I'm not preaching today – someone else has kindly offered to do so.
So here is a guest preacher, who begins his sermon on the Prodigal thus:
The story of the Prodigal Son is most often seen in personal, psychological ways, as a story of family pathos. A self-centered child runs away from home, sows his oats, and later returns willing to be accepted on any terms. His brother is outraged, and his father is overcome with joy. How many of our personal stories are reflected in these three characters of the story? Probably, there are many indeed.
But the story of the father and his two sons begins with the words, ?Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to hear [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling. . .? That is, the story begins with the familiar clash between the rigidly orthodox, exclusive religious leaders and Jesus' practice of gathering around him all sorts of non-kosher folks.
Read the rest of Richard Bower's Sermon – linked here
….And never let it be said that I am too political.
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