don’t listen to your father”. Our youngest son was a bit of a rebel and never liked to be told what to do or what to think or what to believe. He would often say to Bruce: “You’re not the boss of me.” Bruce’s reply would be: “I don’t want to be your boss; I want to be your father.” To come to believe that a parent is only seeking to guide and help, to provide a good path for a child is often not understood or appreciated. But this does not stop the parent from continuing to reach out at every opportunity and to show the child that no matter what they may have done or said, we are still there to love them.

I am sure that the father and the son had many talks about what had transpired during his time away but what was critical was for that son to know that nothing could ever stop the father from loving him. This parable gives us an insight into the heart and mind of God – an insight that often we forget – especially when it comes to people who we feel have turned their back on God. Perhaps they felt that God wanted to be their boss and rule over their every thought and action when what God really wanted was to be their parent, to love them and to keep them close to him.

Now I am sure that the eldest child is not always the one who is ever obedient just as I am sure that the youngest is not ever rebellious but the contrast between the two sons gives Jesus the opportunity to speak about what we so often experience in family at home and in the church. Perhaps we are like the elder brother and have never considered turning away from God.  But perhaps we are like the younger brother and have found ourselves separated from God     by a deliberate choice or through circumstances beyond our control. Jesus knew that there were many people struggling, and many wondering if God truly cared about them. If they decided to return to God, could God ever forgive them? Could God ever love them again?

It was to these people that the message of the prodigal son was directed. Jesus wanted them to know that their choices in life may have led to them feeling lost, abandoned, alienated from God but that it was not God’s intention for them to languish there. They were encouraged to return to God freely and willingly. There need be no fear in their hearts for God had already forgiven them and was seeking to make that forgiveness real in their lives.

I am sure that we all know someone who has left their spiritual home.  Perhaps it has been the way in which their actions were judged; perhaps it was a time when they experienced condemnation; perhaps it was a time when someone took a dislike to them and held a grudge; perhaps it was something that they were struggling with and couldn’t imagine how to speak to someone in the community about it. Whatever may have taken them away, God wants nothing less than for them to be able to return home and know that there will be no judgment, no condemnation, and no holding grudges. What they are to find is forgiveness, mercy, and restoration in body and spirit.

For those of us fortunate enough to have never lost that sense of belonging to God and knowing we are loved eternally, the message of the prodigal son is one which must cause us to pause. We pause as we realize that we are not loved or cherished any more than those who have wandered.  Those who have wandered and return need to be met as the father met the returning son. It is not for us to decide who is worthy of the Father’s love. That decision rests with the Father, and the Father opens his arms and his love to all.

We do not live in a perfect world where all receive each other in such a way, but God seeks for us to learn and to strive to receive each other in this way. As a community of faith, we are to open the doors, prepare the way, and make a pathway for others to come to God, so that any who may come from a place of abandonment, loss, or alienation can discover that God has never stopped loving them, seeking them, or forgiving them.

We have been chosen to be ambassadors of the ministry of reconciliation, recognizing that this is the ministry given us by God.  As such we are to welcome any who come seeking for restoration, mercy, and forgiveness so that they might experience the God who never stopped loving them.

Amen