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“Dad, I wish you were dead!” What kind of a son would say that to his father?

And yet that is exactly what the young man we call the Prodigal Son was saying in the story we find in Luke 15. Because to ask for his inheritance was simply to say, “Dad, I hate to tell you this, but I just can’t wait for you to kick the bucket!”

In his book Poet and Peasant, Kenneth Bailey tells of a Middle Eastern physician who went to his pastor one day in great anguish. “ My son wants me to die!” he said. When the pastor inquired what the man meant, he learned that the son had broached the matter of inheritance with his father.

Three months later, the father, who had been in excellent health up to that time, died. His wife explained what she thought was the cause of his death: “He died that night!” she said, referring to the night the son had mentioned his inheritance.

In a Middle Eastern culture—or any culture for that matter—it is no small thing for a son to go to his father and ask for his inheritance. So when Jesus told the story of the father and his two sons, he no doubt had the crowd’s attention instantly. It’s a story about a very dysfunctional family. It’s not just the one son who’s running amok. All the relationships are out of whack. Nothing in the story goes the way people expect it to. We’ll return to this story in a moment and explain it further, but first let’s backtrack a little.

This story of the father and his two sons is found in Luke right after two other stories about things that have gotten lost. The series of three stories begins with the story of a lost sheep. But the real background of the stories goes back a couple more verses. Jesus told all three of these stories after He was criticized for spending too much of His time fellowshipping and sharing meals with sinners. It’s fascinating, then, to notice that one thing all three stories have in common is that they all end with a celebration involving food!

All of these stories reveal something about God—something that explains Jesus’ actions. The stories develop aspects of God’s character that surprise many people.

Consider, for instance, the story of the shepherd and his lost sheep: “ ‘Which one of you,’ ” Jesus asks, “ ‘having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?’ ” (Luke 15:4 NRSV).

The story has a happy ending. The shepherd finds his sheep carries it home. Then he calls all his friends and invites them over for a party. Finding that one lost sheep is something to celebrate, and the implication is that Jesus is doing the right thing when He eats with sinners, because He is celebrating the fact that they are coming home to the Kingdom of God.

But here’s a question you might not have thought of: Why does the shepherd leave 99 percent of his assets exposed to peril on the hills while he goes looking for the one percent?

It seems like a risky way to do business. Is Jesus saying God is a risk taker?

Well, come to think of it, God does take risks! He doesn’t just sit up there in heaven, relaxing on His throne, eating fruit from the tree of life. He cares enough about the lost souls on this one tiny little planet to risk everything to save them. He risks the life of His own Son—that’s actually 100 percent of His assets—to rescue the souls down here.

The next story in this series involves a woman—interesting isn’t it, that Jesus uses so many different types of people to represent His Father in heaven.

Here’s the story in Luke 15:8, 9:

“ ‘What woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost” ’ ” (NRSV).

Notice the personal interest of God in each individual. It would be easy for the woman to say, “Oh well, I still have my other nine coins.”

But that’s not the way God is. He’s willing to expend whatever effort it takes to find and save a lost soul. And there’s something else interesting about this story. It seems the woman may have spent the better part of a day looking for the one coin—a coin that was only worth about a day’s wages—and then after she found it, she called all her neighbors together for a celebration. Now, I’m not sure what she served at the party—or whether they had a potluck—but it seems likely that she may have spent as much as the coin was worth throwing a party.

So apparently it was never really about the money. It was about her concern for that one special coin. And her concern for it represents God’s attitude toward each individual soul. He’s not in it for the money—He doesn’t want you in church just so you’ll give tithes and offerings. He’s concerned about you for your sake.

After telling those two stories, Jesus shares what many believe is the greatest of His parables.

In this story about the dysfunctional family, no one seems to be performing their expected role. The younger son is disrespectful to his father, and according to the customs of the time, the older son should have put him in its place. The older son should have served as the mediator between his father and his brother, persuading the younger man not to request his inheritance. But he doesn’t object—and this adds to the shock value of the story. He lets the father sell the farm and divide the assets!

Now, what’s not revealed in the story, but what the listeners all knew, was that the older son stood to inherit twice as much as his brother.

Both sons were treating their father like a bank account rather than a beloved parent. Even though the younger was the only one who went away from home, both sons were lost, both sons were losing out on the kind of relationship they should have had with their father.

The real hero of the story is of course the father, who represents God. But there’s something to be learned from the younger son as well. In the extreme circumstances he found himself in after his money ran out, he had the wisdom to know where to turn. “ ‘When he came to himself he said, “How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father” ’ ” (Luke 15:17, 18. NRSV).

Somehow this young man knew that he could still turn to his father in a time of need. And that’s one of the important lessons this parable teaches us: You can go home again. No matter how far you have wondered, no matter how dire the straits you find yourself in, you can turn back to your heavenly Father.

But notice what the young man planned to do: “ ‘ “I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands” ’ ” (verses 18, 19).

How tempting it is to want to earn our way in the world. There’s nothing wrong with the young man’s desire, but the father’s response demonstrates what God thinks of our attempts to buy His favor. When the son arrives at home, the father doesn’t even let him make his speech, but throws a robe on him and puts a ring on his finger. He’s still part of the family, even though he didn’t want to be.

And what about the older brother? He’s still part of the family too, but when it comes time to celebrate his brother’s return, he won’t come in and join the party. Now he’s the one who is excluding himself, and his speech to his father reveals that he too has wanted to earn the father’s blessing by his works.

The story never fully resolves itself. There is no solution to this problem of people trying to work their way into God’s favor. Except that by grace God accepts them as they are. “ ‘ “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours,” ’ ” the father assures his older son, demonstrating his graciousness in spite of his son’s lack of grace.

The father comes shining through here, revealing God as only Jesus could.

Jesus introduces us to His Father as the shepherd who is willing to risk it all for us; a mother figure who is interested in each one of us personally; and a father figure who accepts us as we are and does all in his power to woo us into his love.

Friend, I don’t know about you, what your walk with God is right now. But I just want to remind you today. He wants you as part of His flock… part of His family! Perhaps you’ve wandered away—perhaps you wished He was dead. But do you know what? You’ve never been out of His sight, never been out of His love.

He wants you back. He’s never given up on you. He won’t let you get away from Him that easy—He’ll pursue on the hills. He’ll wait for you to decide to come back.

And come to think of it, what better time could there be to make that decision than right now?