“Of Pigsties and Banquets”
Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
3/27/2022
In the name of Him who redeems us runaway sinners, dear friends in Christ. In our Gospel reading for today Jesus tells one of His most famous parables. For as long as I can remember it has been called the story of “The Prodigal Son.” We don’t use that word, prodigal, much nowadays so it’s probably good for us to come up with a definition. It basically means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly.” When we look at the lifestyle of that younger brother in the parable, we can see why he’s called the prodigal. But really, this parable should be labeled, “The Tale of Two Brothers” because there is a spiritual lesson to be found in the relationship of both of these boys with their father. That’s what we’ll aim to do today. So, let’s start with a question. “Which character do you identify with in this story?” Well, we’re definitely not the father because that is clearly God, so we must be one of the sons. It may surprise you, but quite often we’re like that older brother. Many of us have been lifelong, faithful members. We haven’t left our Father’s house, the church. We haven’t run off to live a life of wild, reckless behavior. And we get rather self-righteous when we think of those who have become prodigals, those who have seemingly abandoned God and blatantly sinned for all the world to see. Oh, we’re awful good about pointing out the sinfulness of others. And yet, we have difficulty admitting our own or having compassion like our heavenly Father.
Next, I would have you note an important fact about the younger brother. He was ALREADY a son when the story begins. My point is that this parable is not about people being converted and brought into faith. Rather, it’s teaching us about Baptized believers who have fallen away. This son had experienced the wondrous benefits of living in his father’s house. Remember that because it will help explain something a little later. Anyway, the prodigal son demands his share of the inheritance. Receiving it is normally reserved for after the parent is deceased. So, this was paramount to him telling his father, “I wish you were dead!”
Okay, so you’re thinking, “Well, that can’t be me in the parable. I’ve never wished that God was dead!” Oh really? Have you ever sinned against any of His commands? You’re a liar if you said “No.” Well, by virtue of your sins, especially the pet sins that you are fond of committing, you are telling God, “Drop dead! I don’t need you or your stupid rules!” In essence, you’re telling Him that you want your inheritance, which is heaven, but you have no intention of being an obedient child of His.
So, the prodigal son left his father’s house, and once more you object, “Pastor, that ain’t me! I’ve been a lifelong Lutheran and a member of this church. I never left!” Oh really? Sure, you never physically left the church, but spiritually you’ve check out many a time. You ran off and engaged in sinful, “reckless living” in the confines of your mind. You squandered the spiritual inheritance of your salvation by indulging in sins that you know God condemns. The list is too long for me to name and many of them consist of the wild party that goes on inside your head. But by golly, you come back here every Sunday and act all pious like that older brother– nose in the air and quite self-righteous. If you deny that, then I must insist again that you are a liar.
One of my father’s favorite hymns that he sang to us kids is “Abide With Me.” For reasons I cannot comprehend, when our new hymnal came out, they eliminated verse 5 of this treasured hymn. Here’s how it went:
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,
And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I’ve left Thee.
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
When I was young, I could never figure out why my Dad always seemed to emphasize that verse. In my eyes he had lived an exemplary life as a Christian husband and father. But after my teen years and 3 years in the Army, I totally understood. Then I began to sing those words with special emphasis too. “Rebellious and perverse” were an understatement! But hey, I never left the church. I was like a high schooler who goes out on the weekend partying all night long but still manages to crawl back home when morning dawns. That’s what we do spiritually. And it’s not just a flaw of youth. We do this whenever we go on a wild spree of sinning whether that’s with your actions or just in the close confines of your mind. Then we drag our exhausted souls here for worship, looking all pious and faithful.
What seems like “fun” doesn’t last long, though. With the prodigal, eventually the money disappeared along with his so-called friends. I knew a guy growing up who illustrated this parable in living color. His name was Ed Short. Both his parents died within the same year and he was sent to live with his Uncle Chuck, my neighbor. When Ed turned 18, he got his inheritance and he promptly told his uncle to take a flying leap. He went and bought a new Dodge Charger which was the envy of us all. It became a rolling bar and marijuana dispensary. There was endless booze and pot for all who entered! Ed was always ready to host a party. That is, until the money ran out. Soon he was living in a run-down apartment in Detroit where gun battles occurred regularly out in the street. Sadly, only a small handful of his friends stuck with him. In his filthy, starving poverty, he suddenly realized that Uncle Chuck’s house wasn’t so bad after all.
