The Prodigal Son
Luke15.11-32
May 6, 2007 - The Prodigal Players Part 2
Rev. Matthew M. Fry

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own, that, hearing, we may also obey your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This week, the text is the same as last week, the last time I preached, and the same as it will be next week. It is the rich and powerful passage in which Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son; or in reality the Prodigal Family, for I see the three main characters, Father, Prodigal, and Elder Brother, as each incredibly important in their own right. Last week, the passage took us to a discussion of the Prodigal Father, whom I held up as a role model for parenting, specifically the aspect of letting go of that which one loves, so that it may experience freedom. That will get tested today, as we look at the Prodigal himself, and we go in depth with him to gain insight.

So, hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the Gospel of Luke. Listen for God’s word for you today.
Luke 15.11-32.

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that 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; and no one gave him anything. 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. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

The Grass withers, the Flower falls, but the Word of the Lord endures forever…Thanks be to God.

I personally think the Prodigal Son gets way too much credit in this story. He certainly gets his share of blame, no doubt. He asks for all of his inheritance, receives it, and goes off to live the life of fast food, fast cars, and faster women. And he falls on really hard times. Yet, even as things start to turn bad, he doesn’t think of going back to his father. It’s only when he hits rock bottom that he turns his thoughts to the family he has abandoned. Actually, I would say that desiring to eat pig slop gets put like this; Rock bottom, 50 miles of packed solid crap, eating pig slop. And remember to whom Jesus is speaking. Pharisees who desire nothing more than to keep the law. Pigs are filthy animals, who root in and eat waste. Feeding them is beyond contempt. Desiring their lifestyle is so beyond rock bottom to the live audience of this parable, that it is well below rock bottom.

So I personally don’t see the point where he experiences regret. When, as the passage puts it, he “comes to himself,” what he realizes is that he had it better when he lived at home. What he does not realize is that he has run out on his family, and they might be hurt by his actions. There is no mention of how his father must feel, or how he abandoned his brother in their duty to keep up the farm, nor how his mother’s heart must be breaking (the mother isn’t mentioned at all!). No, he realizes that he is hungry, so hungry that the pig’s food is starting to look appetizing. And he realized he could have it better if he went and got back in at home.

I used to have a shirt with a picture of the Grinch on it, smiling from ear to ear. And the great thing about it was what a conversation starter it was. Folks would comment, and I would ask, “Which smile do you think this is, his evil smile when his heart is two sizes too small and his socks are too tight, or his smile when he returns the gifts and his heart grows three sizes that day.” I got an array of answers, which usually told me very much about the person to whom I was talking. It went about 50-50, for evil smile verses good smile. And the great thing about the shirt was that you couldn’t tell, you had to come up with your own conclusion. I think this parable has a bit of that in it. For you can read the Prodigal as a repentant son who comes back to the father with his head drooped, or you can read it the way I do, that the Prodigal Son is conniving all along, and never really repents, is still manipulating all the while. Either translation is valid, so you are free to disagree with me if you want to be wrong. This is America, you have that right. But seriously, I don’t think the Prodigal son repents. That’s right, I don’t think he repents. I don’t read this and see any evidence that he is motivated by his realization of what he has done and his effort to make it right. I think he is motivated, as it reads in verse 17, by his realization of how he had it better before, and how he can weasel his way into having some of that again. So, I think he comes up with a story, a line to feed his father, and I see him practicing it all along the walk home. “‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;’ well, maybe it should be more like ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;’ but I should note that I have done wrong, so I could say, ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son;’ but I’m not going to just state the obvious and hope that he comes to the conclusion to take me in, I had better ask for it; ‘treat me like one of your hired hands.’ Yeah, that’s the ticket. ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; but I’m hungry and I still am your son, no leave that part out, treat me like one of your hired hands.’ After all, he’s got to take me in, he is my father.” Listen to that section again, and you decide. Picking up at verse 17.

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. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

You make the call. So, if you agree with me, that the Prodigal’s motives are not necessarily pure, and that he is consistently self centered through the whole parable, then the Father is an interesting study. He is not exactly the case study in good parenting, for there is no repercussion except that the estate now belongs whole heartedly to the elder brother. But it seems that it may become contingent on keeping the younger Prodigal son as part of the staff. “Everything that I have is yours,” as the father says to the elder son, well, that includes the Prodigal now. Sometimes inheritances come with stipulations, and this may just fit that bill. Where is the fairness in this, where is the justice, where is the father using this teachable moment to say to his Prodigal son that there is a better way. It’s not really good parenting in the sense of treating both of your children in a fair manner. We will certainly pick that up next week.

But for now, with the Prodigal son, what I take away when I read it in the manner that I have described to you is the unbelievable mercy shown to the Prodigal. And if you read it like this, seeing the self-centeredness as a constant in the life of the young Prodigal, then you realize that mercy shown is not dependant upon his making right, or his showing sincere repentance, and if it was, don’t you think the father would have asked further questions about the so called apology. Instead of being about the Prodigal Son, and his journey to learn the lesson of what it means to be a good son, this parable is in more about the Father who is merciful, and is ridiculously merciful.

So, next week we’ll look at this passage from the point of view of the Elder Brother, who I think is the most interesting person in the parable, and who Jesus was really telling a parable about. I think we have mis-named this as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” when the real richness in it would be better named, “The Parable of the Elder Brother.” Or in other words, to be continued next week, same Bat time, same Bat Pulpit. Amen.