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"Two Rotten Kids with a Merciful Father"
Whenever I am reading a novel, or watching a film, I find
myself trying to decide which character I can best relate
to. I wonder if maybe you have ever done the same. It is
fun to read a book or watch a drama unfold on the screen
and imagine…what if you were the beautiful heroine, the
dashing hero, the cunning detective who puts all the clues
together, or many just the lovable character whose antics
make you laugh.
It is fun to see ourselves in the story, and that is what
we are called to do today. We will be looking for ourselves
in pages of Luke 15. But I must warn you, the story is one
I like to call: The Saga of Two Rotten Kids and a Merciful
Father. And as I ask you today to find yourself in the story,
there are no heroes or clever problem-solvers to choose from,
there are just two rotten kids and I daresay that each one
of us can relate to one or the other…or maybe even both.
So let’s get started. Rotten Kid Number One. He has more
gall, that kid. He actually asks his father to give him
his share of the inheritance. Essentially he asks his
father to drop dead. And amazingly his father gives him
what he wants.
The rest of the tale is rather predictable. He spends the
money in loose living, giving little thought to the hard
work and love that have gone into this little bag of gold.
Instead, he blows the money doing all the things that he
wants to do.
As expected, it doesn’t last forever, all too soon he finds
himself knocked flat by the consequences of his actions. He
has sunk about as low as a person can go when finally he
makes a decision. Tail between his legs, he goes to beg
of his father that he might be able to work as one of the
hired hands.
I wonder if any of that sounds familiar to you. It sure
does to me. Have you ever found yourself blowing it? Have
you ever lived your life as if what you wanted was really
all that mattered? Have you ever acted without any real
consideration for the consequences? Have you ever treated
your family or others in a way that basically told them
to drop dead?
Picture a time when your actions caught up to you, you
were flat on your back, not knowing what to do next, and
finally you found yourself slinking in, tail between your
legs to ask for forgiveness that you do not deserve.
If any or all that sounds familiar, then perhaps Rotten
Kid Number One is the one for you. But don’t judge too
quickly because we haven’t had Rotten Kid Number Two yet.
His brother goes away, but this man stays…albeit grudgingly.
He works hard, does what his asks, but somehow the motive
seems wrong. It is almost as if he is doing it with his
eye on the reward someday.
One day he comes in from the field to find a big party.
Can you believe it? The party is for his bum of a brother
who ran off to blow his inheritance, while he, the
responsible one, stayed behind and did the work of two!
Did his younger brother ever work as hard has he has?
Has he ever been appreciated for all that he has done?
And now that his lazy lout of a brother has come back
for more. Unbelievable! Finally he confronts his
father. “I have slaved for you all these years, and
what thanks do I get?”
His father pleads with him to celebrate that his
lost brother has been found, but Rotten Kid Number
Two just won’t have it. I will tell you the truth.
I have always felt a little bad for the older son.
I can relate a little, maybe you can too.
If you have ever worked harder than those around you,
if you have done the undesirable work while others
were off having a good time. If you have done your
duty for duties sake, then you can step into the
shoes of Rotten Kid Number Two.
I mean, come on! I work all this time and he gets
the party. No one appreciates how much I have
done and for how long. No one really helps out as
much as I do.
Picture yourself full of resentment that you have not
gotten the recognition that you deserved along the way.
Picture yourself, maybe deep inside, even imagining
that God owes you a favor or two. Picture yourself
looking at someone in your life and thinking that you
are better than them…if even for a moment. If you can
see yourself in the picture, then maybe Rotten Kid
Number Two is for you!
Jesus once told this story to the Pharisees and teachers
of the law, oh, yeah, and to some sinners and tax-collectors
as well. In fact the story fits them very well. The
sinners could relate very well to the exploits of the
younger brother. It probably made them blush and
squirm a bit.
And whether they like to admit it or not, the Pharisees
and teachers of the law could easily relate to the second
son. They believed themselves to be the worthy ones.
They had done many years of hard work that Jesus didn’t
have the good sense to appreciate. They really believed
they were deserving of God’s favor. In fact, what they
truly believed is that God owed them something.
The bottom line is that neither son behaves in a way
that is pleasing to God. Neither of their approaches
to life is the route into heaven. This is the point
that Jesus wants to drive home to them and to you and
me as well.
Whether we find ourselves in the camp of the son who
went and blew it all, or if we see ourselves more as
the type that have always worked hard and therefore
are deserving of God’s favor, neither approach to life
is God pleasing and both will leave us outside the
gates of heaven.
Aren’t you glad that there is another character in the
story?! We will call him the merciful Father. In the
recent film Luther, there is a scene in which we
find Professor Luther sitting on the ground with a group
of little kids. He is teaching them this story and he
impresses upon them, and us as well, the strangeness of
the situation.
“The Father runs out to his son. Why does he do that?
Noblemen don’t run. Princes don’t run. Landowners don’t
run. Yet this father runs out to greet his son. He does
it for a simple reason, and that reason is love.”
It is a strange scene indeed, this landowning, proud father
running out to greet his rotten kid. It is stranger still
when we remember that the father Jesus is talking about is
a father he knows very well. It is his own father. It is
our Father in heaven who loves us enough to run after the
rottenest of kids, you and me.
The running landowner is a strange picture for you and me. But
that is not the strangest part of the story by far. The strangest
thing of all is the price that our Father in heaven will be
willing to pay to reinstate you and me into his family.
Jesus already knows what it is. It is his own life.
Luke tells us about this as well. Just four short chapters
later in this Gospel we see what happens. From the moment
that Jesus entered into Jerusalem the Pharisees and teachers
of law conspire to kill him. Finally they find he means at
the hand of Judas.
A few short hours later, our Father in heaven will pay the
price for us. He will offer his own son on the cross. Even
there on the cross, Jesus shows his love for all people as
he asks the amazing. He who was in torment asks that they
might be forgiven.
Finally in the sixth hour he gave up his life and he died.
It was three days later when the women discovered that the
tomb was empty. God the Father had completed our redemption.
He has reinstated us into his family by raising his son from
the dead.
Jesus’ resurrection makes the impossible possible. Through
faith in all that he has done, he offers to us forgiveness
that is far greater than that of the father in our story
today. Jesus’ forgiveness opens the door and welcomes us
home… home in eternity… home in heaven.
I have often marveled at the story of a rotten son feasting
again at his father’s table. It seems almost too good to be
true, and yet it really is. God the Father welcomes us back
into his family today.
And one day soon we will see him, the creator of the universe,
running up to take us in his arms and lead us to the banqueting
table in heaven, a banquet that is as glorious as it is unending.
A few minutes ago I asked you to picture yourself in the role
of one of those two rotten kids. I wonder how many of you
related to the first son because you saw yourself as the guest
of honor at a banquet? I would wager not many of us did. And
yet that is simple truth.
There is a celebration in heaven - God is glad, in Christ, the
Lost is Found! And there at that banqueting table you will hear
the Father speak words of great comfort to you…”You are always
with me and everything I have is yours!”
In Jesus’ Name! Amen.
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