Sermon Index
March 31, 2019, The Fourth Sunday in Lent
| Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” | ||
| Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. | "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." | Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve 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 of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ”‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” |
Today’s Gospel Reading is a very famous story. The traditional name of this story is “The Prodigal Son.” The word “prodigal” means wasteful. In the story, the son leaves home with his inheritance and wastes it on a wild lifestyle.
I looked up the word “prodigal” in my dictionary. It means to be extremely abundant, and it can also mean to be extremely wasteful. In the dictionary there are two other words that sound similar but have different Latin roots. There is “prodigious” which means wonderful, amazing and enormous in size or power. If you waste something that is prodigious then you are being a prodigal. There is a third word, “prodigy,” which is used to describe someone who has unusual talent or genius. And I suppose a prodigy could be a prodigal wasting his or her prodigious talents.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son there is a lot of wasted love. The father is very generous with his love for his sons. The younger son wastes that love by leaving home. The elder son, while staying home still does not understand the depth of the father’s love.
Another name for this parable is “The Lost Son.” In Luke Chapter 15 there are three parables: The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. Another name is the Found Sheep, the Found Coin, and the Found Son. Or perhaps, the Searching Shepherd, the Searching Woman, and the Searching Father. Why did they search? It is because something or someone which was precious had been lost. Everyday the father probably stood on his porch and looked up the road hoping to see his son return, and when he did see him, he ran and hugged and kissed him and welcomed him home as his beloved son.
And so we could call these parables by yet another name, too: The Rejoicing Shepherd, the Rejoicing Woman, the Rejoicing Father. We can also add The Rejoicing Angels in Heaven. The first two parable end with words like this, Luke 13:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” In contrast to that there is the elder son who refuses to join the celebration when his brother comes home. And this elder son is the like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who muttered against Jesus, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (15:2).
When we read the parables of Jesus, we must remember that they were written for us. The Pharisees and Scribes don’t read the Bible, but we do. Jesus is talking to us. Jesus is talking about how God interacts with us. And so, we are in the parables as one of the characters. And each time we read a parable, we think about our lives and as our lives and faith lives change, we might be a different character each time. Sometimes we hear the wonderful message of God’s love for us, sometimes we hear words of condemnation.
So, who do you identify with today? The lost sheep, the missing coin, the loving shepherd, the frantic woman, the wild son, the worried father, jealous elder son, or a Pharisee or Scribe? Or perhaps you are one of the friends and neighbors or servants who rejoice with the shepherd, woman, and father? Or perhaps you join with the angels who rejoice over one sinner who repents?
Jesus told this parable because he does not want us to be like the Scribes and Pharisees. He does not want us to be like the elder brother. It is because they are a hindrance to the Gospel. The Gospel is the great Good News that Jesus Christ was born into this world to be the Good Shepherd that searches for the lost sheep which is us. Through word and sacrament he brings us home and treats us like his sons or daughters, like his brothers and sisters. He wants us to be his loving family and to love and to accept each other. And we can do that when we realize that first we have been the lost sheep or lost coin or lost son or daughter. Perhaps we have wandered off looking for greener grass, or we have forgotten about God and the church, or maybe we have rejected God and the Church and family and have wasted love. When we realize our miserable situation, when we realize that we are helpless, we still know that we can return to God. It is like the Lenten Verse that we sing before the Gospel reading: (Joel 2:13) “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and abounding in steadfast love.”
“Slow to anger.” That gives us courage to repent and return—without too much fear of punishment.
“Abounding in steadfast love.” We sing these words twice because they are so important and so full of comfort and courage. We see that great love on the cross. When Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself, he was more sinful than the Prodigal Son ever was. He had left his home in Heaven and came to this world. There was a severe famine of unfaith and sin. People like the elder son accused him of sin. They cast him out. But on the cross he cried out to God his Father, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). He knew he was going home because he said to the repentant thief on the cross next to his, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (23:43). He arose on the third day and ascended forty days later.
Therefore we rejoice with Jesus who is our brother. Therefore we rejoice with all our brothers and sister who have returned home to God who has accepted them in his loving arms.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church