The Prodigal Son

The 4th Sunday of Lent was also the 4th English Speaking service. The Gospel of the day was the story of the Prodigal Son, a fantastic story that has multiple lessons within it.

Readings:
Joshua 5:9-12
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

The story of the Prodigal Son is a popular story. It is one that pops up often, at confirmation class, church camp, bible studies, and at service. But what is so amazing about this parable is that it has something new to be discovered every time it is read.

    The story of the Prodigal Son is one of love and forgiveness, and illuminates the different characters we can be in life. At times, we may be the father, the older son, or the younger.

    Sometimes we are the younger son. Sometimes we mess up, and we need to admit we messed up, and ask for help. Sometimes our environment leads us to be in a bad situation, and we have to admit we need help. There is never any shame in needing help, we just have to recognize we need it, and not let our pride get in the way.

    When the younger son asks for his inheritance before his father is dead, he is essentially telling the father he wishes the father was dead, because all he wants is the money. This is extremely disrespectful to the father. The younger son then goes and spends all of the money without thinking, leaving himself hungry, cold, and alone.

    When we look at God and say “why don’t you give me what I want, and now?” Or “Why do you think you know what is best for me, I know what I need.” Or “I can do this alone.” You are turning your back on God, and God lets you go, just like the father lets the son go. But eventually we find ourselves hungry, cold, and alone. This is our moment to recognize we need God, and to seek God out, rather than be stubborn and try to continue without God. The moment we accept we need God, God welcomes us back, just as the father does.

    The younger son also hits trouble due to the famine sweeping the land he was living in. He already had nothing, and due to the bad situation around him, he had no chance at making things better where he was. He had to accept that where he was was not a good place for him, and leave.

    Often times in life we find ourselves in situations that are bad for us to be in. They may not be of our own making, but they can negatively affect our lives. It can be hard to accept that we can not control the world around us, that we need to let go, and that we need to remove ourselves, but this is something we must do. We must be able to look and say to ourselves “no, this is not good for me, I need to change my situation.” When we do so, God is with us every step of the way, helping us to better ourselves.

    Sometimes we aren’t the younger son, sometimes we are the older son. Sometimes we are the ones who stick with God through everything. Recognizing that God isn’t the source of the bad that is in the world. Sometimes we feel we are the ones who do all of the work. Sometimes we need to recognize that others receiving love and forgiveness does not take away from the love and forgiveness we already have.

    The older son gets angry when he hears of his brothers return, and not just of the return, but of the father’s reaction. The older son is angry because he feels the younger son should not be accepted back, and should not be greeted with such joy and such amazing gifts. He feels he deserves what the younger son is receiving, because he never left. He feels he is having something taken away from him by the father giving these gifts to the younger son.

    The older son focuses on what he feels he deserves, and he feels he deserves them based on his actions. This is how we can feel at times as Christians. We can feel that we do good works because we are Christian and we should, and that means we should go to heaven. Sometimes we feel like it isn’t fair that we can follow God and do God’s work our whole life, but someone who ignores God or turns away from God can still have the same reward. It can make us question why we even try to be good people if we can just ask for forgiveness in the end.

God’s love and forgiveness stems from God’s Grace, which is limitless and unconditional. God loves us all, just as the father loves both sons. God forgives us all, and we all are welcome into God’s kingdom. When God extends grace to one person, it does not take away from another person. When the father welcomes home the younger son, it does not take anything away from the older son. The older son stayed and worked because he loved his father and wanted to do works for him. The older son only became concerned about his reward when he felt it was being taken away. We should want to do good works for God for no other reason than that we love God and want to do God’s work. We should not be concerned about what someone else is receiving from God, because it does not change our gift of grace or our relationship with God.

    Sometimes we have the opportunity to be the father. Sometimes we have the chance to model God’s love and forgiveness. Sometimes it is really hard for us, and we have to step back and remember that if God can grant us grace every single day, since we screw up every single day, then we can do the same for those around us.

    The father could have turned the younger son away. The father could have considered the older son ungrateful. But he didn’t. The father ran to the younger son. In this time, a man of his stature would not have run, it would have been seen as disgraceful. A man would not have embraced his son in the manner which the father did. But the father was overjoyed at the return of his son and full of love and forgiveness that he did not care what others around him thought. He did not forgive the younger son in that moment, he had forgiven the younger son the moment the younger son had asked for the inheritance. The father welcomed the younger son back just as the son was when he left. The father did not make the younger son a servant or to work in the stable, but his son again. Just as God accepts us as we are when we return, not viewing us as less for leaving. The father did not get angry with the older son for being upset, but rather showed the son love and kindness. He explained to the older son that he has room for them both in his heart.

    When others do things that we consider hurtful to us, we have a choice to make. We can be angry and break apart the relationship we have with that person, or we can choose to love and forgive them, and continue to strengthen our bond with them. It can be extremely hard to trust others after they have hurt you, but unless we truly forget about what they had done and trust them again, we have not truly forgiven. We should approach all people with love and kindness, because all people are deserving of love and kindness for no other reason than they are a person. God loves everyone no matter what, and we should strive to follow God’s example.

    Whether you find yourself being the younger son, older son, or father, in every situation we have a choice to make. We can choose to ignore God and try to do it alone, to base our actions on what we feel we deserve rather than on love, to not forgive, or we can ask for help, act out of love, and show forgiveness. God chooses to give us grace every day, let’s all strive to make that same choice.