by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
v30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’ v31’My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. v32But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’” Luke 15:30-32
Our gospel story this Sunday starts with the grumblings of the Pharisees and teachers of the law when Jesus had fellowship with tax collectors and other social outcasts. And he told two parables to teach them the ways of God on sinners. The first parable is about the Lost Coin and the second about the Lost Son. The second parable is so popular that you would be hard pressed to find a person who has never heard the story. It is called the parable of the Lost Son but more popularly known as the Prodigal Son. Emerson called this story, “The most beautiful story in all human literature.” It is a story that never grows old and it is enjoyable every time you hear it. Songs are written about it and every generation has its own remake about this gospel skit. It revolves around three characters: a younger son, his older brother and a father who loves them both. As we revisit this parable, let us keep in mind that the real star of this story is not the prodigal son, but it is the prodigal’s father. The story also tells us about the lost-ness of the other son.
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The story tells us of a father and his two sons. One was a plowboy, who stayed and behaved himself and enjoyed the good life. The other was a playboy, who sought for himself the good life and ended up in a pigpen. Reduced to abject misery, the playboy swallowed his pride and came home, to be welcomed with a great celebration of joy. The plowboy was angry at his father and jealous of his brother, so he boycotted the party. Coming in late from the fields, he heard music the likes of which he had never heard before coming from the house. It was a servant who explained to him, “Your brother has come home and your father killed the fatted calf.” And, boy, was he mad. Maybe he was fattening the calf for a very special occasion. More likely, he was angry that the calf was slaughtered for his no-good playboy brother. And although the dominant mood on the farm that night was one of joy and celebration, there was at least one who was not so happy – the plowboy brother. So unhappy, in fact, that he decided not only to boycott the party, but to spill his misery on as many people as he could.
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But thank God the plowboy and the playboy are not the only two characters in the story. There is also the loving father, the father who loved his sons with a deep, abiding love. And in spite of the great joy he had over the return of his long-lost son, he would not let it eclipse his love for the elder brother. And so the father came out and reminded his son of the good life they enjoyed together. The father left the warmth of the celebration joy and went into the cold night of the plowboy son’s self-imposed pity. It just wasn’t fair — was his complaint. In spite of his accumulated seniority on the farm, there had never been a time when even a lean goat (much less a fatted calf) had been slaughtered for him. It wasn’t fair! But the father had his turn to speak and the father countered his son’s brokenness and gives us our text for this morning. “Son,” he says, “you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours!”
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There was a cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon feature, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, “I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I’m sorry I did that.” Hobbes replies, “Maybe you should apologize to her.” Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, “I keep hoping there’s a less obvious solution.”
We have trouble accepting those whom God accepts because we take God’s acceptance for granted and God’s forgiveness as our right. We are much like the elder brother who preferred justice to mercy. We have worked for what we have (or so we think), and it’s unfair that everyone else should not have to do the same. We have earned God’s favor (or so we think) by “staying at home.” We have merited his acceptance by the good life that we live. So how dare God receive and accept our sinful brother who has returned home saying he’s sorry.
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Is there a better picture of forgiveness in the whole Bible? It reminds me of a story about a woman who had upset her pastor because she claimed that she had conversations with God. She had attracted quite a following in the church and everyday people gathered at her house, got on their knees, prayed, sang hymns and listened to her describe what God was saying to her. The pastor thought all this was getting out of hand, so he went to visit her. “I know you say you are talking with God,” he said, “but what you hear talking back at you is just your imagination. Just to prove it, I want you to ask God to name three of the sins that I confessed this morning. Then tell me what God said. If you can name those sins, I’ll believe that you really are talking with God.” The woman sat there for a long while, praying. Then she looked up and said, “I asked God to name your three sins, but God said, ‘I forgot.’”(esermons)
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God treats all differently, but loves all the same, with an everlasting love that forgives the wayward and welcomes the prodigal, as well as continually blesses those at home.
Some of us here this morning may identify with the prodigal. We can acknowledge that there are things in our lives that we regret, times when we let others down, broken promises, failed actions, and sins of which we are not proud. The story this morning tells us that there is a place at God’s table for us.
Others may identify with the elder brother. For even a quick review of our lives shows us times when we passed judgment on others, times when we looked down on others, exalted ourselves in our righteousness, and despised the sinner who did not measure up. The story this morning tells us that there’s a place at God’s table for us as well. Playboy or plowboy — God’s welcome awaits us. His forgiveness is real and his love eternal. So let the party begin. It is time for us to turn in repentance, accept the Father’s welcome and come to God’s table of grace.
“Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, “O sinner, come home!” Amen.**
