A teenager came to his pastor for advice: "I left home," said the boy, "and did something that will make my dad furious when he finds out. What should I do?" 

The minister thought for a moment and replied, "Go home and confess your sin to your father, and he'll probably forgive you and treat you like the prodigal son." 

Sometime later the boy reported to the minister, "Well, I told Dad what I did." 

"And did he kill the fatted calf for you?" asked the minister. "No," said the boy, "but he nearly killed the prodigal son!" 

There are few stories in all the world's literature that are as well known or as well loved as the parable of the Prodigal Son. And rightly so. There is no portrait of God in any of the world's religions more winning than this one. 

Helmut Thieleke says that we should call this the parable of the waiting father, and he is right. This great parable is the third of three parables in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. One is about a lost sheep, one is about a lost coin, and the third is about a lost boy. It is important for us to see that in this parable Jesus was not interested in teaching us something about shepherding or keeping up with our money or even being good parents. What he was trying to do was to give us a snapshot of God. He is seeking to answer the age old question, "What is God like?" 

In the first place, Jesus shows us a father who loves enough to let go. 

This is remarkable if you think about it. An impudent boy comes to his father and says to him, in essence, "Look old man, I'm tired of staying on the farm. I want to see the city. I don't want to wait until you die to enjoy life. Give me my share of the inheritance now." Needless to say good Jewish boys did not talk to their fathers like this. Surely his punishment would be swift. Surprise. The father ponders the young man's request for a few moments and then says, "All right. If that is what you want, that is what you will get." 

Remember now that Jesus is seeking to say something to us about God. And this is it: God loves us enough to let go. God did not create us to be robots. He created us in His own image. Whatever else that may mean, one thing is certain. We are free to choose our own destiny.  We are free moral agents. We make our own bedsto use a familiar adage.  He has given us our inheritance. That inheritance takes many forms. We have amazing minds. We can use them or we can waste them. We have remarkable bodies. We can keep them healthy or we can abuse them. We have the gift of life, of time, of precious relationships. All are at our disposal. We are free! 

Robert Raines tells about walking along a road some years ago with his son when the boy asked, "Dad, do you suppose anywhere in the world there is a sign that says `trespassing'?" His dad asked what he meant and he said, "Well, see that sign over there that says `no trespassing'? Is there a sign somewhere that just says `trespassing'?" Robert Raines said he laughed and they had fun imagining what it would be like some night to change Nosigns to Yes signs, from "no trespassing" to "trespassing," "private keep out" to "public come in," changing "Stop" signs to "go" sign, "no parking" to "parking," "danger" to "safety," etc. It is an amusing thought. (1) 

Have you ever thought about the fact that over most of the world God HAS placed a trespassing sign, a go sign, a yes sign? We are free - free to love, free to enjoy, free to dream and to decide. The Father loves us enough to let go. Of course there are a few "no trespassing" signs along the way. "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not commit adultery," etc. Every game has its rules. So does the game of life. There are only rules that make sense, though. Some things in life are destructive. They lead to death: physical death, emotional death, spiritual death, death of a friendship, or a marriage. Because our lives are interconnected with one another's and with God's, there are always choices to make. But we are free to make those choiceseven bad choices if we so desire. The Father loves us enough to let go. That is the first thing about God that Jesus shows us. 

There is a second thing Jesus shows us.  He shows us a father who patiently waits for us to decide.  There is a difference between lost sheep and lost coins and a lost boy. Lost sheep or lost coins are not responsible for making decisions. The shepherd goes out to find the lost sheep. The woman sweeps the house to recover the lost coin. But the father waits on the lost boy to make his own decision. That is the ultimate consequence of our freedom. God will not force Himself on us. He will not make us behave. He will not interfere. We are free to choose life or death, love or indifference, heaven or hell. Whichever we choose, however, we must live with. 

There ARE consequences in life, you know. Sometimes we don't want to face that truth about God. We want God to be like an indulgent parent following behind uscleaning us our messes. We want a soft, flabby God, created in OUR image who will somehow deliver us from our own misdoing. 

The idea of a soft, indulgent God reminds me of something that was once said about the dynamic businessman, Harold Geneen. Geneen has always been something of an enigma. Long after he had been running ITT, he remained a mystery man to such an extent that the press often misprinted his name as Geheen or Green. People in his own company were not even certain how to pronounce his name. There was a joke about it inside ITT: "Is the g hard as in God, or soft as in Jesus?" 

That is a contrast that many of us make in our own mindshard as in God or soft as in Jesus.  Jesus showed us a God who was like a loving Father. But Jesus did not rescind the law of consequences. As one cynic has put it, "Some of us want to sow our wild oats and then pray for a crop failure." 

The prodigal son abused his freedom. He squandered his wealth and was reduced to feeding swine. For the Jews, pigs were unclean. How could a nice Jewish boy fall much lower than feeding pigs? The Bible says that the young man gladly would have eaten the pods that he fed to the pigs. 

