Prodigal
Read Luke 15:11-32.
For most folks with any passing acquaintance with church or the Bible, this is a familiar story. The word "prodigal" is part of the popular vernacular, even though some folks may have no idea where it comes from. But every time I read this story I have to wonder which of the people in the story is actually the prodigal.
Growing up, I usually assumed "prodigal" meant "runaway," or that it referred to someone who boldly went against the wishes of those in authority. The "prodigal," I thought, is the one who rejected his father, who ran away and took all of his inheritance, who ignored the love of his father. But "prodigal," as a word (a word which, by the way, never appears in the actual parable), actually refers to someone who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. It's someone who is lavish, who doesn't think about what things cost.
So, in many respects, applying "prodigal" to the younger son is appropriate, but not in the way we normally think of it. He takes his inheritance and spends it all on lavish living, on earning friends who don't last into the poverty he eventually finds himself in. He is a prodigal in that sense; he is "wastefully extravagant."
But so is the father, the character in the story whom most interpreters agree represents God. When the younger son comes home, the father throws a lavish and extravagant party—for a good cause. He becomes a prodigal to welcome home the prodigal! And, I think, that's at least part of what makes the older son angry. The father, after all, is spending HIS inheritance (the younger son already has all of his) on welcoming home the younger son. The older son is angry because his father, their father, is a prodigal! He is lavishly extravagant—with the older son's money!
Which is why, I think, many of us are often the older son in the parable. We like to think of ourselves as the younger son, being welcomed home by the Father/God. But the longer we live "in the house of the Lord," the more we take ownership and begin to resent those upon whom God lavishes the "wealth" we think we deserve. Why give them grace? Why give them forgiveness? Weren't we here first? But that's what our prodigal God does. He welcomes everyone who turns toward home—even us, once upon a time. And thank God he does! Literally—thank God he does! Take some time right now, reflect on this story, and give thanks that God is a prodigal—recklessly extravagant with grace, forgiveness, mercy and love!
Growing up, I usually assumed "prodigal" meant "runaway," or that it referred to someone who boldly went against the wishes of those in authority. The "prodigal," I thought, is the one who rejected his father, who ran away and took all of his inheritance, who ignored the love of his father. But "prodigal," as a word (a word which, by the way, never appears in the actual parable), actually refers to someone who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. It's someone who is lavish, who doesn't think about what things cost.
So, in many respects, applying "prodigal" to the younger son is appropriate, but not in the way we normally think of it. He takes his inheritance and spends it all on lavish living, on earning friends who don't last into the poverty he eventually finds himself in. He is a prodigal in that sense; he is "wastefully extravagant."
But so is the father, the character in the story whom most interpreters agree represents God. When the younger son comes home, the father throws a lavish and extravagant party—for a good cause. He becomes a prodigal to welcome home the prodigal! And, I think, that's at least part of what makes the older son angry. The father, after all, is spending HIS inheritance (the younger son already has all of his) on welcoming home the younger son. The older son is angry because his father, their father, is a prodigal! He is lavishly extravagant—with the older son's money!
Which is why, I think, many of us are often the older son in the parable. We like to think of ourselves as the younger son, being welcomed home by the Father/God. But the longer we live "in the house of the Lord," the more we take ownership and begin to resent those upon whom God lavishes the "wealth" we think we deserve. Why give them grace? Why give them forgiveness? Weren't we here first? But that's what our prodigal God does. He welcomes everyone who turns toward home—even us, once upon a time. And thank God he does! Literally—thank God he does! Take some time right now, reflect on this story, and give thanks that God is a prodigal—recklessly extravagant with grace, forgiveness, mercy and love!
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