The Parable
of the Prodigal Son is one that I would imagine most of you are very familiar
with. I would just like to point out a
few things that you may not have thought of before. In this parable, the younger son, by asking
for his share of the inheritance, essentially tells his father “you’re dead to
me.” The father may have realized this
fact, but instead of protesting, or trying to convince his son to change his
mind, freely divides his property, giving his son half of all his
possessions. The son then takes these
possessions, and without even so much as a good-bye to his father, he turns his
back on him, sets off, and embarks on his own journey. Once on his own, the
younger son discovers the party scene, and embarks on a life of great
debauchery- living “his way.”, and forsaking all of the morals and life lessons
his father no doubt taught him. He is
able to buy friends, and “buy” happiness with all of the wealth that was given
to him by his father. But alas, this
life of debauchery is only temporary, because one day, he wakes up, and
realizes he has nothing left. All of his
father’s money- all of his father’s possessions that were freely given to him
have been squandered on this life of debauchery, all the “friends” he made are
gone because the money is gone, and they’ve moved on to someone else who can
buy them what they want. He is alone, left with nothing, and he doesn’t know
what to do. He convinces himself that he
can’t go home, because he betrayed his father’s trust, and so he takes a job
tending swine. For a Jew, this would have been a most degrading job!
The son,
with nothing, stuck tending pigs, falls into the pit of despair. “What have I
done?” is the question most likely on his mind, as he begins to realize the
gravity of his situation. He looks at
the state of his life, and realizes that he had it pretty good, and even his
father’s servants have it better than he does right now. So he devises a plan: Maybe, I can go home… Maybe, just maybe, if I
go back to my father, and beg for forgiveness saying “Father, I have sinned
against Heaven and against you.”, I can get him to treat me as one of his
servants. Yes! That’s what I’ll do!
After all, I certainly can’t expect him to treat me as his son again because of
my actions, but being his servant would be far better than tending swine, and
at least I’ll have something to eat!
So he sets
off. And we hear that the father catches
sight of the son while he was a long way off- which can only mean one thing- he
was looking for him! Always watching the horizon, and hoping-praying that one
day, his son would return. And
immediately the father runs to his son, and before the son can even get two
words out, the father embraces his son, declaring how much he has missed him,
and smothering him with his love. The
son finally manages to get his line out, but the father barely even notices it,
because he is so overcome with emotion, and with trying to call to his servants
to get the party put together to celebrate the son’s return. The mercy that the son thought he would have
to beg for was freely given, without even so much as a second thought by the
father.
Here we see
the perfect example of the Father’s love for his son. But what about the older son? Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. Can you understand his feelings? After
working hard for his father, never betraying him, and never receiving any
reward from his father for his loyalty, when the younger son returns after
squandering everything, he is welcomed back with open arms? And furthermore,
the father kills the fatted calf, which you were hoping to have for your own
celebration someday? The older son
confronts the father, asking him why “that son of yours” got to have a huge
party when he hasn’t gotten anything. He
refuses to acknowledge that the younger son is his brother. How often have we done this to others in our
life when we feel that we have somehow been wronged by them? Do we become self-righteous, and somehow make
ourselves out to be better than other people we meet, like the older son did?
It is
interesting to me that Jesus seems to have left this parable open-ended. One might ask: Did the older son ever
reconcile with his younger brother? Did the younger brother stay with his
father, or after he had his fill of good food, and slept in his father’s house
again for a time, did he once again long for the life of debauchery that he
gave up upon coming to his senses at the swine farm?
I think it’s
time that we take a look at what the word “prodigal” actually means. Prodigal is defined as “Wastefully
extravagant.” With that in mind, shouldn’t this parable then be called the
parable of the prodigal father?
Jesus uses
this parable to illustrate to us God the Father’s love for US, his
children. We may squander his infinite
mercy for us by falling into sin, by giving into our own selfish desires, by
doing things that we are not proud of, and by throwing away the grace that God
so freely gives to us, even when we don’t ask for it. But God is always there, waiting to welcome
us with open arms when we “come to our senses,” and return to him seeking
forgiveness. Even though we desert him
time and time again by falling into sin, and turning our back on him, we can
always come home. And when we come back to Him to seek forgiveness, he is
wastefully extravagant with His mercy. He holds us in his arms, and rejoices
that we have once again returned to Him.
I want you
to take a minute to consider who you are in this story. I would bet that many of you see yourselves
as the younger brother, in need of God’s healing love and mercy, or as the older
brother, who looks down on others who receive that mercy, and refusing to show
the compassion that God so longs for us to have towards one another. I would also be willing to bet that most of
you would not even think about trying to identify yourself as the father. However, in his book The Return of the
Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen reminds us that even though at times in our
lives we act like both sons in the story, we are on a journey to becoming the
Father, as we learn to be beacons of God’s mercy to others. And so the question to ask is “How have I
treated others? Are my actions reflective of the love I have been shown?”
Perhaps there is something in your life that
is keeping you from growing closer to God.
Perhaps your life is so full of other distractions that you can’t seem
to ever focus on prayer. But, if your
life is full of the things of this world, and you still feel an emptiness
inside, Perhaps that emptiness is a longing to grow closer to God. Consider this a call to a change of heart- a
chance to spiritually “empty yourself” of all those distractions and
temptations, all the negative ways of thinking of others, and so on. In place
of these, allow Christ to fill you up.
After all, Christ is the Living Water, and those who drink of Christ’s spiritual
gifts, will be filled beyond measure.
“For God’s ways are not the ways of this World, and to follow the way of
the Lord does require a sacrifice on our part- a giving up of some of our own
selfish desires, in order that we may grow closer to God.
So often, we
are tempted to think “I can never change! I am not strong enough to make a
change in my life.” Well, to tell the
truth, you aren’t strong enough. At
least, not on your own. Too often we
give into pride, and think we can do things on our own, and when we fail
miserably, we lose all hope that we will ever be able to change. But I want you to remember Phillipians 4:13:
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. We all do things that we are not proud of,
but the important thing to remember is this:
When we turn away from sin and suffering, and embrace the Love and Mercy
of Christ, he can help us to do things that are far beyond what we thought we
could ever do. Remember that throughout the rest of your life. And when the going gets
tough, and you feel like you can’t keep going, turn to God, and ask him for the
strength to get you through the trials of this life.
