I like the story Bishop Roy Nichols tells about a young woman who went to see a psychiatrist. The doctor interviewed her, found out she was the mother of three children. “Which of your three children do you love the most?” She answered immediately, “I love all three of my children the same.” The answer came too quickly to suit the psychiatrist. “Come now, you love all three children the same?” “Yes, that’s right. I love all of them the same.” Now impatient he reacted, “Come off of it now! It is psychologically impossible for anyone to regard any three human beings exactly the same. If you’re not willing to level with me, we’ll have to terminate this session.”
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The young woman broke up and cried. “All right, I do not love all three of my children the same. When one of my three children is confused, I love that child more. When one of my children is in pain, or lost, I love that child more. When one of my children is bad -- I don’t mean naughty, I mean really bad -- I love that child more.” Then she added, “But except for those exceptions, I do love all three of my children about the same.”
In our story we see a father loving both of his children. This outgoing father reached out to both of his children. And while we are marveling at the father’s love, throw this into the hopper. It represents a new thought for me. Have you ever noticed how self-centered both boys were? I had never quite put that together. For the younger son it was all about him. He demands his inheritance on the way out of Dodge. He blows all that money he did not earn. He lived immorally in a far country. He did begin to wake up to the goodness of the father and went home. Fortunately for him he was met by a father for whom life was not all about him but all about others. The prodigal was received with incredible hospitality by a parent not self-centered but loving.
The elder brother, in a different fashion, thinks it is all about him. When he throws a tantrum it is all about him. Have you noticed, “You never gave me a fattened calf so I could be merry with my friends.” He did not grasp compassionately the experience of his brother. He was far too busy giving a pity party for himself.
Both these sons resisted the will of the father. The prodigal practically wished his father dead so he could get the inheritance. He rejected the moral standards of his father’s and mother’s home. The older brother did not rebel openly until his brother came home. Then he was beside himself with animosity. The father’s will can be detected easily in the arrangement of the festivities. The older son opposed it. His pouting was out of step with the will of the father who had celebrating in mind. The father responded to the return of the wayward with compassion, the will of God if you please, but the elder brother reacted with wrath, contradictory to the will of God. He was all wrapped up in himself.