March 21, 2004; The Fourth Sunday in Lent Readings: Joshua 5:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:11-32; Psalm 34:1-8.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Refusing To Go In The parable of the Prodigal Son is a story of grace that calls us back from a distant land. Jesus invites us to delve into its many layers of meaning. This is the third parable in a series Jesus tells in answer to a challenge. The scribes Pharisees are giving Jesus a hard time. They call into question his choice of companions. At the beginning of chapter 15, we hear the scribes and Pharisees say, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." You can hear the contempt—the judgment of both Jesus and those whom he welcomes. In response to this condemning statement, Jesus tells them the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal Son. These parables are told in response to people who condemn others but are blind to their own need of forgiveness. Knowing this context can aid us as we consider the layers of meaning in today’s parable. Often we focus on the son who demands his inheritance before his father dies—the younger of the two brothers. The Prodigal son not only goes and squanders the money on a sinful activities, he also breaks the commandment to honor his father simply by asking for the money. Normally, the inheritance would not be given until the father’s death. By demanding his share of his father’s wealth before his death, the son says that his father is already dead to him. The younger brother rejects his father, and all that his father has taught him. Then he came to himself. He came to his senses and returned home. He returned home hoping to be received as a servant by his father. In a shocking act of love, his father receives him as his son. In this parable, the father represents God. The father’s love and compassion for his son tell us about God’s love and compassion for all who are lost. So much can be said about the younger son and the father. We could examine what it means to turn from God as the Prodigal does. We could discuss the experience of "coming to one’s senses." Many sermons can be given about the nature of God’s loving response to the Prodigal. There is so much to consider in verses 11-24, that we could miss what is happening with the elder son. The younger son was certainly lost, so obviously committing sin after sin. His lustful appetites could not be satisfied. His sins are sometimes referred to as sins of the flesh. As serious as his sins were, sins of the flesh are often easier to spot than what are called sins of the spirit. Remember, Jesus was telling this parable in response to the self-righteousness religious leaders of his day. In addition to explaining that God seeks the lost, Jesus was also expanding the definition of the lost—of who the lost are and what it means to sin. The elder brother was also wandering in a distant county. From his story, we can see that even a hardworking and respectable person can miss the point. Now the elder brother was not all wrong. In fact, he was right on many points. It was true that he had been working for his father all those years. It was true that he and never disobeyed his father. It was true that the younger son devour the father’s property. All this was true. It fascinates me that one can be right about so much of the story, and yet still miss the point entirely. The point being that something new was happening that was cause for celebration. The younger brother was back. He was still the brother who had done all those bad things. The elder brother was right, but he was missing the point. The elder brother was caught up in anger, resentment, jealously, and pride. Such sins are often less obvious than sins of the flesh but no less serious. These sins of the spirit kept him from the celebration. He was angry and he refused to go in. He refused to go into the place of love and forgiveness. He refused to participate the life of the family that he himself claimed to represent better than his brother. It did not seem fair or right to the elder brother—he had worked faithfully all those years, shouldn’t he get a party and the fatted calf. And by the standards of the world, perhaps it was not fair. God’s love, however, cannot be understood by using the world’s standards. God’s will for us, and for our life together, should not be understood based on our culture, but, rather, it should be understood based on what we know of God’s kingdom. This parable cautions us against passing judgment even when we believe that we know the whole story. We can know the whole human story, and forget the divine story. The divine story as express in the parable of the Prodigal Son is the story of grace. The elder brother refused to go into the place of grace, and he only hurt himself. God loves the lost. This was the mystery that did not make sense to the religious leaders. After all, doesn’t God love the ones who always follow the rules? Doesn’t God love the ones who go to worship and know all the prayers? Doesn’t God love the ones who study the scripture and seek to live it everyday? Yes, God does love these people, and God loves the lost; it is not an either or situation. Even more to the point, those who follow the rules, know the prayers, and study the scripture, can find also themselves wandering in a distant country. The temptations are different, but they are just as powerful and just as deadly for our souls. One travels to a distant country when self-righteous judgment that lacks compassion guides one’s thoughts, words and deeds. Jesus came to save us all from wandering in distant country. Jesus came to save us from spending our lives looking in the wrong places for what we already have—love, community, value. When we do go astray, God seeks us and welcomes us back with great joy. All we have to do is walk through the door and enter the celebration. Amen.