Sermon Archive
The prodigal son
Sermon preached by Frances Burberry at Evensong on 24 February 2002
In the early days of the last century there was a Roman Catholic priest in Aberdeen who was known as Priest Gordon. His friend, and sparring partner, was a Protestant minister.
One Monday morning they met. Said the priest,
'I hear you was talking about Our Lady yesterday.'
'Aye, I was.'
'What was ye saying?'
'I never said anything agin her. I just said
she was a guid woman, like my ain mither.'
'Ah weel', said the priest,
'I'll say nothing about the mithers;
but there's an awfu difference atween the sons!'
Two sons, of the same family, but so different; that's what the priest was saying; however jocularly. And what Our Lord is telling us about in the parable. The difference between two sons. One good, one not good. That's how we see it, isn't it. Where did they get it from? Their parental home; but only one took it in.
One was the rebel, eager to get away from home; to stretch his wings, to feel free; and do his own thing. And, as so often happens, it all fell apart. Think of the streets of Edinburgh, and all big cities, littered with the young runaways and their cardboard shelters. Begging for money, for food, for warmth and for shelter.
When he really was in despair he found the courage to come home, where he belonged. And it wasn't easy for him. It cost him to turn back and admit his mistakes, to say what a fool he'd been; and show his face again at home. But then, an act of contrition, repentance, never comes easy. You can't not feel his discomfort, sense his unease at the price of repentance.
The other was the good boy, an exemplary son, never put a foot wrong, never left home. Always there for his father; always concerned about the farm. Diligent and responsible; and never got any thanks for it, taken for granted. No wonder he blew up when he saw the fuss, and then complained. And, in his complaint, he showed just how different he was from his father.
See how the father and the son talked about the returned prodigal. Look at the words, the father says, 'your brother', the son says, 'this your son'. We can see this in our own families. I certainly have. But, the father makes no distinction between them. His love is big enough for both, unconditional, generous, without measure.
So we have a parable about a father and his two sons. And there was an awfu difference atween the sons. In the parable we see a loving, generous father, and his two sons. The one a tearaway, and the other, the 'perfect' child. And Our Lord leads us to compare the sons and their behaviour.
The younger, who was within the family, had put himself outside it; outside love and support; outside security and comfort. But he found himself inside once again, and at some personal cost. Both loved and welcomed. Not judged, but embraced by his father.
The other son, who had always been inside the family, and always known that love and security, put himself outside. He turned against his father, against his father's compassion and generosity. The younger son couldn't live again without forgiveness. The elder son had no need for forgiveness.
I remember, at the end of another parable, Our Lord's words, 'There will be greater joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no forgiveness.'
This parable makes us face some truths, some home truths literally, about our family relationships. And Lent is a good time, perhaps the best time, for some heart searching about our relationships, in general, but beginning with home and family. For charity, we say, and rightly, begins at home.
Amen.
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