The Prodigal Son

The gospel reading today is a parable Jesus told the Pharisees and scribes who murmured as they saw Jesus welcoming tax collectors and sinners to hear him. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

The parable known as the story of the prodigal son is one out of three parables, which Jesus told in response to those complaints. The others are, the parable of lost coin, and the parable of the lost sheep. What’s interesting is that in each story as the protagonist finds what is lost, they all call friends and neighbors out of joy and have a celebration…

Jesus concluded each parable saying, there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who need no repentance.

Joy is something we have lost…I remember my mentor friend in the past telling, that people seem to suspicious of people who are joyful…

Several days ago, Mrs. Puff, a woman from Africa, who comes for lunch and playground duty at Van Hise said, “You used to dance with the children in the playground and look very happy. Now you don’t… I think there’s truth in it…I remember the first time I started the school, every teacher looked unhappy and everyone, both teacher s and students looked very rude….Now several years later I have became a part of that culture, I have become more serious, work, work, work…..

I have gone on a side track… What is important is that characters of the parable held onto their joy. As they found what they lost, they celebrated…

I don’t think our culture affirms that…when we loose something which we treasure, how are we? Are we not anxious? But once we found it, we take it for granted…or perhaps we don’t have that much that we really treasure…everything can be replaced?

I wonder whether or not we are all become like the older brother….who work to much. We work out of duty, out of fear, out of habit and we don’t know how to rejoice... so then when we see someone having a good time, instead of partying together, we are filled with resentment or jealousy….

Perhaps what God wants is having a good time together, work together for sure, but also having a good time together…enjoying each other… Like us this gathering today, celebrating the Sabbath together….

In a way the lessons of the parable today goes with the lessons from last week too…When someone come to Jesus reporting about the persons whose blood got mingled with the blood of the animal, Jesus’ response was they didn’t die that way because they are worse sinners than us...when several people died by the fallen tower, they did not die because they are worse sinners; when the fig tree who did not bear fruits even after figs would be expected, that tree was given one more year, it’s life did not get extended because of it’s goodness…it was because of the request from the gardener, because of the grace of God, the life got extended….the life given to us is a free gift from God, not something we achieved…. so therefore repent and be reconciled with God, self and one another….

I think the older son thinks of what he has as something he achieved… The older son doesn’t think of himself as someone in need of transformation. But his unwillingness to forgive and his focus on material possessions make him a strong candidate for repentance.
For the older brother represents the point of view that says, “If only he is not there, I’ll get all these things and the world will be perfect, I’ll be forever happy.” This is our attitude whenever we are unhappy…

To some extent, we all are prodigal sons who spend all our time and money on things which don’t feed us…Instead of accepting that part of us and ask God’s love to help us to be away from it, we scold them, punish them, deny them, and eventually separate that part of us and project it to others……you are sinners, they are prodigal…if only you are not here, me and my father will be happy forever…

But the father’s mind seems different, while he does his everyday work faithfully, working side by side with the faithful son, he also prays and waits and watches for the return of the lost child… and when that moment arrives, he runs and embraces the prodigal kissing him and telling the servants to make a big party…it’s very touching to me..

The father knows how to accept his own pain and joy and know how to celebrate…don’t think of what the son did in the past, what sort of consequence will bring this child with no discipline…..what sort of discipline he has to give as he accept this child, what sort of family conflict will happen…he doesn’t think of it, the joy of having back the lost son overshadows all other thoughts…

I want you to find an excuse to celebrate, restore the joy we lost…restore the all the panorama of emotions that we supress…..and learn to share with one another…the father’s mind is hard to comprehend….my thoughts are different from yours…..as we do that, perhaps we become a new creation, and we see everyone no longer from human point of view….amen.




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