Talk from December 2023

 The Prodigal                 12/09/2023

Good morning everyone, I am grateful to be able to share a message during this holiday season. I know most everyone likes to give the bishopric a hard time when they are up here at the beginning of their discourse, so as my gift to them, I will refrain from doing so. 

Today I’d like to talk about one of Jesus’ most famous parables. Elder Uchdorf also spoke about this parable in the last conference session, so I will also be pulling some material from there as well as from my own thoughts. 

He mentioned that it has been called by some, the greatest short story ever told. It has been translated into many languages all across the world, and perhaps not a day has gone by since its initial telling, that someone somewhere hasn’t made a reference to it.

It starts like this: A certain man had two sons. We learn that one of these sons was feeling brash. Perhaps he felt that life in his fathers house was stifling, that dealing with his fathers traditions and rules was holding him back from his full potential to experience all that the world had to offer. Whatever his reasoning, he asserted himself and requested his half of the inheritance so he could go live his life on his own terms. You might know this parable by the name “The Prodigal Son” 

Now, from my reading of this parable in Luke 15, the word prodigal is never actually mentioned in the scriptures. I have read it several times over the last couple of weeks and it wasn’t until preparing this talk that I focused on what the word prodigal even means. I like definitions, and I think that clarity is important, especially when we are talking about what is arguably Jesus’ most famous parable, especially since Jesus apparently never actually said it. Now, I have always taken the definition from context, and the only context I have ever had was from the chapter summary. Jesus shares this parable right after telling the parable of the lost sheep that the shepherd searches for and finds, and a lost piece of silver that a woman searches for and finds. The story is about a lost son, who returns and is celebrated, so I thought that prodigal had something to do with the moral of the story, that the uppity son was lost, and then found. But I was wrong.

When I went to the dictionary, I found that there are two similar definitions. Prodigal means wastefully extravagant, or giving on a lavish scale. I think, based on these two similar but very different attitudes, we can see how the definition applies to the story. And we all know it. I mentioned earlier the attitude of the younger son. According to the first definition, he is prodigal with his inheritance. The scripture says: “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” We don’t know how long the inheritance lasted, but like Elder Uchdorf, I always thought this son likely” felt a thrill of adventure and excitement.” That “at long last, he was on his own, free from the principles and rules of the culture of his youth.” We all know the story. He goes, rejects his fathers way of life, wastes his fathers efforts and even his reputation, on riotous living. Wild and uncontrolled behavior. