A Place Called Home
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
In a flock of sheep, most have white wool. The light color is preferable, more valuable because it could be dyed. The dark wool was not as desirable as the light hence the idiom, “black sheep” came along to describe someone who deviates from the norms of the family. The “black sheep” of the family might get that label for their wardrobe, their politics, their friend group; maybe for something as silly as their hair length back in the day. Something about them put them on the “outs” with the rest of the family. Maybe it was that they showed up to family gatherings late, riding up on their Harley Davidson in their black leather jacket and riding boots, cigarette dangling between their lips. Or maybe, they called her the prodigal child because of the way she squandered Daddy’s money out all night, then slinked back in the house early in the morning looking like something the cat dragged in, avoiding all eye contact on the way back to her bedroom for some sleep. And maybe those black sheep stopped showing up at all to the family gatherings. I mean, would you show up if you already had the reputation for being a prodigal child?
The definition of prodigal is spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.[1] You probably have an image in your mind of what “prodigal” looks like. When we step into this well-worn parable today, the challenge is to stay open to the possibility that it may say something new to us. Stepping into a familiar parable is quite like the saying about stepping into a river – You can’t step into the same river twice. Might be a familiar riverbank, entry point, but you’ve never seen this water.
We think we know these two brothers already. The temptation as hearers is to choose between the two, to let the narrative distance these brothers from one another; forcing us to choose which one we support, or which one we want to be mad at. This parable is thicker than that. It is more complex than older vs. younger, responsible vs. irresponsible.[2] A quick contrast of the brothers draws us into the tension between them, but a closer look will help us see the depth of issues in this privileged family system.
Consider these questions as we compare the brothers and consider their
relationship to one another and to their father. Are these brothers complete opposites? Does the family system promote distance, competition? Does the Father show favoritism?
The younger son travels to a distant land while the elder son remains at home. But actually both sons have distanced themselves from each other and the family. The younger son disgraces his father by asking for his inheritance early, it’s as if he wished him dead! He could have denied his request, but he didn’t. Both sons in this family are lost, including the one who never left home. As soon as the elder appears in verse 25, we get the sense of his alienation. When he confronts his father, we see how deep his resentment runs. He is taken for granted. And his sense of justice is offended! He has been confined by the rules of convention that his father’s response has blown wide open. The younger one runs away physically, but the older son has run away emotionally. When he says “that son of yours,” I hear it through gritted teeth, and the father has to correct him saying, “that brother of yours.”[3] As if to say, no matter what he has done, we belong to each other, and this is his home.
What would the older brother need to ‘let go’ in order to have a relationship with his brother? Turn to your neighbor and try to answer this question.
The younger son plans to return home and intends to say to his father, “treat me like one of your hired servants.” The older son said, “I have worked for you like a slave and have received nothing.” Even though he shares in everything the father has! In relationship to his sons, the father must overcome both son’s image of themselves as slaves rather than children, and heirs. They don’t see themselves as he sees them. They don’t see themselves as God sees them.
