Were You Looking for Me?

Hey guess what, we have made it to the middle of the season of Lent. And in this season, you have either made a drastic change within your lifestyle, or maybe you decided to fast from something small, or maybe you took on a new challenge or maybe you didn’t notice anything at all. I'm not going to ask you what it was because there’s always someone waiting to say that’s a lie, they didn’t do anything. So instead of starting family arguments, let's just say you are doing well. Just save that conversation for the car ride home today.

Listen, I’m on your side. So, I promise I won’t ask any follow up questions. But why would I bring this up today? Because typically the hardest part through a journey is firmly in the middle, when the intentions are still there but the motivation is far from sight. Or what you intended to do was not what was seen in the outcome of your actions.

For example, in our youth group we have had discussions on a variety of topics during the year and most recently a conversation around fasting. If you asked them about it I think two out of 10 would give you a solid response to why we fast and what they gave up. The others I know for sure have already forgotten the conversation we had. It’s not that they were not there or involved in the discussion, rather I know the mind of teenagers really only holds space for the things that have the greatest impact on them.

So be kind to yourself if your Lenten journey does not look like what you intended. Offer grace to those around you, even if you see them eat that piece of cake when they were supposed to give up sweets for 40 days.

Now let’s take a deeper look at the scripture reading, let me explain a few things that helps to paint the picture that we are walking into. In this passage we find Jesus speaking in parables, which is very common to see within the Gospels. Now this particular chapter in Luke we begins with a bold statement from Jesus saying “ Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” These particular parables within this chapter came from Jesus as a response to the Pharisees.

The chapter begins with the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the 99 to find one lost sheep. Then we see the parable of the lost coin, where a woman has ten pieces of silver then loses one. Then we came to our passage this morning, the parable of the prodigal son. This is a story set in the time of Greco Roman culture. This is similar to the culture of the Old Testament.  Where the family honor is most important in society and even in higher regard than being wealthy.

Honor meant everything in this society, rooted in family identity and it is recognized by everyone within their society. Honor is inherited, cannot be bought and can be acquired. Also, this is a context where the father is the head of the household and what he decides the family must abide by or leave. Additionally, the head of household is a male and it is important to have male sons to carry on the family name. The elder son is the one who inherited the power and honor after the father dies.

Another way of understanding this parable is understanding power. Let talk about power. Do you know what it feels like to have power? Do you perceive power to be this badge of honor? Do you think that power is only given to certain people? Is there enough power to go around? Power is authority, the warrant or right to do something.

Often in this passage we are focused on the father and the ways in which he cares for his son who he perceives to be lost. Today we will focus on the life of the children and not just one child but both. Taking a deeper look at both sides of the same story. 

So, after understanding these various parts of their context, we can immediately tell that this request made by the younger son in verse 11 would be strange. What would be going through the mind of this child that he would ask for his inheritance? The mind of a child that perceives that he is ready for more than he should be, can play tricks on him. Not only is he asking for an inheritance, he is asking at a time that he does not deserve it, nor has he earned anything and his father is still alive. This son perceives that he holds power over his father when asking for this and believes that he can use that same power to do what he wants when he leaves.

Listen, we as humans make decisions that we have not thought through, nor is it a decision we are ready for. Often in life we believe we make our own timelines and think God will simply go along with it because we have a plan. Or we decide that we have done enough for God and now we are focused on what we can do for ourselves. So, we decide we can take what we have, ask God for just a little more and never look back at where we came from.

Yet the younger son soon realized that his own foolish plan was nothing more than selfish ambition. In verses 14 through 16, the younger son had gone through all he had, there was a famine, he hired himself out and thought he was close to death. I bet if we can take a look at some of the decisions, we have made in life we can see the times when our own foolish plans did not go well. We wanted to control everything and instead we are left with situations far beyond what we had imagined with no chance of us making it better.

After the younger son begins to understand what is at stake, which is his life, he remembers the one who cares for him so well. He remembers that his father has not only cared for him well, but he also cared for everyone under his care even if they were hired servants. Like the younger son we have all had situations where we realized that there is much more at stake than we anticipated. Some situations can be life threatening and other situations lead to different kinds of loss. And in most cases, we remember the people who committed to caring for us.

After his realization the younger son knows that he cannot simply apologize and move forward. Instead he knows that he must plead his case to his father. In this context the son took from his father and left. I use these words specifically because he really had no intentions of coming back and when he did, he realized the severity of his decisions. Decisions are hard to make and even harder to make up for. This son realized the error in his ways and some people never have that realization. We are told by many people, including parents, that when you make a decision you have to stand by it and deal with the consequences. He dealt with his consequences and understood that he could not deal with those consequences alone, so he returned to what he knew as home.

