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: Lk. 15:11-32 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.'"

When you purchase something in the store and use a credit card, the clerk hands you a slip of paper you are supposed to sign. By signing this paper you are agreeing to not only pay for this item, but to a whole host of other terms and conditions that govern your contract with the credit card company. When you signed up for the card you were given a small book in small print spelling out all these terms and conditions. Unless you are a lawyer, you probably didn't read through this entire thing in much detail. Oh, you may have looked for the part that tells how much interest you have to pay on and unpaid balance, but beyond that you probably just signed the agreement hoping and praying that there were no major hidden issues and assuming that most of that document written in an almost unknown legalese language didn't really matter anyway. If you didn't agree to the terms it wouldn't make much difference anyway. You have to accept it on their terms. If you ever tried to make any amendments to the contract you just wouldn't get the credit card.

The same thing happens when it comes to your salvation. God forgives you on his terms, not yours. And it just so happens, the terms do matter. Forgiveness on our terms just doesn't work. That is the problem presented to us in this parable by the younger son.

You see, the younger son wanted forgiveness his way; on his terms. He had sinned against his father and before God. His first sin was even asking for his inheritance in the first place. By asking for your inheritance you are, in essence, asking your father to die. He was, like us, like mankind in general, wanted to run his own life without any restrictions. He, like us, wanted to make himself his own god.

That is man's problem since the beginning. When Satan tempted Eve, "You will not die, your will become like God, knowing good and evil," Eve said to herself, "Yes! I want to be like God. Then I can do as I please. Then I can run my life my own way without any restrictions. Deep down inside that is the yearning of every human being. We want life on our terms, not someone else's. It is that deep seated inner desire that we call "original sin." We are hostile toward God; we want to be free from him.

However, his father granted the request. He gave the son his portion of his wealth and property. But now, thinking himself free to do as he pleased, he forgot all the advice and counsel his father had given him during his youth. He wanted to do things his own way; not paying heed to his father's old-school way of living. He thought he knew better; that he did not need the advice and direction of the old man who was a relic of a bygone generation. So once again, the son did his own thing; ran his own life. He squandered all he had. He wasted it on a prodigal life style. Pretty soon he was bankrupt, homeless, unemployed and very hungry. His attempts to solve his problems his own way only resulted in making his life worse.

Finally, when all else failed; when he had made a complete ruin of his life, he acknowledged his sin. He had to be brought to complete destruction and ruin for him to admit just how wrong he had been. It so often takes a complete disaster for us to recognize and accept responsibility for our sin. Many times it takes a serious illness, a personal disaster, a great loss, a painful and debilitating accident to bring us to our senses. Even then we so often blame God for being unfair to us when we should thank him for waking us up, even if it takes a 2 by 4 over our head.

The son finally realized he needed to repent and ask for forgiveness. But he still wanted to do it on his own terms. He devised a plan to hire himself out to his father as a hired servant. At least he would have enough to eat. He planned to confess his sin to his father—a good thing in itself. He felt he was no longer worthy to be called a son—also right. So he would work as a hire hand, earn his living and have enough to eat.

We too come before God wanting forgiveness but we want it on our terms. As Christians we often feel that we deserve God's goodness simply because we are his children. Than we are acting like the other son. We think we deserve God's favor, and get jealous if not downright angry when God favors someone else too.

Or we still want to life our life on our own terms without God's restrictions and thereby break all his commandments. We, like the younger son, squander the time, talents, and abilities God has blessed us with. And in so doing we often make our situation worse, especially when we try to earn God's favor by doing good.

All the while, God's law is at work, showing us our sin and our need for a Savior. Yes, God's law does its work; it show us our sin, but we still want to draw up our own terms of forgiveness. We decide that as a result of our sin we should no longer be called a son; that we should no longer have an heir's right to Christ's inheritance. We want to work out our own penance and to prove to God that we are truly sorry for our sin. We think we can somehow earn his forgiveness with our work.

But when we work our forgiveness on our terms, how often do we end up frustrated of even despairing? We never feel we have done enough. We never feel we are good enough. We always are aware that we do not live up to God's requirements, so we just try harder, we try to do more to please him and the more we try the more we fall short. Forgiveness on our terms just doesn't work. It only leads to despair and frustration.

But God shows us a better way. And that better way is seen in the parable when the father runs out to meet the son. He took the initiative. The father goes out to meet his younger son while he was still a long way off. He goes to the son, instead of waiting for the son to come to him.

And then the father did not scold or punish his son, but embraced him and kissed him before he even had a chance to give his memorized and practiced confession. The father's mission was one of rescue and renewal. He rescued his son and restored him to his place as a rightful heir. He gives him gifts and even throws a huge banquet in his honor. He receives his son as a son and an heir of the family, even though he did not deserve any of this. We don't deserve any of God's love either. We don't deserve to be called his sons and daughters. We don't deserve gifts from him. We don't deserve a banquet. But Sunday after Sunday he gives us the gift of forgiveness and life. Sunday after Sunday he invites us to his banquet of his own flesh and blood.

But the older son objected to receiving this prodigal back into the family. Why throw a party for that son? Why invite all his friends, the rift-raft of the town? The father explains to the older son that he is still the rightful heir of the family and that it is fitting to celebrate his brother's return for he "was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found." That is why there is a party going on with all the wrong people attending.

So too, when a sinner repents, we celebrate his return to God's family with joy. He once lived a sinful life. He was not what we would call a decent, upstanding citizen. His behavior was offensive, his habits disgusting. But this lost person is now found. It is a rescue and renew mission. God's mission is to rescue the captive to sin, and renew and restore him to the image of God. That is why there is a party going on with all the wrong people attending. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than 99 good people who do not think they need to repent.

Just like the father in the parable, our heavenly Father takes the initiative to forgive us on his terms. Despite our sin, which is great, he continues to love us a seek us out. He deals with us on his terms of love and mercy. Not on our terms of work or merit.

And he showed us that love by taking our sin and placing it upon his Son, the perfect Lamb of God who paid the punishment for our sin on Calvary's cross.

His Son did not stay dead, but rose to life again, proving that his Father had accepted the sacrifice for sin. During times of doubt, he reassures us that we are still his heirs with our names written in his Book of Life. He promises an eternal banquet celebration for all who believe his promises and join him in heaven.

So though we often squander everything, our heavenly Father is there with a word of assurance. When sickness or death comes, our Savior is there with a word of comfort. When we return to our Lord with repentant hearts, our heavenly Father is there, waiting with arms spread wide in a welcoming embrace. He deals with us according to his terms; the terms of rescue and renewal.

Amen.