The Prodigal World
By Rev. Rick Lewis
Some time back I was asked to speak on the story of the Prodigal Son which you can find in any Bible. It’s in the 11th chapter of what is called the Gospel of Luke. Luke being one of four biographies of the life of Jesus Christ.
The story is a famous one and often used proverbially in words like, “the prodigal returns”. That’s appropriate because the story is really about us. To my surprise some literary giants have described this story as the greatest story ever written. For me it was the greatest story I had never really addressed. So, in this article I thought I would invite you into the story that Jesus tells, and one to which you may never have given much attention.
The story is really about three shameful people.
The first is a son who asks his father for his inheritance, which was tantamount to saying to his father, “Listen I want your stuff but I don’t want you.” The shame of that request would have spread across town as quickly as this boy wanted to get out of town. To get out of town quickly would, of course, require that he liquidate his share of the estate at speed. The only way to do that is to sell cheaply which indicates just how little respect the boy had for his father or anything of real value, including himself. Well, the outcome was dreadful and the boy was ruined. His rise to, and indulgence in, what some might consider “the fun life”, quickly crashed into the empty and broken life. Life has a way of correcting us and it was not long before he came to his senses. Making an accurate assessment of himself and how foolish he had been, he realised home with his dad was a better option. So, he travels home to walk a gauntlet of village shame reciting a speech, “Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me as one of your hired servants.” Now that is not a speech for the faint hearted. It’s humble, repentant and not entitled.
Now the second shameful person in the story is, oddly, the father himself. Remember the context of the story is an ancient village, not a Lord Howe Island beach. Culturally it was shameful for a father to run, to show his legs or to be willing to embrace a son who in normal circumstances would have been considered dead to the family. However, in this story that is exactly what this father does. He runs the village gauntlet, bearing the shame that should be reserved for this shameful young man to protect him from the shame-culture that would reject him.
I love the fact that the story says the father saw him in the distance. It would seem this father never stopped scouring the horizon in the hope of his lost son’s return. When you lose something of great value you will always make a great search. If you read the story, it is worth noticing the father’s run, embrace and kisses, come before the boy’s speech – “Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me as one of your hired servants.”. And when the hugs and kisses are over the boy’s speech changes. In the love of the father he will acknowledge his unworthiness, but in the father’s loving embrace he knows he will not be required to work off his bad mistakes. That’s what grace does: it takes away the shame, loves without price and forgives without reprisals. And if you read the story it ends in celebration because a lost son is found.
I will need to be quick on the third shameful participant. He is the stay-at-home son, angered by the love of a father who shows grace to the undeserving. Interestingly he speaks like a hired servant who thinks he has worked hard enough to get his return. In one sense he is no different from the other son and just as lost. He expects his dad’s stuff should be his, but he cares nothing for the dad. The tragedy of this stay-at-home son is that he never paused to embrace the love of the father who comes out to him to draw him into the celebration as well.
Well, what is the point of the story? The original audience of sinners and teachers of the law give it away. We live in a world where people want God’s stuff but don’t want God. We can squander what he gives in reckless living or self-righteous entitlement. What this story tells us is that God reaches out to both with his love and grace. The story begins with sinners who want to hear Jesus and the self-righteous who grumble about him spending time with sinners. Interestingly, Jesus, lays down his life for sinners who want to hear him, and he is put to death by the mumbling entitled.
When Jesus tells this story his purpose is to help all people know the love of a Heavenly Father who is always looking for us to come home. A Father in Heaven who embraces by grace and forgives in love. I reckon Jesus was indicating that God the Father is watching and longing for you to come home to Him. I can assure you that return will be a celebration, not anything to fear.