Luke 15:1-3,11b-32
The 4th Sunday of Lent | 30 03 25 | Luke 15:1-3,11b-32 | David H. Brooks |
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus]. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3So he told them this parable:…
“There was a man who had two sons. 12And 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. 13Not 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. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And 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! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20And 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. 21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But 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. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For 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. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And 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.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but 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. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles
Prodigal? Don’t You Mean Steward?
Although we can presume that Jesus’ original audience would have reacted to the prodigal landing in with the pigs as a clear sign of his fall—pigs being unclean animals, with all that the term implies—there is a someone different notion at work in our world as we consider the implication of the prodigal feeding the swine:
What do we say when we want to save money? Put it in your piggy-bank.
What do we say when we head out to work? Heading out earn some bacon.
What do we say when there’s plenty of money to do as we wish? We are living high on the hog.
What do we say when money is being wasted? He/she/they are larding out the pork.
Yes, there are some clear connections between pigs and resources, even to the point that our English word steward seems to begin as the Old English word stigwaerd—manager of the animal pen.
All fun aside, this is a parable about stewardship, because it is a parable about understanding how to rightly use what is in our hands. Much has been written about the second son who goes off to a far country, but this is a parable about a manwho had two sons.
And what do we notice about this man? First, he is generous—the one son demands what is intended for him in the will, and the father freely gives; the other son grouches that he’s never had that kind of party, and the father reminds him that everything he has is also the possession of the older son. We do well to notice that the man is not only generous with his possessions, but he is also generous in spirit, heartily welcoming the one back when he could have, should have made him grovel, and going to the other rather than demanding recognition to do as he wishes with what is his.
Second, this man is loving; he treats both sons with dignity. Now admittedly, he does not rescue, in the sense that he keeps the younger son from experiencing the consequences of his decisions. The younger son has claimed his liberty, and the man honors that. The older son sulks and the man honors that, not ordering but asking, entreating, not rescuing the older son from the consequences of his decisions.
Third, this man moves with specific purpose—to regain what was lost. We’re not going to jam into this parable an origin story of why either son is the way he is. What we do have is the last of a series of parables about lostness (lost sheep, lost coin, lost sons). The man uses those resources available to him to restore, renew, strengthen his relationships. Most of all, this man does so for both sons—he does not reject the one with his embrace of the other. His love does not create a favorite and an outcast; his generosity does not create a winner and a loser.
So, since this parable is the last about lostness before Jesus starts talking about money in Luke 16, it can point us toward thinking about Christian stewardship. Again, the man’s generosity, love and purpose can help us understand the deep truth of our lives as stewards of what God has given us. We might wonder about the man’s generosity, but being generous is not the same as being wasteful, like the prodigal, nor being stingy like the elder brother. We’ve already seen that the man does not try to rescue either son, nor does he try to give what he does not possess. Generosity does not exceed capacity! We are regularly tempted to make promises we have no capacity to keep; we decide to give, but have no capacity to follow through. And this is not simply about money—there is no skill, no knowledge you or I can share if we will not cultivate or grow it. Last week, in the parable of the fig tree, we learned that fruitfulness is not tied to circumstances—in fact the prodigal comes to his senses when he has a moment of manure shoveling! Generosity is about gladly sharing what we have been given, not giving away what we do not have.
Secondly, Christian stewardship is rooted in love, for stewardship seeks only what is best for the beloved. Do we steward our fund to pay the power bill simply because it is owed, or because we desire light, comfortable air and safe food for our loved ones? In the same way, the steward’s love seeks the good for those around him or her, that God may be glorified.
Lastly, the Christian steward lives by the very purpose that sent Christ into the world—that the world might be saved through him. Nothing that is given by us for mission or ministry is ever wasted, but under God’s care it accomplishes its good purpose, so that those who are lost (even those who do not know that they are lost) might be found. Our stewardship does not create winners and losers, but as it partakes in the wondrous work of God, it turns even those who are disdainful, those who are angry, those who are far away, and those who are near toward the One whose generosity is boundless, whose love is everlasting, and whose aim is to reconcile all things to Himself.
Amen.
©David H. Brooks
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Durham, NC USA