Luke
15:11-32
Jesus
said, "A certain man had two
sons: And the younger of them said
to his father, 'Father, give me
the share of estate that falls to
me.' And he divided his wealth
between them. And not many days
later the younger son gathered
everything together and went on a
journey into a distant country,
and there he squandered his estate
with loose living. Now when he had
spent everything, a severe famine
occurred in that country; and he
began to be in need.
And he went
and attached himself to one of the
citizens of that country; and he
sent him into his fields to feed
swine. And he was longing to fill
his stomach with the pods that the
swine were eating, and no one was
giving anything to him.
But when
he came to his senses, he said,
'How many of my father's hired men
have more than enough bread, but I
am dying here with hunger! I will
get up and go to my father, and
will say to him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and in your
sight; I am no longer worthy to be
called your son: make me as one of
your hired men.' And he got up,
and came to his father.
But while
he was still a long way off, his
father saw him, and felt
compassion, for him and ran, and
embraced him, and kissed him. And
the son said to him, 'Father, I
have sinned against heaven, and in
your sight, I am no longer worthy
to be called your son.'
But the
father said to his slaves,
'Quickly bring out the best robe,
and put it on him, and put a ring
on his hand, and sandals on his
feet; and bring the fattened calf,
kill it; and let us eat, and be
merry; for this son of mine was
dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.'
And they began to be merry.
Now
his older son was in the field,
and when he came and approached
the house, he heard music and
dancing. And he called one of the
servants, and asked what these
things might be. And 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.'
But he became angry, and was not
willing to go in: and his father
came out, and began entreating
him. And he answered said to his
father, 'Look!, For so many years
I have been serving you, and I
have never neglected a command of
yours; and yet you have never
given me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends; but when
this son of yours came, who has
devoured your wealth with harlots,
you killed the fattened calf for
him.'
And he said to him, 'My
child, you have always been with
me, and all that I have is yours.
But we had to be merry, and
rejoice, for this brother of yours
was dead, and has begun to live,
and was lost, and has been
found.'"
REPENTANCE
It
may not be obvious at first, but
the prime subject of the story of
the prodigal son is repentance.
The purpose of repentance is to
allow our-selves to be awakened by
the spirit of God.
Spiritual
growth requires a time of
introspection, self-examination
and sifting through the many
illusions of our lives to consider
the true meaning of our loves and
endeavors. It is a time and
process of recognizing and
acknowledging where we have been,
spiritually speaking, during the
recent period of our life.
Introspection
is a process by which we look
within our self and humbly and
honestly see our faults. We seek
to become aware of how much and in
what ways we have strayed from the
path and goals we have previously
set for ourselves. In it we try to
open ourselves up so that we might
see our self as God sees us.
Which is: imperfect and foolish,
precious and vulnerable and
valuable beyond price. Also,
definitely in need of His help to
mature and blossom into the
fullness of our humanity and to
enjoy the richness of a complete
human life, which is a uniting of
the natural and spiritual aspects
of human life. The familiar story
of the prodigal son gives us a
perfect and portrayal of the
regenerative process involved in
repentance, and wonderfully
describes the spiritual states in
which we so often find our self.
A
long time ago, just like the
younger son, we to received our
share of inheritance from our
Heavenly Father. We took
possession of the power to think
and to love that was intended to
be a gift, freely given. Having
received this gift we decided to
do things on our own. We became
caught up in the external things
of life and quickly became good at
surviving, at competing, at making
sure we received what we
considered to be, our "fair
share." Yet, just when it
seems we have a handle on success,
just when we get what we want, we
become aware of our lack of inner
wealth/success. We then begin to
experience the famine or emptiness
of a life lived solely for our
selves. We read that as soon as
the prodigal son had spent all
that he had been given a famine
arose in the land. This is not
just a coincidence or a run of bad
luck; it is a symbol of the
principle that the illusion of
worldly, self-defined values is
dissipated as soon as we acquire
them.
