Luke 15: 11 - 32 The Prodigal Son, continued
Previously I called this "The Tale of Two Sons" But what about the Father? He is also a prominent character in the story. Acting with generosity, patience, and mercy toward his sons, the obvious comparison would be to God our Father. Patient with us in our stubbornness, our wrongheadedness, generous with us when we seek forgiveness, steadfast and reassuring in the face of our doubts, our pettiness. Henri Nouwen in his beautiful book "The Prodigal Son" meditates on this scripture and the famous painting of it done by Rembrandt. (I highly recommend this book!) He came to the conclusion that it is the Father who we should be trying to identify with - not the misguided younger son, not the underappreciated older son, but the generous, patient, merciful Father. That is who God wants us to grow up to be, seeking forgiveness for our youthful mistakes, relinquishing our possessiveness, our "zero sum" mentality, to grow into a person of generosity, of mercy, of patience toward those around us. Amen.
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