What a blessing when we end up in that kind of a pigsty! Yes, you heard me right, it was a blessing. Because that’s precisely what brought the prodigal son to his senses. When his money, friends, and fun were all gone he found himself at the bottom of the barrel. He was living in the filth with pigs. All that he had to eat was the empty carob pods that were fed to the hogs. What an apt description of the sinful life. I’ve raised a few pigs in my time and I can tell you that even just casual contact will leave you dirty and stinking like them. Similarly, the sinful life is like living in a pigsty. Sin is messy. It leaves you filthy and stinking. The devil and the world make sin look sweet and fulfilling. But like those pods in the parable, sin is empty. Sure, these sins make you feel full and satisfied at first, but in the end, they leave your soul malnourished and starving for real spiritual food.
What is it that brought the prodigal son to his senses? Here’s where you need to remember what I told you earlier. He had been a son and had experienced the goodness of his father’s house. When his eyes were opened to his dirty, nasty condition, his mind recalled how good he had it back home. And it was this realization that helped him see how wrong he had been. So it is with us. It’s a blessing when we awake and see that we’re in the pigsty of sin. It’s a blessing to look at yourself and be able to see the filth of your sinfulness and how it stinks before God. It’s a blessing that the pigsty of sin makes us feel ugly and uncomfortable. It’s a blessing when the sinful life leaves us feeling empty and starving. It’s a blessing when our souls yearn for the good food that God offers us back home in His house. It’s a blessing when the nasty, filthy, starving condition of sin makes you say, “I don’t want to live like this anymore.” It’s a blessing when all this leads us to repent of our sins. Is that where you are at? Earlier in the service you spoke those words, “I, a poor, miserable sinner...” If you sincerely meant them, then you are the prodigal son who has come to his senses, confessing your sins to your Father in heaven.
It concerns me deeply when I hear people deny their sin. It means that they’ve grown accustomed to their spiritual filth and stench. They’re comfortable in the pigsty of sin. Some of them have left the church both physically and spiritually. They can get quite animated if you or I encourage them to acknowledge their sins to God. They reply, “How dare you say my words or actions are filthy and stinking to the Lord!” Rather than get upset with them we need to remember that we were once in those conditions before and we liked it… for a while. We are very familiar with that pigsty of sin! We also need to pray for these fellow sinners. Pray that God would open their eyes and convict their hearts. And don’t be afraid to gently invite them back to the goodness of God’s love and forgiveness that He offers us here at His home.
God is truly like the father in that parable. He is here yearning and waiting for all of us to repent and come home. I would have you note that the father in the story had already forgiven his wayward son even before he arrived. The young man simply had to come home to receive and enjoy that forgiveness and restoration as a child of the Father. In the parable, it was the father’s loving grace that made his son “alive” again to both the father and the family. Likewise with our Heavenly Father. He welcomes repentant sinners home with the kiss of love and the embrace that says “all is forgiven.” I pray that’s what you experience whenever you confess your sins and hear God’s absolution through the lips of your Pastor.
And like the father in the parable, God is ready to throw a party to celebrate your return. He washes you clean of the filth from the pigsty of sin and then puts new clothes on you which is the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Then He seats you at His banquet table to feed you with the real spiritual food which alone can satisfy your soul. In His written and spoken Word He feeds you. And then, here at the Lord’s Supper He places before you the food of eternal life; the very body and blood of Jesus Christ which was sacrificed on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins. So in actuality, each worship service is a welcome home banquet that God lavishes upon us to celebrate His lost children being restored to His family. Think of how grateful that prodigal son must have felt every morning as he woke up, lying in a clean bed, smelling breakfast. That’s you and me in our forgiven state, enjoying the richness of God’s grace.
As we ponder the grace and mercy of God that we have already received, I pray that it will make us more understanding of those who are still living away from God’s family. And rather than act self-righteous towards them, I pray that we would have the same compassion and desire for their return that our Heavenly Father has. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!