There Was A Man Who Had Two Sons

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Who doesn’t like a good story of redemption? Stories of people who have lost it all, been trod under by humanity at large; been addicts, boozers or whores; a thief, an adulterer, a publican, a tax collector, a prostitute or a prodigal and then by the grace of God have been restored. Angels sing, orchestras swell, and a tear forms in our eye as the words I once was lost but now am found echo through the canyons of our minds: Twas grace that brought me safe this far and grace will lead me home.

  The more massive the sin, the more horrendous the act, the sweeter that voyage home is – and the Prodigal Son certainly is no disappointment. He walked out of his home, walked out on his father, leaving his virtue, humility and godliness at the farm gate.

 

He whored with the best of them.

He swore with the best of them.

He gambled with the best of them.

He drank with the best of them.

 

If there was ever a man who set about to systematically destroy each and every baptismal grace found within him, to leave absolutely no sin unturned, to join himself with swindlers, liars and thieves, the Prodigal Son was that man.

 

But as forgetfulness replaces faithfulness…

a son becomes a day laborer…

a rich man becomes a beggar…

a man who refused to be a son is now the slave of an alien…

a man who would not dwell in his father’s homes now lives among fools and idiots…

a man who would not associate himself with his family now becomes the attendant of swine…

a man who refused the table of his father now finds himself eating husks from a hog trough…

If ever there was a man…the Prodigal Son was that man.

But he doesn’t lie naked in the hog pen; he doesn’t starve to death; he isn’t trampled to death by the hogs, he pulls himself up onto his naked knees as he decides to repent—and we all cheer.

His father receives him, in fact runs out to greet him—and we all cheer.

His father hugs him, weeps over him and cries with a loud to heaven This my son was dead, and is now alive—  and we all cheer.

 

His father gives him a ring—and suddenly the cheers aren’t quite so loud.

His father gives him a robe—and suddenly the cheers have become a sort of scattered applause.

His father kills a calf and prepares a feast for him—and suddenly silence fills the room.

The angels are silent.

The orchestra has stopped.

Tears have dried up.

And suddenly grace isn’t quite so sweet.

We all love a penitent, we all rejoice over the “one”…except that is, when we believe he or she is being treated better than we are.

We all love a penitent…except when the master decides to pay those who come to work at the eleventh hour the same as those who have been working since dawn.

We all love a penitent…except when we’ve no robe, no ring, and no feast.

Suddenly the words He or she once was lost but now is found are replaced by This man receives sinners AND eats with them!

And what great offense had the father in the parable committed? What was his unforgivable sin?

Mercy.

Compassion.

Love.

A forgiveness that knew no limits.

And how can mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness condemn a man? When he demonstrates those virtues toward the most profligate of prodigals.

Because you see it isn’t right, it isn’t fair, that someone who has been such an absolute jerk toward his father should now have a sort of death-bed conversion, be welcomed back into your home, by your father, while you, who have never whored or swore in your life; you who have been the perfect son or daughter fade into the background.

There’s been no retribution, no easing back into the family, no conversation with you, no one asked you how you felt, no punishment meted out by your father – all that’s happened is repentance!

But what son or daughter living in the father’s house has not sinned?

You point to what your father did in welcoming back a brother or sister without even realizing it as a sin of envy and jealousy, a violation of the eighth commandment, while at the same time beating your chests and professing your self-righteousness!

 

You forget that it is God’s grace to give and God sees fit—

–that God does heal the soul sick

–that he does raise the fallen

–that he does steady those who stumble

–that he does bring back those who wander

–that he does forgive and create new life in those who had mired themselves in hog pens then and now

–that he does seek the lost

–that he does raise from spiritual death to life

–and that he did come into the world to save sinners of whom you are chief!

Because you, each and every one of you, is the chief of sinners, full of nothing but pride, envy, jealousy, and slander – because of this, the Father of all mercies has sent His only-begotten Son to die your death. He became not the fatted calf for the celebration, but the Lamb for the sacrifice that atones for the sins of His people.

Jesus Christ came not to give a fairy-tale ending to each lost-boy story, but to close the door to death, hell, and damnation. He came to open the door to the Father's house, that you, the profligate, the stubborn, the wicked, the self-righteous – so that you all might enter into His courts with praise.

Jesus did not come only to bring forgiveness to the good sons. He did not come to sit with the honorable people and eat with the socially acceptable. He came for sinners. He came for those who need Him because they cannot help themselves. He came for both the prodigal and the one who stayed behind. He came for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.

Jesus came for sinners, of which you are chief. And it is because you are chief, that you have been raised. It is because you did stumble, because you did wander, that you were and are and ever shall be the beneficiary of such a great mercy – that your duty is to love whom God loves, to welcome whom God welcomes, and to rejoice with God when the lost is found.

My guilt, O Father, You have laid

On Christ, Your Son, my Savior.

Lord Jesus, You my debt have paid

And gained for me God's favor.

O Holy Spirit, Fount of Grace,

The good in me to You I trace;

In faith and hope preserve me (LSB 568.5).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

This sermon was adapted from one preached by Pr. Ken Kelly of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Johnstown, PA, and posted at <http://priestlyrant.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/there-was-a-man-who-had-two-sons/>.