"In The Chaos Of The Pigpen…. Hope And Direction”

In Jesus Holy Name March 27,2022

Text: Luke 15:11-31 Redeemer

“In the Chaos of the Pigpen…. Hope and Direction”

“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus… and the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying… This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them….. so Jesus said… “let me tell you a story…”

In other words Jesus is saying, “You think you know God, but you do not. God doesn’t play by your rules. Here is what God is all about.” Let me tell you a story. “A father has two sons…” One of the boys is called the “older” and the other is called the “younger”.

In reality Jesus said to the Pharisees: “let me tell you three stories.”

The parable of the Lost sheep. The parable of the Lost Coin; then the parable of the two Lost Sons. A shepherd pays a price to find and restore a lost sheep. The woman does the same for her coin. A father gives both boys the family inheritance early.

The parable is the story of a father with two lost sons. The younger son chafes under his father’s rule and perhaps feels put down by his obedient older brother. So he demands his inheritance from his father. The inheritance is substantial. This is a wealthy family that has a herd of fatted calves and a herd of goats, and house servants. In traditional Middle Eastern culture, this means, “Father, I am eager for you to die!” If the father is a traditional Middle Eastern father, he will strike the boy across the face and drive him out of the house. This is an outrageous request. The father is expected to refuse. (Jesus is flipping the cultural rules upside down…for a reason.)

The father grants the youngest son his request, but it also means the older son now receives his share as well. “The father divided the property”. The younger son gathers together all he has and converts it to cash. He is selling part of the family farm. He leaves with a pocket full of cash, which he did not earn. The family breakdown becomes public knowledge. The culture does grant the father the right to divide the property but to sell the property before the father’s death is an offense and the family is shamed.

The younger son’s “ban” from the family and the community is more comprehensive than the Amish “shun”. When shunned an Amish person can at least eat at a separate table. The first century Jewish shun was a total ban on any contact with the family or community.

The younger son in a “far country” spends every dime he has on riotous living. Parties day and night, (spring break in Miami) women on both arms, the good life, the fast lane. Whatever he wants, he buys with his father’s money. (Christianity Today October 26, 1998[Christianity Today October 26, 1998 article: “the Pursuing Father by Kenneth Bailey.)

Eventually his money runs out. In the “far country” the Jewish boy lives among Gentiles… they own pigs! When a famine breaks out, not having any money and being too far away from home, he attaches himself to a farmer who says, “The only work I have is feeding my pigs.” The prodigal son ends up penniless, homeless, starving, feeding the pigs, eating the pods from the carob trees. He who had eaten at the best restaurants just a few weeks earlier now dines with the pigs. (Quote from Ken Pritchard)

Chaos is now his lot in life. Becoming a pig herder, does not work. No one gave him anything. “As he worked feeding the pigs he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating…” Ever been near a pig sty? His clothes stank. He is fed, but not paid. The prodigal son decides on one last option….He could not ask to be accepted into full son ship again…but he could live better, even as a hired hand. It is the memory of a good father that beckons him back home.

His one hope is that his humble speech will touch his father’s heart as he seeks to be a wage earner to pay back the lost inheritance. He is returning empty handed. He has shamed his family; his father… the painful road back is endured for one reason. He is hungry!

The father knows his son will fail. He waits day after day, staring down the crowded village street to the road in the distance. The father plans to reach the boy before he reaches the village. The father sees the son “far off”. He picks up his robe and runs to embrace his son.

Traditional Middle Easterners wearing long robes do not run in public. The father runs. Overwhelmed the son cannot even blurt out his prepared speech. He only declares that he has sinned and is not worthy to be called a son. He does not know how to mend a broken relationship between a son and a father.