Robert T. Young - "The Prodigals in the Parable" (March 20, 1977)

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	(soft orchestral music)	0:03
-	Duke University Chapel service of worship	0:07
	for Sunday, Inland, March 20th, 1977, 11 o'clock.	0:11
	(soft orchestral music)	0:17
	♪ Beautiful ♪	12:57
	♪ Savior ♪	13:01
	♪ Lord of the Nations ♪	13:06
	♪ Son of God ♪	13:14
	♪ And son ♪	13:19
	♪ Of man ♪	13:22
	♪ Glory ♪	13:28
	♪ And honor ♪	13:31
	♪ Praise adoration ♪	13:35
	♪ Now and forevermore ♪	13:41
	♪ Be thine ♪	13:48
	♪ Now and forever ♪	13:53
	♪ Now and forevermore ♪	13:57
	♪ Be ♪	14:06
	♪ Thine ♪	14:09
	(soft orchestral music)	14:16
	(organ drowns music)	14:55
-	Dear people of God let us in honesty,	18:48
	and in humility, make our corporate confession of sin	18:52
	using this litany of confession.	18:57
	For the harsh words, we have spoken to our neighbors.	19:02
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:07
-	For the resentments and festers	19:09
	held against an acquaintance.	19:12
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:15
-	For the ungrateful way we exhibit	19:17
	our disrespect of parents.	19:20
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:23
-	For our smug gluttony,	19:26
	amid the starvation of millions of persons daily.	19:28
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:33
-	For the unwillingness to serve when needed	19:35
	in the work of our Lord.	19:38
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:41
-	For an eagerness to complain and criticize other people.	19:44
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:49
-	For the stubborn refusal to accept other persons,	19:51
	not like ourselves.	19:54
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	19:57
-	For an unwillingness to walk in the way of our Lord.	20:00
-	Forgive us O, Lord.	20:05
	Amen.	20:20
	Far as the heavens are high above the earth	20:21
	so great is God's steadfast love and forgiveness for us	20:25
	and for those who acknowledge their sin.	20:31
	As far as the east is from the west	20:35
	so does God remove our transgressions from us	20:39
	and for this, we give thanks.	20:44
	Amen.	20:46
	(soft orchestral music)	20:51
-	Here the reading of God's word.	23:45
	"You will say in that day,	23:48
	I'll give thanks to thee Lord	23:51
	for though thou whatst angry with me,	23:53
	thy anger turned away and thou didst comfort me.	23:56
	Behold God is my salvation.	24:00
	I will trust and will not be afraid.	24:03
	Well, the God is my strength and my song,	24:06
	and he has become my salvation.	24:09
	With joy you will draw the water	24:12
	from the Wells of salvation,	24:14
	and you will say in that day, give thanks to the Lord.	24:16
	Call upon his name,	24:20
	make known his deeds among the nations,	24:22
	proclaim that his name is exalted.	24:24
	Sing praises to the Lord for he has done gloriously.	24:27
	Let this be known in all the earth,	24:31
	shout and sing for joy, oh inhabitants of Zion.	24:34
	For great is your midst in the Holy one of Israel."	24:39
	May we stand for the reading of the gospel.	24:44
	"And he said there was a man who had two sons	24:55
	and the younger of them said to his father,	25:00
	"Father give me the share of property that falls to me."	25:02
	And he divided his living between them.	25:06
	Not many days later, the young son gathered all that he had	25:09
	and took his journey into a far country.	25:12
	And there he squandered his property in loose living.	25:15
	And when he had spent everything,	25:18
	a great famine arose in that country	25:20
	and he began to be in want.	25:22
	So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens	25:25
	of that country, who sent him into the fields	25:27
	to feed the swine.	25:30
	And he would gladly feed on them	25:32
	the pods that the swine ate	25:34
	and no one gave him anything.	25:37
	But when he came to himself, he said,	25:39
	"How many of my father's hired servants	25:41
	have bread enough to spare, but I perish with hunger.	25:44
	I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him,	25:49
	father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,	25:52
	I am no longer worthy to be called your son,	25:56
	treat me as one of your hired servants.	25:59
	And he arose and came to his father.	26:01
	But while he was yet at a distance,	26:04
	his father saw him and had compassion	26:06
	and ran and embraced and kissed him.	26:09
	And the son said to him, "Father,	26:11
