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A daily Lenten e-mail with lessons of hope and courage, inspired by a variety of resources to encourage us in these confusing and turbulent times from St. Luke’s Church, Lebanon.

Saturday - Second Week in Lent

Take a moment and read the gospel lesson appointed for today (Luke 15:11–32 - the parable of the prodigal son). It's too good a story to pass by.

Actually we might better call it the parable of the prodigal sons because both sons were lost. Think about the term lost for a moment. Lost in this parable may mean “not living in true relationship to your source (symbolized by the father in this parable) and with yourself.” The younger son thought wealth and the good life were the source of his identity. The older son thought duty was the source of his identity.

Each son comes to a kind of crisis, a sense of inner bankruptcy, when there is a point of diminishing returns on their accomplishments. After spending everything, a famine brought the younger son to his knees. We are told that it was precisely at that point that “he came to himself” — he remembered who he was.

It was the return of the younger son that caused the crisis for the elder, because it exposed the lie of his own dutifulness. He had failed to see the riches that his father said were already his. In reality, he did not have to earn them by “working like a servant.”

Where do you find yourself in this parable? Are you like the younger child? Do you fail to realize your own worth as God’s Beloved because you think your worth is measured in things, wealth, success? Or are you like the older one, thinking you can earn God’s love by what you do?

Here's another interesting point: did you notice that the parent in this parable never condemns either child? Instead, the parent gives each child the freedom to make their own choices and reminds each of them how much they are loved.

Scripture Lessons appointed for the day
(Click on the lesson for the text)
Micah 7:14–15,18–20
Luke 15:11–32
Psalm 103:1–4(5–8)9–12

Henri Nouwen studied the parable of the prodigal son for many years using Rembrandt's painting (above) as a guide. He claimed, “Everything comes together here: Rembrandt’s story, humanity’s story, and God’s story. Here both the human and the divine, the fragile and the powerful, the old and the eternally young are fully expressed. Here is the God I want to believe in: a [God] who from the beginning of creation has stretched out arms in merciful blessing never forcing anyone, but always waiting, never letting those arms drop down in despair, but always hoping that we as children will return so that we can hear God’s words of love and let God’s arms rest on our shoulders. God’s only desire is to bless.”

Being prodigal . . .

Have you ever thought about what the word “prodigal” means?
(Webster’s unabridged online dictionary defines prodigal as: recklessly extravagant, characterized by wasteful expenditure, lavish, yielding abundantly, luxuriant.)
Who was really prodigal in the story?
When have you been "prodigious"?