Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The parable we just read is one of the most popular of Jesus’ parables. It has fascinated people down through the ages. It’s been used to contrast the Jewish religion with Christianity -- usually unfavorably -- forgetting that Jesus told this parable before Christianity ever happened. It’s been used to encourage those who have fallen away from the Church to return. The older son is often held up to show how jealousy can isolate you from the people you love. And of course the father is compared to God -- sometimes, or if you really want to stretch things, he’s sort of the opposite of a prudent farmer, giving in to the son’s demand for his share of the inheritance, sitting around waiting for his son to return, going wild when the son comes home and literally treating him like a visiting nobleman. And I’m not sure anyone really knows what was in Jesus' mind as he told this story. We need to remember that according to Luke, the Pharisees are upset because he eats with tax collectors and sinners, and then he tells three parables in a row about lost things -- a lost sheep, a lost coin, and finally the lost son. But here’s an interpretation you probably haven’t heard yet. It’s a parable about how to be a good steward. How do we rightly use what is in our hands? This parable can be seen as about the man who has two sons.
First thing we notice is that he is generous. He freely gives what is his to give, namely, a share of his property. When the other son complains, the father reminds him that everything he has is his. The father is not only generous with his possessions, but is generous of spirit; He welcomes the younger son back with open arms, rather than making him grovel. And he goes out from the celebration to find the older son, rather than demanding that the son recognize his authority.
The man is loving, that’s the second thing. He treats both sons with dignity. When the younger son gets in trouble, as we all knew he would, the man honors his son’s choice’ he does not ride off to rescue him. The younger son claimed his freedom, his father allows him to make what turns out to be a foolish choice. And when the older son leaves the party and sulks, the father honors that choice as well. He does not order him back to the party, but tries to show him why he should come back. In other words, in the case of both sons, the father treats them as equals, as people who are free to make mistakes, free to choose, rightly or wrongly. We don’t often think about it that way, but that is loving behavior.
Finally the man has a specific purpose in mind -- to find what is lost, to regain what has been taken. He uses his resources to shore up and strengthen the relationships he has with his sons. He does not reject one for the other, we understand at the end of the parable that his generosity does not create a winner and a loser where his sons are concerned.
So we can see that this parable can teach us something about stewardship. It’s ironic that the word Stewardship traces back to Old English, stigwaerd, which means “keeper of the pigpen”
We learn from the parable that being generous is not the same as being wasteful, like the prodigal son, nor is it being stingy, like the elder brother. The man cannot give what he doesn’t possess. Some of us need to learn the lesson that you can’t give away what you don’t have. Most of us don’t have too much trouble where money is concerned, but many of us promise our time and don’t have enough of it to meet our basic commitments.
Second, stewardship is rooted in love. Stewardship seeks what is best for the one who is loved. Do I pay a bill because I have to or because I have gladly purchased something that makes things better in my world or someone else’s. There’s a difference. A good steward uses those resources committed to him to bring good to those around him.
Finally, Christian stewards live with a purpose -- to use what is under their care so that those who are lost can be found, so that God’s kingdom might be brought a little closer. Because a good steward wants what Jesus wanted -- to see the world saved, to bring back the lost, to participate in the work of God, whose generosity is boundless, whose love is everlasting, who even now works through his stewards to reconcile everything to Himself.