I Will, I
Won’t
Luke
15:1-3; 11b-32
March 18, 2007
1-3
Now all the tax collectors and
sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the
scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats
with them.”
So he told them this
parable:
11b-32
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger
of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property
that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few
days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant
country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he
had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country,
and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the
citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He
would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating;
and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How
many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I
am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to
him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ So
he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his
father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms
around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called
your son. ’But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a
robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals
on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and
celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his elder son was in the
field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and
dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He
replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted
calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry
and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But
he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working
like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you
have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my
friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your
property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the
father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is
yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours
was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
There was a father who owned
his own business. That father dreamed of the day when his two sons would
assume the responsibilities of running the company. As soon as they were
old enough to walk and talk, the father started introducing his business
to his two sons. He would take them to work with him everyday and show
them how he ran his company. He would take a few minutes extra here or a
few extra hours here to explain a specific operation to them. The father
knew in his heart of hearts that if he shared his love for his business
with his sons that they would grow up to love it as he loved it.
Over they years the boys grew into young men. They both had grown up
working everyday in the family business. They both understood what it took
to make it a successful business. One day the younger son walked into his
father’s office and said: “I have worked in this business since I was a
young boy. I have watched it grow and I probably helped it grow. Well, I
am tired of it now. I do not want to do it anymore. I want out of
this awful life of hard work and no pleasure. I tell you what dad, just
give me my portion of the business in cash and I’ll be out of here in the
blinking of an eye.”
Of course, the father was crushed at the words that his son spoke to him
that day. Part of his dreams had just been torn down. He was hurt and he
was in pain when he heard his son’s words. Yet through that hurt and that
pain, he could not turn against his son nor could he reject his request or
demand for his share of the business. With a heart aching to a point of
almost breaking, the father gave the son his part of the business in cash.
The son did not say another word to his father. He did not say thank you
or go fly a kite. He just took the money and went off to a major city to
have a good time.
The other son heard what had happened between his father and his foolish
brother. He waited a day or two before he went into the office to talk to
his father. He sat down across from his father and said: “ I know what has
happened. Dad, I do not agree with you! You should not have given him the
money so that he could go into the city and waste it away on a frivolous
time. I disagree with what you did but I just want you to know that I am
not going to walk out on you. I will be here to help you
continue to grow the family business. I will work harder each day to make
up for my worthless brother.” The older son at that point got up and went
back to work. He never once thought about his foolish brother again.
The father never stopped thinking about his son. He lay awake at night
wondering if he was okay in the city. He wondered if he had a place to
call home He wondered if the wayward son was eating three good meals a
day. He wondered if his son had chosen the right people to associate with
in that large city. His nights were long and restless and his days were
filled with fear and pain.
The younger son had found a new freedom. He no longer had anyone barking
orders at him or telling him when to get up and when to go to bed. After
he arrived in the city, he had enough money to buy a nice place to live.
He had enough funds s that he could eat well everyday and not have to go
to work. One day, he thought to himself: “What a life. My poor brother is
stuck in that family business working everyday while I am living it up.”
The young man met some people who quickly reeled him into their type of
lifestyle. They had him paying for everything. He thought he was having so
much fund that he did not realize that they were wasting away all of his
money. One day the banker came to his home and took it away from him
because he did not have the funds to make the payments. On that same day,
he realized that he did not have enough funds to even buy a combo meal at
the local fast food restaurant. He went to his newfound friends for help
and they laughed at him. One even said: “we were your friends because you
had all the cash. You do not have any cash now so get away from us loser.”
The young man stood on the street corner advertising himself for day
wages. He slept in the cold dark alleys. He went through the trashcans
outside of the food establishments looking for anything to eat that would
nourish his body. His clothes were filthy and torn. His entire being began
to suffer due to his newfound freedom. He was loosing his life. One
evening as he lay under a piece of cardboard he thought; “I am foolish! I
am starving to death in this city and no one cares. I will return back to
my father and I will beg him to hire me as the lowest paid employee that
he has in the company. I will sweep the floors! I will clean the
restrooms! I will do what ever it takes to live a life better than the one
I am living now.”
