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The
Ninth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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RANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the
spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do
any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according
to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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nd he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father,
Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto
them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered
all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his
substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty
This is the last of a
trilogy of parables the Lord offers for the comfort of the lost sinner and the
dismay of the scribes and Pharisees.
As you will recall,
each of these three parables is addressing the issue of being lost – the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. Each
cast a different light on the state of lostness.
The
sheep is like a little child with no means to direct its path, but must be led
by a parent, or shepherd. It has no foresight, no self control, no bad or evil
intent. It wanders away due to a lack of knowledge and vision. The Shepherd
will leave the ninety and nine to go in search of this little lost lamb. It
becomes His great obsession to find it. Thank God that Christ will never leave
us for the greater numbers. He cares deeply for each of His own.
The second parable
describes a woman who has lost one silver coin out of the ten she possesses. It
seems a small loss compared with the nine remaining; however, this one lost
coin becomes the center of her attention. She takes a candle and searches into
the late hours of the night, she sweeps and garnishes her home in a desperate
search for this lost coin.
This coin can represent
those who are ignorant of their lost estate. They have no mind of their own,
and are unable to think clearly. They are as good as dead:
And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses; (Col 2:13)
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
(by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Eph
2:1-6)
And now he gives us
this third parable of the prodigal Son who was the apple of his father’s eye, was owned by him as his son, and who rebels
and becomes lost to his father.
He desired his
inheritance early beyond the provision of the law (at death of the benefactor).
The father, being full
of love for his son, overlooked his childish desire and complied with his
request.
The son, not many days
after, gathered his new found wealth and went off into a far country – perhaps Alexandria, Rome, or Babylon.
Material wealth became
more important to this youth than the father’s love.
When he had established
himself in the far country, he lived lavishly, squandering his money on riotous
living. When we go out of the Will of our Father in Heaven, we will likewise
squander our resources on frivolity and sinfulness. When we find ourselves out
of communion with the father, we have gone off into a far country – far from the father’s oversight and
provision.
xThe very last verse of
the book of Joshua describes our state of rebellion:
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n those days there was no king in Israel: every
man did that which was right in his own eyes.
(Judg
21:25)
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ow it came to pass in the days when the judges
ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem
Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two
sons. (Ruth 1:1)
It is clear from the
above passages that the result of living according to our own desires, and not
those of God, results in a famine of both spirit and sustenance.
The young man began to
be in want. When we have spent all seeking joy apart from our Father, we, too,
will began to be in want – in grave need.
When we become
desperate, we seek help beyond ourselves even if it is from a stranger.
A
stranger cares nothing for our well-being. He will only use and abuse us. But
we, like the sodium element in salt, will always be joined to something else
whether it be God or mammon.
This
young Jewish lad found himself feeding pigs. Pigs are classified as unclean by
the Holy Bible, yet this young man lived among them and even coveted their
food. What a depth of depravity to which to sink.
He
was doubtless filthy and his clothes stank of the waste of pigs and dirt.
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nd when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of
my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (Luke 15:17)
No child in his right
mind deserts his parents and goes off into a far country. No sinner is in his
right mind when he is away from God.
God
calls such persons ‘fools.’ In Psalm 14:1
– the fool hath said in
his heart, There is no God.”
When we awaken to our
lost estate – separated from loved ones, from home and
hearth – we are perishing from a hunger that grips our souls and will not be
satisfied with anything except a return to home.
We begin to recognize
the value of love and truth. We hunger in our being for our Father.
When one awakens to his
lost condition, he must resolve to make a remedy to it. Before his feet will
move in the proper direction, the idea must be born in his heart, soul, and
mind.
So,
the young man determines what he must do, first by a mental resolution:
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will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before thee, (Luke 15:18-19)
We must repent of our
great evil.
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nd am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy
hired servants.
(We must recognize our
depravity.)
And our new found hope
and resolution must be followed by a willingness to act upon them.
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nd he arose, and came to his father. (Luke 15:20)
He returned to the
Father who had been patiently awaiting his son’s return. He
had knowledge of the son’s great wickedness, yet, he never gave up on his
beloved son. He sat and mournfully watched the same sad road on which his son
had departed – days he waited, months passed by, and finally years
– yet his father sat and waited. Watched and hoped.
He knew the son must
return of his own volition and not be forcefully returned to him. His heart was
weary with worry. His eyes heavy with the loss of sleep in his worries, but he
watched the Road.
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ut when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had
compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
One day, as the old man
watched, he saw a small speck appear on the horizon where the road topped a
distant hill. Something inside him leapt with hope. Could it be his son. The
man was old, and his vision poor, yet, hope had made his vision keener to see
his son.
Suddenly, with
certainty, the old man recognized the careless gait, the casual shuffle that
identified his son even though he was a great distance away. No matter how far
we go out of God’s Will, he watches and
waits. And when he spots us returning – even though at a great distance – he
knows us, and rushes to meet us.
He could not contain
himself. He jumped to his feet and started to run toward the
visage. Though old and failing, his great joy overcame his aged
deformity.
You will remember this
son was penniless and smelling of the hog pen, yet, his father fell on his
shoulders, ignored the terrible odor, and even kissed his son. When love is
strong, the superficials matter not.
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nd the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. (Luke 15:21)
It is only when we are
aware of our unworthiness, that the Lord can receive us – dirty and smelling as we all are.
The son followed
through with his previous resolution. He repented to his father and told him
that he was no more worthy to be his son.
The
love of the father stopped his ears from hearing of the unworthiness of the
son. That was not important to the old man. The only thing that mattered at all
is that the son was home at last.
When
a lost son or daughter returns to God, he doesn’t ask how
dirty you have been, or how far away you have gone from Him. He simply is
overjoyed at your home-coming.
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ut the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe,
and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it;
and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he
was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. (Luke
15:22-24)
Note the gifts of the father:
ROBE
A robe designates worthiness.
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will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with
the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isa 61:10)
He covered the filth of his son with a
beautiful robe.
RING
A ring signifies authority. He gave his
son his own authority to act.
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nd Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and
put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a
gold chain about his neck; 43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot
which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler
over all the land of Egypt. (Gen 41:42-43)
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nd the king took off his ring, which he had taken
from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house
of Haman. (Esther 8:2)
SHOES
Shoes demonstrate liberty.
In the days of Rome,
the first item taken from a captive were his shoes. This reduced his freedom to
run away. When a captive was set free, his shoes were returned signifying his
liberty of movement.
In Christ, our sins are
covered by His white robe of righteousness.
We are commissioned and
given authority to preach the Gospel.
We
are let loose from the chains of sin that bound us and are made free.
Please
remain in the house of our Lord, but if you wander away, remember He is
vigilant to find you and to receive you though He will not come to you as long
as you persist in a “Far
Country.”
