The Sunday of the Prodigal Son

 

“For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

(Luke 15:24)

    How many of us are familiar with the story of the prodigal son? In my protestant days it was one of the most known parables and probably the one most preached on that I can remember.  The story became even more special and meaningful to me when I converted from Southern Baptist to Orthodoxy about five years ago now. I recognized that I was the prodigal son, who had rejected the very love and faith of my Father, and squandered my life away in a far away country, and I was the chief among sinners.  But my story is not different than many others coming from other faith traditions to Orthodoxy, we recognize a part of ourselves in the story and it certainly makes the scriptures even more meaningful and alive for all of us who have had that experience.  However there is more to this Sunday than just those who converted to Orthodoxy, it is a story for all true Christians. A story that shows us the true nature of two kinds of people. Those who become prideful because they have not fallen away and have kept the faith in the actions but not their words, and those who by their actions and their faith are restored to life. 

    I would like to focus first on the prodigal son, but I will come back to the elder son in the next paragraph. The prodigal son, is the obvious main character in the parable told by Christ. He was tired of living under the yoke of his parents, especially that of his father, and wanted to become his own person. We see this today among so many people especially in the west, where they want to overthrow authority and to reject the teachings of their forefathers. We see this in the science of our day, trying to reject the reality of a God-inspired creation, where they have replaced it with a demonic evolutionary creation where man is nothing more than a cog in the wheel of time and has no purpose other than to live and die. We see this in the governments of today where people want to reject the authority of the people placed in charge, and replace with governments that would tear down society and replace with a shell of what they want, where everything and anything is legal.  We see this in the church, where people have taken the unity of the Body of Jesus Christ, and tore it into 300,000+ traditions that have no basis in the scripture, that have taken their own authority of God instead of allowing God to be the authority through His Church.  But that was the prodigal in the beginning.  As the story progresses, he realizes the errors of his ways and realizes that what his father was offering him, peace, prosperity, comfort was far better than what the world was offering him...slop and immoral temptations. The prodigal son rises up and comes to his senses. He determines that being a slave in the house of his father is more profitable than that of being a slave in the house of someone he does not know. This echoes the psalmist when he says, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness." (Psalm  84 in Western Bibles) The Prodigal Son, then comes home eager to see his father, to seek his forgiveness for squandering the inheritance that he was given, for destroying their relationship. The father in the story, just like God, welcomes him home with open arms. All is forgiven, all is taken back. The father throws a party, he gives his a robe, a ring, and restores to him the position of sonship. This is just like us every time we repent. No matter what sin we commit or do, when we seek repentance and forgiveness from God we receive it freely and without condition. God gives us everything and restores us back within the fold.  So the prodigal is the example Jesus gives us of who we should be.  Will I do not condone sin, and the world is rampant with it today, Jesus shows that when we seek true repentance, then we have fulfilled the commandments to the fullest. 

    

    The other son within the story, the elder son, is completely different. He has the fullness of the scriptures, he has the fullness of faith.  He sits in the bosom of the father day after day. He never leaves his father's side. However we see that though he never leaves his father's side, he truly never learned about the father, or about the fullness of his love. The elder son comes in from the fields at the end of the story angry, distraught and furious with the father for restoring the younger son to the sonship of his love. He looks upon his younger brother, who had wasted his life with harlots, pigs and other immoral people with disdain. So too, do many in the church look upon those who sin with hatred. They see the people for their actions, not as God would see them as beings worthy of love. The older son doesn't and can't understand why the father is rejoicing in the return of his supposed son, who committed the atrocities of the world. What the elder son is missing is the teaching of forgiveness. The elder son, who knew all the scriptures, knew all the hymns, knew everything there is to know about the church and the love shown therein, had not conformed his heart to the teachings of the church and was now completely rejecting it.  There are many within the church today who on the outward, appear to be true Christians, true disciples of Jesus, but on the inside are completely oblivious to Him and His Church. I am reminded again of another scripture.  In Matthew 23:25, Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence." Jesus wasn't referring to actual cups and dishes folks but to the soul.  The scribes and Pharisees were acting just like the elder brother.  They knew so much about God, but they forgot to cleanse their own selves. 

    Finally we get to the Father.  Yes the Father. Why? Because he is God the Father. He is the Father of us all, and whether the world wishes to accept that it remains true.  We see the Father at first heartbroken, that his child would reject the love and teachings that he has given him for salvation and comfort within the world. We see him distraught and distressed over the supposed death of his beloved son. But no matter how upset he was with the prodigal, he sits on the front porch, probably drinking sweet tea, especially if this was here in the south, watching the road for the day that he knew the prodigal son would return. He sits there day after day watching and waiting until...off in the distance he sees the prodigal son. He doesn't even think twice or do a double take. He knows that it is him. He takes off running. He takes off sprinting to wrap his little boy in his arms. The son that he had been told was dead, that was written off, no longer a part of the family, was alive again. God is the same way. He is constantly waiting for us to repent of our actions. He seeks our forgiveness above everything else.  He didn't just send Jesus to teach us how to be good people. He sent Jesus to bring us back into the fullness of his love, to the fullness of what Man was called for, and that is to the be the image of God.  It is fitting that we read this parable directly before the Sunday of the Last Judgement, because we see that though next week will be frightful and in many ways disturbing, we have nothing to fear if we follow Christ and openly seek his forgiveness. We don't need to fear the Last Judgement.  The Father will welcome us with open arms if we honestly and sincerely repent of our sins.  We must become Holy as our Father in Heaven is Holy. It is not a one time deal, but an ongoing continuous process that will only be completed on the day of our death. 

As you can see there are many aspects to this parable that the Church wants us to see during this time as we prepare for Great Lent. I have only scratched the surface and may even have a different view than some of the church fathers and saints. I am human and make mistakes. But I have learned much from this parable over the years and hope that you will pick up your copy of the Bible and read it for yourself. As we prepare for Great Lent, I pray that I, humble Seraphim, are in your prayers as you are in mine.  

Amen.