Jack Hardaway
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In the 1970’s my Grandmother worked at a bridal shop on Main Street in Greenville.
I was a very young child, I remember the smell of fabric, starch and gardenia perfume.
The whole place made me feel itchy.
Grandmother would bring me and my brother Geoffrey there from time to time to show us off.
It was like we walked into this strange foreign country where we would suddenly be set upon by a vast crowd of women of all sizes, shapes, ages and colors who would smother us with love and affection. We were hugged, kissed and embraced. We were well sugared, like powdered donuts.
Keep in mind that I come from a family that tends to be quiet, calm and moderately reserved, so it wasn’t so much overwhelming as it was terrifying.
The ladies at the shop. I never fully appreciated them. One of their daughters tried to teach me English literature in college. They dressed my bride. They made my first clergy shirt when I was ordained.
What comes to mind when you think of words like excessive, uncontrolled, riotous, extravagant, reckless, profuse and lavish?
What comes to mind with the word prodigal?
The word prodigal comes from the Latin word used to describe the excessive living of the younger son in the parable of Jesus that is usually called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, prodigal meaning excessive, profuse, extravagant, lavish, reckless. “Dissolute” is the word used in the translation we hear today.
Grandmother’s wedding shop was a prodigal experience, overwhelming.
This parable of the prodigal son is full of prodigality. Every character is prodigious in some way. We all know about the younger son who squandered his inheritance by living large. He gets all the attention.
But the neglected older brother is extreme as well. He is resentful, prodigal in his resentment, prodigious in his jealousy, lavish in his anger. He is even more lost and wasteful than his extravagant younger brother. He gets half the story.
You know how we are when resentment blinds us. We see and say things that are false. He accuses his brother of horrible things, when all he did was live way beyond his means.
He is the prodigal warning to all us religious types and how we are tempted to sap all joy and thankfulness from the miracle of existence. To encounter God is not to be full of poison and gall over others, but to rather celebrate the gift that they are.
Then there is the father. He would have loved my grandmother’s wedding shop. He is prodigal in his love. His love for both of his children is extravagant and lavish. He goes out to invite his children in. He is over the top both in his joy at his lost son coming home, and in his pleading with the resentful older child.
There are other titles for this parable; such as, the Parable of the Resentful Brother, or the Parable of the Generous Father.
I wonder sometimes if it should be called the Parable of the Great Dad and his Two Idiot Sons. But really, prodigal is the best title. Not the Prodigal Son but simply The Prodigal, because everyone in it is prodigal in some way.
The parable leaves us wondering just who is the sinner and if the older brother will join in the celebration.
Will he let his resentment and suspicion blind him to what life is really about? Will he squander his inheritance on dissolute resentment? It leaves us hanging. And we have to answer it ourselves with our own lives.
The gospel changes how we understand sin. It turns out that when we say, “love the sinner and hate the sin” we become the worst sinners of all.
We are warned to give up pointing out the sins of others. To do so is to fall away from the grace that pursues us. God is much more interesting than our preoccupation with the short fallings of others.
We are the followers and proclaimers of a Prodigal Gospel. God’s love is extravagant and over the top, reckless and lavish. God is Prodigal, and Jesus is the prodigal love of God celebrating God’s children. Jesus is God’s lavish party, the reckless celebration of God’s children. Jesus is the fatted calf, the ring on the finger, the sandals on the feet, the best robe draped upon us.
Jesus is the strange and foreign country where we are set upon, and terrorized and smothered with love and affection. Jesus is the ludicrous extreme sugar kissing, hugging and embracing us.
God’s love is ravishing. It is too much. Off putting.
The prodigal Gospel is that God is simply crazy about us, God is about to pop. God doesn’t care a lick about dignity and poise; he is running out to get us. Get ready to be well sugared.
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