St. Luke 15:11-32
Dearly beloved,
Today we hear about things lost and things found. We hear of sons and
servants–those who are blessed and those cursed. The gospel of Jesus Christ
affords for us a glimpse into the possibilities of damnation and salvation.
It is an appropriate gospel for us to ponder this Lenten season, for it
leads us to order our steps aright.
There is a psalm verse, which applies particularly well the parable of
the two sons. The psalm verse, interestingly enough, applies to both sons.
Psalm 84:10 says, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand
elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell
in the tents of wickedness." This is something that one son will learn in
the parable and, ironically, the other son will not. At a quick read of the
parable one may think that the son who stays with the father is the good son
we all want to be, but be careful, there is a twist.
After all, both sons receive their inheritance from the father. The
young son looks at his father as money. In his father, the younger son sees
an opportunity to escape from the realm of the father's influence. The
young son wants to be free. He wants to live his life as he pleases. The
first insult is that the young son wants the father's inheritance before he
is even dead. But the father is merciful. Rather than a stern reprimand,
the father gives the inheritance to both sons. The young son leaves and, as
we know, he "throws his money away." He spends it in reckless living.
Then, to make matters worse, the economy dries up. There is a horrible
famine, which made food scarce. The young son hires himself out to feed
pigs and even yearns for the pods the pigs eat. This whole scenario must
have broken the father's heart. His young son whom he dearly loved, did not
love him in return. The father's love would have no doubt grieved over the
sad state of his younger son. The older son, however, stayed at home and
worked just as he had always done. We would think that this older son was
the good son.
Then, suddenly, the younger son begins to think about how even his
father's servants were well off and blessed even more so than he. It was
then, in the midst of the pig slop, suffering hunger that he recalls his
father and the goodness of his father's house. Here beckons the psalm verse
reminding us that "...a day in your courts is better than a thousand
elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell
in the tents of wickedness." It is not by chance that it is pigs that the
younger son feeds, for the pig in Jewish culture was understood as a filthy,
forsaken, cursed animal. The pig was the representation of hell in Jewish
thought.
And there in the midst of the pig slop the young son thinks about his
father. The misery had stirred up a repentant heart in the younger son. He
was ready to go back and do just as the psalm verse says, "to be a
doorkeeper in the house." He is ready to merely return as a servant. There
is much for us to learn in this. This parable teaches on many levels. The
father represents Jesus. Jesus lets the young son go. He knows that the
younger son must learn through hardship. The young son will wallow with the
forsaken pigs and he will suffer. Then, hopefully, the heart will turn in
repentance.
Herein lies the dynamic of confession and absolution. As the pastor, I
cannot make a person be repentant. I cannot coerce a person to see his or
her sins. I cannot make a person want the good things of Jesus. Sometimes
people wander from the truth and through their own hard-heartedness they
fall into the pig pen. They roll around in the mud for a while until they
realize what they have done. Parenting is the same way. You cannot make
your kids love Jesus or love you. All you can do as a parent is lead your
children to waters of Jesus and teach them how to drink from it, by word and
example. But the truth of the matter is that Jesus will sometimes let us
fall before He picks us up, again.
But the parable continues with the younger son going back to confess his
sins to his father. Again, we see Jesus in the father, for when the father
sees the young son coming off in the distance, he goes running for the son.
The father does not sit back and gloat and rub the son's sins in his face.
The father does not wait for the son to get there. The father runs for the
son. Jesus runs for you. An interesting thing happens, though. By the time
the father meets the son, the son is so overwhelmed with his grief, that he
doesn't even ask what he was going to ask–"can I be one of your hired
servants?"
The young son realizes how he has betrayed his father and he simply says
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy
to be called your son." There is no request. Just grief. Repentance is
this raw and simple. Repentance does not make demands on God. Repentance
does not try to bargain with God. Repentance is grief and "I am sorry."
"Lord, have mercy." The son realizes at the sight of the father's love,
just how deep his betrayal has been, and the son realizes that "..a day in
your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness."
Jesus is this merciful to you. You think that you must do something to
make up for your sinful life in the swine's pen, but all that is necessary
is to kneel before the Lord and confess your sins to Him. Jesus is this
merciful. But the gospel spins for us another interesting twist to watch
out for. The father's response is such that he kills the calf set aside for
great celebration. He blesses the younger son with robes, rings, sandals,
etc. The father rejoices, but not the older son. The older son has stuck
around. He has worked faithfully and the father has shared everything with
the older son. The older son is jealous, and his words betray his heart.
The older son is no better than the younger son. In fact, as the
parable ends, the older son is worse off. The older son feels like a
servant, for he says, "Look these many years I have served you, and I never
disobeyed your command....." The older son feels like a servant and he is
angry. He does not speak like one who will inherit the land. He also is
angry about the good reception towards his brother. The older son felt as
though he were owed something greater than what he had been given. This is
the warning to be careful that you don't feel as though the Lord owes you
more because of your faithful deeds.
The heart of this parable is that both sons are to rest in the goodness
of the father. They are not expect more than salvation and the blessings of
the father's provisions, but they should by no means seek the worldly things
in the pig pen, thereby turning their back against the father. This is a
parable that acts as a window that we can view our lives through. You may
feel as though you have been the younger son. You may think that God could
never forgive you. You spent time in the pig slop. Or you may be the
lifelong Christian who expects more from God, or thinks you are owed
something.
In both cases, the father was merciful and had kind words. Jesus is
merciful to you and has kind words for you. In addition, Jesus gives you
all that is His. Your sins are forgiven in Jesus. He is so merciful that
when He sees you coming, He comes running to you to give you holy absolution
and the kiss of peace. To be in the Lord's presence is a blessing. To
spend a day in the courts of the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere.
The Lord welcomes you, His beloved children, into the courts of His house,
which is your home forevermore because of His undying and unending love for
you. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
