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The Prodigal's Father
Luke 15:11-13
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
In times of backsliding, I often wondered about the perspective of the Prodigal's Father. On a grander scale, it's what goes through the mind of God, the cry of His heart to everyone who's turned away from Him.
Imagine that Father, a rich man, a family man. He's spent years building his fortune, raising his family. Imagine the knife in his heart when he discovers his younger son, the apple of his eye, is unhappy with the good life his Father worked SO HARD to give him. Usually, a parent's reaction to a prodigal child announcing his departure is...nothing like that of the Prodigal's Father.
If I had been that kid's dad, the first thing I would have wanted to say is, "Have you lost your MIND??? That country you want to go is dangerous! Their crime rate is out of control, when you and your money get there you'll be surrounded by THIEVES! You'll get sick, be robbed of your money! After all that I've done for you, you're abandoning your family like THIS?! And another thing--"
Oh I could rant for hours like that. Any hurt, outraged, worried parent would. But the Prodigal's Father doesn't do that. He could have. Maybe in his younger years, he did business in that country and knew firsthand it was a cesspool of moral filth. He knew the shallowness of the people's flashy living. No doubt as a concerned parent his mind's eye beheld a frightening spectacle: his son, his baby boy, surrounded by drunks, slutty women (even men), fake friends, overpriced food, obscenely fancy hotel rooms. He could see him surrounded by booze, drugs, money, food and vomit in orgies, or sitting with friends hurling insults at the holy God of his youth. He could see the thieves and con artists of the country. Their keen eyes would be quick to notice the young newcomer with the strange accent, the clueless expression, and most of all...lots and lots of money to spend.
Plenty of reasons for this wise, rich, land-owning man to lock his son away. Just shut him up in his room. "Boy this is for your own good." That doesn't happen here, does it? No. The Prodigal Father doesn't hold his young, rebellious son back. No. He deliberately summons a servant to withdraw the hard-earned currency amounting to half of his son's inheritance. In his son's presence, perhaps, he counted out the money, and allowed his son to get some provisions and a horse. Then, by the gate to his fields, he watched his son gallop off.
I try to place myself in that heart-broken father's shoes, er, sandals, as he watches his son cast one more disdainful look at his childhood home and gallop off for that strange, cruel land. Had I been his father, I would have been tempted to hate those people in that country. I'd blame them. I'd blame them, with their wild, reckless living for seducing my poor boy with false delusions of grandeur and pleasure. I'd want to, but I think this Father is so tenderhearted, he doesn't even have the gall to entertain such bitter thoughts. Instead I think his heart ached for all those lost souls, climbing their social ladders, partying all night long, wrecking their bodies, their families. I'd like to think that Father spoke a prayer of mercy for those ill-fated people, who like his son, were lost in darkness.
This next part is hard. I keep trying to lead up to it but I always have something else to add. Let me start this way: The core of my story tonight is to consider what the Father would have said to his son, not out loud, but in his heart:
"So you really want to leave? I understand. The stories you hear about our foreign neighbors sound so thrilling don't they? I know, son. I know better than you realize. But I see you don't want to hear me. You don't want to listen. There's nothing to gain from arguing with you if your mind is made up.
"Your mother and I brought you into this world, but God gave you your life. He gave you the privilege of choosing what to do with it, as He's done for all of us. If you want to leave, so be it. I'll be waiting for you. Not a day will go by that I neglect to pray for your safety, to search the horizon, and to hope that you will come back. If this wild life is what you truly want, I will not stop you. I will wait, always wait, hoping against the day that you come home. I'll have your room and your things ready.
"You are my son. I love you, no matter what."
God says that to every prodigal child. He said that to me, when I was a prodigal. He didn't argue with me, scream at me, chastise me for embracing sin instead of Him. He simply said, when I'd made the choice, "Very well. I will not try to stop you. If this is what you really want, then take it. I love you so much, son. I wish you could understand just HOW much. But as you're out there, in the world, remember this: I'm waiting for you. The door to My heart is always open. Even should you reach the end, know that it is not the end, because I'll still be here. Waiting. Praying. Hoping. Longing. Loving. No matter where you go, I will be waiting with arms wide open."
Yesterday, during evening service, Brother Parker told the audience that God is more eager to talk to us than we are to talk to Him. Charles Spurgeon, one of God's greatest preachers in Britain, gave a sermon of his own (from the Holy Spirit) on the love of the Prodigal's Father. He based it off Luke 15:20. Hard to believe huh? A sermon easily an hour long based on one simple verse. Spurgeon said the subject of his sermon was, "the overflowing love of God toward the returning sinner.
Allow me to share an excerpt from his sermon:
If any of you here present have long been saying, "I will repent; I will turn to God"; leave off resolving, and come to practicing; and may God in His mercy lead you both to repent and to believe in Christ!
Before the kisses of love were given, this young man was on his way to his father; but he would not have reached him unless his father had come the major part of the way. When you give God and inch, He will give you an ell. If you come a little way to Him, when you are "yet a great way off" He will run to meet you. I do not know that the prodigal saw his father, but his father saw him. The eyes of mercy are quicker than the eyes of repentance. Even the eyes of our faith is dim compared with the eye of God's love. He sees a sinner long before a sinner sees Him.
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