This sermon was delivered on March 27, 2022 at the weekly service at The Kensington in Galesburg, IL
The parable of the prodigal son is one of a trio of parables about the recovery of the lost. We begin with the lost sheep, then the woman with the lost coin, and then the prodigal son. And, while these parables are all about the importance of repentance, they are less about the repenter and more about God. These parables show us God’s delight in loving the lost, the broken, the forgotten, and the marginalized. God’s love is welcoming and it pulls out all the stops to celebrate when a lost beloved has been found.
I’ve often struggled with the parable of the prodigal son. I’ve identified with both sons. I’ve been the child who makes bad decisions and needs my parents to help. I’ve been the child who did everything right and watched my sibling get all the attention. But I think my struggle comes from thinking about this parable from the point of view of one of the sons. And truly, I don’t think that’s what we’re supposed to get out of this parable. We aren’t supposed to look at this parable through the eyes of one of the sons. I think we’re supposed to understand it through the eyes of the father.
My parents have always been the type to want to know you’ve gotten someplace safely. I”m sure that’s a pretty common parental trait. One time, when I was in college, I failed to call my mother when I got back to campus after a visit home. My mother called the department of public safety at my school and they came to HUNT ME DOWN somewhere in the dorms to make me call home. Was I mortified? Yes. But my mother couldn’t rest easy until she knew her child was safe. Her other child, who was perfectly safe at home with mom, wasn’t the subject of her attention or worry at that moment. The child she couldn’t find was the one who got her attention.
It is the same for the father in our parable. He knows where his one son is. That son is at home, and safe. His other son is lost. The father cannot rest until he knows that his child is safe and cared for, so when the child finally comes back home, OF COURSE, THERE IS A CELEBRATION. It is the same with the other two parables- the sheep and the lost coin.
You don’t worry about the sheep that are fine, you don’t worry about the coins that are safe in your pocket. The concern is always on that which is lost, forgotten, misplaced, or mistreated. Because that’s where the focus needs to be. The sheep in the field need basic attention and supervision. The sheep that is lost needs saving. The coins in the pocket need nothing, but the coin that is lost needs to be found. The son that is home needs love and attention, but the son that is lost needs help.
This parable to me is a really solid example of the difference between “Black Lives Matter” and “All lives matter.” A lot of folks are really uncomfortable with the idea of the “Black lives Matter” movement because it puts the focus on one group of historically marginalized people. Charles Barrett puts it this way. “All Lives Matter shifts the focus from the issue at hand: Black lives are in danger, and perhaps endangered. And because of this, we should work for comprehensive policy changes that ensure their protection. All Lives Matter centers self and ignores the societal ills that disproportionately affect Black children, Black adults, Black families, and Black communities. Although the older brother was upset with his father, rather than condemning him, let’s try to understand his frustration. According to cultural norms, his birth order meant that he was centered. In other words, he was the most respected and the one who received the most attention. But when he was no longer the focus, he became angry. Based on the social hierarchy that has been created in America as a function of race, Black Lives Matter can be unsettling for some White people because it decenters their positionality. But like the father’s actions in the parable, Black Lives Matter does not mean that all lives don’t matter.”1
The parent in this parable understands the life that is in danger is the life that needs the most attention. This shift from the focus on repentance to the focus on welcoming love is at the heart of this parable. The father is so concerned with welcoming his son back and celebrating his return, that nothing else matters. Not the rules. Not his other son’s jealousy. Nothing matters more than the fact that the lost one has returned.
But the context of this parable matters too. To WHOM was Jesus speaking? Well, he was mostly addressing his critics. Those who held a world view that was rather snobbish- they wanted rules and gatekeeping. They wanted to decide for themselves who was worthy of love and acceptance and celebration. Jesus turned that on its head.
His use of these parables restores the focus on those who need it most- those who are lost, suffering, alone, missing. Sure, all sheep matter, but the LOST sheep is the one who matters most at the moment because it is the one in danger of death. Of course, the son who stayed home is still loved and still important, but the one who was lost matters more at the moment because he was the one in danger. OF course, all lives have value, but the ones that matter most at the moment are the ones that are in danger.
I think who we are in this parable changes from situation to situation. Sometimes we ARE the prodigal son. We’ve gotten ourselves lost in one way or another and we need to find our way back to health and wholeness. That might mean that we have to spend some time in the mud with pigs. That might mean putting away our pride and going home. That might mean asking for help. But sometimes, we are the ones that need to be found.
In the musical, Dear Evan Hansen, Evan struggles with the suicide of a classmate. In a speech to his school to memorialize the deceased teenager, Evan passionately promises that
Even when the dark comes crashing through
When you need a friend to carry you
And when you're broken on the ground
You will be found
So let the sun come streaming in
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again
Lift your head and look around
You will be found
Evan understands that when we are at our most lost, there are those who are looking for us. Searching for us like we’re lost sheep or a lost coin or waiting for us like we are the son who is coming home. The promise is that we will be found.
Sometimes, we are the son that stays home. We are the one who has done everything right, followed all the rules, and haven’t made any huge mistakes. When we see ourselves in this way, we end up feeling jealous of the attention others get. We ask questions like “Why isn’t there a men’s history month?” or “Why isn’t there a straight pride?” Well, that’s actually simple- straight white men don’t usually get denied jobs, housing, respect, or opportunities simply because of their gender, skin color, or sexual orientation.
Marginalized people face these difficulties regularly. To be the son that stayed home is to remain in a position of privilege and to lord that privilege over others. Yes, the prodigal son got to his moment via bad choices, but even bad choices can’t and won’t separate us from God’s love, and certainly, characteristics with which we are born won’t separate us either.
And sometimes, we have the opportunity to be the father. We get the chance to be like God and Jesus and practice unconditional love and acceptance. We can welcome back the child who was lost, we can search out those who are hurting, we can pay attention to those who have been marginalized. We can lift up those around us so that they are no longer alone and suffering. We can help tear down the structures of racism, sexism, and homophobia that work to separate people from each other. We can welcome people into the fold of God’s love with grace, love, and celebration.
Amen.
1 Charles Barrett, “BIBLICAL PRECEDENT FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER,” accessed March 25, 2022, https://charlesbarrett.org/blogs/latest-news/posts/biblical-precedent-for-black-lives-matter.