What does it mean to be lost?  In our parable today, the younger son’s lostness is easy to see… He was blinded by greed and gluttony and a desire to get away from the status quo.  The older son’s lostness is more subtle… it is represented by anger and bitterness when things don’t go as expected.  A popular thought in the Christian world today is that if you are a Christian and doing Christian things, you will be rewarded by God for your obedience to Him. But then something bad happens… The younger brothers among us blame themselves, the older brothers blame God.  We can’t escape lostness without the Father; without him, we will remain lost forever.