What does it mean to be lost?
03/30/2025
This week’s Gospel reading is from the Gospel of Luke chapter 15 Verses 1 - 3 and 11b - 32. This is a well known story, often referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son is actually the third parable that Jesus told to this group of listeners. The first two parables are about something that is lost and later found. I think this causes our minds to fall into a bit of a groove about lost and found things, and when we get to the third parable, we may only see one part of the story: the young son who is lost for a time and then recovered. But the third story is not just about something lost being found, it is a story about what it means to be lost as well as what it means to be found. In the parable Jesus is talking about a family farm. What it means to be a part of the family and what it means to be separated from it. The true meaning of connected and separated is much more than just being at the farm vs benign away from it. It is the relationship to the family and the farm that is meaningful. This is a picture of what Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of God. Jesus came to earth not simply to raise awareness of God’s kingdom but to call us to live in it.
Jesus’ ministry and message was about the kingdom of God. He spoke about it all the time. He taught about what it is. He invited his hearers to be part of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the place on earth where God’s will is done as it is in heaven. It is not a territory or a domain with borders on earth and it is not only a heavenly realm outside of earth. The kingdom of God is all around us. That is a core part of Jesus teaching throughout his ministry. Exactly what that means or exactly where the kingdom of God “is” will be set aside for a future discussion. What is important to understand is that Jesus spoke often of the kingdom of God being here on earth. When he talks about someone being “lost”, as in this parable, he is not talking about knowing where the kingdom is, but about being in a connected relationship with it.
Verse one begins this chapter by telling us that tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus. Verse two tells us that the Pharisees and scribes are also nearby, but they are not happy about the “other group” being included. The Pharisees, we are told, are grumbling near Jesus and it is into this environment that he begins to tell his parables to the crowd.
The parable that we are going to be looking at begins in verse 11 with this phrase “there was a man who had two sons.” I have read this story many times. I am familiar with the setup: sinners gathering and Pharisees complaining. For many years I have read this parable as a story with two points. First, if I am “the lost son,” God is watching for me, and he will welcome me home. Second, if I am a Pharisee, I should keep in mind that God is watching for his lost children to return, so perhaps I should as well. The first lesson is a message of hope for the lost and the struggling. The second message is a lesson about God’s patient love extended to his children.
This time I read it differently. This time I saw something that I had never seen, or thought about, in previous readings. The first line of the parable sets off an alarm when it says that “a man had two sons.” If this story was a lesson about the lost “sinner” son returning to the father, then why were there two sons in the story? A man with one son would have been just fine for the tale of sin, repentance and joyful reunion with the father, but the father had two sons. This parable is about two sons who are both lost, just as Jesus had two groups of listeners that had been called out to us before this parable began. The first was described as tax collectors and sinners. They are represented in the story by the younger son. Tax collectors, having good jobs with the Romans, could afford an easy life. They could indulge in wine or fine goods as they liked. The younger son came to his father and asked for what would be his and the father granted him his request. Now flush with funds, he proceeds to leave the father and seek out pleasure and fortune as seems best to him. If the father’s house and farm are the picture of the kingdom of God then the younger son is certainly lost at this point. He has left it behind to seek his own way, disregarding the customs and responsibilities that come with being a son “of the kingdom” would require.
I don’t think anyone reading this story would argue that the younger son is anything but “lost” at this point. The story goes on to relay how things go for the young son, and soon they turn bad. He is poor in a foreign land and soon finds himself feeding pigs while he goes unfed. He is lost. He has lost his access to food and shelter. He has lost his friends. He has lost the protection of his father and family. I think it is clear what it means to be lost here. Soon this young son comes to his senses and realizes that even a servant in his father's house has food to eat and a place to sleep. He recognizes he is lost to the father, living outside the kingdom, and choses to return. He is returning in hopes of being taken in as a servant. He does not consider himself worthy to even ask to again become a son of the father. However he recognized that the position of servant inside the kingdom is far better than being a son who is outside of it.
As the younger son approaches the fathers land, the father sees him and rushes out to greet him. This is where we could talk about God’s forgiving love, which is true and important but not the main topic for today. The short version is that the younger son is welcomed home, his sonship is restored and a celebration is held to rejoice at his return. This is true for each “sinner” that returns to God’s kingdom. God is watching and inviting our return, and he does celebrate when any lost soul finds its way back to the kingdom.
At the time that the younger son is outside the kingdom, pursuing his own pleasure, the older son remains with his father. The elder son is within “the kingdom” of the family and farm. However, we have to investigate if he too is lost. Geographically he is not. He is on the farm. If the farm is the picture of the kingdom of God, then he is right in the middle of it so we can hardly say he is lost. But how is he living in the kingdom of God?
The answer can be found in verse 29 where we read “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your commands.” The elder son here states how he has lived for all these years. He is obedient. He is dutiful. He lives as a slave to his father on his farm, inside the kingdom. But, he is lost because he has failed to know who he is. He is a son and all that the father has is his. It was given to him when the younger son went away, but he doesn’t recognize it. He has chosen to live as a slave to the father, when the father has lifted him up to own all that he has.
Here in the elder son we also find the picture of the other group speaking to Jesus before the story began. The scribes and Pharisees are invited into God’s kingdom as well. They know all the rules to be good members of the kingdom. But they see themselves as slaves to those rules. They do not understand they are invited as sons to partake of the kingdom and all that it has. They miss the fellowship with the King that has been offered, because they are devoted to his power and authority and not to his presence.
Being lost is not about geography. It is about recognizing who we are, and what we have been invited to be in God’s kingdom. Each one of us are sons and daughters of the King. Yes, we have rules to follow and tasks to complete. We are not called to these tasks as slaves. We do what has been set before us because they are what is best for us as individuals and best for the kingdom of God. We are called, invited, to work in cooperation with God’s Spirit here on earth, as we live in the kingdom. We share in the prosperity and joy of the kingdom, and not just in the temporal pleasures that we can pursue outside of the kingdom. God is patiently calling to us and waiting for us to return to fellowship with Him, in the kingdom that has come to earth. Our reconciliation is guaranteed and the celebration is prepared. Our place is in the kingdom. To take that place, we have to look at ourselves and ask if we are lost. We must remember that we can be lost because we are outside the kingdom, but we can also be lost inside the kingdom by not remembering who we are.
Pharisees and tax collectors are both invited by Jesus to hear the message, the good news of the Kingdom of God. How they chose to respond determined if they were inside or outside of that kingdom. The good news is we are all also still invited. It doesn’t matter if we come as a son who is confused and thinks they are a slave or a son that has run away from the kingdom entirely. Once we realize we are lost, we can return. God’s Spirit is a faithful guide to bring us back safely into the kingdom.
Thanks for reading.
David
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