The Prodigal Son -- Luke 15:11-24

There are a jumble of emotions when families experience turmoil. Sometimes, the turmoil is the fault of one or both parents; sometimes, it’s one of the children. Each family has hopes and dreams, and sometimes the hopes and dreams are not communicated adequately. Sometimes, the hopes and dreams were always unattainable.

The trouble with families is that each family is made of individuals, and each of these individuals has their own hopes and dreams that they want to realize for themselves. Many times, in a family, the hopes and dreams work together; other times, they are diametrically opposed, resulting in conflict, confusion and disappointment. We expect things of each other, and inevitably, we fall short of expectations.

In the passage we look at today, we see a family in the deepest of turmoil. How the family deals with the turmoil brings a lesson to all of us, not just of family, but of our own relationship with God.

Background

This passage is the third of three parables Jesus uses to teach others about the lengths that God will go to in order to bring one who is lost to Him. The first parable tells of a shepherd who discovers a missing sheep from his flock, and the efforts he goes to to find the lost sheep. The second parable is one of a poor woman who turns her house upside down in order to find her lost coin.

In both parables, Jesus emphasizes the extent of the searches and the willingness of the seeker to discover the whereabouts of that which is lost, and how, having recovered the lost one, the celebrations take place and the joy that is present in the lives of the seekers.

In this third parable, one with which we are so familiar, Jesus reverses the trend of the tale. Instead of one being lost and others going to find him, we find the lost one coming to his own senses and seeking out those he wronged. In this parable, Jesus shows us not just that the lost can be redeemed, but He also shows us that the Father rejoices in the redemption of the lost.

Central Truth: God’s love for us extends beyond our wildest imaginings.

The Prodigal’s choices:

1. “Give me my inheritance” (11-12)

The parable begins with a brief description of the family: A father and two sons. Jesus doesn’t go into the dynamics or the details of the family. He doesn’t say how old the boys are, how the age difference between the sons. Though we gather from the parable that the family has some wealth, we are not told how much wealth or anything else about the family business. All we really know is that a man of means has two sons. And one of the sons is not happy.

The younger son demands his share of the estate. Does he mean half of his father’s wealth, or a third? Does he mean the net worth, or the gross? We don’t know how long this conversation took place, or really even the reason it took place. All we know is that the father agreed to the son’s request/demand, and divided the estate evenly.

A question that needs to be answered is the underlying “why” of the son’s request. My son and I once had a discussion on the matter. Stephen’s take on it was that the son simply wanted a money. I told him that the son’s request was a form of rejecting the father. More than likely, it was a little bit of both. There are undertones of frustration, greed, anger, resentment. From the older brother’s reaction to the younger one’s return, there seems to be some type of conflict between the two brothers as well.

Regardless of the reasons for the younger son’s request/demand, it says something that the father was willing to do it. All the Bible says is that he “divided the property between them.” Again, that doesn’t say whether the estate was halved or if the younger son only got a third, but one thing is certain. After all was said and done, the younger son now had more money than he had ever had in his life. And it wasn’t long before the son did the inevitable thing.

He left.

1. “Eat, drink and be merry” (13-16)

There are two parts to these three verses. The first verse, v. 13, tells a story of the younger son’s dreams coming true. He left that backward town his family called home, leaving it in the rearview mirror with no plans to ever see it again. He headed to a distant city, far from his family’s influence and name, and set himself up as his own man. He had money, and money allows you to buy things.

The verse only says he squandered his money on wild living. I can just see it. He comes into town and the first thing he does when he gets off the bus is find a store that sells the finest clothes. Soon, he’s appropriately decked out with the latest style; now it’s on to the car dealership. There, he buys a shiniest sports car that screams of wealth and power and style. He drives it to the nearest realtor’s office, where he is quickly shown the finest condos in the city. He has to be in the middle of all the action, so, of course, his home must be there as well.

Having purchased the bare necessities, now it’s time to eat. He goes to one of the more posh restaurants in town and orders the finest meal. It doesn’t take long before the young man in the stylish clothes, fancy car, modern condo and able to eat at the finest places begins to attract the attention of young people of like tastes and practices. Especially the young ladies. So many of them now, all wanting to be his friends and lovers. Indeed, it is everything he dreamed of.

In C.S. Lewis’s book, “Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” a ship from Narnia is on a quest to find some knights that had sailed off on their own quest but never returned. As the ship sails along, it comes to an island that is shrouded in darkness. As the ship draws closer to this mysterious island, they discover an older person on a raft. It turns out to be one of the missing knights. He tells them they are heading to an island where all men’s dreams come true. At first, the crew is eager to go to the island. But the knight warns them, “It is an island where all your dreams come true.” As the words sink in, the eager looks of the sailors turn to dread and fear, and soon the sailors are rowing as fast as they can from the terrible island.

I think of that as I consider the younger son’s dreams, and the next three verses we just read. There must have come a time when the young man was at a fine restaurant with all his good friends. The time comes to pay for the meal and he hands the waiter his debit card, like he had so many times in the past. He didn’t think anything more about it until the waiter informs him his card was declined. Those nearest to the man overhear the words, and they quickly remember they have to be somewhere else. Quickly, the table is deserted, and the young man is left to find a way to pay for the meal.

With his account empty, he can’t afford the gas for his fancy car, or the rent on his fancy condo. He trades down the car for something more practical, and the money he got for the sale of his sports car is used to stay in the condo for a month or two more. Realizing that play time is over, he begins to look for work.

