Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Day My Father Came Running to Meet Me
"The Prodigal Son" by Gwen Raverat
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is probably one of Jesus' most famous teaching stories. With "The Good Samaritan," it holds a place in the Western mind that borders on the unconscious. We are so familar with these stories that we no longer think about their meaning. In the case of "The Good Samaritan," we have even transformed the word Samaritan into a synonym for "a good person" when at the time it refered to someone from the region of Samaria, an area in the North of present-day Israel (between Galilee and Judea). They practiced a form of Judaism, but did not believe in the need to worship YHVH in the Temple of Jerusalem, as the Sanhedrin taught. This made them outcastes and Orthodox Jews were not permitted to eat with them or come into contact with them.
In the Case of The Prodigal Son, we have at its core the story of forgiveness and redemption. The Master presents us with a caring, forgiving, and forgetting Father. When the son returns, he does not care about the past, nor does he even consider the son's speech about being unworthy of the Father's Love. When deeply reflected upon, I believe, we find a powerful rejection from the lips of The Master of the idea of a vengeful God who sends sinners to be punished in the depths of Hell.
"20 And he rose up and came to his father. And while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion on him, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And his son said to him, My father, I have sinned before heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son. 22 But his father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet; 23 And bring and kill the fat ox, and let us eat and be merry; 24 For this my son was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry."
According to the Brethren minister I heard today, the ring would have been a signet ring, much like the seal rings worn by kings and the Pope in the middle ages. It was an outward sign that the wearer spoke with the athority of the family whose crest was on the ring, and meant that the father was welcoming him back into the family with all the privalages he once had. The shoes were given because to be barefoot insinuated that one was a slave or servant, and the robe was a symbol of the father's hospitality, only given to honored guests.
With these three gifts, the robe, the ring, and the shoes, the father in Jesus' story refutes the son's arguement for his unworthiness without a word. He will not be a servant, he will have the athority of the family, and he is, for now, the honored guest. It is obvious, I think, that the father of this story is God the Father, whom Christ often called by the Aramaic word Abba, a term of familiarity and endearment akin to the English word "Daddy." Would your Daddy leave you out in the cold for a mistake? Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father would never do that. He holds no grudges, he requires no repayment. All he requires is for us to begin the journey back to Him. We do not even need to go the whole way. God comes running down the path to meet us. What a joy to have such a Father who fills the world with such love.
This was my lesson today. I started on the path back to Him, with my tail between my legs, humble in the knowledge that I've not been able to cope without my spiritual practices. On the way to the Brethren Church, I passed an Amish man, probably about my age, on the road. I slowed down and moved over to give him room. He waved to me and we made eye contact. I was so filled with Love and Christian Brotherhood for this man whom I will most likely never meet. Then, the pastor's message in Church was so tailored to me, The Spirit moved him and The Christ Himself spoke to me though his lips. I took one step back toward the Father, and He came running to meet me! What Joy!
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is probably one of Jesus' most famous teaching stories. With "The Good Samaritan," it holds a place in the Western mind that borders on the unconscious. We are so familar with these stories that we no longer think about their meaning. In the case of "The Good Samaritan," we have even transformed the word Samaritan into a synonym for "a good person" when at the time it refered to someone from the region of Samaria, an area in the North of present-day Israel (between Galilee and Judea). They practiced a form of Judaism, but did not believe in the need to worship YHVH in the Temple of Jerusalem, as the Sanhedrin taught. This made them outcastes and Orthodox Jews were not permitted to eat with them or come into contact with them.In the Case of The Prodigal Son, we have at its core the story of forgiveness and redemption. The Master presents us with a caring, forgiving, and forgetting Father. When the son returns, he does not care about the past, nor does he even consider the son's speech about being unworthy of the Father's Love. When deeply reflected upon, I believe, we find a powerful rejection from the lips of The Master of the idea of a vengeful God who sends sinners to be punished in the depths of Hell.
"20 And he rose up and came to his father. And while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion on him, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And his son said to him, My father, I have sinned before heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son. 22 But his father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet; 23 And bring and kill the fat ox, and let us eat and be merry; 24 For this my son was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry."
According to the Brethren minister I heard today, the ring would have been a signet ring, much like the seal rings worn by kings and the Pope in the middle ages. It was an outward sign that the wearer spoke with the athority of the family whose crest was on the ring, and meant that the father was welcoming him back into the family with all the privalages he once had. The shoes were given because to be barefoot insinuated that one was a slave or servant, and the robe was a symbol of the father's hospitality, only given to honored guests.
With these three gifts, the robe, the ring, and the shoes, the father in Jesus' story refutes the son's arguement for his unworthiness without a word. He will not be a servant, he will have the athority of the family, and he is, for now, the honored guest. It is obvious, I think, that the father of this story is God the Father, whom Christ often called by the Aramaic word Abba, a term of familiarity and endearment akin to the English word "Daddy." Would your Daddy leave you out in the cold for a mistake? Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father would never do that. He holds no grudges, he requires no repayment. All he requires is for us to begin the journey back to Him. We do not even need to go the whole way. God comes running down the path to meet us. What a joy to have such a Father who fills the world with such love.
This was my lesson today. I started on the path back to Him, with my tail between my legs, humble in the knowledge that I've not been able to cope without my spiritual practices. On the way to the Brethren Church, I passed an Amish man, probably about my age, on the road. I slowed down and moved over to give him room. He waved to me and we made eye contact. I was so filled with Love and Christian Brotherhood for this man whom I will most likely never meet. Then, the pastor's message in Church was so tailored to me, The Spirit moved him and The Christ Himself spoke to me though his lips. I took one step back toward the Father, and He came running to meet me! What Joy!
A Wake-Up Call
As those very few of you who do read my blog may (or may not) have noticed, I haven't exactly been a presence on the web in the last couple of months. This is due to a number of factors, the biggest of which has been our move back to our hometown and back into my parents' house after 4 years in California. The limitations of a dial-up internet connection, and all my books being in boxes in the garage have left me with little inspiration or patience for blogging...
Today, however, I was VERY inspired. For the first time since coming back to Michigan, I attended worship services at a Christian church. Last week, while driving between my parents' house and the home of my in-laws, I noticed a small Church of the Brethren congregation at a rural crossroads outside of Crystal, MI and decided to give them a go, as I'd found little inspiriation recently on my own, and was starved for communion with other members of the Body of Christ. My old friend Travis' blog Sister Anna Bap's Famous Radical Pie made me consider the possibility that I'd get on well with the Brethren, and since I knew that I'd never be able to just blend in and "pose as Catholic" in a town of 4,000, I paid them a visit.
Amazingly, there were familiar faces there! My High School science teacher, now retired, had been going there most of his life (his family has been members for the entire 100-year history of the congregation), as well as an old High School classmate. Their new minister gave a very inspiring talk on the parable of the prodigal son, and afterward, we spend over an hour drinking coffee and discussing scripture. I had a wonderful time, and my thoughts on God, Christ, and the intricacies of biblical translations seemed to fall on sympathetic ears. I believe I'll spend more time with them, and perhaps attend some of their bible study groups.
