Luke 15:1–3, 11–32

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." ³So he told them this parable:

¹¹And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²²But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. ²⁵"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' ³¹And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

A soldier comes home from the war. The family gathers. A party is prepared. Signs and balloons fill the front yard of the house. A meal is cooked. The band strikes up the Stars and Stripes. Singing, celebration and thanksgiving fill the air. The family is together. It is whole again. It is united. There is rejoicing when a son returns home. There is celebration when the family is together again.

We're coming home! Praise and glory to God our Father who welcomes us home. The story of God's people is the story of coming home. From the time Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, banished from their home, mankind has been on a journey back home. The story of the Bible is the story of coming home. From the time Joseph was sold into Egypt, until Moses crossed the Red Sea, and Israel went home. From the time Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, until he ascended to his Father. And from the time we are baptized until we pass from this life into eternity, we are on the journey home.

The journey can be long and dangerous. There are many perils on the way. We can get lost. We can fall into a ditch by the side of the road. We can get stuck in the snow. We can perish all alone in the wilderness. But we yearn for home. Our heart weeps and longs for home. As a hiker who gets lost in a blizzard in the mountains, we call to our Father to show us the way. We reach out with outstretched arms pleading for him to come take us home. We long for that warm embrace of the Father. That reassuring hug. That kiss of his love. The safety of his shelter.

A son left home one day for a far away land. But while there, he forgot about his home. He fell in love with the place where he was. He partied, squandered his money, and spent his fortune on prostitutes and strong drink and pleasures of the flesh. The memory of his father was a long way off in some faded and shadowy place. He fell into hardship and misfortune. Money gone, and now a famine strikes the land. No food. No place to call home. No comfort. Just a homeless wanderer. Hunger pangs his only companion. He became a hired hand on a pig farm, feeding filthy, smelly, and unclean animals that were unholy and forbidden.

In the middle of a pig sty filled with filth and dirt he came to himself. He recognized the error of his ways. The repented of all he had done and the sins he committed in the sight of heaven and of his father. He realized how much he missed the love of his father. He longed for security, shelter, food, warmth, friendship, love. He yearned for his family, and for his home. But he had turned his back on his father. He no longer had a place in the family, he would have been disowned. He would be invisible to his father who would not even speak to him. The man who once played with him in his lap and taught him how to tie his shoes would now consider him dead. He was disgraced and far, far away. His head hung low in shame.

But he raised himself up and thought to himself, "Even my father's hired hands have something to eat and a place to stay. I am no longer a son, but I will go and see if my father will hire me as a farmhand." He repented, literally, turned around and started heading toward the father.

He saw the little town off in the distance. There was a wall all around to keep wild animals out and protect the livestock from thieves. There from a hill he could see all the little houses where the workers lived. He could see the sheds and barns. He could see the well and the donkeys and camels being watered. He could see the one big house in the middle of the village that he had once called home. In the fields around the town he saw the fields of ripe grain and the vineyards full of grapes. The sheep were grazing in the pasture along the stream.

He now stood at the front gate. There, milling around the town square and working in their gardens were the hired hands and workers. Children were playing in the streets and laughing. Chickens and roosters wandering around, pecking at seeds in the soil. Donkeys tied to posts and cows laying in the barns. Directly in front of him, at the end of the path that stretched out ahead, was the landlord standing on the porch of the great house. The wealthy owner of all these houses and animals and fields. The employer of all these men. The provider for all these families.

His cheeks turned red with embarrassment. His head hung low with shame. His stomach queasy with anxiety. His brain rehearsing what he was going to say to his father. Would he chase me away? Would he beat me with a stick? Would he have me dragged out of the village and stoned? Or would he just ignore me altogether and pretend I wasn't even there which would be the most painful of all?

Just then, that great and pompous rich man, the lord over all these people and lands, lifted up his great and bulky robes above his knees and came running down the path toward him, in a most indignant fashion, his puny legs exposed beneath his majestic robes, a sight that made the common folk laugh. Never mind their ridicule and scorn. This father ran and embraced his son and kissed him over and over.

