The gospel reading for today is Luke's "Parable of the Prodigal." Some would add "Son" to that title, which may say something about how we tend to approach scripture, certainly parables. But first there is that term, "prodigal." It's not exactly a word I hear spoken in general conversation, and I suspect a lot of us need to look it up. I did just that, and its meanings include, "extravagant, lavish, wasteful."
Such prodigal behaviors are usually associated with the younger son in the parable. He certainly blows through his inheritance with extravagant, wasteful ways. He was apparently spoiled and full of himself as well. Normal people don't demand their inheritance ahead of time the way he does. Yet his father seems to have given it to him without much complaint.
This younger son epitomizes some of the stereotypes associated with younger children, just as the elder brother lives into some of the stereotypes for an older child. The younger son is a poster-boy for irresponsibility. But there is a point in the story where he "came to himself," where something seemed to click. He begins to long for the very place he had so wanted to escape. He had thought life was to be found in sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, but now he suspects that the hired hands at this father's place know more about the good life than he does. And so he heads for home.
His father, who has already been remarkably generous with him, is apparently not finished giving. He now orders fine clothes and jewelry and throws a grand feast to celebrate the younger son's return. And everyone could have lived happily ever after, except that the elder son is none too happy with this turn of events.
Elder son is clearly the dutiful, responsible type. He's not much taken with prodigal behavior, either that of his brother or father. In a parable about prodigal extravagance, he has had no roll, invisible until all the extravagance becomes too much for him. He loses it, chastising his father with words many elder siblings have probably thought, if not actually said. And when the parable concludes, we are left to wonder if the elder brother ever reconciled to father or sibling, if he ever joins the party.
It is here that I think the tendency to refer to this passage as "The Parable of the Prodigal Son," helps point out a problem we get ourselves into as we seek to understand and appropriate this teaching. To say that the parable is about one of the sons seems to indicate that we should understand the parable from that perspective. And indeed that is what typically happens. The parable is seen as good news for those who have strayed, who have done things to fracture relationship with God. God stand ready to embrace us, no matter what.
That is true, and it is good news, but I'm not sure we are supposed to understand the parable from the perspective of the younger son. After all, most church congregations are heavily populated with elder sibling types, with responsible sorts who have never done anything like the younger son in the parable. If we are more like someone in parable, surely it is the elder son. I've certainly heard the occasional sermon preached from the elder brother's perspective, but if we are the elder sibling in the parable, where does that leave us in the end?
Another way to approach this is to realize that the parable, like much of Scripture, is less about us and more about God. There are people in the world and in the Church who look more like one brother or the other, but the parable is mostly interested in speaking to us about the nature of God. In that sense, the parable would probably be better named "The Parable of the Prodigal Father."
Indeed there is a note of prodigal extravagance in the father's conversation with his elder son. As he begs his child to join the party, he says this. "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." All that is mine is yours. The father's prodigal, extravagant generosity is not reserved for the younger. It is always there, but the elder son has somehow missed it. Perhaps his tendency to duty and responsibility has led him to think that his relationship with Dad is conditional, rooted in some sort of "if-then" formula. But that is not the God we meet in this parable.
A great deal of behavior in churches seems to be motivated by things such as duty, faithfulness, loyalty, etc. Nothing wrong with being dutiful, faithful, and loyal. These are all admirably qualities. Yet Christian faith is about being the body of Christ, about embodying Jesus for the world, and if Jesus reveals to us a God of prodigal, extravagant generosity, then isn't our calling as the church to share something of this prodigal generosity with the world?
I'm not sure that terms like prodigal and extravagant jump to mind with people think about the Church. But how can we mirror the prodigal, extravagant generosity and grace of God without knowing something of God's prodigal extravagance toward us? And if we genuinely encounter the prodigal extravagance of God in Christ, how could that not overflow from us in lives of prodigal, extravagant gratitude?
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