March 3

The Prodigal Son

            Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.  The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.  When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.  But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’  So he set off and went to his father.

Luke 15:11-20

            There are few people in Scripture that come off as less likeable then the Prodigal Son.  He starts off as a spoiled rich kid who whines to his dad about getting an inheritance that is not his then heads to the big city where he blows all his money on women and parties.  He ends up destitute and desperate, working in the mud and then thinks that he can talk his way back into his father’s good graces.  He is arrogant and selfish and irresponsible and morally bankrupt.  And the Father takes him back…not grudgingly, either, but without a second thought or hesitation.  The father runs out to greet him with joy and relief, putting on a huge celebration because his child has been returned to him and they can be a family again.

            This offends every sensibility that I have about how you should live your life and serves to get me angry at the Father of the story as well.  How could you welcome back that?  After all he had done and all that he could potentially do in the future…what is wrong with you as a parent that you could be so invested in having that back with you?

            For an answer, I take a step out of the story and into real life.  I’ve met with parents who have needed to send their special needs children away to out of state facilities.  The child’s needs were just too great for what the family could provide.  Sometimes it was the level of physical care, where the kid needed around the clock, professional medical care in order to survive.  Sometimes it was just that the child had grown too large for the parents or a single aide to move in and out of bed or their wheelchair or their vehicle.  Sometimes the kids had to be sent away because of their behavioral issues.  They would lash out, biting, hitting, throwing things…injuring people and destroying property.  They needed to be someplace where they would not hurt themselves or others and their development could be attended to by full-time, highly-trained professionals instead of whenever mom and dad had the spare time.

            In every instance, even though their daily routine was easier with their child away from their house, the primary longing of each parent’s heart was that their beloved would come home.  They talked about what might be different this time and the progress that was being made and their hopes that maybe, just maybe, they could be united as a family again.  This came from parents who had been attacked and beaten by their children.  This came from parents who had to quit promising careers because of their kids.  This came from parents who had injured themselves trying to help their sons and daughters.  They longed for a good, healthy return to home.

            Children are not just relationships that we have.  They are not just people who have shared experiences and common stories.  They are not even just family like our brothers and sisters and cousins are family.  They are a part of us.  A piece of my heart lives inside each of my three little ones.  When they hurt, I hurt.  When they laugh, I laugh.  When they are lost and cut off from me, a part of me dies a long, painful and agonizing death.

            Yes, the Prodigal Son was a vile human being.  His friends abandoned him.  His boss did not care for him and his brother fiercely hated him.  But his Father?  His father remembered holding the baby in his arms.  He remembered the little boy’s laughter and the young man’s potential.  He woke up every morning with a hole in his heart wondering if this might be the day when he would get to see and hold his precious boy again.  Maybe today…

           

A moment to reflect:

Just as your heart longs for your children, God’s heart longs for you.