The traditional Gospel for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity is the famous passage from Luke 15 generally known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. There are three central characters in the story: 1) the ungrateful and wasteful son who repents and returns home, 2) the merciful, gracious, and forgiving father who celebrates the prodigal's return, or 3) the legalistic and resentful older brother who is jealous and hurt. All three characters can provide food for thought.
The most important one is the father, who represents almighty God, the heavenly Father. Everything belongs to him, and he has the right to dispose of it as he pleases. At the same time, this loving father wants to see his sons grow into mature and responsible men, and he allows the sons the freedom to make choices, even bad choices. He continues to love them and wait in hope for them to come to their senses, repent, and return. When they do, he makes his love clear.
Of course, the younger son who is prodigal or wasteful is the dramatic example. His mistakes are obvious. He rebels, leaves home, squanders his inheritance, and falls into a degraded life, envying swine. In such humiliation, he must humble himself even further by returning to the father in repentance, hoping for minimal consideration. Yet, as dramatic as his case is, the wasteful son is not the only sinner. The dutiful son also has problems. He lacks a true appreciation of the graciousness of his father. Outwardly, he has remained near his father, but through his wrong attitudes, he has become spiritually distant from the father, and he also needs to repent.
This familiar story needs to sink into our minds and hearts repeatedly. God is loving, gracious, and merciful. He gives us many things, and He gives us certain freedoms in our responses. Unfortunately, at various times and in different ways, we have all been ungrateful and fallen into sin. So whether our sinfulness has been expressed in dramatic ways or in quiet attitudes, we all need to repent and seek His gracious love.
