Salvation and the Prodigal Son

I want to preface this posting by saying that I take the Bible very seriously. I also believe that it must be interpreted responsibly. I believe that we all approach the Bible from certain angles -- some are conservative and others liberal. Some take the Bible more literally and others more metaphorically. But again we all have our own starting points.

Mine is simply this: God is love (1 John 1:7-8). I believe that God's love is unconditional. It is the love defined by the Hebrew word hesed. God's hesed or steadfast love that endures forever (Psalm 136). This is the kind of love spoken of in Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8 (The Message)

8But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

It is this steadfast love of God that offers us hope. So, when I come to a text, even one like Psalm 136 that offers caveats about the extent of that love, I must ask myself: what is love? How does love operate? And how might this define God's nature and God's relationship to me?

With that in mind, I raise the question of the meaning of the "Parable of the Prodigal Son." Let's hear this text:

Luke 15.6-32 (NRSV)

⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

11 Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” ²²But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” ³¹Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

My sensibility is this: God will pursue us until the end. God will wait for us, for as long as it takes. God is the loving father who waits to embrace the prodigal child -- that is in all of us. Note that the Father reaches out and offers forgiveness even before the prodigal son has an opportunity to confess or do penance for the sins he committed against the father. As a parent, do I stop loving my child, when he or she disobeys, walks away, disrespects me? Do I ever cut off my child? If I would not do that, why should I expect that God would do less? Isn't God bigger than me?

So, if I'm a universalist, that sensibility is rooted in that all encompassing love of God that will not stop loving for ever. And if it takes forever, to bring closure, then God will wait. That seems most like the God we know in Jesus Christ.