The gospel lesson for the fourth Sunday in Lent:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable: 11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
The parable of the prodigal son can provide much for us to talk about and think about. Our first Bible Study for the season of Lent held in the pastor’s office was as simple as reading through the parable and discussing the applications for our lives that it teaches, including the state of lostness of the son, the unconditional love of the Father, and the resentment of the older brother. Now here in the fourth Sunday of Lent, we have this same parable as our gospel lesson. A reading specifically chosen by the lectionary to lead and inform our worship here in the heart of Lent.
Jesus is present with us in worship, and as we meditate on the gospel lesson, his nearness to us is especially important. Life in this fallen world has been difficult for us as of late, we see it all around us. We need the nearness of Jesus found in his Word.
I have introduced the theme of targeting the false idols of our world, and the false idol of “Above all I just want to be happy” How fitting this parable is in addressing the lostness that comes from seeking personal happiness instead of the joy of the Lord.
Lostness. The younger son went to a far away country, and he was lost already before he left. He left his family, his faith, his identity as a child of God. The moment he planned in his heart to ask his father prematurely for his share of the inheritance- he was already lost. Why did Jesus give these details about the son leaving in this public manner and living in a far away country and losing everything on reckless living?
Is this not the state of our lives when we live in a reckless indulgence of our sins? Sin separates us from God, so that we depart from who He created us to be. When sin takes ahold of us enough, the result is Lostness. When you are living in a state of lostness, it is like you are in a far away country.
Living to serve our sin can be a shocking turn of events where who you are is no longer the same. In a state of lostness things have changed and you cannot recognize who you are in the mirror in the same way, and you cannot picture how good things like your self image and your reputation could possibly go back to where they were in the first place.
Lostness is an exceedingly lonely state, because when you are lost in sin, you may feel you cannot connect with anyone else, or you may preemptively shut others out and think they will just condemn you for your sin and cast you out. Lostness is indeed like leaving home, and seeing no way to ever find your way back.
Another cause of loneliness is when your sin puts you in the frame of mind that you are higher than others. Resentment and envy bring lostness. When we are focused on what others have or what others have done to us, we experience a unique type of lostness because we can become consumed with the focus on others and lose focus on what God is doing through us in Christ.
Henri Nouwen writes in his reflection on the prodigal son:
“Discipline is the human effort to create the space in which God can be generous and give you what you need. When you are fearful, worried or anxious, you want to control your life and hold onto the reigns. You want to do it your own way, whether its like the younger son or its like the older son. The practice of discipline is to let the Father touch you, let the Father forgive you, let the Father receive you. And for that you need to be available; you have to be home. You have to have an address if you want to be addressed.”
It seems Nouwen knew firsthand that the desire of our human nature to take control over things apart from the Lord is a sin that takes us away from our home as God’s people. He goes on to write:
“The first discipline is listening. The word listening in Latin is audire And if you listen with great attention the words are ob audire. That is the word for “obedience.” The word obedience means listening.
If you are not listening you are deaf. The Latin word for deaf is surdus, and if you’re actually deaf ab surdus. The absurd life is a life in which you’re not listening. An obedient life is a life in which you are listening.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we are not listening to God’s Word, are we not in a state of lostness, going our own way in an absurd and tragic manner? Are we not far from home, even if we are still living right at home?
It seems almost too easy to become lost. However, the Lord does not give up on us in our state of lostness. When we feel we are separated from everyone else, our Lord Jesus who for our sake himself assumed the loneliest journey, far from home on the cross, our Lord Jesus seeks after us when we are lost.
There has been talk in the news about how with the war in the Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin of Russia needs to have an off ramp that Western countries can offer, where he could save face and gain some concessions and agree to end the occupation. Without an off ramp, the prospect is for more and more of a needless war.
Without an off ramp in our lives, we could dig our heels in and stay at war with God, in our pursuit of sin, in our pride or in our anger, our refusal to back down.
Jesus gives us this off ramp from our state of lostness. He forgives and restores us when we are lost. And there is no need for us to worry about saving face. Before the Lord, our repentance is always welcome, and our repentance never makes us look weak or puts our social political standing in jeopardy.
God’s Word works in our hearts and brings us to repentance. When we are in a state of lostness, the sweet relief of our return- it is the Lord’s work. And this is a good thing, because it means we are in good hands. This is the Father’s provision for us, to bring us back home.
Think about what is the belonging that we have, what do we take for granted about our community in Christ? What is the homecoming that we can find here in the body of Christ at Christ Lutheran? To be at home here in God’s kingdom is to be like the younger son embraced by the Father with celebration and dancing.
There may not be a party every time we come into church. There may not be the most expensive food and entertainment as in the parable, but there is still celebration in heaven as we come before the Lord in faith and in hope.
Our Lord rejoices to see us turn to Him in faith, our Lord is glad to see us listen to words of absolution and hear the scripture read, sing hymns, listen to sermons, and take into our bodies the body and blood of Our Savior. Time after time Our Lord rejoices to welcome us home.
And now we may follow the example of our Heavenly Father who runs to meet us and embraces us with forgiveness and love. We may follow the example of our God as we
We welcome others back home. May we see that those who are lost are really no different than we have all been at one time or another in our lives! We can relate to the lost with the reservoir of hope and joy that the Father has shown to us.
Above all else it is not to be happy that is best, but above all else to be at home with our Heavenly Father, to be safe and delighted with the Son’s embrace, to be inspired and lifted up with the Spirit’s Power! Above all else, I want to be home with the Lord.