Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable:
“A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all that he had and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted his wealth with reckless living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 He went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He would have liked to fill his stomach with the carob 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 more than enough bread, and I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up, go to my father, and tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
20“He got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, hugged his son, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick, bring out 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 us eat and celebrate, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.
25“His older son was in the field. As he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. 27 The servant told him, ‘Your brother is here! Your father killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 The older brother was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
29 He answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I’ve been serving you, and I never disobeyed your command, but you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours arrived after wasting your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
31“The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’”
Sermon
Surely God is my salvation. I will trust him and will not be afraid, because the Lord, yes the Lord, is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. Amen. (Isaiah 12:2)
Ben owned a large cattle ranch near Virginia City, NV. He had two sons named Adam and Joe. Adam, the first born, loved everything about working on the ranch. Joe hated everything about his father’s ranch.
Joe hated hearing the rooster crow and waking up at the crack of dawn. He hated riding horses and herding cattle. He hated how all the ranch hands looked at him as a spoiled rich kid that didn’t know what he was doing. He hated the boredom and isolation of ranch life.
He really hated the smell of horses. He couldn’t stand feeding them, brushing them or cleaning their stalls.
One day Joe finally had enough. He went to his father and told him how he felt. He wanted off the ranch. He asked for his share of his inheritance. Then he would never ask for anything again.
Ben was deeply saddened. He always knew that Joe wasn’t happy. But he also loved his son too much to make him stay. So he had his financial advisor transfer a very large sum of money into his son’s account. He gave his son a long hug and let him leave.
Joe headed southeast to Las Vegas. He heard that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. On his way he stopped at a car dealer and traded his new Dodge Ram Truck for an even newer Dodge Challenger.
When Joe arrived in Vegas, he knew his was home. The people, the sights, the sounds, the ladies. Lots and lots of ladies. He played the slots, blackjack, and poker. He enjoyed the parties, the drinking, and the smoking. But he really enjoyed betting on sports – NFL, NBA, March Madness, anything.
He won some. But he eventually lost more. He learned the hard way that the house always wins. He lost his winnings, his inheritance, and his car. He lost it all.
He had just enough money to afford a 1985 Yugo. To survive he worked for a large pig farm just outside of Vegas. Every day he would take the farm’s dump truck into Vegas to fill it with leftover food from the casinos and restaurants. Then he would drive it back to feed the pigs.
Joe hated everything about the pigs. Their food. Their stench. And especially cleaning out their pens.
Joe finally came to his senses and decided to go back to his father’s ranch. He got into his Yugo and drove the 450 miles back to Virginia City. He stopped at the end of the ranch’s long driveway. He wasn’t sure what to do or say next. As he was thinking, he saw his father running towards him from the house. He was running in his cowboy boots, which is really hard to do. Plus, he had lost his cowboy hat. No self-respecting cowboy loses his hat.
When the father reached his son, they embraced for a long time. Together they drove up the driveway toward the house, picking up Ben’s hat along the way.
Ben told his cook to throw the 2-inch rib eyes onto the grill. He made sure there were plenty of IPAs in the fridge.
Everyone was happy Joe was home. … Except Adam.
Adam was the good son. He had stayed and worked. He was there when their middle brother had passed away. He was there every morning getting the farmhands moving and every night going over the bills and doing payroll.
He was delighted he wasn’t a screw-up like his little brother. But he was disappointed that he never got a party like this thrown for him.
This is the story of a cruddy son, the cranky brother, and the crazy father.
Brothers and sisters, which brother are you like?
Are you like the cruddy son? God the Father has give you an inheritance of daily forgiveness, a new life to live, and eternal salvation. Do you turn away from your Father, wasting his gifts by taking them for granted? You can look at whatever you want on your computer, say whatever you want to your spouse, be disrespectful all you want to your parents, post whatever you want on social media. You can always cash in some forgiveness later on.
At a speech on St. Patrick’s Day, President Biden, “Bless me Father, for I’m about to sin.” The crowd giggled. That’s awful. That’s taking God’s forgiveness for granted.
Sadly, we join with the President in doing this all the time. “Father, forgive me for I’m about to sin. … And forgive me for I have sinned. … And after you forgive me, I plan to sin again. That was fun!” Then we giggle. We continue to take God’s forgiveness for granted.
