Sermon Tone Analysis

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

This story has been told numerous times.

It is displayed in paintings hung in the most prestigious art museums around the world.

It has been retold by in every format from novels to cartoon vegetables.

The danger of stories that become so familiar to us is that we tend to look at them the same way, with the same eyes.

We tend to approach them with the same biases and come away from them with the same understandings.

Even if the story is retold by a cartoon cucumber and his tomato friend, we still often see the story the same way.

We tend to view this story by focusing on the prodigal son.

We tell it and understand it as the story of the son who left the riches of his father’s home to go out on his own, where he ended up squandering everything he had and, in an act of desperation, feeding the pigs and being forced to return home.

We may have also viewed this as a story of two brothers.

The older one is more responsible but less lov- ing: jealous of the grace bestowed upon his reckless younger brother.

The older brother could have asked to receive his inheritance as well, if you caught that in the text, yet he chose to stay home and help man- age the property, something that would have been expected of the older brother.

These approaches to the story are good ways to view them, and both have ways to challenge us into deeper discipleship with Jesus, challenging us not to look down on others who may come to Christ from more of a circuitous path than we did, or challenging us to finally give up the life of pig-feeding to come home.

And still many of us read it with the bias of “I’m grateful I’m neither of these brothers.”

But, since it is Lent, a season that is supposed to be a time of repentance and growth, what if we take some time to repent of our biases and read this story anew with the intent to grow?

What if we look at this story with new eyes, in a new way?

What if, instead of looking at this story and focusing on the prodigal son, defining it by the ways the son has failed, by the ways he has been selfish, the things he has squandered, and what he has lost . . .

Or what if, instead of looking at this story and focusing on the two brothers, one defined by his recklessness and the other by his jealousy . . .

What if, instead, we look at this as the story of the loving father?

BODY

The younger son tells the Father, “I wish you were dead.”

Asking for one’s inheritance is like saying things would be better without you here.

It was the expectation that Jewish men would control their estate while they were alive.

It would have been shameful for an heir to request his inheritance prior to the father’s death.

While shameful for the son to ask for his inheritance early, it would have been equally shameful, if not more so, for the father to actually give the inheritance to his son.

In rare cases, the father might divide his land for his sons to manage while he was still alive, but would be the father’s choice; it would not be the children’s place to ask for it.

This shows the absolutely radical generosity of the father.

The story never says the father asks the intentions of the son.

Despite that shame would be brought upon him, he is still generous to his son.

In spite of the son essentially telling the father, “I wish you were dead,” the father still grants the son his request.

Most parents know if their children are spenders or savers.

i.The father probably had some idea of how the son would use his inheritance.

ii.Yet the father still gave him his inheritance out of his heart of generosity.

The father is a just landowner.

We can infer that the father is just and compassionate because, even though the younger son has squandered all of his wealth and is starving to death, the son is longing to be one of his father’s well-cared-for servants.

The Father’s servants are fed enough, seemingly, even during a famine.

i.

While we don’t know if the famine stretches from where the son is to where the father is, it would be hard to think of a large famine not having an effect even miles away.

ii.

It seems that even during times of scarcity, the father ensures that his servants are fed.

The son knows that even if he comes home as a servant, he will be well cared for.

i.

This implies that the father is not cruel or unkind to his servants but treats them justly.

The father is patient.

a.

The text says that “while the son was still a long way off, the father saw him.”

The only way he would have seen him would be if he was looking for him.

Day after day after day.

While we don’t know how long it takes the son to squander his funds and come to a place of destitution, we know people in our lives we would describe as prodigals, and it can take years, decades, for them to hit rock bottom.

Which means the father was potentially waiting and looking for his son for years.

Even if it wasn’t for years, the loss of a son, and the grief that can cause to a good and loving parent, would have felt like a lifetime, yet he kept looking.

The Father is compassionate.

a.

When the father saw his son, he had compassion on him.

i.

The word “compassion” here is a strong word, meaning to be moved in the inward parts.

He was moved to the very core of his being to act in love toward his son.

b.

This compassion caused the father to run toward his son.

i.

We are not given an indication of the age of the father, but if the son was gone for years, it is very likely he is an aged man.

ii.

The word “run” here is the same word that would be used to describe an athlete in a race.

He is running—not jogging, but running—with full force and purpose to get to his son.

iii.

He is so overcome with compassion that he does not wait for the son to get to him; he goes to his son as quickly as he possibly can.

The father forgives lavishly.

The son doesn’t even finish his speech before the father is having him adorned like royalty, re- claiming him as his son.

He doesn’t ask where he was, where the money is, or how he ended up smelling like pigs; he just welcomes him home.

The wanderings of the prodigal son are never once mentioned by the father.

The father loves extravagantly.

a.

The response to the son coming home is a party.

This party includes food and celebration.

If this were still during a famine, and if that famine impacted this family, he still sought to celebrate the son with extravagance.

b.

He doesn’t allow the older brother to ruin the party.

i.

When the brother is jealous, he invites him back into the party.

ii.

He reiterates the love he has for both of his children.

iii.

He speaks of celebration and rejoicing at the younger son being found.

This is the way God cares for us.

God erases the shame of feeling like prodigals.

i.

We often focus so much on being lost that we become mired in our own unworthiness.

ii.

We move into feelings of shame.

iii.

God removes those feelings from us.

Despite our failings, God is still generous.

He bestows upon us blessings, maybe not of material wealth, but he is generous in his gifts to us.

Though we often would say to God, “I’d rather you were dead,” he still continues to give us good things.

God is just.

God is patient with us.

i.

We fail time and time again, yet God continually watches and waits for us.

God is compassionate.

God seeks us out, and while he waits for us to return to him, he meets us along the road.