The son did not wait for the sun to rise. He crawled out from under that
cardboard and started walking toward his hometown.
The father never gave up on his son. He continued to look for his son
through those long and restless nights. He continued to watch for his son
during those long and painful days. He would walk away from his business
and go out on the roads and try to find his son everyday. Each day he
would return home with his heart and soul hurting because he had not found
his son. Meanwhile, the older brother kept his word. He worked harder than
any two persons. He spent many hours at the business helping it to grow.
He never once thought about the younger brother. He was consumed by
growing the business.
One day the father was riding the roads looking for his lost son. He
spotted a young man walking on the other side of the road and he thought:
“that can not be my son. He is too thin and he is filthy.” As he got
closer to the man walking along the road, he realized it was his son.
Without a moment of hesitation, he jumped out of his car and ran to his
son. The father grabbed the son and held him as close to him as humanly
possible. The wayward son fell to his knees and confessed that he had
sinned against his father. He then asked: “Father will you hire me as one
of your employees. I will do what ever you tell me to do. I will …” The
father interrupted his son and said: “You were once lost and I thought
gone forever. You have returned home and what is mine is yours.” The
father called to one of his workers and said: “Go back to the house and
tell the folks that my lost son has come home. Tell them to prepare the
finest meal possible and to make the house cheerful because we are going
to celebrate his homecoming.”
The father held his son close to him as they went back home. The son was
taken to his old room where he was afforded the comfort of a hot bath and
clean clothes. He was brought into the living area of the home and the
celebration for the lost that had returned began. Meanwhile, the son who
had worked hard all of those years heard that his brother had returned
home. He thought to himself: “that useless brother has returned and my
father is once again spoiling him. I won’t go into the house and welcome
him.” The father found his upset son and said to him: “You have been
faithful to me all of your life and what I have you will have. Your
brother was lost and I feared dead. He has returned back to us. It is now
time to put the past behind us an celebrate that once again, he is alive.”
There are human beings just like the lost brother in this story. They have
lost their way in life. They might have thought the ways of the world were
the best way to travel and in the midst of that travel hit a dead end in
their lives. They are hurting. They are struggling. They might appear to
be happy but on the inside they are sad and devastated.
As Christian, we do have an answer for those who are lost, lonely, hungry,
sick, naked and dying. The answer is Jesus of
Nazareth and his pardoning and accepting love. The Son of
God is seeking those who have lost their way
and he is inviting each one of us in this worship service to be an
extension of his nail-scarred hands that are reaching out to hold and
caress those who do not know him.
One thing, we need to learn, as followers of Christ
is that we need to tear down the barriers that would separate us from
God’s children. We need to see everyone as a
special created child of God. We look past
home some one is dressed, or how much education or lack of education one
has and see that person as a beautiful child of God.
Years ago, when I was in college I worked in a department store. One of
the first things that I was taught was: ”do not sum up a person by how her
or she dressed.” Their data had taught them that the person who walked
into their stores in bib overalls and brogan boots were most likely going
to pay cash for the item. You know what. They were correct.
We are not to judge someone because they dress differently from us or
because they look differently. We are to offer the open extended hand of
Christ to each person.
God calls each one of us in here to walk up and down the highways
of life and to reach out to all who do not know Him and offer the
opportunity to all to know the saving grace of Jesus
Christ.
The father showed the way in this story. Christ
calls us to be like that parent and see all persons as a special child of
God’s and to extend God’s
love to each one. God’s grace that has
touched our lives calls us to become bearer of the good news of
Jesus Christ.
God’s love calls us to be a people of
God who daily look past our own wants and
desires and discover those who are lost and offer them
God’s saving and redeeming grace.
In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Amen
