The Prodigal Elder - Lenten Wednesday Worship Week 3

The Prodigal Elder - Lenten Wednesday Worship Week 3

Author: Pastor Scott Schul
March 06, 2024

In my view, the Parable of the Prodigal Son is the greatest of all the parables, because of the astonishing picture it paints of God.  It reveals our God as merciful, forgiving, compassionate, understanding, sympathetic, gracious, patient, and so very loving.  This is the character of God we endeavor to share and proclaim here at Grace Lutheran, not only because it is Biblically faithful, but also because it is so needed.  If anyone has ever tried to convince you that God is an angry, wrathful being intent on punishing rather than forgiving, take refuge in this parable.  Cling to it, because it is teeming with hope and comfort for aching hearts.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son does more than merely reveal God’s character.  It reveals our own as well, in the way that we react to the characters in the story.  In my experience, people are able to easily identify the colossal flaws in the younger brother, who insults his father, wastes his prematurely-obtained inheritance, and hits rock bottom.  Hearers of this story are likewise able to celebrate that moment when the younger brother “comes to himself” and realizes how necessary it is for him to “turn,” repent, course correct, and come home.  And people universally marvel at how the Father, who represents God, races to embrace and forgive the younger brother despite that son’s disgraceful behavior.  The younger brother’s portion of the parable resonates for us because we recognize that, at some level, we, just like him, need God’s forgiveness. 

It’s the second half of the parable – the part about the elder brother – where contemporary hearers tend to misinterpret the parable.  Over the years I’ve heard many people admit how they sympathize with the elder brother’s anger and righteous indignation.  They readily identify with the elder brother’s frustration with a younger brother who was disrespectful and immoral, and a father who seems to forgive too easily, too naively, and too foolishly.  I certainly understand why people might feel this way, and surely I’ve had my own moments of reflection where I concluded that the elder brother was the only level-headed person in the whole lot.

But we have to acknowledge that Jesus constructed this story – this parable – to highlight that both brothers needed the father’s mercy.  If we struggle to see how lost the elder brother was, then that reveals a real blind spot in our hearts.  And so today, let’s examine the elder brother a little more closely, because I think we’ll discover that he has more in common with the younger brother than he – or we – might be comfortable admitting.

Let’s begin with the younger brother’s insistence that he not have to wait around for his dad to die before getting his hands on his share of the inheritance.  What an egregious sense of entitlement he had.  He dehumanized his father too, reducing him to a vending machine.  But the elder brother was little better.  He possessed a similar sense of entitlement, which he revealed when he complained that he worked hard and never got a party.  At some level he too valued his father only insofar as there was an economic benefit.

After the younger brother got everything of value that he could extract from his father, he went to a “distant country.”  He distanced himself – we might even say he exiled himself – from his family.  But the elder brother did the very same thing when he refused to attend his brother’s celebration.

The younger brother’s final sin was that he squandered his entire inheritance on immoral activities, bringing disgrace upon himself and his entire family.  The elder brother may not have partaken of the very same sins that drew the younger brother, but make no mistake: the elder brother did his share of sinning too.  He was angry.  He was envious.  In a sense he even disowned his brother when he coldly and impersonally referred to him as “this son of yours” rather than “this brother of mine.”  The elder brother exemplifies this human tendency of ours to think that the sins of others are worse than our own.  They aren’t worse; they’re just different.  In God’s eyes, sin is sin.  Taken as a whole, the elder brother was no more righteous than the younger brother.  It’s just that the younger brother’s sins were far less subtle, and far easier in polite company to condemn.

When the younger brother hit rock bottom, we know what happened next.  Something changed in him.  Jesus says he “came to himself.”  I love that expression.  The younger brother realized that he was in self-imposed exile from his father, from all that was good in the world, and ultimately even from himself.  He hungered not just for the food he needed to fill his belly, but for the reconciliation and peace he needed to fill his heart.  Deep down, despite how depraved the younger brother had become, he retained a true and accurate knowledge of his father’s character, because he knew his father wouldn’t turn him away even though that’s all he deserved.

How did the elder brother’s story end?  Well, that’s the intriguing part.  We simply do not know.  Jesus leaves the elder brother’s story unfinished, which invites us to engage the parable in a very personal manner, because our story is likewise unfinished.  And so let’s draw some personal lessons from the elder brother for our Lenten journey. 

First, let’s acknowledge that we are all sinners.  Your sins may be different from mine, but that makes them no better and no worse.  We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God.  We’ve all been inclined to overlook our own shortcomings while loudly judging and shaming those of others.  That’s not OK.  Lent is a time to name and own our own sinfulness.

Second, let’s acknowledge that our judgment of others and the free pass we frequently give ourselves has put us in a sort of exile, where we have willingly distanced ourselves from our Lord and from each other.  That’s the reason we so often feel emptiness and loneliness in our hearts.

Third, let’s acknowledge that sometimes our image of God is a self-projection.  God is far more willing to forgive us than we are to forgive our neighbor or even ourselves.  Like the Prodigal Father, our God is merciful, ready to forgive and to be reconciled, not out of a domineering need to control us, but because God knows what we need to feel whole and complete, and is eager to give us those things.  There is nothing you can do that’s beyond God’s ability to forgive.  Any thought to the contrary comes from the evil one, not from God.  So do not be discouraged.  Do not despair.  Do not remain in exile.  Make the slightest move toward God and find yourself scooped up in the reconciling and healing arms of God’s mercy.  For all his faults, the younger brother understood this.

I’ll end with a fourth and final lesson.  You’ve heard the old saying: “To err is human; to forgive is divine.”  Well, that’s not entirely accurate.   You see, the New Testament teaches that Christ is an “icon” or image of God the Father, and that we are called to be “imitators” of Christ.  As this parable reminds us, forgiveness, grace, and mercy are at the heart of what God does and who God is.  And so if we are to be imitators of Christ and of God, forgiveness, grace, and mercy should be at the heart of who we are and what we do.  This is the lesson the elder brother never learned.

Friends, at the end of the parable, can you feel the father’s heart breaking?  He wants his elder son to forgive, to come inside with the rest of the family, and to enjoy the bread of peace and reconciliation.  God has that same desire for you.  As we will pray later in worship, may God forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Amen.

GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 15:11-32
11 Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe-- the best one-- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission. 


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