Prodigal Son: Patience, the space for repentance
Lent 2021 • Sermon • Submitted
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The Eternal Struggle with Patience
The Eternal Struggle with Patience
Patience is one of the most challenging virtues to obtain.
Difficult in the moment
kids that drive you nuts
annoying sounds on car rides
irritating people at work
Difficult in the long term
exercising and eating healthy
building a company from the ground up
growing a family parish from broken beginnings
waiting for children to find their way
Patience is difficult so naturally we waiver in our pursuit of this virtue.
Give up on pursuits due to set backs
sever relationships that are taxing
abandon groups that struggling
The parable of the prodigal son makes a case for us to rekindle our pursuit of patiences
Repentance is a process
Repentance is a process
1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Chapter of Parables
Lost sheep
lost coin
Lost son “prodigal son”
The Prodigal Son is a beautiful picture of us all at some point in our lives.
Enjoying the safety and security of home
Wondering what was else was out there
Like James said
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
After pursuing what he envisioned as ‘living’ he became hungry.
14 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
How do you understand “Impoverished” (in need)
physically…hunger, shelter
Mentally…purpose meaning
spiritually…separation from the father
Emotionally…lonely
17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
Sobering up
Realization of potential provisions but also of belonging because he refers to him as ‘my father’
Our Eternal Beacon can never be underestimated
“Deprive the pilot of the hope of reaching port, and he will wander aimlessly here on the waves. Take away the crown from he athlete, and he will fail and lie on the course. Take from the fisher the power of catching his bounty, and he will cease to cast the nets. How, then, can he, who suffers hunger in his soul, pray more earnestly to God, if he has no hope of the heavenly food?” ~St. Ambrose of Milan A Model of Repentance
How this beacon works is always mysterious and sacred.
life circumstance
failures
stubbornness and temperament of the individual
support
The eternal beacon is mysterious but continuous
Patience, the space for repentance
Patience, the space for repentance
The road to repentance is always paved and ready for us but when we decide to walk it home is unknown.
20 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Which is why patience is such an important virtue embodied by the father...
Its patience that keeps the door of repentance open.
Just as the father has been patient with me, so He calls me to be patient with others.
Forgiveness and reconciliation with others is one of the many ways we also experience the presence of God in our lives.
In our pursuit of patience do we open this door up.
“The one who perished is rescued, because he embraced repentance. Repentance is not wasted because it meets up with patience! ~The Scholar Tertullian The Patience of the Father
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