	I have sinned against heaven and before you,	26:14
	I am no longer worthy to be called your son.	26:16
	But the father said to the servants	26:19
	"Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him,	26:21
	put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet	26:24
	and bring the fatted calf and kill it	26:27
	and let us eat and make merry	26:30
	for this my son was dead and is alive again.	26:31
	He is lost and now he is found.	26:36
	And they began to make merry.	26:39
	Now his eldest son was in the field.	26:41
	As he came and drew near to the house	26:44
	he heard music and dancing	26:47
	and he called one of the servants and asked what this meant.	26:49
	And he said to him,	26:52
	"Your brother has come and your father has killed	26:53
	the fatted calf, because he received him safe and sound."	26:56
	But he was angry and refused to go in.	27:00
	His father came out and entreated him,	27:03
	but he answered his father,	27:05
	"Lo these many years I've served you	27:06
	and I've never disobeyed your command	27:09
	yet you never gave me a kid	27:11
	that I might make merry with my friends.	27:13
	But when this sons of yours came,	27:16
	who has devoured and living with harlots,	27:20
	you killed for him the fatted calf."	27:22
	And he said to him, "Son, you're always with me	27:25
	and all that is yours is mine.	27:28
	It was fitting to make merry and be glad	27:31
	for this your brother was dead, is now alive.	27:33
	He was lost and he is now found."	27:37
	Thus ends the reading of God's word.	27:41
	(soft orchestral music)	27:45
	♪ Glory to the Father ♪	27:54
	♪ And to the Son ♪	27:58
	♪ And to the Holy Ghost ♪	28:01
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	28:07
	♪ Is now and ever shall be ♪	28:11
	♪ World without end ♪	28:16
	♪ Amen ♪	28:19
	♪ Amen ♪	28:21
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	28:29
-	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	28:33
	who has come and the truly human Jesus	28:39
	to reconcile and make new	28:42
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	28:45
	We trust God who calls us to be the church	28:49
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	28:55
	to love and serve us others,	28:58
	to seek justice and resist evil.	29:01
	To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen	29:05
	our judge and our hope.	29:09
	In life,	29:12
	in death,	29:13
	in life beyond death,	29:15
	God is with us,	29:17
	we are not alone.	29:20
	Thanks be to God.	29:22
-	The Lord be with you.	29:24
-	And with your spirit.	29:27
-	Let us pray.	29:28
	Almighty and loving God	29:40
	you are the source and the end of our life,	29:43
	and the light also of our pilgrimage.	29:47
	Grant your grace so that the good in us	29:52
	may prevail over the evil	29:55
	so that everything in us may be brought in harmony	29:59
	with your will	30:02
	and we may be enabled to live in charity with our neighbors,	30:04
	our brothers and sisters.	30:08
	Oh Lord, you are the refuge of your children	30:13
	in all generations	30:15
	enlarge, our faith in love	30:18
	so that we may pray truly for the needs beyond our own.	30:21
	We pray for our country and its leaders	30:28
	and the leaders of all the countries of this world.	30:31
	Keep them on the paths of justice.	30:36
	We pray for your church throughout the world	30:40
	and for the all those who do acts of mercy,	30:44
	that each may serve you more truly,	30:48
	according to his or her vocation.	30:51
	We pray for those who work with their hands,	30:57
	that they may know the dignity of their work.	31:01
	We pray for those who care for the sick,	31:06
	that they may be a comfort and a healing source.	31:10
	And we pray,	31:15
	especially for those who work in this institution,	31:16
	that all parts of it may be obedient to your will.	31:21
	And now, oh God, more particularly,	31:27
	we pray for the millions of distressed	31:29
	and dispossessed anguished souls who have been uprooted	31:33
	by natural disaster, by oppression, by conflict.	31:39
	Oh Lord, save us from heedlessness	31:46
	and a world full of sorrow and from self-righteousness.	31:48
	For we know in our world,	31:55
	the sins of even the most wicked trace,	31:58
	some counsel.	32:00
	With the sins of the most righteous,	32:03
	cover us all by your mercy	32:06
	and lead us to a fuller understanding of your will.	32:09
	Oh God, you have taught us to pray	32:15
	for the coming of your kingdom on this earth.	32:17
	Give us grace to build our communities	32:20
