Lent week 4

Psalm: Psalm 32

Old Testament: Joshua 5:9-12

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

This Sunday we look at perhaps one of the most well known parables Jesus ever told, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Only Luke tells us this parable, but the imagery is so real and the emotion so relatable that the language of "the Prodigal Son" is even in the secular vernacular. What is it about this particular parable that resonates so deeply with us? What did Jesus touched on in the human psyche?

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I am not a psychologist so I don't know the professional answers to these questions. But part of what this story touches on is the near universal human experience of wanting to please our parents and in some way make them proud. But the story also has that common theme of wanting to rebel and find our own way in the world. We have all experienced these two emotions and thoughts in our relationship with our parents. Some of us, like the younger son, do rebel and abandon our families. We burn bridges and there seems to be no hope of ever returning to the family as the child again. Others of us are like the elder son, we temper our desire to rebel and stay faithful. But resentment builds up and we honor our parents out of obligation, all the while not understanding the great love our father has for us. (I understand not everyone has a parent relationship like this with their earthly father and/or mother, but this can be said of our Heavenly Father as well.)

However, whether we are the the eldest son or the younger one, the father extends his love and grace to us. And the fact is that at some point we were all the younger son who rebelled against the Father in heaven and went our own way in sin. We had no hope to return as children other than by the grace of God. It is all too easy for some to forget where we came from however and turn into the older brother, forgetting the gracious love of the the Father we had received.

I think the problem with this story is that it has lost its shock value to us. We have heard it so many times we no longer stop to ponder the love and sacrifice of the father in the story. But the pairing of this parable with the reading from 2 Cor. this week brings the story fresh life for me. Paul reminds us that we are to be Christ's ambassadors, offering the ministry of reconciliation to the world. We are called to move past being the younger or older child. We are called to represent the Father to the world. We have received the love and forgiveness of God, as the Prodigal Son did, and in response, rather than becoming like the older brother, we become like the father. We are to be forgiving, loving, merciful, and gracious. And it is both in and by our relationship to the Heavenly Father that this is possible.

I hope you were able to approach the parable of the Prodigal Son with fresh eyes today and see just how radical of a love it presents. May we accept the love the Father has for us and also extend that same love to others.

Grace and peace.