Act 1: “The Lost Younger Bro”

Even though the younger brother, the stereotypical “prodigal” son isn’t Jesus’s main focus in this parable, he does still tell that part of the story for a reason. And in my little project of self-discovery of God’s love, I definitely think there are things I can take away from the story of the younger brother that are true and applicable.

In my Sunday School knowledge of this story, I never realized the gravity of the younger son’s request for his share of the inheritance. As Keller describes, asking for his share was essentially telling his father that he valued his monetary worth more than he valued their relationship. Despite this unimaginably hurtful request, the father responds by selling his land, essentially his identity and place in his community, to give the son what he asked for. This father is bending over backwards for a son who essentially told him straight up that he could not care less about their relationship.

“Ordinarily when our love is rejected we get angry, retaliate, and do what we can to diminish our affection for the [rejector]… but this father maintains his affection for his son and bears the agony.”

When we reject God’s love, He doesn’t respond ordinarily with anger, retaliation, or diminished affection. Our rejection hurts Him- we were created to abide in His love, and He sent His only son to the earth in order to restore the possibility of experiencing that true love. Despite this incredible hurt and rejection we the creations show to our Creator, He maintains his affection and bears the agony.

“God’s love and forgiveness can pardon and restore any and every kind of sin or wrongdoing. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done.”

This concept really shouldn’t be mind-blowing to someone who was raised in the church. The idea that through Christ we can receive forgiveness for any and every wrongdoing is one of the first things you will hear in any evangelical message. But, crazy as it sounds, this is another thing I’ve been struggling with recently. Very similar, and even possibly related to my struggle with God’s love, I KNOW forgiveness is real for other people. I have seen and heard of lives completely transformed by repentance, and I have NO DOUBT that those individuals have been forgiven. However, yet again, I seem to be making a special case of myself. For some reason, I have a really hard time reconciling the idea the I, Miranda Haslam, could be forgiven by God. That in spite of all of my fears and failures, all of my darkest nights and weakest moments, that God in His grace could still love and forgive me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 The Message (MSG)
“My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

Lavish prodigality. Elaborately and profusely reckless. That is what the son’s behavior was, and yet the father accepted him back. Not begrudingly either. He didn’t say “Okay son, you can come back, but you’re going to have to prove your repentance and earn your way back into my favor.” NO!! That was literally the antithesis of his message.

Lavish prodigality. That is also what the father’s grace was. The father embraced his son with love not only before he could prove his change of heart, but before he could even ask for forgiveness!! Does this mean God loves me in spite of my worthlessness?? Despite the fact that I am broken and lost and confused and unable to even form a repentance, God’s love remains for me just the same.

God’s love is given undeservingly. There is nothing one can independently do or say or be to become less able to be the object of His crazy, jealous, endless love for us. However, there is a flip side of that, which is this: nothing can merit this favor of God. While nothing we can ever distance us too far to return to the Father’s love, there is also nothing we can do to deserve His love. And that’s where the story of the second son, the elder son, comes in. Because while the story of God’s reckless love, of his boundless grace freely given is critically important, it also cannot stand alone. For without an understanding of the costliness and consequences of that grace, one is seeing only a glimpse of the true story.