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Thread: Prodigal Son Contemporized

  1. #1
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    Prodigal Son Contemporized

    It is a bit difficult to fully understand the nuances in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son (aka Parable of the Father's Heart). We are far removed from the Jewish hearers and their culture. Had Jesus told the parable directly to us, it might have gone something like this:

    Jenny grew up in Rankin Park, Newcastle. In her early teenage years she fell into a pattern of long running battles with her parents. They didn’t react too well when she came home with a nose ring. They were furious when she stayed out all night without so much as a phone call to tell them where she was. Her friends weren’t exactly her parent’s first choice.

    One night Jenny and her folks have a huge fight. “I hate you!” she screams at her father as she slams the door to her bedroom. That night she acts on a plan that’s been forming for some time. Once everyone has gone to sleep she gets dressed, packs a bag and goes into the kitchen. Opening the kitchen drawer she rifles through her parent’s wallets. She takes the credit cards, the cash, and their bank book. She hops on the train and heads for Sydney. When she gets there she waits on the doorstep of the Commonwealth Bank so she can be the first through the door. She forges her mother’s signature and withdraws $12500 her parents had in their investment account. She grabs a cab to the airport and uses Dad’s credit card to buy a ticket to Melbourne – she figures the last place her parents will look for her is on the streets of St Kilda.

    She arrives in Melbourne and pretty soon she’s enjoying the high life – a new group of friends, plenty of booze, late nights, sleep all day, no school, no parent’s hassling her about a nose ring, let alone her experiments with sex and drugs. It doesn’t take long til the $12500’s gone and the credit cards have been cancelled.

    Back home her parent’s are frantic. Mum’s had to start packing shelves at night to pay off the credit card debt, and the $12500 set aside for her sister’s university fees is gone. The police are notified, the streets are searched – first Newcastle, then Kings Cross. Her parents don’t know what’s happened. They fear the worst.

    Meanwhile down on the streets of St Kilda things aren’t going too well. Jenny’s soon addicted to heroin and the money she stole doesn’t go too far. She moves into a squat and starts selling herself for sex.

    One day she’s walking down the street and sees a poster on the telegraph pole. It’s headed “Have you seen this girl?” Below the heading is a photo of her – at least as she used to look. The poster’s got her parent’s phone number on it, and asks for anyone with information to call. Jenny rips the poster down, folds it up and puts it into her pocket.

    The months pass, then the years. Jenny’s been careless one time too many. At first she writes off her sickness as just another bout of flu. But the illness persists. She goes to the free clinic to discover she’s contracted Hepatitis C and HIV. Not even the brothel wants anything to do with her now.

    As she sits lonely, tired and hungry in the squat, she looks at the poster she’d rescued from that telegraph pole and saved for the last few years. She thinks back to her previous life – as a typical schoolgirl in a middle class suburban Newcastle family. It triggers memories of the famous family waterfight one steaming summer day when she was 12; and of crazy moments dancing together; of her sister’s comforting arms when she broke up with David. “God, why did I leave?” she says to herself. “Even the family mutt lives a better life than I do.” She’s sobbing now, and knows that more than anything she wants to go home.

    Three straight phone calls, three connections with the answering machine. She hangs up without leaving a message the first two times, but the third time she says, “Mum, dad, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a train up to Newcastle. I’ll be at Newcastle station about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, well I guess I’ll just stay on the train til I get to Queensland.”

    The next day on the train Jenny thinks about all the flaws in her plan. What if mum and dad were out and miss the message? And what are they going to do if they heard it anyway – after all, it’s been 10 years and they haven’t heard a word from me in all that time. How are they going to react when they discover I’m a junkie with AIDS? If they do show up what on earth am I going to say?…”

    The train pulls into Newcastle station at ten minutes past midnight. She hears the hiss of the brakes as the train comes to a stop. Her heart starts pounding. “This is it. Oh well, get ready for nothing.”

    Jenny steps out of the train not knowing what to expect. She looks to her right and sees an empty platform, but before she can look back she hears someone call her name. Her head whips around and there’s her mum and dad and her sister and her aunts and uncles and cousins and grandmother. They’re holding a banner that reads “Welcome home”, and everyone’s wearing goofy party hats and throwing streamers and popping party poppers, and there’s her mum and dad running towards her, tears streaming down their face, arms held wide. Jenny can’t move. Her parent’s grab her with such force it almost knocks her over.

    “Dad, I’m sorry. I know…”

    “Hush child. Forget the apologies. All we care about is that you’re home. I just want to hold you. Come on, everyone’s waiting – we’ve got a big party organised at home.” And Jenny finds herself awash in a sea of family and love that she has not known for over 10 years.

    Source: A fictional story by Scott Higgins modelled on a similar story in Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace and paralleling the story of the prodigal son

  2. #2
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    Thanks. The modernized version. And truly, we're ALL ultimately prodigals of one sort or another. I will always be in awe of our Lord's forgiveness and love!

