The Prodigal Son

Q. What does the word “Prodigal" mean?

A person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance

It is one of Jesus’ best known stories about a boy who left his home, spent all he had, met disaster and ruin to finally wake up and see that he didn’t belong where he found himself, so he went home. But now, perhaps more than ever before it can be applied to the World as a whole. People all over the World today can relate to the trouble the Prodigal Son found himself in at his lowest point particularly in the Western World. We have been up until now used to having great wealth, being able to travel, spend our money wastefully and extravagantly and enjoy the good times. Now that countries have found their money has run out and there is less work, what kind of a future are people facing? This is a big opportunity for the Church to reach the World with the Gospel. Will we waste our opportunity?

•       Countries financially bankrupt

•       People morally bankrupt

•       Broken relationships

•       Isolation

•       Addictions

•       Anxiety and fear

IS THERE ANY HOPE?

YES !!!

Jesus would sometimes tell a story and say “Let him who has ears to hear, listen”

Some time ago my brother in law mentioned to me about a study that was done on the way people from different countries heard the story of the Prodigal Son in LUKE15:11-32. The study involved taking a sample of bible students from the West (USA) and from the East (Russia) and comparing how they heard the story. The story was read to them and they were then asked to re-tell it with all the detail they could remember. There were some interesting differences in the detail that was recalled.

Point of Difference between Countries	USA	Russia
Did they recall there was a famine?	0% of 100	84% of 50
How was the money spent?	Wastefully	Extravagantly
Basic Sin	Immorality	Foolishness
Parallel to story of Joseph	< 10%	Almost All
Older brothers comments	True	Lies
End of the story the prodigal son is…	Reformed	Recovered
Why did the boy end up starving in the pig pen?	He wasted his money – his fault	Because there was a famine – Life’s like that
In Tanzania, the answer to the last question was “Because no-one gave him anything to eat” v 16. Society’s fault!

The conclusion of the study was that the world that we live in very much effects the way we hear a story. If we don’t hear what Jesus is saying correctly, will we respond in the right way? In the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father has to correct the older son on the way he was thinking because the older son was missing the point. This is something Jesus had to consistently do with people who opposed him but also people who followed him!

In New Zealand, how do we hear the story of the Prodigal Son? Do we have a few blind spots to what Jesus is teaching? We identify with the younger son quite well.

•       We relate to the Big OE

•       The World is our oyster!

But when we go overseas, we intend to enjoy the high life for a time, make our way in the world and come back better for it.

•       What goes on tour…

•       She’ll be right

•       We’ll be back better than before!

The problem is that the world can be a dangerous place, there aren’t the safety nets that we have in this country and things can go badly wrong. There are consequences to bad choices and we’re not used to having to fight for survival as you have to in other countries around the world.

So it is possible as New Zealanders that this story does not have the impact on us it should because we don’t understand the dangers that the Prodigal Son found himself in?

Jesus told this story amongst 3 parables – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the Prodigal Son. He told it because the religious leaders were complaining that he was associating with notorious sinners and other people they despised. Why wasn’t he spending time with the good folk, helping them? Why was he in the pubs and at the sinner’s houses when he should be at the Temple with all the good people?

I’ve tried to break the story down into 10 different parts

1. Beginning - Motivation for leaving not stated

Why did the son want to leave? It doesn’t say. But I think we can have a pretty good guess. Here he was living on a farm, working hard and little freedom. It’s a 7 day a week job pretty much. Maybe he’s bored, it’s a small town, he’s tired off all the relations looking over his shoulder checking what he’s up to. He’s a young man, he’s heard about the big cities and he wants to get a life and go there! He wants to have the freedom to travel, see the sites and enjoy the good life while he’s still young. Plenty of times for the farm life a few years down the track. There’s a problem though. He has full board and meals but he receives no money for his work. In those days you couldn’t get a student loan or credit from the bank. His father has all his money tied up in assets. The only way to get some cash is to ask his Father to sell some assets. Eventually he decides that if he could get his share of the inheritance that would cover the life he planned to have. In that society, it took a lot of nerve to ask for so much. Incredibly, the Father agrees to his wish. It doesn’t say they argued about it although you do wonder if there were some heated discussions because that involved a lot of stress for the Father to agree to that. All that down-scaling and sacrifice just so his son could have half the estate to spend how he wanted!

2. Leaving with great wealth but little else

So he has this huge fortune and he’s young and off he goes in a hurry, no tearful goodbyes. He is not prepared at all. He starts off with a huge fortune and little wisdom or love, which will be reversed later in the story. We know he’s making a big mistake. Everyone else can see it except for the son which is so often the case. This doesn’t just apply to young people! There are plenty of people in mid-life running off and having affairs, gambling in the stock market, trying to make a name for themselves or pursuing other foolish pleasures. He thinks he knows best. You can easily take for granted the people who love you and ignore their advice because you are caught up in your own wild dreams of how good things are going to be. It’s a trap that he’s walking into and he doesn’t know it! Travelling, you have this great feeling of anonymity and freedom. Nobody knows who you are so you can live how you like. As long as you have money you have life on your terms. But Jesus taught that riches are deceitful in the Parable of the Sower! (v19)

 

3. Spending all he had

It doesn’t say how long it took for the boy’s money to run out. After all, the Father gave him a fortune. If it was half a family farm, it was probably a couple of million dollars at least so that should have lasted a while. In fact it should never have run out. He could have invested the money in the bank and lived very comfortably off the interest without even having to work but he was solely out for a good time and to be loved. As mentioned before, some think he spent the money wastefully on a good time, some extravagantly to be popular and loved. Either way, he’s heading for bankruptcy through his foolishness. There is a wider meaning though that I think Jesus is trying to teach here. There is always a limit to the wealth that has been given us. The wealth we have isn’t just in money. It is in our good health and strength, the people who love us, our happiness, our reputation and the good that has been placed in us from when we are young. These can also be used up in selfish living.  Finally the boy has nothing left and discovers that money can’t buy you love. His so called friends are gone.

