The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Luke 15:11-32.

For the next few weeks, like last summer, we will be studying the parables of Jesus. This week we look at one of the most well-known ones, usually known as, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” or “The Parable of the Lost Son.”

That name given to this parable indicates where we most often place the emphasis of this parable: on the younger brother. You know, the one who spurns his family responsibility, who takes his money and runs off to the big city lights away from the watchful eyes of his father and brother to spend it on wild living, prostitutes, drugs, alcohol, and whatever else suits his fancy. He wants the fast life; to find himself in the pursuit of happiness and experience and licentiousness. Of course we recognize the error in his ways, as the ‘prodigal’ son does eventually as well, and we are surprised by the grace of the Father who comes running to meet this sorry excuse for a son (when he finally came to his senses) on the road and throws him a party and restores him back to his position as a son and heir.

But if we read the parable carefully, we see that there are two lost sons. The elder brother, you know, the responsible one, the one who stayed at home and worked hard and did all that was required of him, the ‘good’ son, is just as lost. He won’t join the party because he is so ticked off that the father would kill the fattened calf for his loser brother without ever even giving him any reward (not even a goat) for his obedience. He was the good one. He watched the estate when his father was away on business. He woke early and worked late. He did all that was asked of him (and then some). He stands outside the party, smoldering with anger, rebuffing his father’s requests to come and celebrate the return of his brother.

So we could say that this parable is more aptly named, “The Parable of the Lost Sons,” however, I agree with Fred Craddock and others who name this parable, “The Parable of the Loving Father.” Notice how the Father is gracious (in different ways) to both the younger son and the older son. First, the father freely forgives the younger son and showers him with love and grace by reinstating him as his son and heir even though he didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Second, the father freely invites the angry older son into the banquet and showers him with love and grace by patiently calling him to his senses and reminding him “everything I have is yours.”

Surprisingly, that is where the parable ends. We don’t know what the older brother will do. Will he remain outside the banquet, angry that the father could do such a thing as celebrate the return of such a sinner? Or, will he join in the party and share in the father’s joy that his brother, who was dead and is alive again, who was lost and now is found?

As we read this parable, we are invited to see ourselves in it, and we are called to respond. If we are the younger brother, we are reminded to return to the Father. There is nothing we have done that can remove us from the Father’s grace and love. If we are the older brother, we are called into the banquet but we enter not based on our obedience; we enter only by the Father’s grace.