Many among us grew up with allegorical interpretations of the trio of parables in Sunday's Gospel Reading from Luke 15. The sheep, the coin, the son all represent the sinner who is lost then found and saved by God.
My friends, let us try to read the parables as parables about shepherds and sheep, women and coins, and fathers and sons. The shepherd is not God. Nor is the woman. Nor is the father. The shepherd is responsible for sheep under her care. The woman is responsible for her coins. The father is responsible for his sons.
I have two sons. The Parable of the Lost Son is very personal for me.
If sheep, coins, and sons go astray, we should ask those responsible: why? We must not blame the sheep, the coins, nor the sons.
For so long our interpretations have shielded and protected those responsible and accountable for sheep, coins, and sons. It is time we ask the shepherd, the woman, and the father: why did you lose them? Why did they go astray?
My friends, for so long we have shielded and protected King David and Eli the Priest from what happened with their "lost" sons. We still do so with today's Davids, Elis, kings, and priests. We still blame our lost sons and daughters. We still think it's their fault. We still blame Will Hunting!
*Art, "The Prodigal Son," JESUS MAFA, Cameroon, 1973 (available at the vanderbilt divinity library revised common lectionary art galleries).
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