“The Incredible Parable of the Prodigal Son”
Luke 15:11-24

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Fourth Sunday in Lent—March 27, 2022

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

If you take a class in creative writing you will learn a fundamental rule of writing good fiction: In order for a story to be interesting, it must be credible, it must be believable. Some stories are simply unbelievable. Try as you might, you just can’t convince yourself that things like that could actually happen in the real world.

Today’s Gospel Reading is a story like that. It’s a parable Jesus told to illustrate the incredible depth of man’s sin, and the incredible heights of God’s love. And even though Jesus made this story up, even though it seems impossible, it is a true story--and you and I are the main characters in “The Incredible Parable of the Prodigal Son.” 

Could there ever be a “son” this bad?  “Jesus said: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them. 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.”

When the son says, “Give me my share of the estate,” he is really telling his father, “I’d be better off if you were dead.  But I can’t wait that long.  I want what I’ve got coming to me now.” 

What could be worse than that?  Even worse is the way he spends the money. Proverbs says, “A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.”  Well, he was . . . and he did.  Before long, the money that was so important to him, more important than his home and family and father, was all gone.

“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.  He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”

He got the most miserable job a Jew could possibly imagine: feeding pigs.  And even worse than that, he was still starving to death. He’d have gladly filled his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but nobody would give even that much.

Could there ever be a son this bad? Oh, yes. This story is perfectly true. In fact, it’s a perfect description of you and me. For, by nature we all were just as lost as that young man. Before the Holy Spirit put faith in our hearts, we were just as blind, just as perverse and wicked as him.

Even now, as Christians, we still have that sinful nature plaguing us. It tempts us to rebel against God at every step. We still feel the pull, isn’t it true?  We want to strike out on our own, be independent, leave God and his Church and the Commandments behind. And every day, in one way or another, we sin. I don’t have to name those sins for you; I’m sure you can come up with plenty of examples from your own life.  Could there ever be a “son” this bad? Oh, yes. That sinful son is YOU; that sinful son is ME.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’  So he got up and went to his father.”

The Law of God brings us to a realization of our sinfulness, as in the parable when the young man sees that this great “independence” from his father isn’t so great after all.  For, sin is like the forbidden fruit, which to Adam and Eve was “pleasing to the eyes, and desirable.” Sin always seems so beautiful and alluring at first, but is so bitter and wretched in the end. Sitting there starving in the pig pen, the young man “came to his senses”--he repented.  And so he decides to return to his father.  He could never be a son again, that went without saying.  But, maybe he could get a job as a hired man.  Then at least he’d have food to eat.

From the standpoint of believability, this is where the story really gets really farfetched.  The ragged, starving young man climbs the last hill and looks down on the old home place. His father catches sight of him. What happens next? Well, if you were writing a realistic ending to the story, don’t you think the father would charge angrily up the hill with a pitchfork, and chase him off with threats and curses? That’s what he deserves, after all. Maybe the father would even kill him!

But Jesus’ ending to the story seems absolutely incredible: “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. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  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.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

We’re supposed to believe that? Not only does he forgive the young man on the spot, he joyfully welcomes him back?  And not as a hired man, but once again as his very own son? The father willingly gives his son back everything he’d forfeited in his sinfulness. The sin is forgiven and forgotten, and in its place is a joyful celebration.

Could there ever be a “father” this good? By now, you know the answer to that. Yes--your Heavenly Father is exactly this good to you! When you’ve turned away from him, broken his Commandments, and struck out on our own sinful path, your Heavenly Father welcomes you back not only with forgiveness, but with joy. When you’ve sinned, and you come to him in humble repentance, you don’t see a stern face. You don’t hear an angry rejection. What you hear is the gentle voice of you Lord’s reassurance, “Fear not, for I have cancelled all your sin!” You don’t have to do anything to earn it.  You are simply forgiven.

Why? Because the punishment that your sin deserves has already been paid by Jesus. Just like the father in the parable, your Heavenly Father had compassion. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Just like the father in the parable, your Heavenly Father forgives everything in the past and welcomes you as his beloved child, as Paul says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus . . .  and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”  Instead of guilt and fear and doubt, God gives you righteousness and peace and confidence through your Lord Jesus. Instead of eternal death, you look forward to the joyful celebration of eternal life in heaven.

What an incredible story! Could there ever be a “son” this bad? Could there ever be a “father” this good?  Incredible as it seems, this story is true, for this story is about YOU.  All is forgiven and forgotten, and as you bow before the Lord and confess your sins, your Heavenly Father has two wonderful words for you: WELCOME HOME!