What One Of You? (from Luke 15)

I: The shepherd

“What one of you who murmur,
disapproving of the company I keep,
Who grumble at these sinners
drawing near that they may hear,
Who complain about the publicans
so hungry for my words and
Would not have me receive them
at my table —which of you,

If you were a hired shepherd, and
you lost one of your hundred sheep,
Would not leave the ninety nine
in the ambles of your wilderness
To go after the one who strayed
into the mountains?  Wouldn’t you
Be relieved to find your little one,
to lift him up, to carry him on
  your shoulders?

And who among you, coming home
with news to share with everyone,
Would hesitate to call your friends
and neighbors round to celebrate
The simple fact that you had found
that little one that you had sought
And could restore him to the good
folds of your pasture?  Tell me,
  would you not?


II. The housekeeper

So will the angels cheer in heaven, and
how much more their cheering for
The one returning soul than for
the ninety nine who never wandered?”
And even as the Pharisees
continued with their murmuring, he
Kept talking to them, questioning
and challenging them with parables.

“Imagine you are a woman now
with only ten coins to your name,
And then suppose you find one day
that you had lost one of your coins:
Which of you would not turn up the lights
and sweep out your entire house,
Looking everywhere until you
found that one lost piece of silver,

And in that coin would you not find
the grounds to dance, a cause to call
Your friends and neighbors, all of them,
to share the joy with you?  I tell you,
So do heaven’s angels sing and dance,
God’s very name pronounced
With celebration every time
a single sinner simply turns
  around.


III. The prodigal son

There was a man who had two sons
and the one who was the younger stood
Up to his father.  Father, he said,
give me the part of your estate
I would inherit now, as I
can’t wait around for you to die.
And so the father, still alive,
took what he had and gave it to
  his sons.

Then, with his share, the younger son,
who could have been a blessed one
And always had a place to stay,
within a week was out the door,
Taking a different road and looking for
a distant land, somewhere to waste
The substance of his portion, and
the road took him where he meant
  to go,

And there he lived in riotous
abandon, spending all he had,
But then a mighty famine came
and he became a beggar of the land,
An immigrant among the citizens,
consigned to work their fields
And feed their pigs, willing to line
his belly with the husks left for
  the swine.


IV. The road home

But when no one gave him anything,
he started talking to himself,
Questioning, remembering
how servants working for his father
Always had enough to eat,
and bread to spare, he said, and here
Am I, so far away from where
I was, with less than I need to stay
  alive.

I will stand, he said, and go back to
my father. Father, I will say,
I have sinned against the heavens, and you
have seen me.  I have turned away,
But now I fall before you, one
no longer worthy to be called your son.
Instead, I beg you, let me be
one of the hired servants in
  your fields.

And the son arose and started walking
back towards his father’s place,
But when he was still a long way off
the father saw the suffering of
His child and he was greatly moved.
He ran to him with open arms,
He fell on him with a strong embrace,
he held him to his heart and kissed
  his face.


V: The celebration

The son, just as he planned, began
to say, Father, I have sinned against
The heavens, and in your sight I am
no longer worthy to be your son,
But before he reached the begging part
to work as a servant in the fields
The father wiped his words away
and turned toward the servants he
  had hired.

Bring out my finest robe, he said,
and give it to my son to wear,
Let him have rings for his fingers
and put new shoes upon his feet,
And then bring out the fatted calf,
have it quartered, chopped and cut
Into the finest veal for our table
that we may eat and celebrate
  the day,

And then as they prepared the feast
and as the plates of veal were passed
The father rose and raised his glass
and gave a toast to all the house:
My son was dead, he said, but now
he is alive!  My son was lost
But here again, you see, my son
is found!  My little one is home
  at last!


VI. The older son

The older son, the one who stayed
at his father’s side and in his place
Was in the field while this went on,
and when his working day was done
At the cue of the setting sun he came
back home again, but as he drew
Up closer to the house he heard
the music and the sounds of
  people dancing.

And looking through the door he saw
that they had killed the fatted calf.
What is the meaning of this? he said,
pulling one of the servants aside,
And the servant said, your brother is home
and all of this your father has done
To welcome him and to receive
your brother safe and sound where
  he belongs.

This only angered the older son,
and he stood where he was looking in,
Refusing to enter through the door
and scowling at the celebration,
And even when his father came
outside to ask him earnestly
To enter in, to be part of
the party, the older child started
  arguing.


VII. The argument

Look, the brother said, how many
years have I been at your side,
Serving you, following your rules
and never breaking your commands,
And have you ever given me
as much as a suckling goat to share
With friends, a single night that my friends
and I might have a party of
  our own?

Yet here, no sooner had your boy
returned from his great carnival
Of whores, his share of your estate
devoured, for this son of yours
You’ve gone and killed the fatted calf!
And he despised his brother and
Continued with his murmuring,
but the loving father to his son
  replied,

My son, you are forever with me,
and everything I have is yours,
But it was right that we should have
this feast and celebration, for
You see, this is your younger brother:
he was dead, but turn around
And look, he is alive again! Your
brother was lost, and now he has
  been found!”