Luke 15:20-25 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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.’[a] 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 when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

I don’t know for sure but the scripture read by Judi and Cary comes from one of the most well-known of all Jesus parables. Perhaps it would fall behind only the parable of the Good Samaritan as the most well known of the Gospel parables.

This parable is a about a son who leaves home, a parent love-sick for his child’s return and an older brother’s contempt for both his brother and his parent.

It is commonly known as The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Actually this name isn’t original to the parable but got attached to it pretty quickly- thank the early church fathers.

The parable has been given other names, but nothing has stuck like the “parable of the Prodigal Son.”

It is also known as

The parable of a loving father, or

The parable of the older brother, or

The parable of the lost son, and also

The parable of the two brothers.

I personally like the title,

“The parable of the fatted calf‘s really bad day.” But that’s a sermon for another day.

As I contemplate the parable, I find the title,

“The parable of what a parent sees” both constructive and instructive.

In the story, the son has left his childhood home, his dad, his bro, his friends, his way of life. He has been absent for quite a while having gone off to the far country with his share of the inheritance.

In the far off country, he goes crazy, shoots through the money, and finds himself destitute, homeless and eating pig slop.

Back at home, life goes on at the farm, but dad appears to have relocated his life to the front porch as he can keeps an eye out for a son who has been gone too long. He appears to be a broken man, heart aching to hear news of his child.

And one day, as the Dad looks out, he sees a figure coming in the distance. He squints, but can’t make out who it is.

Could be a messenger with particular news about his boy,

Or the mail carrier with a arm full of junk mail,

Or the milk man.

Dad stands up, steps off the porch, and strains to see. He notices the way the person walks before he can recognize his face. It’s his boy. He lets out a whoop and starts running toward the walker in the distance.

What do you think it is that the dad sees as his son comes into focus?

Perhaps he sees the shame his son has brought upon the family as he claimed his inheritance early, mocking his father and the traditions of his family, but that is not what he sees.

Perhaps he sees his son, looking haggard and spent, and judges him on how he got that way, stupid kid deserves what he gets, but I don’t think that is what he sees.

Perhaps as he sees his boy, he imagines the disgusting behavior that brought him to this low down place, vividly sensing his sins against God, nature and his family, but I don’t think so.

Perhaps as he sees him in tattered clothes with no shoes and without so much as knapsack, he sees him as an ingrate who has wasted much of the family’s hard earned money. Nope, that isn’t it either.

Perhaps he sees him as an Outcast, but this one is no outcast, he had left on his own, which could make a parent seethe. But there is no seething here.

Perhaps as the dad looks at his boy coming back from the far off land, he is reminded of his other son’s loyalty to him and to the farm. If only his wayward son could be as worthwhile as the son who stayed home. That one worked hard every day, while dad stood on the porch, but honestly, in this moment, I don’t think he is thinking too much about this other son.

Perhaps, as the dad gets closer to the homecoming child, he sees the scabs, and the scars, the exposed ribs, the tangled hair, and the smells of pigs in the air. And he thinks to himself, What a Mess!!!

But I don’t think so.

This parent, looking at his boy coming home, can see only one thing- love!

As he sees his child, he is filled with love and his memories run wild- of his beautiful child.

He sees the little boy with a scraped knee who cried for his mom and dad to comfort him,

He sees the 7 year old as he learned to swim in the pond, clinging to his dad until eventually letting go and venturing outward to the deeper water.

He sees the four year eating broccoli for the first time. His mind explodes with laughter as he remembers the squished up, snarling face.

Like they say that you see your life flash before your eyes in your last seconds, this dad, sees, in rapid succession, every hug ever given over the boys short life.

He sees his 13 year at his bar mitzvah, celebrating adult hood by consecrating himself to God.

He sees his 15 year old son commanding the oxen to plow a straight furrow. They don’t.

And now he sees his son again, not the mess, not the waste, not the shame. He sees his child.

Every day since his son has left home, the dad has pushed all the memories down, and now they are erupting like a geyser.

He reaches his son, who has stopped to make his oft practiced speech, but before he opens his mouth the dad drapes himself over him.

“Welcome home Son!”

Today we eat the fatted calf and celebrate you, my son.

The ability to see the beauty in the mess is what allows a “welcome home.“ The ability to see beauty in the oops is what turns a bus terminal in Traverse City into party central. The ability to see beauty when others see something worthy only of judgement is what turns a fictional farm in first century Galilee into a dancing, singing, fatted calf eating hootenanny. The ability to understand that oops, no matter how big or small provides the opportunity for something beautiful to appear is the full-on meaning of grace.

As the U2 lyric declares, “Grace sees beauty in everything.”

On the other side of grace, As the other brother catches on to what is happening, he feels nothing but contempt for his dad and his brother. He rants and raves at his dad.

Me, me, me, him!

The dad responds gently, without yelling back.

Son, look at your brother

This mess he has experienced has paved the way for us, all of us, to be home together!

Beautiful oops!

No matter, the mess something beautiful can emerge.

While the father in this parable is almost always understood to be God, may I suggest the the church, when it is done right, is much like the father in this story. From the beginning community of faith has been meant to be a space where beautiful oops are expected, are nourished, are real. The beloved community can reject judgement and celebrate acceptance and inclusion because oops can be a beautiful thing.

The church was never intended to be a place for the spiritually complete, and the morally justified and the holier than thou-ers.

The church is a gathering of the beautiful oops. People who have striven and failed, who have climbed and fallen. People who have held on, . . . by a thread. People who are who they are, smudges and smear and all that stuff.

The reason we can see the beauty in oops is because we all come from a place of brokeness and confusion, of mediocre attempts and stunning disappointments. But together, with Jesus as Lord, we help each other become beautiful.

Oops.

Welcome Home.

Amen.