The boy tried to get out the words he had rehearsed, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father paid no attention to these deprecatory words. He didn't even give his son a chance to say he was sorry. He didn't wait for an apology. He shouted out with glee and laughter, "Take off the boy's filthy rags and place on him the finest robe in my closet. Put a ring on his finger to show he is my son. Put shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate. For my son was dead, and is now alive again. He was lost, and now is found." Then the party began; the father fed his starving son; and clothes and a ring which indicated his honor and status were placed on him. The musicians played, the people danced, the din of song pierced the dark night. The family was back together again. Now all is well.

True story! It is recorded in the annals of history and we can read about it in the Bible. The Father is real. The Son is real. Who is this Father who loved his son so much that he even went against all the norms of society and made a fool of himself to welcome his Son home? It is God the Father, maker of heaven and earth. Who is this prodigal son? None other than Jesus Christ. The Son who left his home, his Father, his position of honor and status, to come to this far distant land where we live.

For it was Jesus who was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and was made man. It was Jesus who emptied himself of all his glory and status to become a man and live under the law which he had given himself. It was Jesus who wandered homeless in and around Palestine. It was Jesus who starved in the famine of this wilderness. It was Jesus who thirsted. He was the poor man. He was the hated and reviled. He was the ridiculed and scorned. He was the one who perished on a cross in a foreign land, far, far away from his home. He was the Son who was disowned by his father and abandoned by him on a cross to died in shame.

Why? What sin had he done? Was he a loose living prodigal who had rejected his Father's name; turned his back on his Father's honor; squandered his Father's wealth? Yes, all the above, for he had taken upon himself all our sins. He who knew no sin was made sin in our place. He suffered in the flesh for all our sin. The iniquity of us all was laid upon him. It was we who have lived lives of hedonistic pleasure, sinful lusts, prodigal waste, and rebellion against the Father; and it was the Son who took our guilt and shame unto himself. And he perished in a pig sty. The pig sty filled with our filth and dirt. The pig sty of our shame and dishonor. An ugly, blood stained cross which should have been ours. It is you and I who should have been hanging on those crosses at his side. For we are the ones who deserve to die. It is for our sin that he hung there that day and cried, "Father, why have you forsaken me."

He is the prodigal Son who after three days in the tomb was lifted up. He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where his Father ran to him and embraced him and put his finest robes on him and placed the signet ring of power and authority on his finger. The Father celebrated. Singing echoed through the air: "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation...Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" The Son who was dead is now alive. The son who was lost is now found. The Son who gave his life a ransom for you and me on a cross, has come alive and raised up from the pig sty to the glory and splendor of heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father.

The celebration is still going on. Today in heaven you still hear "...every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'" All the saints in heaven and on earth are celebrating together. When we gather in worship; when we come to the Altar to receive the Sacrament, the entire family is together and reunited. For the Son has arrived home and in the Son are all of us, prodigal sons who have came to ourselves and repented of our sin and believe in Him. Joined to Christ we are the prodigal son who was dead in a far away land but has now risen up and come home to the welcoming embrace and kisses of the Father.

Baptized into Christ you are the prodigal son who the Father runs out to meet and embraces with kisses. You are the son of the Father whose filthy rags of sin and evil are stripped off and the robes of righteousness are placed on you. You are the hungry, starving son who perished far away from the Father, but who the Father now feeds with the fattened calf.

You are received into the family as a full-fledged son of the king. The family is now together, now complete. For here, when you come to the Altar and receive the body and blood of Jesus, you come home. The Worship service is the homecoming. You are in communion with all the children of the Father who are in all the earth, and who are in heaven, and who are yet to come. Right here is the banquet which the Father sets at the Table of the Lord. This is home. Wherever the Son is, there is home. Here at the Altar all the saints gather; your loved ones in heaven, your loved ones who live far away. Here blood is poured out into your mouths, sins are forgiven and friendships restored. Here there is reconciliation and you are not just taken in as hired hands, but your full relationship with the Father is restored. He doesn't just forgive but cannot forget. He restores the relationship, the love, the bonds with you and with each other. You are full-fledged sons in full communion and fellowship with each other.

Still today we wait and long for our final homecoming when the family is joined together forever in fellowship, and eternal communion. When once again you are reunited with Jesus and with all those loved ones who have gone before you, and are yet to come. That will be a great and glorious day when our Brother in heaven returns for us and takes to our final homecoming with all the family gathered at the banquet in eternal celebration. Amen.