Do you remember the day you left home? The day you said ‘goodbye’ to your parents? The day you packed your bags and moved out? The first night you slept in another bed? The first day you began to fly solo? How did you feel? Was the parting with your parents amicable? Were they supportive? Did they help you move? Or was the parting painful? They did not want to see you go but you could not get away fast enough? Or perhaps you didn’t want to leave but you needed a push? Or maybe were you kicked out and abandoned. I left home when I had just turned 18. I went to work in East London for the Department for Health and Social Security. I had only visited London maybe half a dozen times before. And with the new job came the need to find a flat to rent, cook for myself, wash and iron my own clothes, get myself up in the mornings and get to work on time. I lodged with a no-nonsense, down to earth, working class family on the Dagenham Estate near the massive Ford car factory. I remember on more than one occasion getting well and truly lost on my way home. All the roads looked the same. More than once I wished to be back with my parents. Can you identify with the younger brother?

But perhaps you have not left home. Your brother or sister may have left but for whatever reason you are still at home. Are you content or is it stressful? The transition from being a young person living at home to being an adult living at home is not always smooth. Our relationship with parents changes. From being told when you have to be home at night to negotiating when they will be home at night…. As you grow older, the dependency switches from you on them to them on you. If that is you, perhaps you can identify more with the older brother.

The parable today is actually the third in a series about ‘lostness’; the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. There is a rising level of intensity and emotion from the lost sheep (1 in a 100) to the lost coin (1 in 10) to the lost son (1 in 2). Keddie notes, “The Lord’s presentation of the profound pathos of human lostness, and the joyous jubilation when the lost are found, comes to a mighty crescendo in the return [and reconciliation] of the lost son.” Perhaps this is why the story is known as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” But the title is not particularly helpful. It draws attention to the younger son.

Read more here: cc-vw.org/sermons/prodigal.htm