​​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We may have just been here last week, but maybe it’s been many weeks, or even many years. No matter how long it’s been, we can be assured that God is eager to welcome us back, today or any time. As we prepare to celebrate the Eucharist together, let us call to mind those times when we have strayed from God’s embrace and thank God for the assurance of reconciliation.

God loves the just but does not ignore the sinner, for whom there is always a place in his kingdom. The church is not an exclusive club. The Pharisees resent God’s mercy. The parable of the lost sheep does not deny the goodness of the virtuous majority but makes the point that there’s a special place for the repentant sinner. The lost coin is important to the careful housewife, and her joy at its recovery is shared because it is deeply felt. The sum may be modest but it’s sentimental value matters a lot to her. All are V.I.P.s in God’s eyes, and especially what was lost and found.

But there is another side to this story: the Prodigal Son “came to his senses.” He opened his eyes to see, his ears to hear; he reached out for help, and got in touch with reality. The father’s welcome was extraordinary, but it could only happen because the son came back home. Are we willing to let the Father embrace us, and are we prepared to come to our senses too? His mercy is there for any of us who turn to him with all our hearts.

The parable of the prodigal son is a classic of narrative skill that is timelessly relevant. We need to know that a loving Father awaits our return home. We also need the reminder that the same loving God expects us to forgive one another and to keep in touch with one another. The joy of a son’s homecoming was spoiled for the father by the sulking of the elder brother. How sad that the elder brother resented his brother for having been such a waster in the past? God wants us all to be merciful. Leaving people helpless is no part of his plan. Though living under the same roof, the elder son was isolated from his father. Focused on his own rights and needs, he could not stomach his brother’s safe return. Calling him “this son of yours” must have grieved his father. Faithful and dutiful disciples need to be open to welcome home the wild ones, even the apparent wasters, for that is how things are done “up above”, according to Jesus.​​​​​​​​​​

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​