Being Prodigal
Luke 15:11-32
Introduction
One of the challenges of talking about the parable of the prodigal son is that it has become so well known that people assume they already know what it means. The term “prodigal son” is so common that you can state at the entrance of a person in almost any context, “Behold the prodigal son returns!” and even people who have never read the Bible or attended church would understand what was being said.
The definition of a prodigal son in the Cambridge dictionary is: “a man or boy who has left his family in order to do something that the family disapprove of and has now returned home feeling sorry for what he has done.” That would seem to fit with how most of us would use the term. Based on that, one might assume that the word “prodigal” means something like going away and then coming back. But that is not what it means. Going back to the Cambridge dictionary, the definition of prodigal is “spending or using large amounts of money, time, energy, etc., especially in a way that is not very wise.” Based on those two definitions, it is not immediately obvious how the ideas of a prodigal son and being prodigal are connected. That connection is made only in the story told by Jesus.
The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most well known parables of Jesus. While the other parables are powerful in how much truth they contain, there is something about this story that captures our imagination. We can almost see the events as they unfold.
But to truly understand this parable, we need to have some idea of why Jesus told this parable in the first place.
Jesus had been welcoming people and just any kind of people. Jesus was welcoming the marginalized, the kinds of people that the religious people had long given up on. These were the people from “the wrong side of the tracks.” These were the kind of people that any respectable religious leader would not give any attention to other than to shake their head in disgust. And yet Jesus spent time with them and even ate meals with the, He seemed genuinely happy when they came to him. None of this made sense. So Jesus told a series of the three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. All three were meant to challenge the religious leaders about their assumptions about who God loved and who should be welcome in a community of faith. The parable of the lost son, or as we may know it, the prodigal son is the longest and most detailed.
The danger in reading this is that we only see this as Jesus challenging the religious leaders. This parable is equally effective in challenging us in our own prejudices. And yes we do have certain prejudices. How do I know? If God spoke to us and said that he would had twenty people to our congregation and that we could choose what kind of people would join our community, there would be certain groups that would be more likely to be chosen.
With that in mind, let us reflect on this parable by looking at three of the characters and specifically looking at what happens when they have the opportunity to be prodigal.
The Prodigal Son
Most of the narrative is about the youngest son. The son, like many young people, struggled to see the big picture of life and could only think of what he wanted in the moment. He had an inheritance but he didn’t want to wait for his father to die and so he insisted that he receive his inheritance now. This was incredibly disrespectful, especially in that culture, but surprisingly his father agreed to give his inheritance now.
This is where it gets interesting when we think of the prodigal son as someone who leaves and comes back. The son now had a significant amount of money and presumably could’ve done anything with it. What if the son had bought his own farm and settled down and raised his own family? That would have been a much different kind of story. But the son was prodigal with his money, that is instead of investing it, he wastefully spent it. That is the real reason why we call him the prodigal son. He would have been a prodigal whether or not he returned.
But as many prodigals have found throughout history, there is a limit to resources and eventually the wallet is empty. The “friends” that loved him when he was buying the drinks now had no interest in him. So he found himself struggling for survival, working extremely hard and still not having sufficient food or shelter.
This brings the son to his second opportunity to be prodigal. In addition to financial resources we have something else that we can choose on how to use and that is our ego. Going back to the dictionary, the definition of ego is “your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance and ability.” Those who might be conservative in their spending might counsel the son to be protective of his ego. Going back to the father is far too high a price, it is being prodigal, taking a risk of humiliation for a plan that will not likely work. And like a gambler who has nothing left to lose and decides to go “all in” he pushes his emotional chips into the middle of table and decided to be prodigal with his ego.
The Prodigal Father
I can’t imagine how the father felt when the son demanded his inheritance and went off to do his thing. The father likely knew the son well enough to make a good guess on how he would spend his money. As a father, I can sympathize with feeling of helpless ness as you observe children having to learn life lessons the hard way and not being able to take control.
We are not given a lot of details about the father but we are told that the father saw the son returning while he was still far off. Had the father been watching the road all this time, waiting for this moment?
What the son did really deserved some harsh response. Demanding the inheritance, wasting the inheritance, and then coming back only because there was no other way, would have been more than enough to permanently separate any family members. The son presented his long rehearsed plea for mercy, to simply be allowed to be one of his servants. The father would not dignify that request with a reply. The father did not want another servant, he wanted his son back. Here we see the father being prodigal with his love. Instead of putting him on probation, he puts a robe, a ring and sandals on him. Instead of sending him to his room, he throws a party. This is extreme prodigality. Some would say that the father was being too wasteful with his love but the father did not care. His son was home!
The (Un)Prodigal Brother
Some tellings of the story end with the father welcoming back the son but the story is not over. There is another son, the older son, the faithful son who followed all the rules. It could be argued that Jesus doesn’t really get to his point until he describes the brother’s reaction. Instead of celebrating that his brother was alive and back home, the brother was resentful. How could his father throw a party like this after what his youngest son had done? There was nothing to celebrate here. The younger brother had forfeited his place in the family.
The brother had the opportunity to be prodigal with his love but he chose to be frugal. He weighed the cost of openly embracing his brother and decided the cost was too high. He could not offer love and acceptance in this way. It was this older brother, representing the religious leader, that Jesus was addressing in this parable.
Conclusion
This is a nice story but what does it mean for us. These three characters are all still active in our world. There are people, who for whatever reason, are seen as the wrong kind of people. Sometimes, like in this parable, it is because of bad choices, being prodigal with the wrong kinds of things. But sometimes, there are people who are lumped in with the younger son for no fault of their own. People on the margin come to God, expecting judgment but not really knowing what to expect. But the prodigal love of the father in this parable is only a drop in the bucket of the prodigal love of the Heavenly Father. God is not an angry judge who would rather do some smiting and only reluctantly offers mercy. God wants all people to come to him, to lay aside their ego, to humble themselves and receive the embrace of the Father.
The church is the elder brother. We watch as God draws different people to himself and we have to decide how to respond. We can turn to God and say, “Surely, you are not going to welcome those kind of people God?!” Sadly, that is often the response of the church. But we can also respond by dropping our chores and joining in the party. We can sense the joy of the Father and offer our own prodigal love. We do not have to agree with the choices and experiences of others to offer our love. It is up to us. What kind of older brother are we going to be? Frugal or prodigal?
