Our Crazy Lord Who Runs To Sinners
Text: Luke 15:11-32
In
the name of Jesus: Amen.
In
the old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” there are two lines that summarize
mankind. These two lines that capture
mankind’s heart are, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” Indeed, because of our sinful hearts we are
prone to wander, we are prone to leave the God that we love. We never stay put.
This
wandering of mankind is so clearly seen in today’s Gospel reading from the
Gospel of Luke. In a parable, Jesus
tells us about a father and his two sons.
One day the youngest son came to his father and asked for his
inheritance early. Now, to wish for an
inheritance early – before the death of the father – was equivalent to saying,
“Dad, I wish you were dead. You mean
nothing to me. You are not important to
me, just give me your wealth and your money and go ahead and die.”
Many
fathers would find this as a good reason to kick their sons out of the house
and take their sons out of their will; however, in today’s parable the father
is gracious and gives his son exactly what he asked for. That is right, the father liquidates half of
everything he owns and gives it to his one son and wishes him well.
We
all know what happens next. The son sets
out to immediately gratify himself. Contemporarily
speaking, the young son went to the big city to smoke pot, drink the finest of
whiskies, chase wild women, and probably snort some cocaine – this was the new
lifestyle of the rebellious son. He had
cash and resources and was not afraid to spend it on whatever he wanted. He tossed his father and his former life out
of his mind as he did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He lived excessively and gave into whatever
he desired at the moment.
The
next thing we know, this son was broke and starving. He lived without limits and gave himself over
to every lust of his heart. He literally
blew thousands upon thousands of dollars upon meaningless indulgences –
temporary highs. Now though, the young
son broke, hungry, and in debt. His
money had run out and he was working off debt, as he fed pigs and was jealous
of their slop.
So,
of course, the young son one day – after hitting rock bottom – decided to go
home, confess his sins against his father and God and hope to receive a place
as a servant with his father place. He
knew that his father treated the slaves better than what he was going through
in the mud with the pigs.
Up
to this point, the story seems to make sense.
Even though we think the young son is foolish and downright ruthless for
treating his father the way that he did, we have seen this before with the ways
of youthfulness. We have heard stories
about this kind of stuff and maybe even flirted with this kind of lifestyle
ourselves.
With
that said though, what does not make sense in our story is the father. As we hear in our story the father is out day
after day looking down the long road for his son. The father did not occasional think of his
son who wished him dead, but rather, the son was upon his mind every single
day. In fact, the whole farm operation
is being run by his other son, but the father does not really care about the
farm. He is concerned about his
rebellious son. Where is he? Is he o.k.?
Will he maybe come back someday? These
are the things that the father’s thoughts are consumed with. Day after day, week after week, the father
watches. He looks down the road. He imagines his son walking home on the
road. He waits. His heart hurts for his wandering son. Time after time, he is disappointed though that
the road is empty. Time after time, he
is saddened that his young son does not turn up. However, the father does not stop longing and
looking for him – he can’t stop longing and caring. He can’t give up on his rebellious and lost
son.
Now,
this is what does not make sense to us.
In other words, the behavior of the father does not make sense. You see, this kind of behavior is actually
beneath the dignity of such a wealthy and prominent member of society; besides
the son wished the father dead – the father should not care that much. If anything, the father should have hatred
for his rebellious son, for the son was a wretched example of a human being, if
there ever was one. However, the father
could not get his mind off his son. He
could not stop looking for his son. Even
though the son wished him dead, the father wished for his son in his
midst. It was better to be hated as a
father and have his son near, than to have no son at all.
One
day everything changed. The father
looking down the road saw someone far off in the distance and with a sudden
jolt the father jumped to his feet and said to himself, “Could that be my son?
Oh Lord, let it be him.” As the person
on the road drew near, the father’s heart began to thump in his chest. The person on the road was the same height
and had a similar walking stride as his son.
However, his clothes were not like his son. The clothes were a bunch of ripped rags. And the person coming up the road had long
ratted hair and a scraggly beard. He was
also very skinny. “Could that be my
son?” the father wondered.
The
man walking on the road paused and looked up.
In that instance, the father saw his son’s face.
…it
was him! It was him! It was him!
