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by Reverend Andrew Demotses
In all scripture you will not find a more striking account of God’s
understanding and love than in this morning’s reading, recorded for us
by St. Luke, of the story of the forgiving father. It is unfortunate
that over the centuries this parable has come to be known as that of
the Prodigal Son, because it is that father who is the true centerpiece
of the story, flanked as he is on either side by his two very different
sons.
Turning
to the younger of the two sons, we see that his behavior is offensive
in a variety of ways. He asks to receive his inheritance ahead of his
older brother to whom deference and respect should have been shown. And
after having received his inheritance he proceeds to squander it in
disreputable ways. Abandoned by his new-found friends when he could no
longer afford to spend freely on them, he ends up suffering the
ultimate humiliation --- forced to live the life of a Gentile, caring
for pigs. Hungry at times, he is even reduced to sharing the food of
the pigs to stay alive. His decision to return home, therefore, is not
only based on remorse, but on desperate need as well. It cannot be
called an entirely genuine conversion, but like many of even the good
things that we do, was founded on very mixed motives.
Upon the
return of the wayward son, we come to appreciate the true personal
majesty of the father, and see the dimensions of his compassion and
love. One would have expected him to stand and wait, to let his
desperate son grovel before him, to punish and thus teach him a needed
lesson. But quite the opposite happens; he breaks with propriety and
runs to meet his errant son more than half-way. The gift of forgiveness
which he offers is unhesitating and total, and he does not even want to
let his son complete his carefully rehearsed plea for mercy. The
prodigal is completely restored to his former dignity --- dressed in a
robe and given shoes and the ring of authority marking an esteemed son
of the household. But this return calls for even more to be done, and a
festive banquet is prepared, because new life has been restored to a
dead son.
But then our attention turns to the older son. We
might best characterize him as loyal, obedient, and respectful. But his
very sense of duty has clouded his vision. He finds his father’s
forgiveness, and generosity incomprehensible. He can no longer bring
himself to identify the younger son as his brother, calling him “your
son” to his father. The fact. however, is that he had no right to
complain; he had already received from his father all that he had asked
of him and more. But he murmured out of envy, just as we ourselves
sometimes have difficulty rejoicing in the good fortune and
achievements of others. He considered that his labor was somehow
deserving of a greater reward than that received by others, and through
such pride he had managed to render void all of his admittedly good
deeds.
The father, however, is as patient with the older son as
he was with the younger. Although the older boy feels put upon and
unappreciated, the father refrains from condemning and lecturing him
for his misunderstanding of the truth. He tries instead to communicate
and share with him something of his own joy at what has happened. And
this happiness is not meant to take anything way from his appreciation
of the older boy’s faithfulness, or from the fact that all that the
father now possesses finally belongs to him. And at the same time, he
gently insists upon reminding him that the prodigal is nonetheless
still his brother. Regrettably, however, the older son is unmoved, and
the parable ends without his participation in the feast.
This
parable brings to our needed attention many of the important themes
found throughout the whole of St. Luke’s Gospel. It shows us that
because of the common inversion of human values, it is the last who
shall enter first in the Kingdom of God. Because of pride, the oldest
son who was dutiful and constant, finds himself full of resentment and
outside the joyous celebration, while the prodigal son through humility
and acceptance of his own faults and weaknesses, finds himself the
guest of honor, very much like the fact that the pagan gentile peoples
of the world entered the church, while the Jewish nation, God’s own
chosen people, remained without. But above all, this is a parable about
the limitless love that God has for us sinners. Like the father who
patiently endured the very different but nonetheless equal mistakes of
both his sons, God comes to us in the Gospel bearing the wonderful and
hopeful message of reconciliation.
There is great consolation in
this wondrous parable. When moments of discouragement come and
spiritual failures tend to overwhelm us, there is no better medicine
than the reading of the story of this forgiving father --- a symbol of
our heavenly father himself. It tells us that no one escapes God’s
gracious love or ever gets too far away, for this is no ordinary love;
it defies all human standards.
And so today we learn that even
those of us who consider themselves particularly faithful are in real
ways wounded; and yet, that God scans the horizon hoping for our return
so that he might embrace each of us in his upholding love, and help us
to complete the journey that will return us home where the celebration
and festival of his saints is unceasing.
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