In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, Amen. More than one commentator
on this marvelous and incredible story has said
that, it's a bit of a hyperbole, but there's
some truth there, that if the scriptures were
lost, which is not possible, being the most published
document, in all the world, in all ages, but
if the scriptures were lost, this marvelous,
moving, always relevant, universally relevant
parable told by Jesus would be enough to fill
in, to tell us what we need to know about God,
about our true home in paradise, about what we've
lost, about ourselves, about sin, the fall of
Adam and Eve in the garden. the knowledge of
God's loving presence, about repentance, about
healing, and about envy. Of course, that's an
exaggeration, but there's truth there. What a
story. And to whom was our Savior speaking when
he told this parable? What do you imagine? Where
was he? St. Luke records for us this. He says
that the tax collectors and the sinners were
all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees
and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives
sinners and eats with them. In other words, he's
defiling himself. So our Savior addresses this
parable and two others, the lost coin, the lost
sheep, the lost son. On the one hand, he addresses
it to those who are proud, who are judgmental,
who can't rejoice over the one sinner that repents
because that sinner is so bad he ought to be
cut off. There's your older brother. There's
the Pharisees, always doing their duty but with
no love. And on the other hand, Jesus is speaking.
to those sinners who come to him to repent, turn
to him to begin a new way. In the church, we
come as we are, but then we change. We are transformed.
We are given grace to be different, to have a
new way of life. This is what the word repentance
means, to turn our heart to a different direction.
Not our feelings, our heart, our minds, our whole
life. Repentance is not guilt, and guilt is not
repentance. This parable of the prodigal son
might be called the parable of the two sons and
the compassionate father, the humble father,
who does what no self -respecting elder of the
time would do. He ran out to his son, seeing
him from afar, and embraced him. and kissed him.
So we could call this parable the parable of
the loving father about his love, his mercy,
his patience, his generosity, his respect for
our freedom and the watchfulness that he has
over us. I don't want to ruin this story for
you by going on and on and trying to explain
every detail. Let me limit myself to what I can
understand and just share that. We can imagine
that this son thought himself something special,
a prodigy. And therefore, he felt too constrained
in his father's house. So he asked, he demanded
the inheritance from his father. Would you go
to your father? To say, give me my inheritance
now? No, because we don't receive an inheritance
until they pass away. So it's like saying to
his father, I just want what you have. I don't
care about you. You're dead to me. Give me the
portion, the property, the substance, all that
you have that is due to me. Upon your death,
I want it now. This conforms well to the myths
of our modern culture, that everything around
us is extreme consumerism, isn't it? We're told
to nurture a sense that every purchase, every
choice, every feeling we have, every decision
is shaping our happiness, creating our destiny.
And we curate, some of us, an image on social
media which is absolute fiction. Jesus tells...
us that this young man went into a far country
he found himself far from God obviously that's
what it's telling us and the man was hungry after
he squandered everything he had did you hear
what Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians all
things are lawful but not all things are good
I don't want to be brought under the power of
any of that I want to be free This man was not
free. He squandered everything thinking he would
enjoy... Have you ever... Well, I won't go into
that. His heart, his belly was empty, but his
heart was full. His heart was full of terrible
things, loneliness, anxiety, and fear. He was
taking care of pigs, living with them in a pig
pen. He didn't go into the house and have a shower
and sit down at the master's table. He was living
with the animals. It's the saddest, most tragic
thing. We've seen it. I've seen it. Sometimes
in ourselves. For a human being who is not just
an ordinary animal, but created in the image
and likeness of God himself, created to be the
temple of the Holy Spirit in our bodies, to devolve
like swine, Not resembling his father, but resembling
the pig. It's profoundly tragic to lose communion
with God. We hear this parable two weeks before
Lent for a number of reasons. It follows, naturally,
the parable of the publican and the Pharisee.
For many reasons, one of which is to beware of
pride over others. like the older brother. In
Lent, the danger is not that we will fail at
prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. We will
certainly fail at that, and part of Lent is...
constructed so that we do fail at that and gain
a little humility. The danger in Lent is that
we will be prideful about the little bit of praying,
the fasting, the alms and church going that we
do, and we will look down on other people. That's
the danger in Lent. That's why it's related to
the publican and the Pharisee who was critical
of those who are repenting. who had a moralistic
religion, refusing to rejoice. But thou didst
come to save sinners, O Lord, we say, of whom
I am first. Our goal in Lent is hopefully to
believe that that is true, that God came to save
sinners of whom I am first. Secondly, this parable
tells us something about repentance. No matter
how far a person is from God, no matter how far,
no matter what terrible sins a person has fallen
into, repentance, restoration, healing are possible.
How did it begin for the young man? He came to
himself. He says, what am I doing here? I had
enough in my father's house. Why am I here? He
came to himself. And then what did he do? He
said, I know. I will go to my father and say,
I'm no longer worthy to be your son. You see,
we think sometimes God owes us. But this man
had it right. He didn't blame anybody for his
situation, and he didn't even say, I want to
be restored as your son, nor to say, I just want
to be a servant, because a servant lives in the
house. A hired servant. He could be dismissed
any time. And he came to himself, and he arose.
He did not. He did not think magically, I'm going
to be transported right back. No, he knew the
journey was beginning. And that's what repentance
is. It's a journey. It begins. Lent is this way.
God waits for us. He loves us. He runs to meet
us. This is the meaning of the incarnation. His
death. and resurrection. This is the meaning
of Pentecost. This is the meaning of every single
divine liturgy, that God is with us. And so we
may not be living in a pig pen in a swinish way
of life, but just like I know you're not, glory
to God for that. I thank him that each one of
you is being guided by your conscience. But just
as the prodigal son's substance was wasted, it
says in the gospel, so we waste. So we waste
that precious gift in our heart. And we're fragmented.
We're broken. We can't pray. We have thoughts
and anxieties. And we need to be brought back
to Christ too. Finally, We have this parable
each year to reset our thinking that a relationship
with God is not about moralism. It's not about
perfectionism. It's not merely about breaking
God's laws. We keep those laws because those
laws are about true life. It's about God's love.
It's about a relationship. The position of the
scriptures is not that we are born bad. They're
bad people. And we sort of work our way up and
become good people and earn our way to heaven.
That's not the scriptures. The perspective of
the scriptures, starting with Genesis, is that
God gave us everything. And we, every single
day, we squander it. We have it all and we lose
it. Now we are on the road back, brothers and
sisters, not to feeling self -righteous, but
to feeling humble and to being sanctified. I
will leave you with these amazing words of Elder
Emilio Nos, the great elder of Mount Athos who
died in 2019. He says, God stoops down to his
people. All that the scriptures say about God's
walking, descending, bending down, being with,
helping, bringing to birth, caring, and so on,
are simply different ways of describing God's
gracious condescension. Because man will not
bow down to God. God, in his infinite humility,
bowed down to man. On the night he was betrayed,
Christ set aside his garments and stooped down
to wash the feet of a man that would deny him
three times. That's how God was with the people
of Israel. That's how he is with everyone. To
our Lord be glory now and ever, to ages of ages.