	after the fashion of your kingdom,	32:23
	to set no boundaries around them	32:26
	which you would not set,	32:28
	to quiet the turmoil within them by your love	32:31
	and to work more diligently for justice in them	32:36
	because our final security lies in you.	32:41
	And hear us now, oh God, is we lift to you	32:47
	those whose grief and problems and sorrow and pain	32:50
	rest heavy on our hearts.	32:55
	Send your spirit to bless these people	33:06
	and use us as instruments of your love and blessing	33:10
	and hear us now, as we pray the prayer,	33:16
	Jesus taught us.	33:20
-	Our Father who art in heaven,	33:23
	hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,	33:27
	thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.	33:32
	Give us this day our daily bread	33:37
	and forgive us our trespasses	33:40
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	33:43
	And lead us not in temptation,	33:47
	but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom	33:50
	and the power, and the glory	33:55
	Amen.	33:58
	We welcome you who are worshiping	34:01
	in Duke Chapel with us today.	34:03
	And those of you who join us at home	34:06
	for this service of worship.	34:10
	Important in this chapel	34:13
	is the breadth of our ministry,	34:15
	the many opportunities for worship and service	34:18
	which are made available to us.	34:22
	Please note some announcements in your bulletin,	34:25
	particularly that this is the week	34:28
	that we have the opportunity to participate in	34:31
	The Word Became Flesh.	34:34
	A communication of the word of God,	34:37
	through reading of scripture,	34:40
	with music and dance and drama.	34:42
	And we encourage you to take advantage	34:45
	of this distinctive opportunity	34:48
	with the assurance that you will leave,	34:51
	having experienced and understood the holy scriptures	34:54
	in a new and profound way.	34:58
	An elephant in prayer.	35:02
	One of the many people who is helping with this program	35:03
	has agreed to open Paige box office	35:06
	from 12 to one o'clock today for your convenience,	35:10
	so that you may get a ticket for this celebration.	35:14
	It's most heartening that the Duke and Durham communities	35:19
	work together in so many areas,	35:24
	especially in areas of great social need.	35:26
	We saw this and the woodcutting project	35:30
	and today all of the offering	35:33
	will go to another important community project	35:37
	Meals on Wheels.	35:41
	And for every dollar you contribute,	35:43
	you will really be contributing $4 to help provide	35:46
	a hot meal for those persons who for many reasons	35:51
	would not otherwise eat adequately.	35:54
	You will get more information about this	35:58
	if you read the insert in your bulletin.	36:00
	Those of us who eat well	36:03
	are asked or encouraged	36:07
	to be obedient and share as generously as we can,	36:11
	that others may have some food.	36:16
	On Palm Sunday, April the third,	36:20
	we will participate in the Crop Walk for Hunger.	36:22
	For more information, you may call the crop office	36:26
	688-3843.	36:30
	We give thanks for the opportunities we have	36:36
	to serve those who need our care and our love.	36:39
-	I'm gonna take just a moment now.	37:04
	The Sunday, before the choir left	37:08
	to go to New York for the concert in Carnegie Hall,	37:10
	we asked them to stand and offered a prayer.	37:14
	I'm going to ask them to stand again now, if you will.	37:19
	Some of you, probably a handful of you	37:29
	who are present this morning,	37:31
	were in Carnegie Hall	37:32
	a week ago, Wednesday night,	37:35
	and had the opportunity to express your appreciation	37:36
	for the beautiful music that they gave	37:41
	to all of us that night.	37:43
	I'm gonna ask those in the congregation now	37:46
	to stand if you will.	37:48
	And let's all join with a warm hand of applause	37:54
	and thanksgiving to the choir,	37:58
	not just for Carnegie Hall's performance and concert,	38:00
	but for the awesome and beautiful	38:05
	and inspiring,	38:10
	moving	38:12
	worship of God,	38:15
	which they lead us in here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.	38:16
	(congregation applauding)	38:23
	Thank you.	38:45
	The gospel lesson for today	38:53
	for the fourth Sunday in lent is a passage of scripture	38:54
	most familiar to all of us,	38:57
	probably one of the two or three most familiar passages	38:59
	in all of scripture.	39:03
	We have read it, we have heard it read.	39:05