Is there true repentance in the speech the younger son rehearsed? In verse 17 it says that “he came to himself” or “he came to his senses” after three major calamities: all his money is gone, a severe famine ensues, and “no one gave him anything.” He is at rock bottom. That’s usually ground zero for repentance to take a’hold o’ you. I imagine him rehearsing that speech all the way home. Now, some might see that as manipulative and insincere. [ask for a show of hands] You might be right. This is just how Jesus tells it. Maybe he means for it to be a bit ambiguous. Perhaps Jesus’ point, as Matt Skinner writes, is that even scoundrels are joyfully welcomed in God’s household. Just pointing oneself toward home is what unleashes God’s welcome.[4]
This is a parable of two lost sons. Both need a genuine homecoming. We are invited to sit with the younger son in the mess he has made of his life and with the elder son in the bitterness and fear of being overlooked.[5] If we don’t sit with both, we risk doing that thing that is so easy to do: divide people up into older brothers and younger brothers, rich or poor, saint or sinner, the responsible ones and the prodigal ones, white sheep and black sheep. When the reality is that both brothers live inside of us and a lot of those labels we use do too. And the Truth is, God’s love is both/and, not either/or. The Father’s embrace of the younger son did not mean the rejection of the older son. There is room for all in the Father’s house. [6]
The same is true here in this place that we think of as home. Our home church, we might say. Our family of faith, we might say. This beloved home has changed a lot in recent years. Some people left because of some brave stands that you took when you said, God’s love is both/and, not either/or. We are celebrating a group of people today who have come to make Weatherly their home because of that bold both/and Love that you are practicing in Jesus’ name. They want to raise their families where all people are loved and welcomed. They want to be in a church where faith is practiced, the community around us is served, and Jesus is our guidepost. And they want to be in a community that nurtures faith in their children that they won’t have to heal from, undo, re-learn. You who have been here for the better part of six decades have cultivated a home, here. But not just for yourselves. You have put out a big welcome mat! A place where “both brothers” – prodigals in all shades of lostness can be found and forgiven, can live, and be loved.
The word prodigal does not mean disobedient, but recklessly extravagant. It’s the father who is prodigal with forgiveness and mercy. Not only toward the younger son, but also to the elder to whom he said, “Everything I have is yours.” [7]
In the musical Les Miserables based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Jean Valjean, after 19 years in prison, is released. He encounters extravagant grace in the person of Bishop Myriel. Valjean is wandering the streets, a broken man, foraging for anything to eat, like the prodigal at the pig pen. The Bishop invites Valjean into the church to share a meal at his table. Valjean is surprised that he is treated as an honored guest. But after the Bishop goes to bed, Valjean can’t stop himself from stealing the church’s silver and making a run for it. He only sees himself as a criminal. But Valjean is stopped by the constables who drag him back to the church expecting the bishop to press charges. The bishop does not have him arrested but instead acts as if he had given the silver to Valjean.
But my friend, you left so early.
Surely something slipped your mind.
[The bishop gives Valjean two large silver candlesticks.]
You forgot I gave these also.
Would you leave the best behind?[8]
With the Bishop’s testimony, the constables have no reason to hold Valjean. Having shown Valjean grace upon grace, the bishop uses this moment, and the extravagant gift of the silver, to urge him to become an honest man. The bishop’s unexpected grace is the catalyst for Valjean’s life-altering transformation. Throughout the rest of his life, Valjean goes out of his way to show charity, kindness, and mercy at every encounter. We might think that the invitation of Les Mis is for us to be more like Jean Valjean, a man transformed by lavish grace. But perhaps the invitation should be for us to be more like the bishop, the one who showed that extravagant grace in the first place. This parable is NOT a story about how we should be like one son or the other, but an invitation to be like the father[9] –a prodigal father who could not choose between his two sons. He chose both. He crossed the threshold of their home place twice. Once to welcome the younger son home and again, to invite the elder son to the party. [10]
In this, our 60th year, we are also at a threshold. What do we need to cultivate extravagantly at this doorway between past and future? What do we need to recklessly cultivate more of in our spiritual home? The words of our church covenant might answer these questions… EXPRESS our oneness in Christ so that our differences do not divide us, but rather increase our understanding, broaden our perspectives, and strengthen our love.
Let’s start with those.
[1] Google dictionary, Oxford Languages
[2] Skinner, Matt Working Preacher commentary 2010
[3] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve Unfolding Light worship resources Lent 4 2025
[4] Skinner, Matt, Working Preacher commentary 2010
[5] Skinner, Matt Working Preacher 2010
[6] Craddock, Fred Interpretation commentary Luke
[7] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve Unfolding Light Lent 4 Worship Resources
[8] Adapted from Text produced by ChatGPT
[9] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve Unfolding Light Worship Resources Lent 4
[10] Brobst-Renaud, Amanda Working Preacher commentary 2019