(Green Lake, Wisconsin)
I talked today with a friend who comes to my church. He was with us last Sunday when I preached on the parable of the prodigal son, which I called the parable of God’s outrageous love. In this story Jesus tells in Luke 15 the father welcomes back his son who left him, embarrassed him, scandalized him, and treated him like he was already dead. The father throws a huge party for this son who comes back to him!
My friend told me, “OK – but what comes next?” I think that’s a good question. If I understand it correctly (and I may not, but here goes anyway!), my friend was asking about things like consequences and his son’s future behavior. Should there not be some consequences for what the son did? Do we just forget the whole thing and treat it as if nothing happened? I think not. But it’s the transformed heart of the son that will be proactive regarding this, and not the father.
The purpose of this parable is to show that God’s love is unconditional and is always there. It does not go up and down based on human performance or adherence to rules and laws. But aren’t their rules to be kept? Of course. And at this point we need to distinguish between the commands of God and human-made rules. God’s not into enforcing all the little rules we make because of who we are and what we personally like or dislike. For example, my grandmother wished dearly that I, at age 22, would shave off my moustache. She tried to manipulate me to do this. In this sense her love towards me was conditional – she would tell me “Johnny, you looked so much nicer when you didn’t have that moustache.” Maybe. But God didn’t love me any less because I had one. That, precisely, is the point of this parable; viz., God’s love doesn’t have any “if-clauses.” (”If you do ______, then I’ll love you.”)
I’m assuming that, when the younger son returned to his father, he had a changed heart. He’s humble now. He’s no longer a victim. He acknowledges his bad choices. Like some of you, I was like this younger son. When I returned to God the Father’s loving embrace, there were some consequences of my behaviors that I needed to make right. And, I began to understand and love the commands of God. I saw them then, as I see them now, as life-giving.
So, as I see it, when the younger son returns “home” he:
1. Experiences God’s unconditional love
2. Wants to make things right that he has destroyed or lost (because he has a changed heart)
3. Wants to obey the father’s commands (because he sees them as the way to life)
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