The Lost Sons is based on Luke 15: 11-32
A single father had two sons. When the younger boy reached eighteen, he said to his dad, “Look, Dad, you own six shops and I don’t want to wait for years and years to inherit. Can’t I just have my share now?”
The father looked at his younger son. “Look, Son, everything I have is tied up in those shops. The profit from them is what we live on. But if you want, I’ll sign over two of them to you.”
It wasn’t long before the younger son had sold both shops. He used the money to see the world, partying hard and living way beyond his means.
And then came the day when he was flat broke. The country he was in was a poor one; lots of people didn’t have enough to eat. He looked for a job, but the only one anyone would give him was garbage sorter. Sometimes he longed to eat even the mouldy food in the landfill, but he couldn’t. No one had food to spare, and his pay wasn’t enough to live on.
One day, he finally came to his senses. “I’m being an idiot,” he said. “The newest shop assistant in my dad’s stores has money to spare and here I am slowly starving to death. I need to go back to my dad and tell him, ‘Dad, I’ve got everything wrong. In fact, I’ve wronged you. I’ve wronged God. I don’t deserve to be your son, or even to be treated like your son. Let me work for you as one of your shop assistants.'”
So, he got up and sold everything he had left, his watch, his laptop, his spare clothes – scraping up enough for a cheap flight home. When he got back, there wasn’t even enough for a bus ticket – so he started walking.
The boy was still a long way off when his father spotted him. His dad raced down the stairs, rushed out of the door, and ran down the street until he reached his boy. Then he threw his arms around his son, kissing him.
The boy started on the speech he’d rehearsed over and over. “Dad, I’ve got everything wrong. I’ve wronged you, I’ve wronged God, I don’t deserve to be your son…”
That was as far as he got. His father started calling to his employees, “Look! The boy’s in rags – someone go into my house and get my best suit! Get everything – clothes, shoes, cufflinks. Go into the stock and bring out the best of the frozen steak, the chicken, the beefburgers, bring it all out! Let’s have a party! We thought my son was dead and now here he is! We’d lost him and now he’s found!”
In the excitement, rushing around and setting up for the party, nobody thought to text or call the older son. He was at one of his dad’s shops, stocktaking. He’d had a long, hard and dull day; it was late evening before he finally came back home.
When he came near the house, he heard the music and he smelt the barbeque. Some of the local kids were playing just outside, eating the party food.
“What’s going on?” the older son asked. “There was no party planned when I left for work.”
“Your brother’s back!” said one of the smaller kids, jumping up and down.
“Yeah, and he’s okay! He’s fine!” said one of the older ones. “So your dad organised a party to celebrate.”
The older son stared at them. Then he turned around and walked away.
One of the kids must have rushed in and told his dad, because the next thing that happened was that the dad ran out and chased after his older son, pleading with him to come back.
His son started shouting. “I’ve worked in your shops since I was thirteen, and you didn’t even offer to pay me! I’ve done everything you asked of me, everything!” He took a deep breath. “And what parties did I get? On my eighteenth, did you say, ‘Hey, let’s have a big party, invite all your friends?’ No. Nothing. But when your precious son comes home, the one who never did a stroke of work, the one who squandered everything on drugs and women – he, he gets the massive party!” He stopped, breathing heavily.
The father just stood in the middle of the street, looking at his son. “My boy,” he said, then paused, unable to continue. “My boy,” he finally managed. “You’ve always been here for me. And everything I’ve got, everything I’ve worked for, it’s always been for you.” He put his hands on his son’s shoulders. “But this party, we had to have a party, we had to celebrate. Your precious brother…we thought he was dead. And he’s not, he’s alive. We’d lost him. But now, now he’s found.”
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