	We have heard sermons preached about it.	39:07
	We have studied it over and over and over again.	39:09
	There mere mentioning of the words,	39:13
	the parable of the prodigal son	39:15
	or the parable of the waiting father	39:17
	or the parable of the elder son	39:19
	calls to mind, all kinds of images	39:22
	and stirs in us a wide range	39:25
	of feelings immediately, spontaneously.	39:28
	At once we see the picture of the father	39:33
	with arms outstretched and opened wide	39:35
	receiving the younger son back home	39:38
	as we have seen portrayed in many, many paintings.	39:40
	Or we see the picture of the elder brother	39:44
	standing aside with sneers of anger	39:46
	and contempt on his lips,	39:49
	as he sees all of the celebrating	39:51
	about the other son's return.	39:54
	Or we see the painful picture of the younger brother	39:57
	in some squalor of deprivation, broken and beaten	40:00
	while all the time we know what he has momentarily forgotten	40:05
	that real life waits for him back home.	40:09
	The full range of our emotions is touched and stirred	40:15
	as this passage in 21 short verses	40:18
	moves from confrontation to separation,	40:22
	to loneliness, to desecration and dehumanization.	40:27
	To recognition and self-awareness, to contrition, to return,	40:32
	to reunion, to rejoicing, to celebration, to envy,	40:36
	to acceptance and to love.	40:40
	Pain, joy, sadness, estrangement, finding oneself,	40:43
	losing oneself, finding oneself again,	40:48
	excitement, boredom, emptiness.	40:52
	How much of life, how much of ourselves,	40:55
	how much indeed of God do we find	41:00
	in this simply profound story	41:02
	filled with both every day and ultimate meaning.	41:05
	Until quite recently,	41:12
	I thought that there was only one prodigal in this story.	41:14
	We all know about him.	41:21
	The younger son is the real prodigal.	41:23
	He is the one who comes to his father,	41:27
	claims his inheritance, bids farewell to his family	41:30
	and goes away to find out what life is really all about.	41:34
	In the process he finds a father	41:39
	who asks no questions about where he is going	41:43
	or what he is going to do or who he is going to be with.	41:47
	He finds a father who puts no conditions	41:52
	on the rightful portion of goods that is to come to the son.	41:54
	He finds a father who simply listens to his request,	42:01
	respects his own judgment as best for the moment	42:06
	and responds to do exactly as he wants him to do.	42:10
	He finds a father whose love is great enough,	42:15
	great enough, even to let him go.	42:19
	And that perhaps when the occasion calls for it	42:24
	is the greatest love we can show to another person.	42:29
	The father does not force the son to stay at home	42:34
	for the son, the younger son must have his freedom.	42:38
	The younger son says something like this.	42:41
	"I want to be free to be just me,	42:43
	to get away just one time	42:48
	to be out from under all the rules and regulations	42:50
	and restrictions just once.	42:54
	I'll come back, sure, I will.	42:56
	But I need some time on my own to think for myself	42:59
	to reason for myself, to decide for myself,	43:02
	to be myself who ever I am	43:06
	and not to be who mama or daddy or family make me to be."	43:10
	Perhaps he is like Esther Hoffman,	43:16
	as she sings in A Star is Born, the words,	43:18
	"I was warned as a child of 13, not to act too strong,	43:22
	try to act like you belong, but don't push girl.	43:27
	Save your time and trouble, don't misbehave.	43:31
	I was raised in a no you don't world, overrun with rules,	43:34
	memorize your lines and move as directed."	43:40
	And the younger son wanted to be out from under the rules	43:46
	to hear no more, no you don't or no more be a good boy now.	43:48
	He wanted to break some relief, a change.	43:54
	He wanted to have his fling.	43:59
	So his oughts test out his feelings and his fantasies.	44:00
	He really had no intention of being evil,	44:05
	of being a real rascal.	44:07
	All he wanted was to live a real life,	44:08
	even if for just a little while.	44:11
	And so I asked you and me,	44:14
	have we not all felt this same urge at one time or other?	44:18
	Do we not identify with the inner arguments	44:24
	and the struggles and the movements	44:27
	that are going on in this younger son?	44:28
	He left.	44:30
	He had his inheritance.	44:32
	He took all that he had, and he went into a far country.	44:33
