Father's Day Sermon

Some of you had a father who was present and kind, and today is easy. Some of you had one who was absent, or frightening, or who is dead, and today is not.

And for some of you there is a further problem, which is that the main thing this faith calls God is a word that already means something painful. I am not going to pretend that is easily solved. But I want to say that if the word father is a closed door for you, that is not a failure of faith, and you are not the only one in this room.

[read Luke 15:11-32 in full]

Note what the father does not do. He does not go after the younger son. He does not send a servant. He lets him go, with the money, knowing what will happen, and then he watches the road for a long time.

When he sees him, he runs. A landowner of that age and standing did not run anywhere. He would have had to gather his robes to do it, in front of a village that knew exactly what the son had done.

He also interrupts the apology. The son has rehearsed a speech and gets about half of it out before the father talks over him and starts giving instructions about a robe.

[your material, 450 words - one illustration]

The story does not end with the party. It ends outside it, with a man who did everything right and is furious, and with a father who comes out to him too. That second going-out is the one most sermons leave in the field.

Honour the men who turned up, briefly and without a list of what they should do better. Then close on the road, and the watching, and stop.