You Are Never Too Far Gone For God - Part 3

The Prodigal Son

Jesus referred to God as Our Father in Heaven.  No story illustrates God’s relationship with us better than Jesus’s parable of the Prodigal Son.  Even if you are not a Christian you are probably familiar with this story, but I’ll sum it up for any who aren’t.  The son of a very rich and powerful man demands that his father give him his inheritance, rather than waiting to receive it in due time when the father has passed.  The father obliges and the son sets off on his own with his new wealth.  Before long the son has squandered all that he was given and is left in a state of utter destitution.  He finds himself tending to pigs and realizing that the pigs are eating better than he is.


In a moment of despair, the son resolves to return to his father’s estate.  After how rudely he treated his father, he doesn’t expect to be received as a son, but would be content to find food and shelter as a common servant.  When the father sees his son coming in the distance, he rushes to meet him.  He greets his son with a warm embrace and welcomes him back to the family unconditionally.  He even holds a feast in honor of his son’s return.


The message of this story is simple, but it is the most important thing you will ever learn if you take the time to truly understand it.  The wealthy father is God.  The Prodigal Son is each and every one of us.  Contained in the story are several key lessons:


1. God gives us free will to make our own decisions – even the decision to turn away from him.  The father gave the son everything he wanted and let him leave.  God gives us life and all of our personal gifts and talents and then lets us walk away from him to use them for our own purposes if we so choose.  A brilliant man can choose to be a cunning thief.  A beautiful woman can choose to be a porn star.  Many of us make choices that end up devastating our lives and at times the lives of others.  Just like the Prodigal Son we find that we have squandered all that we had and are left covered in the filth of our sins.  We long to return to God but feel unworthy to be in his presence.


2. No matter how unworthy you feel, the right thing to do is to return to God.  The Prodigal Son did not feel worthy to return to stand before his father.  But he went back anyway.  It’s not easy to admit you screwed up.  It’s hard to return in humiliation after having set off with so much bravado.  But if you do take the step of turning back to God, you will discover the next lesson.


3. God wants you to return.  In the story the father ran to meet his son.  The impression that is given is that every day the father was looking out into the distance, hoping to one day see the figure of his lost son come over the horizon.  It is an image of intense longing followed by immense joy when the son comes into view.  And when the father greets the son, we see the next lesson unfold.


4. God’s love is unconditional.  The wealthy father sought no explanation nor did he demand any penance from his son.  He wrapped his arms around his son’s filthy body and held him close.  He made his abundant love and forgiveness clear for all to see.  At that very moment the son was fully reconciled in the father’s eyes and immediately returned to his former station of honor in the family – no questions asked.  That is the depth of God’s love for us and the boundlessness of his forgiveness.  In the very moment we seek him out and ask for his forgiveness he restores us completely and unconditionally.  You don’t have to say 30 Hail Mary’s.  You don’t have to offer a sacrifice at a shrine.  You just have to turn your heart back to God.


There is a final lesson in the story.  The wealthy man had two sons.  We’ve already discussed the Prodigal.  The other son was a model son.  He followed all of his father’s rules and brought honor to the family name.  When the Prodigal returned and was welcomed with a feast, the other son was intensely jealous.  He thought that if anyone should be getting a feast it should be him – not some runaway who squandered his inheritance only to return in disgrace.  The father rebukes the “good” son and tells him that he should be happy that his lost brother has returned.


This final lesson is directed at those who would judge others rather than extending to them the same unconditional love that God has for us.  You have no doubt encountered such people.  They are the ones who make you feel that no matter what you do, you will be forever stained by your sins.  You’ll always be an adulterer.  You’ll always be a whore, a liar, a cheat.  Most of these people profess to be Christians, but their behavior contradicts the message of Christ.  Remember that when these kind of people look to label you, they themselves are disobeying God.  Do not let their misguided condemnations stand between you and the joy of a relationship with God.