St. Paul reminded us this morning in our Epistle lesson that our sinful flesh thinks only of the things of the flesh (Romans 8:5). So you pursue a fuller stomach, newer tech, more Tik Tok videos. You squander the inheritance of God’s Word and Sacraments by not reading God’s Word daily, not worshiping and attending Bible study regularly, and not partaking of the Sacrament often. You withhold forgiveness from those who need it. You don’t share God’s mercy with those who know nothing of God’s mercy through Jesus.
You probably have a lot in common with the cruddy son.
Or are you like the cranky older brother? You’re the good child. You haven’t messed up badly your entire life. Your confirmation picture is hanging proudly on the church wall. You’ve raised your children in the church. Now your grandchildren are in the church. You’re always doing something at or for the church. You tithe with your offerings.
It’s hard for you to understand how people become addicted to alcohol or drugs or pornography or anything else. You think people’s lives are so messed up because they haven’t been able to resist temptations like you have. You’re grateful you’re not like all those other sinners out there. You know you need Jesus … but they need him more.
You probably have a lot in common with the cranky older brother.
Thank God for his amazing grace! The Father knows he has children like these two sons – like all of us – and still he continues to love us, forgive us, and throw parties in our honor.
We were lost and now are found. We were blind but now we see. We may have stopped living like we were God’s children, but God never stopped acting like he was our Father. He waits for us to return to him. He replaces our sinful rags with our white baptismal gowns. He places the familial ring on our fingers. He throws a party for us in heaven where the angels rejoice when a single sinner repents. He prepares a banquet feast for us every week at the Lord’s Table.
We think we are righteous but the Father truly makes us righteous. Despite our lack of love for others, he still pours out his love on us. We believe we are so good but the Father loves even wretches like us.
The Father demonstrates a patient, kind, unselfish, crazy love for his children. He gives his love to his children even though he knows we’re going to squander it. He welcomes us home with no strings attached. He looks for us day after day to return to him. He grants us an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade.
The Father loves us despite the vitriol we have toward those in our culture who are so completely messed up … and who keep messing up our tidy world. We call God a fool for wasting his time on those wretches. But the Father doesn’t pull off his belt. Instead, he explains with great tenderness and gentleness that he has a crazy love for all his children. The cruddy ones and the cranky ones. They were all dead and he has made them alive again.
Now, how do we react to the Father’s crazy love? We need to remember what it was like to be lost, alone, and afraid. We need to recall hitting rock bottom. We need to confess that we were all once dead in sin and unbelief. Then we can once again appreciate the Father’s crazy love. Then we can be thankful for being found, being given courage, and being made part of a family. Then we are grateful for the party thrown by the angels in our honor. Then we are worshiping the Father who made us alive through the perfect Son who died and lives eternally for us.
We react by repeating the Father’s crazy love to his other wayward or self-righteous children. Perhaps you’re grieving over a “lost” child – a hormonal teenager who only wants to be left alone, a college student who wants to exert independence, an adult who is living totally contrary to your Christian values, a child who wants no part of maternal or paternal nurturing, a child who insists that he or she doesn’t need you anymore.
So what do you do with this cruddy child? Be crazy with your love for that lost child! The first thing to do may seem a bit silly … but check your child for pulse and respiration. If they are alive, there is hope.
Be patient with your child, just as God the Father is patient with you. God is always waiting and watching for an opportunity. He is always ready to welcome you back without a word of scolding but with only an embrace of love. Do the same for your child. Reach out. Visit. Call. Text. Invite. Best of all, speak face-to-face. Wait and watch for an opportunity. Then be ready to welcome your child back with a warm embrace and a parent’s love.
Do what you can and then leave the situation in God’s capable hands. Ask the Lord to watch over your “lost” child and allow love to heal any wounds – for both of you. Where we may fail, God can succeed.
This child may be your biological child or grandchild. Or maybe it’s a friend at work or a next-door neighbor. Maybe it’s a cousin or niece or nephew. Maybe it’s people in our culture who are self-righteous in their stubbornness but are really lost in their sin.
While the children of this world are alive – as long as they have a pulse and are breathing – there is time and there is hope: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:8,10).
We react by celebrating and sharing the story of the cruddy son, the cranky brother, and the crazy father. We celebrate every morning. We celebrate our crazy Father every Sunday with our other cruddy and cranky brothers and sisters. Amen.
Give thanks to the Lord! Proclaim his name. Declare among the peoples what he has done. Amen. (Isaiah 12:4)