The Letter of Love

Lent 4 Year C, rcl
Luke 15:11-32

This story of the Prodigal Son or the Lost son is one of the most well known parables that Jesus told. The premise of the story has been told in story form, plays, musicals, movies and more. It is well known, because at some level I think that most of us can find ourselves in one of the people in the story, if not a couple of them.

First, we have the youngest son, who is working on this father’s farm and decides to ask his father for what will become his when his father dies. A definite insult in that culture, but I don’t care what culture you are in, that is a bold move – asking your parent for what will be yours when they die. It’s saying – Mom, Dad, I don’t care that you are still here, I want what is mine now. He takes all that his father gives him, hoping to spend it on the good life. Instead, he squanders his money away and becomes poor and destitute. As he is the gutter, working with pigs (which would be a terrible thing for a Jewish man to do) and as he is in the dumps, he realizes that even his father’s workers are treated better than he is being treated. So, he decides to go home and beg forgiveness for what he has done and ask for a lowly job on his father’s farm. He is foolish, and learns the hard way what family means, what is important to him, what he gave up to “go live the good life.”

Secondly, we have the older son, who has also been working on his father’s farm for years. He quietly works and works and works, hoping that his father will notice and reward him for his hard work. He never asks for anything and gets extremely jealous when his brother returns and is welcomed with open arms and celebration. He is angry that his father has never thrown such a party for him or even thanked him by giving him a gift. He is stubborn and resentful and does not ask for the simplest thing that he wishes for. He instead stews about it and gets himself all worked up, rather than asking his father for what he desires. He does not see that the farm is his, that he already has his inheritance since his brother took his and ran. He cannot see what he has – only what he doesn’t have.

Thirdly, we have the father. He loves both sons equally and he gives them what they ask. When he thinks that he has lost his youngest son to the temptations of the world around them, he is grieved. However, when he sees this son returning, he is overjoyed – and doesn’t care why he is returning. His is just happy to see him on his way home – no matter what the conditions of his return are. He loves his oldest son, probably is thankful for his steady work and for his being near him as he ages. He is probably thankful that he has someone to hand the family farm to – someone to carry on what he has started.

Finally, as a side note, we have the fatted calf. Someone once pointed out to me that when he reflected on this story, and tried to find his own place in the story, he often found himself feeling like the fatted calf – you know – going on about his business, not bothering anyone, and boom – he is blind sighted by someone barreling him down.

So where do you fit into the story? Where do you find yourself? Maybe a mixture from a, b, c, and d? Maybe you find your somewhere in the middle? Maybe you are the youngest one moment and then turn and become the eldest in the next. I think that this is such an approachable story for many of us, because we can find ourselves in one, two, three or four of these characters.

No matter where you find yourself, the parable is truly about the love of the father – and thus a parable about God’s love for us. In the Gospel of Luke, we hear about God’s relationship with us over and over again. People are constantly coming at Jesus wanting to know the letter of the law and the writer of Luke is constantly turning us to look at the letter of the love, the unconditional love that God has for us. A bit before this parable, in chapter 11 of Luke, we hear, “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” God is constantly trying to get that across to us, and this parable is yet another way for Jesus to speak of God’s love for us.

So what is unconditional love? It is a love that is pure, a love that will ask questions, not to find answers - but to get the person thinking about what they are doing. It is a love that holds you through all of the pain, through the joy, through the tears, through the laughter. It is a love that teaches, it is a love that comes and gets you whether you are ready or not. It is a love that is planted in you from day one. Unconditional love is a grace-filled love which we all deserve. The whole aim of God's unconditional love has always been to bring reconciliation to the world.

Fredrich Buechner writes, "Love is to lose yourself in another's arms, or in another's company, or in suffering for all who suffer - including the ones who inflict suffering upon you. To lose yourself in such ways is to find yourself." This is what it is all about. This is what love is. Love is loosing yourself in order to find yourself. In the parable, both of the sons have lost themselves in very different ways. The youngest lost himself to the world, and returned to the father asking forgiveness. The oldest lost himself to his work and still has to learn to find himself again – and I have no doubt that he will get there. No matter how far away we get, no matter what we have done, no matter where we are on our journey we are welcomed back into God’s love again and again.

In the words of poet, Annie Johnson Flint

God has not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower - strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God has not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But God has promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

Amen.