Stephen Baldwin
OT: Joshua 5.9-12
NT: Luke 15.1-3, 11b-32
"The Prodigal"
o
Cell phone story
§
If you dropped your cell
phone in a toilet, would you retrieve it?
It’s a question of priorities.
§
I read a story this week
about a guy in New York City who was riding the train. He dropped his cell
phone in a stainless steel commode as
they sped down the tracks. He couldn’t
quite see the phone in the toilet, but he knew it had to be right there. So he
undertook a fishing expedition and stuck his hand in to retrieve it. It wasn’t
there, so he stuck his arm in farther…and farther…and his arm got stuck. In the toilet on a train in New York
City.
§
He called for help, the
conductor came, they did everything they could, but his arm wouldn’t
budge. The next stop was near a fire
station, so the train rolled on. The
fireman were waiting…with power tools…which still could not free his arm. In a last ditch effort, they used the jaws of
life to cut the stainless steel commode off his arm.
§
The reporter who wrote the
story visited the train to see where this all happened. They showed him the new toilet which had been
installed, and he asked if they ever found the phone. “No,” said the man, “But you wouldn’t want to
put that on your face afterwards anyway.”
§
What does this have to do
with the parableof the prodigal son?
Priorities.
o
Most people think the
prodigal son is a story about repentance, because they think “prodigal” means
lost or wayward. Prodigal means wasteful. Priorities in the wrong place.
§
Older brother was prodigal—he
wasted all his time worrying about his brother.
§
Father was prodigal—he gave
away his inheritance well before the time was right.
§
Young son was prodigal—he
blew the inheritance in no time for no reason, dishonoring his family.
§
Lent reminds us that we’re
all prodigal. In the hustle and bustle
of trying to keep up with the trends and the neighbors, we waste time on things
that don’t really matter…and neglect the things that do matter.
o
It’s a question of
priorities.
§
Most people think having
priorities solves that, but having priorities isn’t good enough. We all have prodigal priorities at time…and
sometimes that gets our arm stuck the toilet searching for our cell phone! It’s about having the right priorities.
o
So what does matter? What deserves to be a priority above all
else?
§
Relationships.
·
Your relationships with the
people in your life—the ones you love and the ones it can be hard to love.
·
And your relationship with
God. Lent is the time to nurture that
relationship.
·
The Bible is clear in
prioritizing relationships. From the
story of Adam & Eve to the Exodus to the prophets to the ministry of Jesus
to the spread of the church…God prioritizes relationships above all else. So should we.
Amen.
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