Dear Friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen

Jesus’ most famous parable is often called the story of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal, in this case, meaning free and lavish spending.  But the parable could be aptly titled, The Prodigal Father and His Sons. For they are all prodigal in their own way; the younger son who asks for his inheritance and squanders it, the older son who feels as if he works as a slave and receives nothing, and the father whose love inspires him to chase after both of them.

The parable opens in the father’s house in an idyllic, quiet neighborhood not unlike Lake of the Isles- in the summertime- with pleasant green lawns and quaint white picket fences.  The shadows are long in the light of the setting sun. From inside the father’s house, you can hear the music of Mozart floating from the open windows.  Or perhaps it is Bach.   The curtains are gently billowing in the breeze.  And then suddenly the younger son appears on the front porch forcefully pleading with his father.  “Dad,” or in his best Downton Abbey voice, “Papa, I’m tired of all your rules and expectations. I’m tired of living in this house.  I’m not a child anymore.  Just give me now what will one day be mine, and I’ll get out of the way.”  And so the father consults with his estate planner and lawyer, takes out his checkbook and calculator, and divides his property between the younger son and his older brother, and writes a check.  A few days later the younger son gathers all he had and traveled to a distant country.

Mind you, the younger son had good intentions of beginning a new life somewhere else, but he enjoyed his father’s wealth more. He left his home and his father with hopeful dreams.  He couldn’t imagine squandering the wealth he had been given. He had fond memories of his happy, sun filled home and he remembered dearly the melodies of summer, the green grass and the white picket fence. He longed for these things himself.  They were the finest gifts of life.

From an early age on, we are taught that God provides us with everything we need, unfortunately, we often want these things on our own terms and on our own time.  And so, like the younger son, we take our life and destiny into our own hands and enter into the school of hard knocks.  There, the son faced one hardship after another.  The transmission went out on his car, he was evicted from his apartment, and he was fired from his latest job.  So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that distant country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; but no one gave him anything.

Then we read, “But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father.”

There is no honor, however, in returning home a failure.  We go to a distant country to be successful, but if one fails in that place they return and embarrassment to their family and to their  home ashamed.  Truthfully, the younger son would not have reached his home unless his father had come part of the way.  Even before he could see the green grass and the white picket fence of home, even before he could hear music playing, the strains of Mozart and Bach filling the air, even before the evening breeze gently blew the curtains in the open window, the father saw his son returning, and the father ran to meet him, to embrace him, to kiss him and to welcome him back alive into his home. The whole household had to celebrate this dead son’s return. So the father ordered the servants to bring out a ring, the best robe and to kill the fatted calf.  It was a glorious day, and everyone celebrated the younger, lost son’s return, except for one- the older son who was standing alone outside leaning on the white picket fence.  He refused to accept the story the younger son had given.

Part of the reason this parable is so endearing and so compelling is because we know this family and the family dynamics so well. We can, if we choose to admit it, recognize ourselves in all three characters. We are invited to sit with the younger son in the messes of his own making, with the elder son in the bitterness and fear of being overlooked, and with the father as he leaves the comfort of his home to bring in all that is lost and forsaken.

My friends, which of the prodigals are you?  Are you the younger, shamed son returning to taste and see that the Lord is good after a prodigal journey, or are you the worried, dutiful and resentful older son who is disenchanted that his father is sharing his gifts with one who really does not deserve it?  Or perhaps you are the prodigal father, simply wanting your family to be together again- at whatever the cost. Truthfully, it doesn’t matter to God which one you are: for whenever and wherever one lost soul repents, and turns around and returns home, God has to celebrate. That is his nature.

Biblical scholars suggest that Jesus told this beloved parable as a way  needling the Pharisees and criticizing the scribes. Perhaps. But I believe he was actually demonstrating in word and deed that God truly cares about all his creation- even the lowliest sinners and rejoices when they repent.  Regrettably, it is a harsh reality check for those of us who prefer order and constancy in our lives.  God’s prodigal outpouring of mercy does not fit the patterns of this world.  The joyous celebration for the lost brother in the parable makes the faithful brother, protecting the home front, feel as if he had been taken for granted. No extravagance was ever spent to honor his faithful and reliable service. No hours of sleep were lost over his absence. Instead, he accuses. his father of showing preferential treatment. And that is the point of the parable.  The older brother sees God’s love with brazen clarity. God’s love is scandalous, generous, lavish and free. It breaks the norms and practices that our orderly, religious world seeks to defend.

But my friends, that is God’s good news for you for those day when you find yourself lost and struggling in a distant country. In spite your failings, God celebrates when you return. He runs to meet you. If you turn an inch, he runs a mile. His heart is always more willing to forgive than we are ready to repent. So great is God’s love for you that he gave his only son to save you from your sins. Do you hear the music playing?  Just beyond the white picket fence, and the green grass, is a waiting prodigal Father, longing to embrace you with his love. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.