The Third Sunday after Trinity

 Trinity 3 – July 6, 2025

Psalm 25; Micah 7:18-20; 1 Peter 5:6-11

St. Luke 15:1-32

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The parables of lost things are explicitly told to certain Pharisees who were offended that Christ would receive sinners and tax collectors and eat with them. The tax collectors were especially offensive to the Jews because they were men of Jewish descent who now made their living exacting taxes from the Jews on behalf of the foreign government of the Romans. On top of that, they would collect more than required by the Romans as a wage for themselves.

The sinners and tax collectors were hated by the Pharisees because the Pharisees knew these people. They were once their students. These sinners and tax collectors were raised in the teachings of the Pharisees. Then, at some point, they had turned their backs on their people, on the teachings of the Pharisees, and turned toward a life of sin: usury, harlotry, and prodigal living. It was insult to injury when the Pharisees saw those who had turned their backs on the faith now being received by the Man who called Himself the Christ.

This is the setup for especially the parable of the prodigal son. Christ has created a parable concerning the very tax collectors and sinners that He is dining with. A rich landowner has two sons. They are true sons, entitled to an inheritance from their father. Yet the younger despises his father and insists on receiving his inheritance early. The father obliges and the young man immediately departs from the house of his father to live among foreign nations. He promptly wastes his inheritance on prodigal living – extravagant feasts, fine clothing, and harlots.

Once the inheritance is gone, he finds himself destitute, feeding and sleeping with pigs. Having reached rock bottom, the son finds himself. He is reminded of the father of his youth and determines to return to his father to humbly beg to be received as a servant, a slave. He has no presumption that he will be received as a son. He expects to be treated as a slave since he is the one who abandoned his father.

What a great surprise it is when before he can reach the house, his father comes running to greet him. The father throws his arms around the man and showers him with gifts. He calls for a feast of the finest foods the rich father has to offer. The son is received back into the household with joy and gladness.

Many of us gathered here today have spent time outside of the church. We were born to Christian parents, baptized, catechized, and probably even confirmed. Then, when given an ounce of freedom, we walked away from our inheritance. For some length of time, we departed from the faith and sought fulfillment in the things of this world. We wasted the inheritance of our fathers on prodigal living.

There are also many present today who stand not in the place of the prodigal son, but of the father. Your children have walked away from the house of our Heavenly Father, wasting the inheritance of faith on worldly ideas of autonomy, liberality, and moral relativism.

There is a lot of guilt associated with both of these realities. We feel guilty for our own misspent years outside the church or we feel guilty that we somehow failed as parents to keep our children in the faith. The parable is silent about the relationship between the father and his sons prior to the younger son demanding the inheritance. Maybe the father wasn’t a great father. Maybe he didn’t teach his sons about the 4^th commandment or maybe he wasn’t diligent about praying with his sons that the faith born in them by God would grow as they aged. But we don’t know and the fact that the parable is silent about this is instructive.

Very little is to be gained from trying to figure out why someone has abandoned the faith. Whether it was you or your children, certainly repentance is in order, but no amount of guilt will change the past. The prodigal son abandoned the house of his fathers and this is a fact of history. What really matters is what happens next.

All too often, someone who has abandoned the church will return on a whim and expect to be received as though no time has passed. It is assumed that baptism, or even more commonly a church rite such as confirmation, guarantees an absolute, lifelong right to membership in the church, no matter what happens in between. Such an attitude must be recognized for what it is – sinful pride. It is taking the precious gifts of God and treating them as cheap toys to be used or discarded according to our whims.

Consider, instead, the prodigal son. When he reaches the lowest point in his life, he finally finds himself. He takes an honest assessment of his position and realizes what he has wasted. This realization is an activity of the Holy Spirit. The Law of God has acted on his heart to convict him of his sins – sins against God concerning morality, duty, and faith. He becomes acutely aware of his need for salvation and it is the Holy Spirit who directs him to the one place where he will find salvation – the household of faith, the household of his fathers.

But even then, he does not approach his father to demand his inclusion in the household as a son. He does not assert his rights as a son born of the father. He determines within himself to return home as a beggar, desiring to be treated as a servant. We aren’t even given an indication that he thinks he can work his way back into his position as a son. He sees the gravity of what he has done to his father and wants only the least of things his father has to offer. He is willing to spend the rest of his life as a slave for the sake of his salvation.

This is the humility all Christians must possess concerning our salvation. Truly, we are all beggars. We deserve nothing of what Christ has won for us. We have no “rights” to be asserted when it comes to God. The very fact we draw breath is an undeserved gift of God, for which it is our duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. It is His work alone that brings us together today and we should never forget this fact. We are poor, miserable sinners, who have been called into the glorious light of Christ by His grace and mercy alone.

This is also the humility in which the errant children of the church are to return to the house of faith. Sometimes, this humility must be taught. Sometimes, the child returns in pride and must be made to serve as a slave before he can be received as a son. We shouldn’t see this as mean or cruel, nor should such a child be treated poorly. But it is a fact because the prideful child has not realized the danger in which he has put himself. He does not see the depth of his sin nor his need for a Savior. The Law must first do its work to crush the sinful heart before Christ enters in to heal the wounded heart.

Speaking of receiving a child back into the faith, we must now turn our attention to the father. He has clearly been anxiously awaiting the return of his son. He sees him from far away and runs to greet him. That means that the father has been diligently praying for his son, hoping for the day when the Lord would accomplish his work of returning the lost sheep to the fold.

What does that mean for parents of errant children? First it means that prayer is your mightiest weapon in the battle for the souls of your children. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the hearts of man and the Lord has promised to hear your prayers.

Second, it means to never stop talking to your children about Christ – not just the good stuff, not just that Jesus loves them, but also warning them about the dangers of such worldly, prodigal living. When they come to visit, insist on doing devotions. Keep your routine regular when they are in your household. It is up to them to sit in another room while you read the scriptures and pray. Insist on going to church. Even when you go to visit them, find the local LCMS church and insist on going. Don’t just passively tell them you are going to church on Sunday. Make them actively refuse your offer.

Finally, remember that it is the Holy Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the hearts of men. Apostacy is a truth in the church and you cannot be responsible for the soul of another. As I said, there are often feelings of guilt associated with errant children, but you must remember that this is something out of your hands. If you did err in the raising of your children, there is forgiveness. When I said that repentance is in order for both those of us who have spent time outside of the church and those with prodigal children, I meant the word “repentance” in its proper sense – sorrow over sin and faith that Christ has died and risen to forgive that sin.

Take heart, you who have remained in the household of your Father. All that the Father has is yours and has been given to you to be used. The gifts of Christ – His Word, Sacraments, prayer, repentance, forgiveness – these are your inheritance to be used according to His Word and command. So long as you are in the household of faith, make use of the treasures you’ve been given. And encourage others to return to the fold, for there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.