The problem is, he has no marketable skills. All he ever really knew is what he learned at his father’s house, which was farming and tending animals. And so it comes to this. The flashy young man with all the money in the world is reduced to working on a farm as a hired hand. Gone are the fancy clothes, the car, the condo, the restaurants, the friends. He’s alone in a distant land, tending pigs. It’s significant, I think, that the Bible tells us he looked at the pig’s food with yearning, wishing he could eat what they were eating, but “no one gave him anything.”

1. “I have sinned against heaven and against you” (17-20a)

When all you have to do is watch over a herd of pigs, you have time to think. And when you have time to think, you begin to reflect. When you reflect, you begin to look back on the choices you made and how you got to where you are today. As the younger son looked back on his choices, he must have realized he was a bigger fool than he ever guessed he could be.

The Bible says he came to his senses. Having lost all that he once held so dear, now he lets go of the last shred of his pride. He realizes that the best thing he can do is return to his father’s house. Imagining the reaction he will get, he decides to return and ask for a job. He doesn’t expect to be treated as a son; he realizes that he doesn’t deserve to be treated as a son. And so, he resolves to go back, back to that backward old town, back to that oppressive house and there beg his father to let him return, not as a son, but as a servant. He will be grateful for that.

And so he begins the long walk home. As he walks, he remembers life at home—what he had, what he threw away. He rehearses his speech, working it, honing it, so that by the time he gets there, he is ready to speak his heart to his father. “I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” He knows that his dad is a good man, and maybe he will let the younger son return as a hired man. That will be good enough for the hungry, tired, broken man that had once had it all.

The first line of v. 20 tells it all: “So he got up and went to his father.”

The Father’s response (20b-24)

Who knows how many days the son took to get back to his father’s house? Who knows what the journey consisted of? How did he eat? How often did he eat? What did he eat? More than likely, he lived like a homeless man, sleeping where he could, begging for items, perhaps stealing when he got desperate. But one thing stood out to him, more than anything—he needed to get home. It was there he would find his salvation.

The Bible tells us of the day the son finally made that last turn on the road to his father’s house. It doesn’t say whether the father was anxiously looking for his son or whether he simply glanced up while out in the fields with his hands. All we know for sure is that, while the son was still a long way off, the father saw his son.

I’m reminded of the scene from “Gone with the Wind” when Melanie, Scarlett and a few other women at outside the house. They see a vagabond Confederate soldier at the gate. It’s clear from his walk and his appearance that he has had a long, hard journey. At first, they assume he needed some water and food. But then they look closer. Something about this particular soldier looks familiar. They stare, and suddenly, recognition comes to their faces. It’s Ashley. Immediately, Melanie jumps up and runs to her husband. Scarlett is stayed by the hand of Mammy. The joyful reunion takes place between a man and the wife who was never sure if she’d ever see him again.

That’s what it must have been like for the father. He sees the beggar coming up the road, but something about this beggar is different, familiar. It dawns on him—he’s my son! All dignity is gone as the father begins running toward the shuffling figure of a man who looks older than he should—weathered, beaten, sagging shoulders, clothes now barely more than rags hanging from the gaunt figure. The father doesn’t see that, or if he does, he takes no notice. It’s his son, come home, alive.

As the father reaches his son, he throws his arms around the boy, embracing him in a hug that tried to convey everything that the father was feeling. The son, who has practiced this speech many times as he walked the long road home, begins to speak.

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” There was more to the speech, but the father cut him off.

The son may have felt he was no longer worthy to be a son, but that wasn’t his decision. The father’s instructions to the servants is clear: My son has returned, and it is cause for celebration.

It’s important to note here that the father had no idea if the son was back to stay. Clearly, from his appearance, things had not gone well for the son. But that doesn’t mean the son intended to stay for good. Nevertheless, the father knew there would be plenty of time to discuss the future. Now, we celebrate the present reality—my son has come home! He was dead, but he is alive again. He was lost, but now he is found.

The words of the father are but a faint echo of the words of our heavenly Father when we come to realize the need for repentance, the need to return home. There are times we sin. All the time, we sin. Yet the Father still loves us, still cares for us, still thinks of us as His children. No matter what we do or where we go, no matter how much we wander astray, that relationship is never broken. It is not up to us to determine whether we are worthy to be called a child of God. We may feel unworthy; we may believe it in the depths of our hearts. But that is not our call. It is the Father’s alone, and He see His wayward child returning to the fold. There is cause for celebration.

This realization does not give us a blank check to indulge in a sinful life, a life of wild living. As His children, it is our spiritual inclination to walk in His ways, to follow His guidance. But on those occasions when we falter, when we fail, remember. We can always come home.

Conclusion

My mom’s side of the family is preparing for a reunion on Mother’s Day weekend. It looks like almost everyone will be there. I was talking with Melissa, and she asked me if I was excited about the reunion. To be honest, I have mixed feelings. I love my family, and I look forward to seeing everyone again. But the reality is the time with each person will be short, and most of us will fall into visiting with our own smaller families. It will be nice, but excited? Meh.

Families can be difficult. Different people, different viewpoints, different agendas. Sometimes, even the most loving of families may feel they need to take a long break from each other.

Still, there is something about family that reassures, that comforts, that draws us to each other. We know one another. We share a common story. We are family. We are home. No matter how far we may wander, if we really want to, we can always go home to our Father.

He’ll be waiting for us.