I thought it would be a good idea to follow up the last post about fatherhood by talking about the story of the prodigal son. I like this story because Jesus uses it to show a lot of things about fatherhood all at once. First he uses the first son to show us how we can be rebellious and try to do things our own way. Then he shows us how we can be rebellious but make it look like we are doing things God’s way with the second son.  Finally he shows how the father really desires to know both his sons and have a relationship with them. I’ve heard quite a few sermons on this particular parable and they usually try to stress one son or the other. I think this is a bit of a mistake, because both sons clearly don’t understand the father’s heart for them and are simply walking in different kinds of rebellion. I think we can often fall into the same mistakes that these two sons make and miss the relationship with the father that is there for us.

The Son That Leaves

Many of us can identify with the first son who leaves. He does not trust that the father really has his best interests at heart. He doesn’t know the father and his love. Since he wants his own life and is tired of the oppression that comes from living a life that is submitted to the father, he takes whatever he can get and leaves home. This son is usually the focus of the story. There is much that can be learned from the behavior of the first son.

The thing I like the most is how he repents. His life of rebellion leads him to a place where he is starving and destitute. I can identify with that. In Christian lingo this is called brokenness. He becomes so desperate that he decides to turn back and go home. This is an essential moment for those of us who have decided to run away from God. At some point we must become desperate and choose to go back home. I also like how the father receives him. He is sitting on his front porch just waiting for his son to come back home and while he was still a long way off he runs to him. God does this with us. Even when we think we have gone a long way off and have run away from home for so long, once we decide to return, we often find that God has rushed to greet us.

The Son That Stays

Next in the story we hear of another son. It turns out that this second son really isn’t very different from his brother, even though he chose to stay and live in the house with the father. He is jealous when his brother comes home and makes a big deal about the fact that he never receives a feast from his father. This simply reveals that he doesn’t really know his father or his father’s love for him. He is simply doing what he thinks is right.

This second kind of rebellion is also common and I can definitely identify with it. There are a lot of people who hang around the father’s house for a long time but never really enter into a relationship with him. These are the people that go to church for their whole lives and do the ‘Christian’ thing, but it is always something they do rather than a person they know. When you fall in love with Jesus Christ and know God as father you realize that there is a big difference between that kind of relationship and saying your prayers before a meal. The second son did all the right things just as many of us have the Christian ritual mastered. Then he is confused and angered when he sees the real blessing of being welcomed into a relationship by the father. Many times these Christians become upset at people who really have a relationship with God. This is usually because they are scared of seeing what they don’t have.

For those people who go to my church, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I have basically been summarizing what Billy preached on a few weeks ago. I hope this message sinks in further with all of us and we come to know the Father more.