The parable of the prodigal son is more than just a parable, it relates to real life people who live real lives, making real choices and judgments.  The elder son in the parable represents the Pharisee or the religious rulers in Jesus time who like St. Paul were keepers of the Law.  They did all the right things: they tithed, they fasted, they prayed, they observed all the religious holidays, according to the Law, blameless.  Yet just as we are not told if the elder son ever entered the party over the repentance of his younger brother, symbolizing heaven, we can do all the right things and still be found lacking in the eyes of God like the Pharisee in Jesus day.  The elder son did not love the sinner: he had no compassion for his brother.  He thought that being a dutiful son earned him the right to all the blessings of the Father and that he deserved to be welcomed with a party and a slaughtered calf.  The younger son, the prodigal, relied on the mercy of his Father and not on his own works and merit and because he knew the plague of his own heart, he knew that salvation was a gift of grace neither earned nor merited.  It follows that worse than the sin of fornication and riotous living is the sin of judgment with condemnation, self-righteousness, and a lack of love for the weak and lowly. 

            The truth be told, we are all born with a corrupt sin nature whether we act it out or merely conceive it in our hearts.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us that if we lust in our hearts it is still a sin, the sin of adultery,  and who has not lusted in their hearts.  Jesus came for the sinner and it behooves us to have the same attitude toward the sinner as Jesus had.  Unless we deny our self and take up the cross, unless the ego dies, we are prone to consider ourselves better than other people because we are good at keeping our external actions in check.  As a preacher I am obligated to tell you not to sin, but I know that we all mess up once in a while.  Our attitude is to live righteously but we can fail, but love never fails.  Repentance is a great gift from God.  It allows us to be restored into kingdom of God and helps us to sympathize with those struggling with sin.  It teaches us to be humble and merciful and non condemnatory. 

            We know that sickness and death entered through sin.  We can see clearly when the sexually immoral receive a venereal disease.  We can see clearly when an alcoholic receives liver damage.  We can see clearly the punishment of the stealer and those who covet.  But we do not see clearly the punishment for being self-righteous and judgmental.  That was the sin that Jesus exposed to the religious leaders like Paul who according to the righteousness which is in the law were blameless.  That was the sin that left him weeping over Jerusalem and pronouncing that there house would be left desolate.  Blameless, but....

Amen