This morning, at Faith Formation, we discussed one of the most problematic of parables in the Gospels: the Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son. This story is used in the context of forgiveness, and how we as Christians must generously offer forgiveness to others and graciously receive it from others.
It’s the familiar story of the young son who took his inheritance from his father, who was still living, left home and squandered it on a bunch of nonsense. After he hit rock bottom, he wandered back home fully prepared to be shunned by the father he left behind.
Here’s the plot twist: His father saw him coming, and instead quickly made plans for a party to celebrate the return of his son. This made his older brother, who hadn’t blown his inheritance, very angry. In fact, he stayed at home to work for his father every day while his brother was partying like it was 1999. By this account, he did everything right.
So, why is this story problematic? Well, for starters, we can probably better relate to the angry older brother in the story. We’ve all probably been in a situation where we felt like we didn’t get our due, or someone else may have eluded consequences that we didn’t. There have been times we’ve felt abused in relationships, or felt like we’ve been taken advantage of.
We’ve also probably had the experience of letting someone down, making big mistakes, and not receiving a hero’s welcome once we owned up to our failures.
But the point of this story is not about how we can relate to the sons, but about the character of God as represented by the actions of the father in this story. The good news that we find in this part of the Good News is that God will never forsake us. We will never be so lost that we cannot be found; there is no moral failing in life that God will not forgive.
As freely as we receive God’s grace and forgiveness, we must free offer it.
Thanks be to God!
The Pipe 