![\"\"](\"https:\/\/peteenns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rembrandt_-_The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_detail_-_WGA19135.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nBut while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.<\/p>\n
Luke 15:20<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A lot of people have heard of \u201cthe parable of the prodigal (i.e., wasteful) son.\u201d Some translations call it \u201cthe parable of the lost son,\u201d which is better but not quite there. I prefer \u201cthe parable of the jerk loser son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long story short (you can read the full version anytime you want to), the younger of two sons demands\u00a0that his father give him his\u00a0inheritance\u00a0right now. Maybe not the most offensive thing he could have done, but the son does seem a tad immature and impulsive. We are left wondering what the elder brother thought of little brother elbowing to the front of the line.<\/p>\n
So he left to live the life that\u00a0mimicked\u00a0Animal House\u00a0<\/em>and\u2014spoiler alert\u2014ran out of money. Of course, what should happen next but a famine and so he roamed the streets hungry and alone. He finally decided he actually has to get a job, and so wound up taking care of pigs\u2014which, if you recall your Judaism 101, is about as bad an animal as you can come in contact with. He\u2019s so hungry, he even started daydreaming about eating pig food.<\/p>\n
He figured he needed to do something about his\u00a0predicament\u00a0before he starved, so his sense of self-preservation kicked in. \u00a0(If you\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0caught on, this guy is pretty focused on himself, even here.)\u00a0\u201cI know, I\u2019ll go back home and grovel a bit. \u2018Oh father, I am not worthy to be your son. Treat me like one of your hired hands.\u2019 That should work.\u201d<\/p>\n
So he sucks it up and heads back home.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking now to you parents out there, especially with high school and college-age<\/a> offspring. If you\u2019ve ever been in the place where your son or daughter has left the straight and narrow, slammed the door in your face (actually or\u00a0metaphorically), and began making some life choices that keep you up nights worrying yourself sick if they are OK, what they\u2019re doing, are they alive, are they ever coming home\u2014if you\u2019ve ever been there, you know what\u2019s going on here.<\/p>\n
Or maybe things have not been all that dramatic for you. You child\u00a0disrespects\u00a0you and\u00a0storms\u00a0out the door to go who knows where and do who knows what with who knows whom. You\u2019re worried and mad. The next morning, the\u00a0car pulls in\u00a0the\u00a0driveway and s\/he clearly has that look of remorse.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re like most parents I\u2019ve met (including me), you\u2019d be relieved but you\u2019d also want to make a point. So you play it cool, stand at the door, and give your son or daughter that \u201cI told you so, c\u2019mon, admit it, admit it, you were wrong and I was right\u201d look.<\/p>\n
And this is where the parable hits me between the eyes.<\/p>\n
When the son was still a far way off, rather than going back into his tent to play it cool (\u201cOh\u2026You\u2019re back. I hadn\u2019t noticed. How have you been?\u201d), rather than doing what normal fathers do, he was filled with compassion and ran out to meet him.<\/p>\n
But while he was still far off\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t wait. Even though the son had brought\u00a0shame and worry\u00a0to his family and his faith\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.<\/em><\/p>\n
The son delivered his limp, rehearsed, apology, hoping at least to get a bite to eat. Instead, the father ignored the speech and\u00a0ordered that his son be fully restored: a clean robe, a ring (representing family membership), and sandals where he had been barefoot.<\/p>\n
As for a bite to eat? Forget it. How about a feast? And why not, as the father says, \u201cfor this son of mine was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.\u201d<\/p>\n
You get\u00a0the\u00a0feeling the father was pretty excited.<\/p>\n
The father, obviously,\u00a0represents\u00a0God in this parable, but this isn\u2019t a \u201cget saved and go to heaven after you die\u201d story. The son is, well, a son\u2014already part of the family.<\/p>\n
Jesus, it seems to me, was addressing his stubborn fellow Jewish countrymen, reminding them about the love of God and that it\u2019s never too late to come home. When this and other stories were adapted for the Christian faith, that same point remained but with a broader audience.<\/p>\n
The story isn\u2019t about conversion to Christianity.<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s about God being on the lookout for those in the family who have wandered off, and God simply can\u2019t wait to welcome them home.<\/p>\n
I read stories like this and I wonder,
What if this is actually true?
What if there is a God who is really like this?
What if God can\u2019t wait to have us around\u2014even with the\u00a0garbage we keep carrying around and our half-hearted \u201cI\u2019m sorries?\u201d
What if God is glad to see us?
And the much more threatening question,
What difference would really believing all that make in how I look at pretty much everything?
And, what would it look like if I loved the way God loved?<\/p>\n***The post first appeared in January 2013, and I like this parable, so here you go\u00a0again. If you want to read more about what I think about the Bible, God, and Jesus, try these books:\u00a0\u00a0The Bible Tells Me So<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(HarperOne, 2014), \u00a0The Sin of Certainty<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (HarperOne, 2016), How the Bible Actually Works <\/em><\/a>(HarperOne, 2019).***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n