4. Famine and Starvation

Then the famine came. Bad things often come at the worst possible time. We have to remember there is an enemy who is out to get us and he’s waiting for our weakest moment to strike. In New Zealand we have never had a famine so we don’t know what it’s like to be starving. We can count on the support from the Government. If you are in a foreign country you are not necessarily entitled to any support because you are not a citizen. What’s more, if there is a crisis you will find it much harder to get work for the same reason. It’s a thin line between having a roof over your head and sleeping on the streets. Our world is changing. Jesus warned that in the end times the world will be a harsh place to live in for everyone. Having enjoyed the good times for so many years, now the money has run out are we entering the time of crisis that Jesus warned about? Perhaps in the near future we will not be able to rely on our Governments for support when we have no work or get old. What if a famine comes then?

5. Isolation and Survival mode

Now the boy is isolated, he is in survival mode. He will do anything just so he can eat. Once in survival mode people’s morality will often fail them. If they’re addicted, they may steal or sell themselves to get money. Lying is completely justified if it gets you money or food to live. In the story the boy takes a job feeding pigs. He is a Jewish boy and living with the pigs is about as non-kosher as you can get. People will abandon all they know to be right just to survive. Without love and with trouble heaping upon trouble the boy is surely depressed.

6. Coming to his senses

Why is it that a person has to hit rock bottom before finally waking up? Jesus said the boy came to his senses. In other words, while he was living a life of foolishness and sin he was mad, insane. A mad person always thinks that everyone else is wrong. Their judgement is flawed and they make terrible mistakes over very important matters not being able to see the train wreck that lies ahead. He had left a wealthy and happy home to end up in poverty. It was madness. He had acted against his own best interests. He was insane. Somehow in this darkness the boy saw a light. His memory of his home stirred in him. God can use the memory to show us the truth that we should have always known and draw us back. What had he been thinking? All this misery is my fault but I don’t have to be here. I can go home! I don’t have to be here. He came to his senses.

7. Returned home humbled

Even so, going home meant having to eat humble pie. He was disgraced; admitting that he had lost it all was going to be very difficult. His Father would probably be very angry with him. Everyone would laugh at him and nobody would want to associate with him anymore. At this point, many people would rather carry on than admit they’ve been a fool. They would rather solve their own problems. The saddest thing of all would have been that the boy refused to admit that he needed help as many people do. It is hard to eat humble pie even when you’re desperate. Don’t be that person! If the boy had not been able to swallow his pride he would have died in that place of utter loneliness. He was prepared to take the job of a servant just so he could be home. His expectation was very low but he reasoned it had to be better than where he was at. God has made us like Him. We can think and reason and He provides a way out which is simple. We just have to be humble and take the simple way home.

8.      Forgiveness and Restoration as son

So the son began the journey home and now for the biggest surprise in the story. After all the stress and hurt he’d caused, all the worry, never writing home what happened next? While he was still a long way off the Father saw him, ran out to meet him and embraced him and kissed him. No angry words, no “I told you so”, no “get yourself cleaned up”, no locked door. It is incredible news to us that while we are still a long way off the Father comes running to meet us. We’re not fixed, far from it but there he is running to meet us! We don’t have to wait until we’ve got it all together, just come as we are humbly, he’ll meet us, before we’ve even got halfway! The son is quickly given the finest robe, a jewelled ring for his finger and shoes for his feet. God wants to quickly give you back his righteousness (clothes), your identity as his son or daughter (ring) and your dignity (shoes). He won’t delay! The son’s relationship was completely restored much to everyone’s shock. Jesus was telling the religious leaders to back off! Though these notorious sinners were a long way off, they had returned and were given back their status as sons and daughters of God.

9. Love and Celebration

What follows is an outpouring of love and great celebration! As in the other 2 parables there is one giant party with loud music, finest food and much joy and laughter. Nothing makes the Father happier than one person coming home. That’s why Jesus was spending his time celebrating with the notorious sinners rather than being in the Temple preaching to the converted. When the world looks at the church does it get the impression that we’re having such a great time they want to come in? Are we known for our love for one another, our joy or something else? What would happen if we sent out invitations every week and threw a party every Sunday for those that came?

10. Consequence – Ending

The story seems to end on a slightly sour note. When the older brother hears the music and learns that the cause for celebration is his wayward brother coming back he gets very angry and refuses to join in. When I first read this story a long time ago I sided with the older brother as it seemed very unfair on him. After all, the older brother has paid a price for his younger brother’s foolish choices. He has had to work maybe twice as hard in his absence and it says he hadn’t received anything in return from the Father. He was bitter and needed to forgive. But notice what the Father says “You and I are very close and everything I have is yours”. In other words, “I love you son and all the remaining inheritance is yours (the other half). It does not say that the younger son receives any further inheritance; his half had all been used up. There is a consequence to the younger son’s actions and a price paid. This shows that the Father was entirely fair in dealing with both sons. The most important to God isn’t the wealth but that the relationship is restored.

What is God saying to you today?

To the lost, isolated, struggling one, He wants to restore you as his son or daughter. Come to your senses. Leave the madness and come home.

To the one who’s never left, don’t be upset by the Grace of God. Just because he is gracious to the wayward person, doesn’t mean he is unfair. He loves you. He is entirely fair. Be generous in reaching out to the World with the Gospel. They need it more than ever. Come on, let’s party and celebrate!