All the Love We Need!

The Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 25, 2001

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Based on Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Jesus often told parables to help people understand their relationship to God. The Prodigal Son is one such parable. That title, however, is not the right one, for the story is not about a son. It is about two sons and their relationship with their father. Even more, it is about a father who loved his two sons.

That is how the story begins. "There was a man who had two sons." It is the father's story, the story of his love and of his mercy. I suspect that as the story is read most of us tend to identify strongly with one of the two sons. That can keep us from understanding the depth of the story.

The younger son was hungry to see the world. He asked his father to settle the estate early. The father did so, and let his younger son go off on his own. The son was a spendthrift. He blew his inheritance. He loved life recklessly. And his reckless love of life took him about as low as anyone can get. It cut him off from all human relationships. He became less than human.

He is in a "gimme" stage of his life. He wants the future now. The world owes him a living. It is a very common way of feeling. I have heard people say that young people these days expect the world to be simply given to them. Advertisers make us feel as if we can have the future now. Isn't that what is behind things like "Freedom Fifty-five?" In fact the subtle message of advertising is that we have a right to the future now.

That’s not it at all," I can hear you saying. "He was just plain irresponsible!" But ask yourself, is it ever our story? Are there times when we love life recklessly? Do we cut ourselves off from being truly human? Certainly for some people it takes being as low as anyone could ever imagine being, before they can see their need to be in relationship to God. Some people only turn to God when they are in desperate circumstances.

Having sunk about as low as he could, the son returned to his home. He hoped that, by returning, he would be treated as a hired hand. But he had failed to understand how great his father's love for him was. Not until he was greeted as a beloved child did he come to that understand that love.

Some people drift away from the faith. As the family grows up, somehow they get out of the habit of going to church. They intend to go. They sometimes yearn for the sense of community that they once had. But at the same time, it seems impossible to go back. They feel unworthy. They do not feel as if they belong. They do not see themselves as beloved children. And so they stay away. That is somehow easier. For by staying away, one doesn't risk being rejected.

What of the father? Can you see him standing there by the window at the front of the house? He can hardly believe his eyes. He blinks, but it is real. It is his young son. In his haste to see him, he does not think about being dignified. He doesn’t worry about what the neighbours might think. He catches up his garments and runs to meet him. All he can think about is how much he has missed his son. How much he wants to hug him. How much he wants to talk to him. He pulls out all the stops. He dresses his son in fine clothing. He invites friends and neighbours in to celebrate. He prepares a wonderful banquet. He forgives him, totally, absolutely. He does not treat him as a hired hand, but as a beloved child.

As I talk to people about this passage, it seems that many people side with the older brother. How unfair the whole story is to him! Now I am the middle child of five, so I know what it is like to have younger siblings. The younger ones always seem to get away with murder. When I was a teenager I often baby-sat for the two younger ones. My brother was a constant problem. One day he got angry with me and threw his shoe at me. I ducked and it hit my mother's favourite fruit bowl. Even to this day it is "the fruit bowl which Ann broke", because I shouldn't have ducked. I must admit that I find it annoying after all these years to still be blamed for something I didn't do. And so, for their fiftieth wedding anniversary, I bought them a similar fruit bowl. My mother opened it and exclaimed, "That's just like the one you broke!"

I tell that story as explanation for the older brother's behaviour. Here the younger brother spends his inheritance having a good time while he has been taking care of the family business. Then when the younger child returns home, he gets all the attention. What about reaping what you sow? It just doesn't seem fair. Shouldn't he be paying for his sins instead of having a party?

The older brother asks for nothing. He wants nothing. He also enjoys nothing. He devotes himself to his father's service. He never disobeys. Yet he is selfish; he is the centre of his every thought. He reacts with jealousy. "This son of yours!" he says. His heart burns with resentment. Instead of deepening his relationship with his father, he had been measuring himself against his brother. He felt good because his brother was bad.

Do we have such feelings about the church? Here we are trying to serve God. Trying to do God's work. Then the homeless, the addicted, the downtrodden, the hopeless sinners, get all the attention. "If I hear one more sermon about domestic violence or abuse!" "Don’t preach at me?" "Where is the justice?" We ask. "Don't I deserve more?"

The father does not take sides. He loves both of his children. It has nothing to do with what either of them deserve. He just loves them. He loves them to distraction, both of them. He invites them into relationship with him. That is the end of the story. This is not a fairy tale, just real life. Does the older brother continue to isolate himself, or does he join in the festivities? We never find out from the story.

The question is how are you going to finish the story? How do you experience God's forgiveness? Are you the beloved child who nevertheless wonders how God could ever love you? Do you see yourself as unworthy of God's love? Or are you the child who, because of past hurts and anger refuses to come in to the celebration? Do you stand outside unable to accept God's love because it doesn't seem fair? God continues to invite us into relationship. It is an invitation to recognize the great love God has for us. It is up to each of us to decide whether we will stand outside all alone being right, or go inside to take our place with all the others – saints and sinners. May we know that we have a loving God, who refuses to give us the love we deserve but cannot be stopped from giving us the love we need! Amen.