	Then Jesus tells us there,	44:37
	he squandered his property in loose living.	44:41
	Now here's where we attach the word prodigal	44:46
	to this story,	44:48
	because the word prodigal is not used anywhere	44:49
	in the parable itself.	44:52
	Prodigal means extravagant, wasteful,	44:54
	spendthrift, bountiful, lavish,	44:57
	thus this son's wastefulness,	45:01
	his wild and extravagant living give the most common name,	45:04
	which we know to this particular parable.	45:08
	We really don't know what he did	45:11
	and our imaginations run wild	45:13
	as we think about all the things that he might have done,	45:15
	which really say all those things,	45:18
	which we might like to do.	45:19
	He squandered his possessions and he lived loosely.	45:24
	Reading or hearing these words	45:29
	we put our own values on what he did and how he did it,	45:31
	but then Jesus said he came to himself.	45:33
	And that if I must say so	45:39
	is one of the most beautiful lines in all of literature	45:42
	he or she came to himself or to herself	45:48
	that it seems to me after all	45:52
	is what life is really all about.	45:54
	That we might at one point or another	45:56
	at one time or another, in one way or another,	45:58
	come to an awareness of who we are and whose we are	46:01
	that is come to a real awareness of our own being.	46:04
	I don't really care.	46:11
	Now your far country or my far country	46:12
	or your squandering, or my squandering may have been	46:14
	to waste years and years of fumbling	46:18
	and falling and failing	46:20
	as we have tried to find a suitable	46:21
	and a satisfying vocation for our lives.	46:25
	Your far country or mine, or your squandering or mine	46:29
	may have been to suppress for years and years	46:32
	our real potential as we have kept some essential	46:35
	and important part of our personality ignored	46:38
	or hidden away.	46:41
	Or your far our country	46:44
	or mine	46:48
	may have been to sacrifice our own happiness	46:50
	and the happiness of others	46:52
	by pretending that all was well with us,	46:53
	when we really were basically quite unhappy	46:55
	and quite unfulfilled.	47:00
	We may have squandered our talents.	47:02
	Perhaps some of us, indeed,	47:06
	some of us has squandered or mismanaged our marriages.	47:09
	Some of us have wasted our good reputations.	47:15
	Some of us have ruined or are ruining our bodies	47:21
	and our minds.	47:26
	Perhaps our feelings have been perverted	47:29
	by envy or jealousy or hatred,	47:32
	or maybe we have squandered our faith	47:36
	and have lost	47:41
	what once upon a time was beautiful and personal	47:42
	and rich and real.	47:46
	Now any part or all of these things	47:49
	may be true for any one of us	47:51
	and I believe that some of it surely is true for each of us.	47:53
	So there's the prodigal that we've all heard about,	48:03
	but there's another prodigal.	48:08
	There's the prodigal elder brother.	48:11
	The one who was extravagant in his desire for security	48:16
	in his wanting to play it safe,	48:21
	in his longing to be at home and to stay at home.	48:24
	Now he takes his ethical and religious	48:29
	and personal and family duties in bitter earnest	48:31
	in his life, at least as we read about it	48:36
	in this particular story, there is no risk,	48:38
	no adventure, no excitement.	48:41
	He feels as he tells his father	48:43
	that he has been disadvantaged, that he has been deprived	48:45
	the real fulfillment in life,	48:49
	that he has never known real sparkle and zest in life,	48:50
	never had any wild consuming passion.	48:55
	He's known no festivals and no celebrations.	49:00
	Life has been tiresome and tedious and very serious	49:03
	and very monotonous.	49:08
	And as I look around the Duke campus,	49:09
	I see, oh, so many,	49:12
	oh, far too many	49:15
	for whom life has become tedious and serious and monotonous.	49:17
	He has forgotten that often the good things in life	49:25
	and safety don't really go hand in hand.	49:31
	Life needs to have some daring, challenging,	49:37
	changing, push and shove, trial and error,	49:40
	succeed and fail and succeed and fail again,	49:43
	some win and lose moments in it if you will.	49:47
	Have we in the church of Jesus Christ today	49:52
	learned only too well	49:55
	the lessons of life	49:58
	and have we adopted them only to, well,	50:00
	those lessons, which the extravagant	50:02
	self saving, security seeking elder brother	50:04
	was demonstrating in his life?	50:08