In
the story, even these dire straits
were not enough to cause a serious
change of mind in our hero (the
prodigal son in us). Unable to
live exactly as he pleased, he
joined with a citizen of that
barren country, and looked after
his swine. This "distant
country" is indicative of a
spiritual state of separation from
the Lord. He digs in his heels,
and settles for less, just so long
as he can remain in control. But
no one gives him anything. A life
lived only for ones self will not
allow us to be open to the gift of
sharing and compassion that the
Lord extends to us. We do not find
them in ourselves or in our
relations with our neighbors. It
is at this point that he
"comes to himself." He
becomes aware that he is in fact
lost, out of touch with those
things that he not only needs, but
that are rightfully his to have as
they are part of his humanness.
They are the blessing and gift of
the Father. This is a critical
part of the story. This is the
moment of repentance, the moment
of a clear acknowledgement of our
spiritual state, which must be
freely realized through our own
volition. This is the sense in
which we are "found." We
notice that no one went looking
for him. "I have sinned
against heaven and before
You" are his thoughts.
Empowered by his realization , he
arose and went home to his father.
Once he could confront his own
tendency to sin, to squander or
abuse the powers of love and
understanding that had been given
to him, he was able to rise above
the egotistical values that had
kept him captive to himself.
"But
while he was yet at a distance,
his father saw him and had
compassion, and ran and embraced
him and kissed him." What
does the Lord require of us? Not a
lot of complicated things. In
fact, all that is really required
is the sincere confession that we
really need Him. It is just this
openness and need that brings the
Lord to us. The response is
immediate, so in a sense He is
always there and it is simply a
matter of us opening ourselves to
His presence and letting Him in.
A
similar point is made when the son
admits that he is not worthy to be
called "son".
Immediately he receives the best
robe, a sign of being covered or
protected by genuine truth. This
is part of the paradox of
repentance. Only when we
acknowledge our own powerlessness,
can we receive and understand the
true power of life which the Lord
longs to impart to us.
We
must be careful in feeling sorry
for the older son who is angered
by his father's joyous reception
of his errant brother. This fellow
represents a false or spurious
form of spirituality. He follows
only the letter of the law,
abiding only by the externals of
religion and a pious appearance.
He represents truths that have not
yet been tested and purged of
selfhood; truths that have not
been used and made his own. He has
thus far failed to enter into the
process of true repentance because
he has refused to examine his
inner motives for living and
behaving the way he has. He likely
feels that as the older son or
first born, he is automatically
entitled to be in a spiritual
condition superior to the younger
son. Certainly he served for many
years, and was never disobedient,
and yet his attitude betrays his
inner motives. He has not yet
risen to a perspective based on
love and forgiveness but remains
judgmental and condemning . The
older son is in a state that is
clearly represented by the serpent
in the Bible where it is referred
to in the present tense.
(Revelation 12:9. And the great
dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceives the whole
world.) The serpent is the part of
us that believes in the external
world, it hugs the ground and
sensuously slides along it keeping
intimate contact with it. It loves
the elements of that world which
cause our anger and frustration,
and tries to convince us that all
the negative appearances in our
life are true. The snake has two
fangs and they are the love of
self and the love of the world.
Beneath these two fangs are two
other prominent teeth which are
used to hold down or restrain its
victims. They are called blame and
criticism.
The
Lord said we should love our
neighbor as our self, but that is
hard or impossible to do when we
are busy blaming and criticizing
others and our self. We need to
yank the two bottom teeth out of
the serpents mouth and all we need
to do that is to stop blaming
and criticizing. Just STOP IT! If
you are in mid criticism and you
realize it, even though you may
feel foolish, stop it! Give it up.
If you find yourself blaming
someone or yourself, STOP IT! and
find another way to deal with the
situation, for as long as you
continue on the route of blame and
criticism your relationship with
your neighbor, or your child or
family, or your self will be a
negative one and you will be stuck
there , not being able to receive
or even recognize, let alone
enjoy, the blessings that the
Father holds constantly in front
of you.
Return
to the Lord for He is gracious.
Return with all your heart, with
fasting, with weeping, with
mourning and rend your hearts and
not your garments. Return to the
Lord your God, for He is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love.
Amen
and may God bless you.
Acknowledgement:
Portions of this sermon were taken
from a sermon by Reverend Robert
McCluskey
published in the October
1990 copy of Our Daily Bread.
A ministry of the Swedenborgian
Church
Music:
God Grant Us Peace
© Bruce DeBoer
Painting:
The ReturN of the Prodigal Son by
Barbieri (called Il Guercino)
Italian, 1591 - 1666
Background design by Judy
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