Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Luke 15: 11-32

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in 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 into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise 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 as one of your hired servants."' ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And 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 servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. ²⁵ "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' ³¹ And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" (Luk 15:11-32 ESV)

There was a man with two sons. One day the older brother saw his younger brother approach their father. He looked very serious, as if he had a question weighing on himhis mind. The younger brother finally spoke and the older brother was shocked to hear what he heard. He said to their father "I want to enjoy my life now, give me my share of the inheritance." The older brother’s jaw dropped as he thought; "What is he thinking, asking for your inheritance while your father is still alive is like treating our Father as ifhim like he‘s dead!" It gets worse; their fatherhe was very gracious and gave him his inheritance, his portion of the estate. He didn’t understand why he gave in but he gave him what he asked for. A couple days later, his brother left the farm with his inheritance in hand heading for the big city. He could only guess what he was searching for, maybe fast women and foolish things.

The older brother often saw his father looking out over the distance. He looked as if he was waiting for his son to come home. But, night after night his father slowly shuffled home alone with his head hung low. His younger brother had been gone for some time when one day he was on his way in from the field and as he came near the house, the older brotherhe heard what sounded like a party, music and dancing. He approached very suspiciously and wondered what was going on. The older brother suspected his brother came home and did n’ot want to enter the house. As the oldest son of the host, he would be expected to serve as a host. He saw a group of young boys outside the house and called one of them over. You see, Cchildren are not allowed in the house during a celebration. The older brother asked the young boy many questions to find out what was going on. The young boy told him the youngerhis brother was back, had wasted his inheritance, and his father killed the fatted calf. His father is celebrating because he got him back safe and sound. The older brother stood outside clenching his fists and turning red in the face. The boys overheard him saying to himself, "There is no way I’m going in there. I don’t care if it disgraces my father because I won’t perform my host duties. Can you believe he actually ran to greet that no good brother of mine? He knows it’s undignified for an elder self-respecting head of such a large estate as ours to run. I can’t believe father didn’t even let him grovel or offer a proper repentance before he embraced and kissed him. I can’t believeAs unbelievable as it seems, he gave him his robe, a ring on his finger, and slippers on for his feet. With the robe and , ring, and the slippers the community knows he is fully restored to the status of a son. Oh no, the ring allows him to transact business in father’s name and they know he is not a slave by the slippers. I have to put a stop to this." The older son sees his father coming toward him from the party and braces for an angry confrontation which he deserves. But instead he hears his father ask him "will you come join the party and celebrate the return of your brother?"

You see the Corinthian Christians were having difficulties living together as brothers and sisters in Christ. They

The older son still red in the face and with clenched fists answered his father without a using his title, which is incredibly disrespectful. He compared himself to a servant when said he has always "served" his father. Basically, he wanted compensation for his service instead of being an heir. He claimed he never disobeyed his father’s commands.

Yet, by not entering the house and completing his duty as host, he was disobeying his father. He complained he had never been given even a young goat to enjoy his life now and have a party with his friends. This is another slap in to his father’s face because parties were community events and his statement did not include the father or most of the community. He went on to say, however, when that son of yours came home after he scattered and wasted a third of your property, spending it on prostitutes, you killed the best animal we have, the fattened calf, and threw him a party with the whole community.

The father looks into the older son’s eyes with compassion and answers says to him; my son you are always with me. (pause) Now, what the son did not realize was that being with his father was its own reward. (pause) All that is mine is yours. (pause) He also did not realize that the benefit of the father’s riches, the remaining inheritance, were not just sometime in the future but he was enjoying them in the present. (pause) It was is appropriate that we celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead and is now alive; he was lost and now is found. (pause) The father again disregards the dignity of his position for he did not need to justify himself yet he does so because he wants his son to see the his joy. His joy in recovering his brother who was dead and lost to the family but now is back. You will notice that the story ends there without a reaction from the son.

(Pause)…We don’t know what the older son does after his father encourages him to join the celebration and be joyous about his brother’s return. What do you think he did? Jesus tells this story to the Pharisees and Scribes after they grumbled about Jesus having a meal with tax collectors and sinners. Who are the players of this story? The Pharisees are the older brother who are God’s people and should be glad that God extends His grace to the undeserving., tThe younger son is the sinner that turns in contrition to God,. Tand the father is God who graciously reconciles the son. Are you threatened as the older son was when the "Undeserving" are reconciled to Christ? Do you look down your nose at the person you know has fallen away from the faith and shows up at church one day? Did Do you think, "What are they doing here?" Does the thought of all the work you put into the church for so many years make you angry like the older son when someone comes back to the faith in contrition?

(pause)…. So, let me show you what this looks like today. One day a homeless man came into the sanctuary of a very traditional church in the middle of the sermon. He was dressed in tattered, dirty, and smelly clothes and it was obvious he had not bathed. He strolled down the center aisle. The congregation didn’t know what to do. They were shocked, surprised, and thought someone should do something about this smelly man who was disrupting their service. The homeless man walked right up to the front of the sanctuary and sat down in the middle of the aisle cross-legged. You could hear the whispers in the congregation saying someone should do something about him. Suddenly, the head usher, an elderly stern man dressed in a suit marches up the aisle towards the man. You could see the look of relief on the member’s faces as you overheard some saying, "oh good, Jim will get him and escort him out."

Like the parable, I am going to pause the story here. What do you think Jim the head usher did? How did you react to the homeless man? Do you want just the "right" kind of guest or are you here for everyone? Check your reaction to the homeless man. Do you want the story to end with him being escorted out because he isn’t the "right kind" of guest? Ok, maybe in your mind the homeless are ok. What about prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts? Can you look them in the eyes and say "you are welcome here"? Are you concerned for everyone’s spiritual health? Do you rejoice with them when they become a child of God or when they come back? The older son should have been secure in his inheritance. All that the father had was his and he was living in his inheritance. Just as the older brother should have been secure in his inheritance you should be secure in your relationship with God and the inheritance he has freely given to you. That gift, the inheritance, is the gift of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. He sent him to earth to take your sin to the cross. As He hung on the cross He looked at the repentant criminal. He looked into his eyes with compassion as He suffered. Jesus looked into his eyes with compassion as He took His last breath and died. That death took away all of the criminal’s sin. Even though you deserve the sentence of death for your sin, Christ looked into your eyes with compassion and took your place. He defeated sin and death and offers you the forgiveness of your sins. In the story Tthe father disgraced himself for his son as Jesus disgraced himself on the cross for you. You should be secure enough to rejoice that your brother or sister that was spiritually dead is now alive in Christ and has forgiveness of sins. You dishonor and disgrace your Father in heaven when you react like the older brother and refuse to do your duty as host and celebrate when your brother or sister comes home.

So, what did Jim the head usher do when he marched up the aisle towards the homeless man? Everyone expected him to firmly escort the man out of church; after all, he was disrupting their service. Jim walked up to the homeless man looked in his eyes with compassion and sat down right next to him, and crossed his legs. He realized that the man was looking for an empty seat as he walked up the aisle and finding none he chose to sit in the aisle. After all he was used to sitting on the ground. Jim wanted him to feel comfortable and hoped that sitting next to him would help. In your mind, did you rejoice that there was a homeless man interested in listening to the word of God? This is serious business, your brothers and sisters are spiritually dead, and and will you welcome them home and rejoice that God has fully restored them as sons and daughters of in the kingdom? God is looking into your eyes with compassion just like the father looked into his son’s eyes as he tells you, "My son you are always with me." Be joyous and join the party!

Amen.