	Are we the faithful stay at home, play it safe,	50:11
	never risk for one might get hurt church members?	50:16
	Are we the model don't get involved, be nice to everybody.	50:20
	Don't hurt anybody's feelings, kind of Christians?	50:23
	The ones who play it close to home	50:26
	who protect their tradition and maintain the status quo?	50:28
	The older brother, I believe	50:33
	really does represent much that is a part	50:39
	of those of us in the church today.	50:41
	For there are many of us good people, quote unquote,	50:45
	whose faith in Christ never makes us happy	50:49
	or excited about life.	50:53
	Comfortable, yes.	50:54
	Happy, no.	50:56
	There are many of us decent,	50:59
	honest Christians with integrity who are serious minded	51:01
	and have Goodwill in our hearts.	51:04
	But for many of us, church is meaningless	51:05
	and our relationship with God is most boring.	51:08
	Let's look at the elder brother again.	51:14
	He has lived his life from his childhood up	51:15
	and he still lives every day and every night	51:18
	in the atmosphere and in the protection	51:20
	of the father's house.	51:22
	Naturally, he loves the father	51:23
	and he loves this environment.	51:25
	But the fact that he loves his father	51:27
	and is loved in return	51:32
	is so taken for granted that he is hardly conscious of it.	51:33
	And nobody seems to speak about it.	51:38
	To him it would have seemed ridiculous	51:41
	to go up to his father and say, "Father today,	51:43
	I really love you quite especially."	51:45
	For we do not reflect on what is as normal	51:48
	and near as the air we breathe,	51:51
	nor do we give thanks for it.	51:57
	And how tragic our lives when lived this way,	52:01
	How tragic that life with all its mystery and wonder,	52:05
	and awesomeness and excitement can become dull	52:09
	and humdrum and routine and monotonous,	52:14
	but for oh so many,	52:18
	it is just that.	52:22
	How tragic when we take ourselves and others for granted	52:25
	in marriage,	52:30
	in friendships,	52:33
	in business,	52:35
	in doctor, patient relationships.	52:37
	In teacher, student relationships	52:40
	in brother, sister,	52:43
	sister, brother,	52:44
	mother, child,	52:46
	father, child,	52:47
	child, father relationships.	52:49
	In the deepest and most important areas of our lives	52:52
	it seems we take others very, very much for granted.	52:55
	Talking with the football team on Thursday	53:04
	as we gathered to share a few minutes	53:06
	about Mike Suglia's death.	53:09
	I told them that one thought had been running over	53:12
	and over in my mind,	53:15
	ever since I received the first call last Saturday	53:16
	of his sudden tragic death.	53:19
	The thought	53:21
	that life,	53:23
	every moment of it	53:25
	is a precious irreplaceable treasure	53:28
	for when it is over, it is over.	53:32
	So let us not take it for granted.	53:37
	Last Sunday night, I was sitting,	53:42
	talking with some 50 or so high school	53:44
	and junior high school students at a church in Charlotte	53:46
	talking about what I feel is a very basic problem	53:50
	in the church and in our society today.	53:52
	The problem I said that I believe	53:54
	that there are countless numbers	53:57
	of young people	54:00
	and children	54:03
	today	54:04
	who think that their parents would be just as happy	54:06
	if their children had never been born.	54:09
	The survey, which, who was it?	54:13
	Ann Landys or Dean Alby one of them did,	54:14
	which said in response to a question,	54:17
	if you had it to do over again, would you have children?	54:20
	71% of them, wasn't it?	54:22
	Who were parents who replied and said	54:24
	they would not have children.	54:26
	So many children and young people today	54:35
	have parents who really don't love them	54:37
	and don't give a hang about what happens to them.	54:40
	And so I said to these young people,	54:43
	if you have a mother and or a father who loves you,	54:45
	then you go home tonight and hug his or her neck,	54:48
	or both of them in the necks	54:50
	and say a prayer of Thanksgiving.	54:51
	And if you don't,	54:53
	if you have a mother or father or both who don't love you,	54:54
	then go home and you hug their necks	54:57
	and pray a prayer that love will come into your home.	54:59
	Oh, let's not take our relationships for granted.	55:06
	Jesus Christ, I believe meant for our lives	55:14
	to be many, many, many things.	55:16
	But I believe he absolutely did not intend for our lives	55:18
	to be dull or uninteresting or monotonous.	55:21
