Gospel
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable.
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”‘
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”
Most people hear this parable, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and focus on the wayward younger son.
We have all sinned and have had to repent and return to God the Father. Often under conditions as extreme as the son in this story. For we squander what we have been blessed with and end up being bankrupt in spirit. Or even in finances.
But perhaps we should see the parable a different way.
Because if we live long enough we will find ourselves in each actors role in the parable.
Yes, we can relate to the younger son. But we also have probably experienced being the one who was doing a good job at living an upright life and were disturbed when we see those who throw blessings and religion and even the idea of God out the door …now benefiting and growing in wealth or blessings. We can be caught off guard and resent them. We can even turn to God and ask why they gave so much to those who go astray but seem to be miserly with what they give us.
And if we ever feel this way we know what it feels like when we fail to love as Jesus taught. Comparing our blessings to another’s, is a trap set by the evil one. It divides and creates conflict and separation. It seems the older brother and we are not as holy as we may present our self when protesting the others good fortune and others finding forgiveness.
For we forget that God loves all people. And he is generous with blessings to everyone.
We don’t understand the thoughts of God because we are not God. But as the elder son reacts, and we react, we believe ourselves as knowing right from wrong better than God and commit the same sin as Adam and Eve who did the same.
Maybe as we get older, we may find ourselves as the father in the parable and see him as he greets his wayward son. He sees him from afar because he has been looking for him ever since he left. The child that took his inheritance basically saw his father better dead than alive. But still, even then, the father loved him and waited and even watched for him. And when he repented met him better than halfway and through love gave him more than he expected.
Are we as accepting of children and others who have taken the wrong road in life and returned to us or to God?
Do we make it easy for them?
Do we stay watchful hoping to see the moment when they turn back, and we can welcome them genuinely and with great love back to us and back to the faith?
If we live long enough, I am certain we all will have that experience, and it would be good at that moment to remember when we went astray and when we judged others and remember how we were loved and then do the same for others.
For we are called to love like God loves and there is no limit to how much God loves us. So we too much strive to love others that way. That is the calling for one who follows Jesus Christ.
Who are we today?
Is it time for us to turn back to God?
Is it time for us to be happy for those we see turning back?
Is it time for us to pull out all the stops for the one who has returned to us, to love and God?
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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