Jesus, the master story teller, once told the
story of the younger of two sons, who asks his father to give him the full disbursement amount of whatever inheritance he had coming to him, as he wished to leave and find his way in the world.
Since an inheritance is not due until the one who promised it has passed away, this was a rather cold hearted and insolent request from the son, for he was in principle asking his father to pretend that he had died and to make with the money he had covenanted to give him following his demise. Nevertheless, the father in the story - the imitation of love - did not hesitate to comply with son’s brazen demand.
As is to be predicted – the son promptly squandered this premature bequest.
It was not long before the father heard rumors of his son living in deplorable conditions after having wasted away his inheritance money. Daily the father would gaze into the horizon eagerly expecting that someday his son would find it in his heart to return.
The son, realizing his great folly, begins his journey back home, and concocts an elaborate scheme, in which he will entreat his father’s mercy, and try to persuade him to restore him to the clan, only on the condition that he forfeit his previous status as heir, and is relegated instead to the role of servant.
But when the father first catches a glimpse of his homebound son from afar, he runs toward him, gives him a warm embrace, and immediately welcomes him back into the family, ordering a lavish celebration in honor of his return.
Fundamentally, this story speaks to the seemingly inalterable human spirit of rebellion. Our deepest craving - like that of the son in the story – is to freely conduct our lives under the illusory safety of God’s absence. We habitually ignore – or plainly reject - his authority, by choosing to live as if he did not exist. If and when we vaguely discern his auspicious role in the fabric of our lives, we implore his blessings, but refuse to confer to Him the right to comment on the seditious spirit in which we adamantly choose to enjoy them.
We are the prodigals who simply wish that our father was dead and would just as soon part ways with him. Were it not because all of our wants are not guaranteed to be taken care of indefinitely, our chief desire would be to claim exemption from what is oftentimes merely a precautionary interference on his part.
Like our father in heaven, the prodigal’s father also yields his treasures freely and abundantly, diligently scans the land, pining for traces of the son who would turn back to him. When the longed for moment of reconciliation arrives, it is not the penitent son who rushes to meet the father, but rather the compassionate father who immediately runs toward his son no sooner than he spots him in the distance, hugs him, and lets not a word be spoken of his quickly forgotten odyssey.
Like the son, whom the father rapturously embraces upon his return, despite his worn and tattered rags, drenched in the foul smell of the swine he was hired to tend to after leaving home, we invariably end up wallowing in the dirt that is the product of our own selfish choices, when we choose to walk away from the best that the father has in store for us. After being enticed by a world of empty promises, we are soon left discarded by this same world in which true forgiveness and real hope are virtually nonexistent commodities.
The Father forgives the son and, rather than chastise him for the choices he has made, is all too elated not to jubilantly engage in a celebration of his return. Nothing is owed, for all is forgiven, and a new life begins for the son or daughter who returns.
The pouring of God’s overflowing grace and mercy upon his wayward children, which has an amazing capacity to engender tenderness in the hearts of the forgiven, and a desire to pledge our imperfect loyalty - born of deep gratitude for what is often an unmerited gift - to the one who offers it freely, is not the least of the many life giving messages that are contained in this anecdote from Jesus, who understood that there are certain life transforming principles that can best be transmitted through the power of stories.
In a world that routinely chooses to live as if God did not exist, this story presents us with the compelling - and comforting - reminder that God is not absent, and that he longs to restore even those of us who have chosen to reject his offer of unconditional love by taking leave of his presence and foolishly squandering the invaluable gifts he has bestowed upon us as his inheritance.