	So prodigals number one, and number two,	55:26
	the younger brother who came to his senses	55:30
	arose and came to his father.	55:32
	The younger brother finally came to know	55:34
	what repentance and confession and forgiveness	55:36
	are all about.	55:38
	He had heard and perhaps ahd understood the meaning	55:43
	of words like those,	55:46
	which some of us saw while we were in New York,	55:48
	the play, A Chorus Line,	55:51
	thanks to the gift of some very dear friends.	55:54
	But some of us saw the play, A Chorus Line.	55:57
	And the casting director is asking each person	56:00
	who wants to be in the chorus line	56:02
	to tell his or her life story.	56:04
	And Paul San Marco tells his story, all alone,	56:06
	standing out on the stage	56:09
	and what a sorted sad, painful story it is.	56:10
	And finally, when he gets near the end,	56:15
	the last few words are uttered and in the midst of tears	56:16
	and utter weeping,	56:20
	and the casting director from in back says to him,	56:22
	"Oh,	56:25
	but Paul,	56:27
	all of that is in the past now,	56:28
	that's why it is called the past."	56:32
	The younger brother heard and understood	56:38
	something about what it was to say,	56:41
	"Oh, but that's all the past now,	56:43
	that's why it's called the past."	56:46
	Or it's like Henry Nouwen writes in his book,	56:49
	Reaching Out, "When God has become our shepherd, our refuge,	56:51
	our fortress then we can reach out to him	56:55
	in the midst of our brokenness	56:58
	and feel at home with him while we are still on the way,	56:59
	no matter where we're going.	57:03
	In the midst of our brokenness with God,	57:06
	we can still feel at home."	57:08
	Or as Morris J. Nidinthall writes in Faith,	57:12
	A Posture for Living.	57:15
	"Jesus Christ breaks the tyranny	57:16
	of the past by his forgiveness	57:19
	and the terror of the future by his promise."	57:22
	Power,	57:28
	God in Christ breaks the tyranny of the past,	57:29
	whatever my past is, by his forgiveness.	57:32
	And he breaks the terror of the future,	57:36
	no matter what that is by his promise.	57:38
	And the younger brother, that first prodigal	57:41
	heard some of that message.	57:44
	The elder brother though, was angry,	57:46
	angry, and he lashed out at his father,	57:50
	but his father said simply,	57:53
	"My son,	57:56
	why are you angry?	58:00
	You are always with me.	58:02
	And all that I have is yours also."	58:04
	He didn't react in anger.	58:10
	He didn't react with hostility.	58:13
	He wasn't condescending.	58:16
	All he said was, "My son.	58:19
	All that I have is yours.	58:22
	You've been with me all the time."	58:24
	The older brother came to know	58:29
	as Robert Frost wrote one time, "Home is something somehow	58:30
	you don't have to deserve, it is yours."	58:34
	Or as the poet wrote,	58:40
	"No fact we ever learned will tell us	58:42
	who we are or why we are,	58:44
	or what life or love or death or beauty means	58:46
	that comes from experience."	58:49
	Or the older brother could get angry and still feel loved	58:54
	and still love, because the love he and his father shared	58:57
	must have been real.	59:01
	He must've felt love and loved very much	59:04
	because you see	59:07
	we as human beings	59:10
	show our most precious selves, our true selves,	59:13
	never to those whom we fear,	59:17
	but only to those we love.	59:22
	And only to those who love us.	59:25
	Two sons, two children of the father, different children,	59:30
	drastically different both affirmed, both accepted,	59:33
	both received lovingly by the father.	59:36
	Here we see who the real prodigal is in this story.	59:40
	Here's the real spend thrift, the real extravagant one,	59:45
	the lavish and bountiful one,	59:50
	the father whose love and grace	59:52
	just simply a bound in plenty.	59:54
	First for the younger son who comes home in repentance	59:56
	and then for the elder son who stayed home and gets angry.	59:59
	Here was home for both the younger and the older,	1:00:06
	here was where as someone has said, what a real home is,	1:00:11
	here was where they could ask questions	1:00:15
	without fear and could experiment with it life	1:00:17
	without risk of rejection.	1:00:20
	Here was home for both the younger and the older,	1:00:25
	where they both knew that they were children	1:00:28
	who would be received with love and with grace,	1:00:30
	no matter what they had done or said.	1:00:32
	Sometimes I see myself as the younger child,	1:00:39
