The parable we just heard
this morning is easily one of the most familiar stories in the
bible. We know it as the Parable of The Prodigal Son. Today,
forget what you've ever thought it meant, if you can; or at least
suspend your understanding for awhile and allow this most profound
parable to reveal itself to you anew.
It's really a very simple
message about God's extravagant grace & love.
Open yourself anew to this simple and profound parable and what
do you hear? This story told by Jesus, answers the question,
"What is God really like?"
Actually, it should be called
the Parable of the Prodigal Father. In Merriam-Webster, prodigal
is defined as recklessly extravagant, wasteful, and lavish.
The son is indeed reckless and wasteful in spending his inheritance.
But how much more does this word describe the father who with
open arms generously welcomed his wayward son. Some would say
he wasted love on him with reckless abandon.
The younger son had in fact
committed the worst kind of violation and dishonor against his
father by asking him for his inheritance. This was as good as
saying to his father, "I wish you were dead so I could get
my hands on your money. So give it to me." And the father
does.
We all know the son goes off
and squanders what he has been given, until one day he's sitting
amongst the pigs and realizes that whatever life he had is over.
He has nothing. He longs to return to his father, knowing that
even the slaves in his father's house are better off than he
is.
Then comes the outrageous
scene where the father sees the son coming down the road. In
a most undignified way for the patriarch of a family, he hikes
up the skirts of his robe and runs with joy to embrace his son.
He abandons all decorum and dignity and throws his arms around
his son, before his son has had a chance to say a single
word.
There is no demand for repentance,
no expectation of amendment of life, no probationary period.
There was only joy.
At a family gathering last
summer, a gentleman was talking to me with great concern about
his children and church. He said his twin sons are really good
in church. But he was worried about his 5-year-old daughter.
Every time she starts to pray she breaks out in laughter. Well,
I told him that maybe she gets it. Maybe we shouldn't teach her
to do otherwise. Maybe we should learn that her response is the
only response we should have when faced with God's extravagant
grace and wildly lavish love.
The elder son is not laughing.
He is deeply offended by their father's generosity toward his
younger brother. He's done nothing but follow the rules and be
a good, obedient son. The father's response goes against everything
he thinks is rational and reasonable.
We get that. Most of us church
going folks probably identify more with the elder brother than
the younger, so we get what he's feeling. We understand that
with hard work, dedication and faithfulness he should at least
be acknowledged. Recognition should be for faithfulness, not
wasted on the kid who shamed the family. It's not like he begged
to be forgiven. Before he could get a word out of his mouth,
his father welcomed him home with delirious joy.
There's a wonderful scene
from the movie Moonstruck that reminds me of this. It's the scene
where Ronnie (played by Nicholas Cage) confronts Loretta (Cher)
about his love for her even though she is unhappily engaged to
Ronnie's older, stiffly neurotic brother Johnnie. In a burst
of passion and emotion, he says something like, "Loretta,
we are not here to live safe, protected, perfectly nice lives.
We are here to ruin our lives with love. It's crazy but it's
the only thing that makes sense of being alive - go crazy with
loving even if it runs the risk of ruining everything."
And he's right. We are called
to be prodigal just as the Father was. To love unsparingly and
to forgive lavishly is what disciples of Jesus are called to
do. We're not called to live perfect lives. We're not called
to live blindly obedient lives. We are not even called to be
the most orthodox believer in the world. What we are called to
do is to live with extravagant love and forgiveness---even if
it's not a reasonable thing to do.
The truth is, most of us experience
the circumstances of both brothers. We wander from God. We take
our inheritance of grace and get wrapped up in the things of
this world. And there are times when we will stay home like the
elder brother, living faithfully and trying to live a good life.
Either way, there is God,
preparing to throw us a party. Whether we are squandering God's
love or struggling over the unfairness of God forgiving the spoiled
kid, God is running towards us with open arms, lavish in loving,
extravagant in forgiveness: our God, the Prodigal Father whom
Jesus called Daddy or Papa, when he prayed.
Through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus, God opens wide the gates of heaven and
makes available all the compassion and unconditional love that
earth can hold. We are loved. We are forgiven. Empowered by the
Spirit of Christ, can we go and do like-wise?
