Sometimes I have been hiking or running on the trail and gotten the sinking feeling that I am lost. This feeling is terrible, and to prevent it, we have all sorts of gadgets and electronic maps to tell us where we are and where we need to be, but sometimes there is no reception, and you feel as if there is nowhere to turn. The thoughts begin, and I ask myself, “How did I get lost when I was following the trail?” The answer is usually a momentary lapse in attention, or just plain foolishness. When we realize we are lost, dread and fear of the unknown set in. All we want to do is find our way back home, or at least to our car. However, being lost doesn’t have to be far away; often it happens when we’re close and looking in the wrong direction. Jesus tells a story of two brothers who are both lost, and a father who will stop at nothing to help them find their way back home. Jesus directs this story to two audiences: those who know they have sinned, and those who are self-righteous and are looking for grace in all the wrong places. Society labels them as either good or bad, but one is truly lost and has run away from home, while the other is still lost, just closer to home. These two groups are distinct; however, Jesus reminds them both that they share a common lostness, and the Father has sent the Son so that they might be found.
11 Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the wealth that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that region, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that region, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’, 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Lk 15:11–32.
The initial focus rests upon the younger son, because this is the type of rebellion we can more easily point out. We are comfortable calling out obvious sin in others, and in ourselves, this is where we know we have strayed from the trail God has prepared for us. We see in the younger son the need to control life, and in trying to do so, he asks to be dismissed from his father’s home and to take his share of the inheritance. When we want to control our lives, we inevitably give up our connection with the Almighty, because communion becomes too onerous for our ego. We value control more than relationship, just as the younger son shows the father that his desire to do what he wanted was greater than being in the father’s home, and the resources were of greater value than his father’s presence. Through our lives, we set out on the trail with plans to do things a certain way, but when things turn for the worse, if we lack direction or a compass to guide us, or worse, if we purposefully disregard the map God laid out for us, we feel lost. This is why God calls to us to remember who we are in those times. We see the son when his resources have run dry, and he is utterly lost; he is guided to remember that he is still a son, picks up the map, and heads back to his father’s home. He repents. However, he also plans to earn his keep by asking to be a servant. He will soon understand that all the father wanted was for him to turn and come home; so too do we misunderstand repentance: God just wants us to bring our empty hands into the embrace of grace.
Still far off, the son has not completed his steps back into his father’s good graces, but the father initiates grace long before the son reenters the scene. This is an important part of the narrative because Jesus wants us to understand that our Heavenly Father also initiates grace long before we act in contrition, and doesn’t just send directions; he doesn’t just give us a map to find our way, but rather he comes out to find us while we are still lost. While the younger son timidly walks toward his father’s land with some distance left to cover, the father, disregarding all societal norms, quite scandalously races out to greet his son. No one demands restitution; only compassion. He wraps his arms around his son and doesn’t even let him begin pleading for a place as a servant, as he undoubtedly rehearsed on the long road home. There is no shaming or correction; rather, the son is celebrated with a robe, a family ring, and sandals, welcomed fully as a child of the family, not as a servant. In doing this, the father shows us how God reacts to our return. We do not have to earn our place back in God’s covenant of grace. God welcomes us back as a member of the family, because grace is an unconditional gift. Just as we are rescued from the wild when we fall off the trail, there is no bill to pay because we are fully covered by the sacrifice of the Son and the love of the Father.
While many stories are about those far off coming to the Lord, many of us are lost and still inside the church. The elder brother stayed home and didn’t wander off the path, yet he was still lost. After hearing of the return of his brother, and his father’s response, his heart was not moved to join the celebration; instead, he sulked and pouted at the fact that he did everything he was supposed to do, but never received what the brother who insulted the family and walked away was getting at that moment. He expresses his disapproval by telling his father that this is not fair. His devotion to the father, having kept the commands and served, should have earned him some blessing. In doing so, the elder son points out that he, too, committed the same error as the younger, valuing possessions more than communion with the family. However, the father does not rebuke the son; he simply reminds him to celebrate and cherish that the younger brother has come home. We mirror the elder brother’s attitude when we celebrate sinners who come to the Lord more than those who have faithfully attended church for years. We are like those who always stay on the trail and never need rescuing, but realize we missed the glorious scenery and beautiful sunset because we kept our eyes down and stayed on track. In doing so, we don’t know what we missed. When the lost hiker is found and describes the beauty of the mountain, we don’t want to hear it because they “ruined” our experience by getting lost. God loves it when we faithfully serve, but it does not entitle us to extra blessings, nor does it give us license to moan about the celebration for the lost being found. Just like the father of these two sons, God reaches out to us and reminds us not to stay lost outside the celebration, but to embrace being found in the Lord and celebrate.
Being lost is not dependent upon proximity; we can be lost when we are far off, or we can be lost when we are still at home. The beautiful thing about the gospel is that our Heavenly Father never stops reaching out to find us. We are not stuck living the role of the lost hiker, off trail in fear, nor are we stuck as the one waiting at the car frustrated that the hiker had to be saved, because God reaches out to both of us with the same love. The parable is left open-ended, as we do not know whether the elder brother ever joined the celebration, but it is reminding us that we need to rejoice for those who are found. God reminds us to rejoice when our neighbor comes to the table of grace, and to refrain from a bitter spirit that threatens to poison our heart. Whether our heart is rebellious or poisoned by self-righteousness, God comes to us with a blessing that cannot be purchased; we are invited into His house because the divisions between the righteous and the unrighteous are broken down, because we are all lost and need to be found.