But one day he came to himself. What a great statement! He came to himself. He wasn't a pig. He was a boy. He wasn't a swine but a son. Even the servants in his father's house had plenty to eat and a warm place to sleep. What was he doing in a pigpen? He would go back to his father and say, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son...." 

He was taking responsibility for his own situation, and that is always the first step in salvation. I hope if you ever end up in one of life's pigpens because of bad choiceswhether it be enslavery to drugs or alcohol, or watching your family breakup because of your own lack of moral discipline, or in court because of cheating on your taxes, or whatever your pigpen may beI hope that you won't blame it on your parents or on the government or your friends or your spouse or on God. I hope that you will be man enough or woman enough to say, I brought this on myself. 

The young man came to himself and he started home. But there is one more thing to be said. 

The Father welcomed him back unconditionally.  "Seeing him from afar, the father had compassion on him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." The son started his litany of confession, "Father I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father did not even give him the opportunity to finish his carefully rehearsed speech. He said to his servants, "Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him..." The robe was a symbol of honor. "Put a ring on his hand..." The ring was a symbol of authority. "Put shoes on his feet..." Slaves went barefoot; sons wore shoes. "Kill the fatted calf..." In the ancient world there was no possibility of preserving meat. When guests came, an animal was killed that could be eaten by the guests. Thus if another family came, it would be appropriate to kill a chicken or perhaps a pigeon. If two families came, it might be appropriate to kill a duck or a goose. If more came, it would be appropriate to kill a goat or a lamb. The killing of a fatted calf was done only if the entire village was invited. This was indeed an event of great import. 

There was an even further significance in this killing of the fatted calf. The actual slaughter of the animal would take place in front of the doorway. When the guests would step across the blood of the animal that had been slain, it was a sign that the past had been left behind, that there was a new covenant or new relationship between the host and the guest. As the son then stepped over the blood of the animal that had been slain, it was a sign of his father's total and complete acceptance and forgiveness. The father welcomed him back unconditionally. (2) 

The boy didn't deserve that kind of reception, did he? Many who heard Jesus tell this story were surely offended that a boy who treated his father so should get off scotfree. Their discomfort is reflected in the envy of the elder brother. He had stayed home all these years and the father had never killed the fatted calf for him. It wasn't fair. 

Paul Tournier, the great Swiss psychiatrist and theologian, emphasizes that Christianity is the only religion in the world which says that God loves the unrighteous more than the righteous. How unfair can God be?  But listen. There is a reason. If you or I could stay home in the Father's house and keep all the rules and obey all the laws, we might have the idea that we somehow deserved the Father's favor. Even worse, like the Pharisees we might get the idea that somehow we were morally and spiritually superior to the rest of God's children. We would not hear the Gospelthat we are all sinners saved by Grace. Our virtue would be in vainfor we would trust in our own strong willpower rather than in the mercy of the Father. There is one thing the Father rejoices in more than virtue. It is faith. 

Why? Because faith produces virtue, not vise versa. A young man loved playing golf. He used to spend hours in the backyard practicing his golf swing. Of course he wasn't allowed to use a real golf ball because that would be very dangerous so near to the house. So he used a practice ball hollow and made of light plastic with holes in it. You couldn't hit it very far and it could do no damage.  One day he thought that both his parents were out and the house empty, and he longed for the feel of a real golf ball on the head of his club. Just this once wouldn't matter. 

He teed up a real golf ball and swung. You guessed it, he sliced his stroke and the ball headed for his parents' bedroom window. He heard the glass shatter and then he heard his mother scream. He ran into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom. She was standing there in front of the broken window and she was bleeding. He started to cry and couldn't stop. All he could say was, "Mum, what have I done, I could have killed you." His mother just hugged him, though, and said through her own tears, "It's all right, I'm all right, everything's going to be all right." His mother knew that punishment was not what he needed at this moment. He needed to know that everything was all right. Need I say that this young man never took a real golf ball into the yard again? (3)  

That is what grace is all about. It is about love that is more interested in redemption than judgement. Most of the problems in this world are caused by people who do not really know that they are loved and accepted.  How about you? Is there a need in your life to come home? But I'm not good enough, some would say. That is the whole point. None of us are, no matter how faithfully we have stayed in the Father's house. Thank God, we do not have to be.

The Father loves us enough to let go. We are free eternally free to choose our own paths. The Father patiently waits for us to decide. He will not force His way into our lives. But there is unconditional love-unconditional acceptance awaiting our decision. Earthly fathers may be tempted to kill the prodigal son but the Eternal Father kills the fatted calf. 

1. Robert A. Raines, A FAITHING OAK, (New York: Crossroad, 1982). 

2. Dr. Joe Harding 

3. Ian Pitt Watson, A PRIMER FOR PREACHERS, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986).