Thought of the Day 05.05.10

In the story of the prodigal sons, the family would have been in disgrace for both the insubordination of the younger son and the foolishness of the father. But the elder brother’s job would have been to defend his family and his father to the community.

How could he have done this? Well, the only plausible spin he could have used was to say it was really good riddance to see such a worthless brother go. Of course, he would have known this was a lie masking the father’s weak and foolish grief, a truth which surely made him resent his father even more over the years his brother was gone. But at least people didn’t know the truth about his dad.

Imagine his fury when not only has the son returned but his sentimental father has actually embraced him back into the family. Every bitterness in him would have been roaring that this façade of family dignity was revealed as a sham. No wonder he reacted as he did.

But of course the real question for us is, “What part of God’s reckless mercy secretly embarrasses us so that we feel the need to lie to cover up the family foolishness?”