Mercy Me!

I some times struggle with this parable for two reasons. If I put myself in the shoes of the prodigal son, it just seems way to easy. He has taken the inheritance that his father gave him and blown it on wine, women, and the wild life. This was wealth that his father worked nearly a life time to earn; he burns right through it within a couple of years. Then he falls on hard times, at the same time that the country that he lives in also falls on hard times. Now not only does he not have any riches to squander on the good life, he does not have the bare necessities to sustain his life. He goes to work for a pig farmer, and he is so hungry that the slop he is feeding to the pigs looks good enough to eat. To us this might seem like exactly what he deserves. He thinks of his father’s hired hands and servants. They have plenty of decent food to eat, so he decides to travel back to his father’s house and throw himself on his father’s mercy, and beg. He intends to beg, not to be accepted back as his father’s son, but just to be taken back to work as a hired hand. In our human minds, even coming back as a hired hand, is probably better than he deserves after the way he has treated his father.
What does the father do when he comes back? Does he wait for this son that went astray to beg for forgiveness? No, this father has been keeping watch waiting for his wandering son to come home. He has been fearing that this prodigal son, may have died, and he is so glad that this lost sheep has returned home that he runs out to him and kisses him, and gives him a new robe and a new ring, and new sandals for his feet. The father tells the slaves to go and kill the fatted calf because they are going to have a grand celebration because this son, whom he thought was dead is now alive again. Then they begin to celebrate. Seems a bit over the top doesn’t it? Seems like way more than he deserves doesn’t it?
This is not justice is it? After disrespecting his father and running off with his inheritance money to a foreign land and squandering it, that boy deserved whatever he got. He truly should have been grateful to get any job that he could get, slopping pigs let alone working as a servant or hired hand for his father. Does he get what he deserves? No he does not. His father loves him so much that he shows grace and mercy beyond normal human understanding. He honors this prodigal son and treats him like an honored guest. He treats him like a favorite son.
That brings me to the more realistic part of this parable. The elder son, the one that has stayed at his father’s side and helped to take care of the estate for all these years, these years when his younger brother was off living a life of debauchery and lasciviousness’. The elder son has been faithful and loyal and trustworthy and hardworking. So it is pretty understandable that when he is out working in the field and hears this music and sees the dancing from this celebration for his no account brother that he gets angry. The older son has been a contributing member of society for years, and has his father ever even given him a young goat so that he could have a party with his friends. No way, no how. The son that wasted his share of the estate gets a party just for coming home and the one that has stayed at home and kept the household running just gets day after day of drudgery and work. Does that sound very fair to you?

We may see ourselves in either one of the two sons, some of us may even see ourselves in the father. I am going to review these characters in reverse order. Any here that have been parents or parental figures to children crossing from youth into adulthood, there has probably been more than one point in your relationship with those children where you felt lost, where you felt like your child was going astray. Maybe they stop going to church. Maybe they have chosen not to go to school to better themselves or they won’t get a job. Maybe they are living a life or lifestyle that goes against the will of God and the teachings of the bible. If you are a parent with children in your life that have gone astray and have not yet returned to God, you understand the feelings of that father that would look out over the horizon keeping watch for the return of your lost child. This precious life that you helped to create and mold is some where out there lost and alone because of their own choices, and all that you can do is pray that God will help them turn their lives around. And if those children have later turned their lives around and come back to God and come back to you, then you probably have a good idea of how the father of the Prodigal Son felt. That child which was lost has now been found. That child which was dead to you because of the choices they were making in their life has now repented and turned their life around to go the other way and therefore they are alive again.
We may see ourselves in the character of the elder son. The one that has always been faithful, the one that tries to be obedient to the father, we are the ones that step up to help with funeral dinners, work on projects in and around the church or in the community, we serve and clean-up at picnics, hog roasts, smorgasbords, and bazaars all kinds of luncheons, meals, and functions. We submit our own wills to the will of God, and sometimes it may be hard to see what we get for it. The reward may not come right away. The reward may not be apparent. It does not seem fair to us when the tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, drug abusers, and philanderers finally hit their rock bottom and decide to turn their lives around. All of a sudden everybody is making a great big fuss over them, those horrible sinners. What is the big deal. That guy just blew all of the money that he had, and when he had nothing to eat he decided that he would go back home to see if he could get some help. All the while those prodigals were out there living it up, doing whatever they pleased, however they pleased, wherever they pleased, we were back here holding down the fort, working for we new that the night would be coming. We were tilling the ground, planting the seeds, pulling the weeds, reaping the harvest, and this no account good for nothing shows up and is welcomed with open arms just in time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. The answer from our Father in Heaven is that he loves us just as much as he loves the Prodigal. His answer is that our reward is found in Heaven and our inheritance is secure.

Jesus answered the Pharisees well, when he told this parable about the Prodigal and his brother. Remember that they were grumbling among themselves because Jesus was eating with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. God is glad to have all those that are saved and that have accepted salvation in Jesus Christ and that are therefore part of the family of God. However, the lost souls are the ones that need to be sought after. To put it another way, healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people surely do. When even one more lost person is found, when one more sick person is healed, when one more prodigal sinner repents and is redeemed and is brought into God’s family, of course he is thrilled and there is celebrating in heaven. He is our loving Father in Heaven, and nothing can make him happier than welcoming each new saved son or daughter back into his family.This leads me back to that Prodigal Son, the one who was lost, the one who took his inheritance and squandered it on sinful living. He went against the will of the father. He did the things that he should not have done and he did not do the things he was supposed to do. Does this sound like anyone you know? At some point in our lives, or even at some point in each day, all of us slip into sin. We say hurtful or unkind things to “our neighbor”. We do things in order to serve ourselves before God and before others. We go astray in many ways, some obvious and some that might be very subtle. When we go astray, we are just like that Prodigal Son. We put the inheritance that God has planned for us in jeopardy. We risk losing that mansion that Jesus returned to Heaven to prepare for us. But the good news is, all we need do to come back home is pray to God asking for forgiveness. Our Father in Heaven watches over us even when we wander off on our own sinful paths, and he can see us when we repent. He sees us when we turn around and come back to the way that is the one right way, and even though we may only feel like we deserve to work like a hired hand in our Heavenly Fathers kingdom, he does not treat us that way. When we return to his paths of righteousness from the ways of sin and the world; he puts a new cloak of righteousness around our shoulders. When we make it home He will put a precious ring on our hand, and even a crown of victory on our heads. He does this not because we earned it, but because our elder brother, Jesus Christ toiled, suffered, died and rose again to pay the price to redeem us from our sins. Jesus earned these rewards, but as repentant believers and through the grace and mercy of God we get a share of them. Praise God?! Amen!!