Homily for Ozcare, Friday 6 November 2026
Luke 15:11-32
Our Bible Study groups have just finished reading about the life and times of King Saul. He started off well, but died in ignominy. The question we asked ourselves was, “was there any point at which he could have turned things around?”
This is the question Jesus answers for us today. Where are you headed? How are you travelling, in life, with God? Do you feel like things could be better, if only you could “turn things around”?
The son in the parable has looked at the wrong track, and not only stepped onto it, but walked all the way down it to the bottom of the dead end. He is in a pig sty, and the pigs eat better than him. Things could not get any worse.
He has two options; the same two options we have when things get really bad. One option is to be filled with self-pity and think “if only I had done things differently”. The other option is to realise “it’s never too late to turn things around”. The prodigal son chooses the second option – and so should we.
It’s never too late to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. There’s never a point at which you have become such a dirty rotten scoundrel that God will turn you back. Jesus says to us – no, shouts at us – now is the time to turn back to God. Look, God is waiting at the end of the driveway, watching for when you turn into the street, ready to run out and give you a nice set of new clothes, and cover you in expensive jewellery, and throw a big party for you. If you are waiting for a sign from God that he loves you and wants to hear from you, then this is it.
But don’t just take my word for it. Jesus spoke this parable, but he is also in the parable. When he went to the cross and bled and died, he did so on our behalf. All the dirty rotten things we ever did were washed away in his blood. He identified as the prodigal son when he went to the cross. Because all our sin has been paid for in his death, we can be certain that our heavenly Father will be like the father in the parable. The cross and the empty tomb, and the Messiah who went through them, is our living proof of this.
So no matter how many times you may have heard this parable in your life, make sure you always hear it as if it were for the first time. It’s never too late to turn things around; it’s never too late to turn back to God.