Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
You can almost hear the Father singing our last hymn to his prodigal son, Come Home, Come Home…. Softly tenderly, Jesus the Good Shepherd is singing to you Come Home, Come home! Ultimately this familiar parable David read is really about God our heavenly Father whispering to each one of us, no matter how far we have strayed…. Come Home.
But what about the one who stayed home? What about the older brother who did everything “right?” He was jealous of the welcome his younger brother received. He refused to go to the party; he complained to his dad he felt cheated. He was envious of his younger brother’s welcome. The burden of envy is one we all struggle with. We compare ourselves to others and feel like we come up short. We want what others have, Wow we are back to want again…. Did you notice that right before younger son came to his senses, he was slopping the pigs, we are told he is “in want” (vs. 14 RSV) Yet how many times have you coveted things that did not belong to you? How easy it is to think we deserve more than what we have and envy those who have it. Let’s be careful, Proverbs warns, “Jealousy will rot your bones” (14:30). Even with that warning, envy has a grip on us. When we see all the things we do not have we are blinded from seeing the ways God is truly blessing us. The way God makes our cup overflow. That simple line “My cup overflows” really says “our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give. (God) pours and pours until it literally flows over the edge and down the table… With God, the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is unspeakable; the peace passeth understanding…
There is no grudging in God’s benevolence… God’s way is always characterized by multitudinous and overflowing bounty (Traveling Light, Pg. 134). The overflowing cup was a real practice during David’s time. Hosts in the ancient East would send a message to their guest, based on how full or empty a cup was.
As long as the cup was full the guest was welcome.
But when the cup was empty, it was time to go.
On occasion when the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled his cup to overflowing, like a standing ovation. He didn’t stop when the wine reached the rim; he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down the table. “Have you noticed how wet your table is? God wants you to stay! Your cup overflows with joy. Overflows with grace (TL, pg. 137). You have a place at God’s table. Welcome Home!
But if the older son is envious, then the younger son struggles with the burden of shame. To ask for inheritance, saying to Father wish you were dead. He cashed out his inheritance and traveled to a far country. There he spent all of his Dad’s money on loose living and all that his heart might want. Then a famine struck and he was humiliated to work slopping pigs, the lowest and dirtiest animals for a Jew. His wanton behavior and his disgraceful job, piled the shame upon him. And yet, he came to himself, he remembered from his home, and the love of his family and thought, “I need to return home.” He did not feel worthy to be called his Father’s son. Shame kept him from returning as a son, he only aspired to be a servant, a slave in his father’s house. But his father ran to meet him, showered him with all the gifts of a beloved child and honored guest, robe, ring, sandal, feast, reclaiming his identity as beloved son. His father did not see a servant, he saw his lost child found and his dead son returned to him. He was overjoyed!!! The father looked past his hurtful deeds, and his shame and instead prepared a table for his son.
We too can be mired in shame, bogged down with the wrong deeds we have done, a slave to our shameful past. We might want to come home to God but we feel unworthy to even approach; afraid to return to our Heavenly Father. We fear will I be welcomed? How can God forgive me?
No matter what sin you have done, what shame you bear, I bet that Peter has you beat. Peter, the impetuous one, Peter the one who said he would go to prison or die for Jesus (Lk. 22:33) is the same disciple who must have been overwhelmed by shame. Jesus told him he would deny his Lord three times and in Jesus’ darkest moment Peter does. Peter denounces his Lord, not once or twice but three times. And we think we have things to feel bad about.
Max Lucado put it this way, “Peter could not deny his denial. The empty tomb did not erase the crowing rooster. Christ returned, but Peter wondered, he must have wondered, “After what I did, would he return for someone like me?
We’ve wondered the same. Is Peter the only person to do the very thing he swore he’d never do? “Infidelity behind me!”
“From now on, I’m going to bridle my tongue.”
“No more shady deals. I’ve learned my lesson.”
The volume of our boasting. And oh the heartbreak of our shame.
Rather than resist flirting, we return to it.
Rather than ignore gossip, we share it.
Rather than stick to the truth, we shade it” (TL pg. 116).
We wonder would Jesus return for someone like me?
Christ does return for Peter, and he invites him to a meal. Peter had gone fishing, but the risen Jesus makes him breakfast on the shore. Peter was welcomed to the meal with Christ. He prepares a table for him. “You prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Table here means feast, a banquet, the abundance of God’s mercy and love. Returning with where we started… “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want,” this is the promise of God’s generous and amazing grace. Setting this abundant table in the presence of enemies means that no matter what obstacle you face, what foe you have, God’s bounty is greater. God’s love is fuller.
God’s mercy is wider!!!
Our closing hymn speaks to the wideness of God’s mercy which is the point of the prodigal Son, the table and the cup over flowing. The prodigal son is really about how magnanimous the father is running to welcome his lost son home; God welcoming you home.
Peter’s betrayal is really a chance to see God’s vast forgiveness and for us to know we are forgiven too.
Our shameful acts pale in comparison to God’s abundant love and grace.
Our closing hymn only has two verses. But I found another original verse written by Fredrick Faber that speaks to how we limit God’s mercy, how we try to put God into our terms, rather than God’s limitless and creating abundance. It is printed in your bulletin and we will sing it as the third verse. It casts a vision of the vastness and depth of the love, grace, compassion and justice that lies behind the prodigal son and the 23rd psalm. When you sing this closing hymn imagine you are sitting at Christ’s table with the wine overflowing your cup, splashing on your shoes, proclaiming God’s ever flowing overflowing love for you! Imagine God running out to welcome you home, preparing a meal made especially for you!!! Come Home. You have a place at God’s table!!! Welcome home. Amen.
