Scripture Luke 15:11-32
(Pastor - Jesus
- Prodigal Son - Father - Older Brother - Servant)
Jesus said: 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’s going
on? Your brother has come 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. Please come back in son! 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, 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.
You just heard a story about a
missing piece. The younger son was missing something, even though he had
everything he needed right where he was. But because he felt he was missing
something, he took everything he had and half of everything his father had and
in a short amount of time lost it all on reckless living, and therefore he
started missing the things he had before and decided to go back home and see if
he could reclaim a minimum amount of what he had before he left.
What was the older, more responsible
brother missing? He was missing the point, that a father’s love is not
determined by a child’s behavior but only by the fact that you are your
father’s child.
What was the father in the story
missing? We will come back to that.
This story is part of a triad of stories about things that
were lost and now are found.
1)
First was one lost sheep out of a hundred. The shepherd left 99 in the
care of other shepherds to go look for the one lost. A lost sheep meant the
shepherd had to pay for it. Not to find the lost sheep meant money out of his
own pocket, plus the disgrace of being known as a careless shepherd. No wonder
he came back rejoicing after finding the missing one.
2)
Second was one lost coin out of 10. In any age from a money point of
view this would not be catastrophic. What if it were something important, say
you just got married and lost your wedding ring – that would be catastrophic
and have value well beyond the monetary value.
Well, when a Jewish girl married, she began to wear a headband of ten
silver coins to signify that she was now a wife. It was the Jewish version of
our modern wedding ring, and it would have been unbearable for her to lose one
of those coins. Palestinian houses were dark, so she had to light a lamp and
search until she found the lost coin; and we can imagine her joy at finding it.
So along with
a missing sheep is possible financial and reputation loss. Along with a missing coin is possible
financial but great sentimental loss. But that is a sheep and a coin. The final
part of the triad has to do (SEE PUZZLE PIECE) with a lost son.
DRAMA: The Missing
Piece
CONCLUSION
We now come
back to the question – In the story we call “the prodigal son”, what was the
father in the story missing? He was
missing a lost sheep, a lost coin, and most importantly a lost son. Yes, for
the father there was financial loss (1/2 inheritance), and reputation loss
(can’t keep your own kid at home), and sentimental loss (Thanksgiving dinner
won’t be the same). But the loss of the son, compared to a sheep or a coin,
also has the loss of something far greater – the loss of a relationship. When
the son left it was as though he were dead and that relationship would exist no
more. The son completely cut himself off from the father and his whole family.
In the story I
dramatized for you. Other than an occasional card or letter, those
relationships too were lost. That story in part ends in tragedy, the father’s
death means that relationship cannot be repaired. It is gone forever. However, in our story with Jesus, when we
(each of us a prodigal son or daughter) come back to God through Jesus, it is
exactly his death that has made a way for us to once again come home and be in
a perfectly restored relationship with God our Heavenly Father.
Is the God
the Father and his son Jesus missing a piece? Are you that piece? Or do you
know Jesus but a piece of you is missing in your relationship with Him and you
are ready to give that up and let Him put it all back together? The first verse of a great hymn says it all
for us: SING: 1st verse of
Amazing Grace.
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