	the one who selfishly, carelessly,	1:00:44
	recklessly and thoughtlessly squanders some	1:00:46
	or perhaps all of my birthright.	1:00:51
	Do you ever see yourself as that child?	1:00:55
	Sometimes I see myself as the older child,	1:01:02
	the one who cautiously and carefully, safely,	1:01:04
	and discreetly saves and protects my precious self	1:01:07
	and all that is mine.	1:01:12
	Do you ever see yourself as this child?	1:01:17
	Well, the real and the ultimate message of this story	1:01:23
	is not about the prodigal children,	1:01:27
	but about the prodigal father	1:01:33
	who lavishes love on every child.	1:01:36
	Both the one who returns in repentance and confession	1:01:42
	and the one who burst forth in anger and hostility.	1:01:47
	The ultimate theme of this story	1:01:51
	is not the faithlessness of us as children,	1:01:52
	but the faithfulness of God	1:01:56
	who loves us.	1:02:00
	Real secret of this story is	1:02:02
	that wherever we are or wherever we have been,	1:02:06
	whoever we are or whoever we have been,	1:02:08
	there is a homecoming for each of us,	1:02:11
	for there is a home and a God who loves us waiting.	1:02:13
	There's an old, old hymn	1:02:19
	that calls up all kinds of inner feelings in me	1:02:21
	because it was sung as I grew up in churches.	1:02:25
	And it was used as an alter call hymn	1:02:28
	to try to get everybody,	1:02:30
	to walk that saw dust trail and come down to the alter	1:02:31
	and get their hearts right with God.	1:02:34
	But my friends there's real power in the hymn.	1:02:36
	Jesus is Tenderly Calling Thee Home.	1:02:40
	Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam	1:02:45
	farther and farther away.	1:02:49
	"Jesus is calling the weary to rest.	1:02:53
	Bring him thy burden and thy wilt be blessed.	1:02:57
	He will not turn thee away.	1:03:01
	Jesus is waiting, Oh, come to him now.	1:03:05
	Come with thy sins at his feet,	1:03:09
	lowly bow	1:03:13
	come and no longer delay.	1:03:14
	Jesus is pleading Oh, listen to his voice.	1:03:17
	They who believe in his name shall rejoice.	1:03:21
	Jesus is calling,	1:03:24
	is tenderly calling,	1:03:27
	is calling today.	1:03:30
	Bring quickly the best robe	1:03:35
	and put it on him,	1:03:39
	Let us eat and make merry.	1:03:41
	My child	1:03:45
	you are always with me	1:03:48
	and all that I have is yours as well."	1:03:51
	The parables,	1:04:00
	the prodigals in the parable.	1:04:01
	Amen.	1:04:07
	Amen.	1:04:09
	(soft orchestral music)	1:04:16
	(organ drowns music)	1:05:04
	♪ Oh pass me not ♪	1:08:37
	♪ From way from your countenance ♪	1:08:41
	♪ And take away ♪	1:08:46
	♪ Holy spirit from me ♪	1:08:52
	♪ Holy spirit from me ♪	1:09:04
	♪ Oh pass me not ♪	1:09:06
	(soft orchestral music)	1:09:10
	(organ drowns music)	1:12:03
-	Oh, God, most merciful and gracious	1:17:08
	from whom we receive all that we have and all that we are,	1:17:13
	accept this offering of your people.	1:17:18
	Remember in your love, those who have brought it	1:17:22
	and those for whom it is given.	1:17:26
	And so follow it with your blessing,	1:17:29
	that those who are hungry	1:17:32
	will be nourished in body and in spirit.	1:17:34
	Amen.	1:17:39
	(soft orchestral music)	1:17:43
	(organ drowns music)	1:18:10
-	May the God of hope,	1:21:14
	fill you with all joy and peace	1:21:17
	so that you may abound in love and hope	1:21:21
	by the power of the Holy Spirit.	1:21:25
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:39
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:44
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:50
	♪ Amen ♪	1:21:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:04
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:14
	♪ Amen ♪	1:22:29
	(soft orchestral music)	1:22:49

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "The Prodigals in the Parable" (March 20, 1977)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4db80r80

Date:

March 20, 1977

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0883
ref6966_tc9
uachapelsermaud
duke:628416
dcrau002833
ark:/87924/r4db80r80
0b5131e7-76b0-4911-80b0-826b6ef0675c

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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United States
North Carolina
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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Robert T. Young - "The Prodigals in the Parable" (March 20, 1977)

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