Sermon for March 30, 2025: A Way Back based upon Luke 15:1–3, 11b–32

Luke 15:1–3, 11b–32 The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

So he told them this parable:
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 travelled 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.” ’

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     Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock calls this story “The Parable of the Loving Father.” It’s most often called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” with an emphasis on the return of the foolish son.  In his commentary on Luke, Craddock points out that the story doesn’t start with the son. It starts with the father: “There was a man who had two sons.” I noticed when reading it to prepare this sermon that the father has the last words in the parable, too: “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.” This probably means we need to pay attention to what he does first. What he does is love fiercely and joyfully.

     Today’s reading is the third in a series of parables about joyful recovering of that which is lost. Jesus tells these parables to a crowd that has come to hear him teach. The beginning of chapter 15 tells us that tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees and scribes were all a part of the crowd. This means that people who were understood to on the opposite ends of righteousness and respectability scales were all listening to Jesus at the same time and in the same place, along with everyone else in-between. Jesus decided to tell all of them about the joys of recovery of the lost.

     A quick note about who the tax collectors and sinners were. The tax collectors were hated because they were understood to be collaborators with Rome against their own nation and also people who used their power to steal extra money for their own gain. As to the term “sinners,”   Craddock argues that sinners is a specific term for people who are known in the community to not be following Jewish religious laws. According to Craddock, these folks’ flouting of the law was so widely known that they would not be welcome in the synagogue. It is not surprising that the Pharisees and scribes, people understood to be respectable community leaders, would be suspicious of Jesus hanging around with these kinds of people. Part of me wonders who needed to hear the parables of joyful return more: the people who knew they were living outside of the covenant with God or the people who weren’t sure that there was a path of return for them.

     The first two parables are about a shepherd who sought out his one lost sheep and a woman who turned her house upside down to find an important coin. In both of those stories, the response of the seeker is to celebrate finding the lost. The third parable, today’s reading, has a party for the lost, too. In this story, there’s a father who loves his son who makes bad choices and there’s the son who realizes he made a mistake and wants to come home. There’s a third figure in the third parable: another son, a good son, a pharisee and scribe kind of son. And, his feelings about his brother’s return need to be addressed, too. What gift does their father give him?

     A very smart colleague of mine, the Rev. Dr. EC Heath, once preached a sermon on this scripture that is one of my favorite sermons about this story. In their sermon, Dr. Heath noted that so many times when they’ve heard this sermon preached, it’s not been a sermon about the prodigal who comes back but about the annoyed son who had stayed and been responsible. Dr. Heath wondered in their sermon if this response says more about the kind of churches that they have found themselves in than it does the actual scripture.

     Those churches have been filled with responsible, stable people... people who try hard, and often succeed, in living up to the best values of their faith. They are Pharisees and scribes in the best possible sense... they are people invested in living lives that reflect their commitments to God and to their families. And, they’ve been trying hard for a long time. They feel like part of their call is to be responsible. And, when you try to be responsible, to not disappoint your family or you church or your God, when you’ve mostly tried to do the right thing, it can really hurt when someone who has not tried so hard gets celebrated or gets centered in a story. Jesus knew that. But, he also knew that his ministry is not just to the responsible and the upright. His ministry, and God’s love, is for the lost and the cast out.

     We know that different people hear different things in Jesus’ stories. I think the message for the respectable people who are grumbling about the presence of sinners is probably one about helping people find a way back. The respectable people of Jesus’ time, and our time, too, need to tend to our resentments and our suspicions if we’re really going to engage with Jesus’ ministry. If you are someone who has generally been understood to be right and righteous, it matters that you know Jesus makes space for those who have been called wrong.

     Dr. Craddock points out something in his commentary that is worth remembering. Notice that the father in this story crosses his threshold twice. Twice, he goes to a son and reiterates his love and care for that son. Most of the time, we just talk about the way he rushes forward and embraces his younger, desperate, and often foolish son, the son who has come home hoping for little more than the station of a slave. We talk, in wonder and befuddlement, about his great grace in welcoming this son home. Because this son was lost. In the same way that the shepherd celebrates finding the lost sheep and the woman the lost coin celebrates find it, the father must go to lost son and throw a party to welcome him home. But, he doesn’t stop there. He crosses again, to the second, to help him learn something about joy.

     The father doesn’t let him stay outside, fuming, while the party goes on without him. Just as the first part of the, the generous father leaves his home and goes to his child. He pleads for him to come inside. He takes the brunt of the responsible one’s anger, listening when he shares his frustration at how he had always worked, even comparing himself to a slave who never feels appreciated for his steadfastness. We don’t know if the father never really expressed gratitude or if the responsible son was super entitled. What we do know is that there is a rupture now, in this moment. And, the generous father wants to repair. He’s showing this son a way back, too.

     He goes to his son and says, “you are always with me,” a statement that says as much about the depth of their bond as it does about the elder son’s individual choice to stay, and then he says, “all that is mine is yours,” affirming that he will honor his responsibility to his eldest while also noting that what he has would be impossible without his son’s work. In this lovely bit of mending, the father tells his responsible son that he sees him and appreciates him. This moment isn’t just about the elder son. It’s about the elder and the younger. Their father can love them both.

     In her commentary on this text, Amanda Brobst-Renaud states, the father cannot imagine a celebration without both his sons. On a night that was about celebrating restoration, both the elder and the younger needed to be present. Celebration is not just for the ones who have never strayed. It is for the ones who have come home. This celebration could have never happened had the elder son not worked so hard to help his father flourish in the younger son’s absence. The celebration literally could not have happened without him. He should be there to enjoy it and reconnect with his brother. Because the elder son lost something when the younger left, too.

     The celebrations in all three parables seem extravagant, maybe even foolish, particularly the celebration in the third. Why have a party for a man who hasn’t proven that he’s going to change? Why would Jesus, who was living in a time of increasing tension, take time out to preach a good word to both the sinners and the righteous? I think especially in times when danger is ramping up and when powerful people benefit from keeping everyone else isolated from each other, Jesus knew that he needed to make time to teach about grace, restoration and celebration. Craddock points out that this parable continues to challenge listeners 2000 years later, in part, because we’ve been taught that “there must be losers if there are winners.” If the younger son is celebrated, it must mean that the elder has been forgotten.

     There’s been a quote going around for a while that says: “Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It’s not pie.” That might be the fundamental message of this parable. Christ’s love for the sinners doesn’t mean less love for the scribes. It’s not pie. It is the task, then, of our current body of Christ to love so boldly as he did, not hoarding away our welcome and care for those whom it is easy to love. May we not hesitate to celebrate restoration. May we work to mend broken relationships. May we never forget that Christ has offered us a way back. May we welcome all manner of people to walk alongside us on it.

Resources:
​Amanda Renaud-Brobst: https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3992
EC Heath: https://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2016-03/enough-about-other-brother?fbclid=IwAR1kwvrh_qNk3iQMHqxrCSf4rlmNQ3glnHpSajFeqrbMZzSyR6NMTAGgpqs
​Fred Craddock, Luke (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press: 1990)