Luke 15:11-20
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that county, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.
Years ago, when I was working with high school students, I overheard a group of kids comparing notes on their respective curfews. Some had to be in at 10 pm every night of the week; some got an extra hour of “freedom” on weekend nights; but most were complaining that the curfews established by their parents were either too restrictive or unfair in some way.
Finally, a young man who had been quiet up to this point – and was not typically part of the group - spoke up with the rather surprising claim that he had no curfew at all. He said that he could stay out as late as he wanted any night of the week – and that sometimes he stayed out all night and never came home.
Predictably, the other students were green with envy. “That’s awesome!” they said, “Your parents must be the coolest parents in the world! I wish my parents were like that!” The young man just smiled and nodded, obviously enjoying the attention and envy of the other students.
But I knew something that they didn’t. I knew that this boy’s parents didn’t set a curfew for him because they didn’t care what he did. They were too busy with their own alcohol and drug-fueled lifestyle to pay much attention at all to what their son did with his life. I knew these things because the boy told me. Of all the students the group that night – he was the most sad and lonely of all of them – because he knew his parents didn’t care enough to set boundaries for him.
Like many young people, the younger brother in Jesus’ story assumes that gaining freedom from his father’s rules, boundaries and expectations – along with receiving his portion of the inheritance early - would lead to greater happiness. He was wrong. The combination of money, freedom and immaturity led to a pig-sty instead.
The younger brother didn’t set out to lose everything - he actually set out to find happiness. But he wound up destitute. He didn’t set out to get lost – he wanted to “find himself” – yet he wound up in a far country, friendless and alone.
How often we believe the same lies the younger brother believed – that his father really didn’t have his best interests at heart; that he would never really be happy in his father’s house! How often we swallow the same bait; hook, line and sinker – that the pursuit of pleasure will make us happier! How often we succumb to the same temptation to believe we can make our own rules!
I always wondered why the father in Jesus’ story not only allows the son to take his inheritance early (knowing what the boy would like do), but doesn’t go after him in pursuit? Jesus had just told the story of the shepherd who went after his lost sheep; and the story of the woman who search after the lost coin; so why didn’t the father go looking for the boy?
I think I began to understand this parable more after I had children. There is a difference between a sheep, a coin and a young man. Neither the sheep or the coin have a will – that is the capacity to choose between right and wrong. But the boy does. That father knows he has loved his son. The father knows the son knows he is loved by his father. The father knows the boy knows right from wrong. But the father also knows he cannot force the boy to love him in return; he cannot force the boy to choose right over wrong. So the father’s greatest expression of love to his son is to let him go. He lets the son take his inheritance, blow it all on wild living, and wind up living like a pig – because he knows the son will never truly know his love, his heart, his grace and his joy, until he recognizes the lies, recognizes his sin, and surrenders. The father lets the son go because he loves him.
But the father also waits. The father also watches. And the father stands ready to forgive, to restore, and to celebrate. He loves us enough to let us go – and he loves us enough to welcome us home again!
Brian Coffey
Posts
2 comments:
If the coin and the sheep parables are different from the Prodigal parable because the young man in the Prodigal one has a will (and so the father doesn't go searching for him), what does that mean about the sheep and the coin?- I thought the sheep, coin, and prodigal all represented lost souls. Perhaps the sheep and coin are lost souls that are being "found" (coming to God for salvation) for the first time? Whereas the Prodigal is returning to God, like a back-slidden believer who should have known better?
I use to wonder why God just didn't create us to love him and not make the wrong decisions. But in time I believe I have learned that love done "robot" initiated is not the love God desires from us. For example if a pianist plays a beautiful piece of music and the audience applaudes because a sign is lifted that says "applaude now" it does not mean the same as when they applaude because the music stirred an emotional response and they appreciate the talent of the pianist. Which applaude means more to the pianist? I would say the second example.
Post a Comment