Pastor's Message
4th Sunday of Lent
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Luke 15:18
In the Gospel Reading today, Jesus speaks lovingly of a father, who out of love is, in a look out, for you and me, sure of our return home, so that he would welcome us with a loving embrace.
The “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” also called by some, “The Parable of the two Brothers,” “The Parable of the Son who remained home,” has been called by others, “The Parable of the Good Father.”
The Parable begins with the younger son asking his father for his share of inheritance. The implication being, that the son could not wait for his father to die in order to receive his part. The Father complied without hesitation; giving the younger son his portion of inheritance. The Father left the younger son, to the dominion of his will.
Upon receiving the inheritance, the son travelled to a distance country; where “he squandered his property in dissolute living.” Scriptures tell us that, after he had spent everything, a famine occurred where he was, putting the younger son in dare need; He took a job, that for a Jew was unthinkable; he became pig herder. The younger son hit the bottom of his life, envying the pigs and wished he would eat their Food. In his desolation, however, a miracle was happening; slowly. He remembered the care and love of his Father. “I will get up and go to my Father, and I will tell him, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.’
The younger son had scooped life out of himself; he had scraped off his identity to the point that he was an empty shell; nothing was left! His humanity, his dignity, his self esteem was in a desperate need of recharge! He hungered for the love and provision of his father. To survive, he rose, to return to his father.
While he was still far off, the father saw him, and moved by love and compassion, ran to meet him, embraced and kissed him. The Father was always certain of his Son’s return, so he was on a look out. His love and mercy consumed him. The Prodigal Son, in his selfishness, returned home to the experience of the warmth of his Father’s Love, Mercy and Forgivingness. He was welcomed to a feast; experiencing yet again the incredible generosity of his Father.
There is another side of the Parable that is often overlooked. A closer look at the Gospel, we realize, to whom the Parable was addressed. The Gospel begins; “All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And The Pharisees and the Scribes were grumbling and saying, “this fellow, welcomes sinners and eats with them;” So, Jesus told them a Parable.
The Parable was told for the Pharisees and the Scribes; Those who thought themselves right with the Lord and judged every one else. It’s right to say that, the Parable was about the Elder Brother, who was always in the Presence of his Loving Father. The trouble was, it looked, he was not aware of the Privilege. He never let himself experience the Love of his Father; and the joy of being at home was foreign to him. His relationship with the Father was legalistic one; “For all these years I have been working for you as a slave.” His obedience to his Father had made him inwardly bitter. At his return home from the field and on hearing that his brother had returned home to a feasting; “He became angry and refused to go in.”
He needed the journey of transformation like his younger brother: A journey enabling him to discover and experience his Father, not legalistically but to as a Loving Father.
The Loving Father reveals to have understood of his elder son call for justice; “Son, you are always with me, and what I have is yours.” However, his Love and Mercy for a lost Son, had to prevail; “We had to celebrate and rejoice ... because your brother has come to life.”
The Parable breaks off here; it does not tell us how the Elder Brother’s reacted to this Revelation of the Father.
