The Prodigal Teapot: Loving the Unlovable-Part 3

The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 provides the frame for many lessons and sermons. The prodigal son takes his share of his father's money, leaves home, and spends all of his wealth committing every sin that occurred to him. He, in essence, became unlovable. He was a shame to his father. He had sinned against God, and squandered all that was given to him. And then, when he had reached the very bottom of existence, he returned home.There he encountered two reactions from loved ones. One was Christlike, and one was. . . well. . . typical of many of the Christians encased in their own Bubble.

I'm sure that the father had often thought that his son was gone forever. The father grieved that all contact was gone and that his chance to influence him for God had ended. Perhaps, he prayed everyday that this lost son would return. Maybe after he finished praying, he would step out of his home and look down the path looking for the familiar gait of his lost son's walk. And then one day, he rose from his prayer, walked out to look once more, and saw him: his unlovable, bedraggled, smelly son returning to beg from his father. Just as Christ welcomes us dressed in our filthy rags of self-righteousness, this father held open his arms, embraced his unlovable son, and loved him anyway. The son came looking only for a servant's position, but the gracious father accepted him back into the family, and prepared a grand feast in celebration. His whole focus centered around God's goodness in returning his son to him. He was not worried about his own lost riches, only that his son was safe.

And then there is the other son, faithfully doing as his father asked. A good boy in every sense of the word. He obeyed, he stayed, and he conformed to his father's wishes. This is honorable. I think he really was a good son. But, he did not grasp the concept of grace, and loving the unlovable as his father did. His reaction at learning that the great feast was in celebration of his wayward brother's return speaks volumes about how he felt about forgiveness. He exhibited a bitter, jealous spirit, and contempt for his father's joy. His focus centered on himself. "I have done what my father asked. I have stayed right here and didn't waste money, and I don't stink like pigs. But he has never killed a fatted calf for me. Where's my feast?" He had no thought for the welfare of his unlovable brother's return. He saw the unloveable, and continued to reject him.

So at the end of the parable, the father still had a prodigal son. But, it wasn't the one who had slept with pigs, but the bitter one who couldn't forgive and rejoice in the return of his brother. 

It's easy to love those who are nice and cooperative and that think and act like us. It's Christlike to love those whose lives are ruined and who now need grace and forgiveness. 

Once a prodigal,
Teapotjan