  3. #3
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    Except a good bit of the story is about the father and his relationship with the older son and his jealousy. We miss this but, in the Hebrew story telling style this is the focus of the story.
    Wayne the Shrink

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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Smith View Post
    Except a good bit of the story is about the father and his relationship with the older son and his jealousy. We miss this but, in the Hebrew story telling style this is the focus of the story.
    You're right it is not a perfect re-telling. But it does help bring out the idea of how horrified the older son and the Pharisees were at the actions of the younger brother. Today's audience isn't exactly shocked at a Jew caring for pigs or asking for their share of their inheritance early. We can understand drug use, prostitution and stealing from those who worked hard to amass a savings.

    One thing that this re-telling doesn't convey is how the father broke the cultural norms of the time and ran to his returning son rather than waiting for his approach and apology.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy The Governor's Avatar
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    This hit home with me if the daughter,(son), and father roles were reversed. BTW, there has been no home coming.

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    IMO, it really doesn't have to be a perfect parallel to the original story. The principle is the same in both. And it's principles, I think, that Christ tried His hardest to get us to understand. I worked around the courts for a number of years, and saw some real "prigs" of the law argue the fine points. This never really seemed to serve the much more simple concept of simple "justice." I think that's how it is with any retelling of some parallel to the story of the prodigal. Too many of us get wrapped up in the technical matters, when it's the principle that Christ has always tried to get us to understand FIRST and foremost. It is SO hard to NOT have an axe to grind, that most any story ever told would have its detractors, simply because we tend to be legalistic when we think it'll serve us, and then, in a similar situation, go for the "justice" when we think THAT will serve us better.

    But I think much of what Christ tried to teach us was simply to get the principles down FIRST, and THEN we can get into the finer, more legalistic points. Most of us have such a hard time with the principles, that I fear there may well be very few of us really qualified to get into the finer, more legalistic points. Christ DID, after all, criticize the Jewish leaders for their legalistic approach to their religion and most all other matters of import to them. So I see the story as a very good and essentially (all the essentials are there, though changed in their specific natures) all there. I liked it. It surely puts the question in much more "modern" light!

  7. #7
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    It all depends on who you identify with - the father, the older son, or the prodigal son? The only true complete characters in the story. Being saved at age 9, growing up in a Christian family, being a Church member all my adult life, educated by song and Bible and study, I tend to identify with the older son. Being a father without a prodigal son (both of our sons Christian, studying the Bible, Church members, elect) I have a hard time identifying with the Father, even though I can.
    Wayne the Shrink

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    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    A point missed, the father didn't go looking for the son, nor did God go looking for Sampson, who also did most everything wrong. Eventually, Manasseh understood but he did get a lot of 'help'.
    Whatever!

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    I have to say first off that this parable kept me straight. Well, straighter anyway.

    I never robbed my parents, stole money from them, ran away.

    I moved away, got jobs, lost jobs, ended up down and out and was welcomed home many times more than I deserved.

    But eventually it worked.

    Not really the black sheep of the family. Only spent one night in jail.
    Don't owe anybody anything. Except mom and Dad for everything.

    They are both gone now, lost Dad last fall. A week ago mom passed, I think she just decided she was tired and wanted to be with dad.

    The worst of it is there is no way to repay any of what I owe the two of them.
    Except to try my best to live up to their example, pass a little on when I can.

    Love you both, miss ya.

  10. #10
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    You guys are over thinking this. Read it and have it bring that tear to your eye like it always does.

    Don
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by popper View Post
    A point missed, the father didn't go looking for the son, nor did God go looking for Sampson, who also did most everything wrong. Eventually, Manasseh understood but he did get a lot of 'help'.
    He saw the prodigal "a long way off", meaning he was looking ever day for his return, recognized his gait, and mannerisms. The son was never far from his heart.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by popper View Post
    A point missed, the father didn't go looking for the son, nor did God go looking for Sampson, who also did most everything wrong. Eventually, Manasseh understood but he did get a lot of 'help'.
    The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of three that make up a picture of how God feels about and deals with sinners. The other two are the Good Shepard and the Parable of the Lost Coin. These parables come one after another in Luke's Gospel.

    The Good Shepard went searching for the lost sheep. The woman who lost one of her silver coin got a lamp and searched the whole house until she found it. God goes looking for the lost.

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    the father didn't go looking for the son Obviously dad had big farm and was waiting (don't think your folks knew what you were up to?). He didn't go SEARCHING for the son - my poor choice of wording. After reading what pigs eat and is GOOD fodder (pig poop), no wonder the kid didn't like slopping the hogs.
    To me, this is more about Israel as a people than some earthly possession that got 'lost'. Priests got infuriated when the 'lost' found Jesus - as Paul found out.
    Last edited by popper; 07-05-2018 at 08:43 PM.
    Whatever!

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