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| The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt c. 1661, Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia |
The father rejoices and throws a party. The lesson for kids of all ages is that no matter how much we mess up, God will forgive us and welcome us back.
Sermons for grownup listeners focus on the elder son. He was obedient to his father all his life and resented the attention paid to the wastrel brother upon the latter's return.
"I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends."The older brother must put aside pride, envy, and anger. Compared to the saving of his younger brother, on a cosmic scale his feelings are unimportant. The Prodigal Son can be a lesson for Christians who identify with the "good" son.
The above are the normal interpretations of the Parable, ones that I have listened to for decades.
In a novel suggestion the priest asked the congregation not to look at the parable from the point of view of either brother but from God's.
God does not act as we would act; God rewards each son despite one being far better behaved than the other. Earlier in Luke 15 a shepherd leaves his 99 sheep to retrieve one lost sheep, and a woman celebrates the finding of a silver coin when she has nine others. In his sermon the priest speculated that the woman may even have thrown a party that cost at least as much as the coin that was found.
Though we think we know God's thinking in many cases we do not.
The more we know, the more we realize we don't know.
The Parable of the Lost Son, Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
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