APPLES OF GOLD

The Sunday of the prodigal son, I mean the passionate parent. The parenting parable not just for prodigals.


The Reading is from Luke 15:11-24
The Lord said this parable: "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.


This parable is meant for parents, not just prodigals.  God gives us a glimpse into His heart in this parable. How does He parent? Parenting is scary business. So He  draws  back  the veil of mystery and we see for a minute how  God  interacts with us.  He is not merely an aloof  distant clock maker of deists.  He is a personal parent  who  cares.  This ancient parable answers modern  problems.

Lesson one: problem children  are not always the result of parenting. Yes  we should not pass off  our failures as parents,  but  let us look at the record in the scripture.
First,  we know our Father is perfect.  The Father, God in this parable, had a child,us in the context, who  rebelled.  A perfect dad  still had bad kids. Look again at Adam.  The first born of God turned aside, and rejected God’s command. Now, we are not perfect obviously,  but we see kids in the Bible of even good people- ones with flaws - who still went astray.
Noah.  His son  Ham  disrespected him, and probably did some shameful things to his dad based on the text.
Isaac, a meek man  who loved God, his sons were Jacob and Esau. Jacob was a  Prince with God,  yet he was a crook, a swindler. His other son Esau casts away God’s blessing for a bowl of soup.
Then we see parents who were pious blessed with faithful kids (e.g. Joachim and Anna and  the parents of Samuel).
Then we see a mixed couple that get a saint.  Zacharias was not a great priest- he did not believe God,  his wife did.  They had John the Baptist.
Then  we see  a bad dad with a good kid.  Amon begat Josiah.  He saw the mistakes of his dad and turned Israel  around, starting a revival.

Lesson two:   Respect free will.  He did not say  NO  to his sons request. He did not force him. The boy wanted to go down  a path- I am sure he said no but he allowed it.  Why? Because virtue which is not free is not virtue.  Love has to be a free choice.

Lesson three:  Forgive and forget.  The Father did not cuss his son out.  He waited for  him to come back, even when the son  disobeyed every Jewish  law.  He was feeding swine, eating their food,  sleeping with prostitutes and spending all his dad's inheritance. He dishonored his father.
Yet the Father waited and ran  to embrace him.

Lesson four:  Don’t worry about embarrassment.  We know how communities can be. Everyone knows everyone.  So this man was shamed by his son already.  Yet  he does not let that stop him from  embracing him.  A further token  of  his not worrying about being embarrassed is  he ran.  In the Middle East  a man  does not run  like this- it is considered disgraceful.

These are practical  things  parents can lay to heart.  Children  are unique in their response to God,  they  must freely love Him and us,  we need to forget and forgive their errors, and wait for their return  not worrying about what other people say.