We can fast forward through the story because we know his father’s reaction and how it meant so much to him. But there was someone else who had an issue with what had just happened. The older brother is his father’s right-hand man. He’s been obedient, he’s been around the entire time and he knew that he should be the center of attention. I bring this portion of the passage to our attention because just like his younger brother he had his own selfish ambitions.

 Initially, one would ask themselves why a sibling would not be happy when the other returned? Why wouldn’t you want to celebrate? At first glance, being an older sibling myself I would think that I would be happy. My mother is here today and I think she can tell you that 90% of the time I am very supportive of my siblings even when I think they are making poor life choices.

Well in this context loyalty means a lot and to watch your sibling selfishly leave the family would have created hard feelings. These feelings created a sense of pride in the older brother. This pride lead to the cause of more friction. He assumed that he is due everything because he has been obedient, and nothing should stand in the way of him not even a sibling.

Two sides of the same story. Two brothers each imagining the grass greener on the other side. Two dangerous ways to forget who is in charge. The younger brother thought he had a plan, he thought he knew what he would do, where he would go and he wasn’t looking back to see what he left behind. The older brother thought he knew how the story would end, he thought he was in charge and tricked himself into thinking that if I just do what you want now I can have whatever I want later. Some people will say well at least I’m not lost.

Okay, now here’s where I want you to really pay attention. Why would I go through all of this explanation to save the good stuff for the end? To make sure you were paying attention of course, but to let you see how much this on the surface can distract us from what is right in front of us.

First, Jesus always chooses to engage with the scribes and Pharisees through parables. I think it’s because that assume they know the law so well, no one can tell them otherwise which always leads to their downfall. Jesus is responding to them because they have a habit of forgetting anyone who does not fit their personal criteria. If someone is poor, or ill, or different, or sinful then they do not give them any of their time.

In the parable of the prodigal son, we find two children asking, “were you looking for me?” Not because they have been lost but because they wanted to be seen. Were you looking for me, it becomes more of a cry for help, did you see me when I was working, did you see me when I was in trouble, did you see me? The younger son makes decisions that bring dishonor to his family, while the older brother accuses his father of misusing his power because he was merciful. The pharisees and scribes misuse their power daily and assume because they are in a position of honor, they hold power over everyone.

Second, Jesus uses the parable to describe the wideness of God’s love. This love is so deep, so wide, so merciful, so graceful that no one determines who receives it because all are welcome. Because behind the parable of the prodigal son lies a vision of the vastness and depth of the love, grace, compassion and justice of God.

The God of this passage helps us understand that God is not watching us to keep check marks of what we have done, how we have lived or how much better we perceive we are than the next. Rather God is concerned with what is in the heart and how we work through this journey. The father in this passage has looked beyond the mistakes that were made and loved each child where they were. That same God is loving on each and every one of us today.

Lastly it’s a warning, to every scribe and Pharisee that their behavior leads down detrimental paths. They may find themselves in places they don’t want to be. And Jesus is asking them will they welcome the sinner home? Will the welcome the stranger in need? Will you offer grace and compassion before judgement?

In society today we are watching the same parable unfold in front of us. The pharisees and scribes are removing access to food, health care and education from the communities that they deemed unworthy. The pharisees and scribes perceive they have the power to control everyone else, misusing influence to determine who is in and who is out. The Pharisees and scribes are not looking for anyone and instead just looking for the things they need. The prodigal children have left believing they are untouchable, that no one can stand in their way. The prodigal children have decided that respect and loyalty are no longer good enough. The prodigal children have ravaged the resources and limited who can receive anything. The older siblings are not saying anything when they witness injustice. The older siblings are angry that nothing has happened to the prodigal children and that they receive forgiveness so easily.

But even beneath all the troubles us still lies the vision of the vastness and depth of the love, grace, compassion and justice of God. At the bottom this is still a place where compassion and justice can be found.

This season of life is a journey. One that has started in ways that we could never have expected and sure to end in ways we will never be able to imagine. Let’s not get to the middle and forget what we are fighting for. Let’s not get the middle and see that the impact of our intentions cannot be corrected. Let’s not get to the middle and decide not to turn back. Jesus uses his time wisely during the season of Lent to prepare everyone for his death and resurrection. Even the ones who would never listen to him.

Will you welcome the stranger? Will you open your doors to a neighbor without a home? Will you lend a hand to a neighbor who is ill? Will you welcome the sinner? Will you forgive, like the father forgives his son? Will you show the world the depth of god’s grace and love? Will you?

Prayer…