First Baptist Church of Herndon

It's Complicated

Linda Soller | Oct 24, 2016

The Drop-In class settled in for another story in our October series. The last Sunday in September the class members were asked to nominate their favorite Bible stories for our class to discuss in October. It came as no surprise to me as I tallied the votes to see the Prodigal Son as one of the top vote getters. It’s a complicated story and we live in a complicated world. No wonder we find it interesting.

My question for the group was pretty straight forward. Why do you think we find it so easy to understand the frustrations and indignation of the older brother? Some talked about trying to do the right thing, then seeing someone take the less “acceptable” path, only to end up okay. Others said his was an emotional reaction. We considered that there may have been sibling rivalry through the years because they appeared to be very different people. As more and more spoke up we understood, it was a complicated situation.

Understanding the father’s reaction to the return of his younger son was not nearly as difficult. We concluded the father’s love of his son conquered all the negatives. He had his son back. Despite the reckless, insulting, disappointing behavior of the younger son, his father had missed him and still loved him. While clear, it was complicated.

We live in a complicated world. We hear cries of injustice against groups of people based on their job or their nationality. But we all know in our hearts, all people in those groups are not the same and we cannot cast blame on all from the actions of a few. In our political arena the accusations and negativity make the majority of people want to turn off the volume of their TVs, or radios, or computers. Like the older brother, we become frustrated and indignant when someone can say and do such unacceptable things and seem to escape unscathed. Like the older brother we want to believe that everyone wants to do the right thing, tow the line, and be loyal. We may dread the process, which so clearly protects the democracy our country is founded on, to the point of desiring to withdraw our voice or our vote in indignation.

While most of us are not like those negative people we see on the news, we struggle to be like the father of our story, forgiving. We find it difficult to allow love to conquer all. The father’s reaction in our story may seem like a lovely, but unrealistic response. When we grow weary of the struggle or experience frustration with the fairness of the world we must keep in mind it’s complicated.  Fortunately, God is the Father, and His love is eternal. He is always happy to see us come home.

Want to read the story of the prodigal son? You will find it in the Bible – Luke 15: 11-32

Don’t withdraw your vote – it counts and so do you!

Have a great week!    : o)  Linda