The father
lifted up his fancy robe, exposing his legs, and ran towards his son, which was
not a dignified thing to do. However,
dignity was the last thing on the father’s mind. He did not care if rich respected men did not
run with their legs exposed, for his son had come home. He did not care what others thought, all he cared
about was his son. His son was before
him and he was determined to grab ahold and make sure that he didn’t get
away. He had been waiting for this day
and imagining it for quite some time and now it was happening.
As
he drew near his son, the son looked up with shame in his face and mumbled
something, but the father did not care.
“My son is alive, he was dead, but he is an alive. He is alive.
He is alive! He is here!” the
father shouted with joy.
Even
though the son was filthy and smelled like a dirty pig, the father did not
care. He reached out and embraced his son,
getting the sons filth upon himself. He
kissed his sons dirty face, with tears of joy running down his face, getting
the dirt and smell of pigs on his lips – but he did not care. His son was home. He would gladly get dirty in order to grab
ahold of his lost son.
While
the son was trying to apologize the father did not listen for he was yelling
out to get his best rob and to get his ring.
He kept yelling to get the best animal and kill it to prepare a feast,
because his son lives!
Once
the father obtained the best rob, he used it to cover his son’s filthy body and
then placed a ring on his son’s filthy hands as a symbol that everything that
the father owned and the entire father’s authority belonged to his son.
At
this point, we can imagine everyone looking at the father thinking: what a
crazy old man; that son spat in the eye of the father, squandered the father’s
wealth, wished him dead, comes home smelling like a pig crap, and just like
that the crazy old man gives him everything – again. The old man must be crazy!
Yes,
my friends, the Lord God is that crazy!
He really is. He is that crazy
about sinners like you and like me. He
welcomes sinners and even eats with them.
In
case you haven’t realized this, you and I are that young son. We are that rebellious self-serving son. We are prone to wander and prone to leave the
God that we love. We constantly spit in
the face of God, we wish that He were dead because we want to do what makes us
happy. We mock God by our sin; He gives
us good gifts and we squander them. He
gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation, and we then make a wreck of our
lives by sinning in thought, word, and deed.
And yet when we return to the Lord’s house of worship – His beloved
Church – with our heads held low saying, “I have sinned in thought, word, and
deed,” the Lord does not hide his face from us, but runs out to us in the
Absolution as if to say, “My child is home; you are forgiven; take and eat,
take and drink, the feast of the Lamb for you!
Christ has been slaughtered for you.
You are home in my church, where you belong.”
Dear
friends, do you realize that when we confess our sins in the divine service
that God and the angels rejoice? And
then the Lord clothes us not with a fabric robe, but He declares that we have
been clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus in our baptisms? Even though your sins are like scarlet, you
are white as snow because you are clothed in Jesus, because the Lord does not
despise the broken hearted.
Indeed,
God and the angels rejoice every time that we confess our sins and hear about
the God who runs to sinners in order to forgive. Every time we confess our sins, it is as if
another prodigal has come home. Again
and again and again, every time we confess our sins the Lord rejoices and runs
out to meet our sin with forgiveness, life, and salvation.
And
when we feel shame for our sins, the Lord shuts our mouths by pointing us to
the finished work of Jesus. We cry out,
“I have sinned against you O Lord…” And
the Lord interrupts us saying, “You dear child are baptized! You are forgiven! You were dead, but you are alive! All of heaven and the whole Church rejoice
that you are home!”
Dear
Baptized Saints, when we have made a muck of our lives, when we find ourselves
at the end of our rope and in the sewage of our sins, there is no better place
to be than in Christ’s Church – our home.
Indeed, the Gospel is for sinners; it is for prodigals like you and like
me. The Lord God seeks out the lost
sheep, He seeks out the lost coin, He runs out to the prodigal – He draws near
to the brokenhearted. He comes to us
contrite sinners not to celebrate our sin or to chastise us, but to absolve and
forgive our sins, for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was and is
sufficient.
You
were lost, but today you have been found.
The Lord possess you; He has wrapped you in the rob of your
baptisms. You are His; forgiven, loved,
and cherished today and for all of eternity.
In
the name of Jesus: Amen.
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