Prepare a thanksgiving feast,
for my son, who once was
dead, is alive again.
Although we like to think we know what we’re doing at every age and stage of our lives, we spend a good deal of time experimenting. Who we are is determined as much by trial and error as making enlightened or faithful choices. The biblical story popularly known as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” is often used as a cautionary tale to warn us about the perils of experimenting with life too indulgently. “Be careful,” the parable warns us, “lest you become enthralled by earthly delights, squander your inheritance and end up living with the pigs.”
I want to suggest that the younger son gets entirely too much attention in this parable. He is not the star of the story. That honor belongs to the father, who joyfully welcomed his son home and offered unconditional love. Thus, the more important point of the story is not “Don’t be a prodigal son!” but “Thanks be to God for the gift of homecomings.”
Spiritually speaking, when all of our flawed experimentations with life have run their course, we are promised that we can count on a place to come home to—a place of acceptance and love. Since we’re in the midst of preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m taking the liberty of renaming this wonderful story “The Parable of the Great Thanksgiving Feast.”
Thecornerstone sentence of the story is, “Prepare a feast of thanksgiving because my son, who once was dead, is alive again!” Here, God the Father is concerned to love his lost son in the moment, not judge the mistakes and failures of the past. The father refrains from lecturing, blaming or expecting his son to grovel in order to be forgiven. Rather, God is pleased because his missing child has come home. So it is that he spontaneously creates a lavish homecoming feast to celebrate the renewal of relationship.
As usual, God’s word offers some pithy challenges for us. If we take its message to heart we quickly understand that the “Higher Self ” is embodied by the Father who is able to let go of any resentments he had about mistakes his son had made in the past. A friend recently sent me a Cherokee proverb that said, “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
The Father in our parable would understand this saying perfectly, for it was his capacity to love in the moment that freed him to give thanks, feast and dance rather than lecture.
As a new Christian year looms before us, we might want to experiment with being in the moment more liberally. It’s a great antidote to all those toxic invitations we receive to be resentful, to get even, to demonize and to bully.
There are three Thanksgiving proclamations of faith that you might want to take on. First, you might want to celebrate the fact that God always offers a safe home to come back to—a place of acceptance and joy.
Second, you might want to be a homecoming catalyst who welcomes “lost sons” when they return home. How can you join in the feasting and avoid siding with those moralistic “older brothers” who are filled with resentment about the mistakes their irresponsible siblings and neighbors made in the past?
Third, we all occasionally find ourselves in the position of the lost son. We do our best to make choices that lead to abundant life only to discover that we’ve screwed things up. In the midst of these moments, the parable would say to us, “Don’t give up on yourself when you make mistakes and find yourself living with the pigs. Remember that there is hope and blessing for you if you have the courage to return home.
“God, the giver of Homecoming feasts, help us to grow in faith so that we might love in the moment by welcoming all who return home after experimenting with life. Grant that we might grow in trust of your unconditional love. May your unconditional acceptance of us inspire our joy this Thanksgiving season.”
The spiritual value of welcoming all to a joyful Thanksgiving feast inspired the members of First Congregational United Church of Christ in l974 to host a Community Thanksgiving Dinner with no strings attached or hoops to jump through. We’ll be gathering for our 37th feast on November 25th and, of course, you are invited. How could it be otherwise?
Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium will
offer Spiritual Reflections. For
November, our contributor
is Reverend Peter R. Monkres
of the First Congregational
Church – United Church of
Christ, Grand Marais, a Just
Peace church.
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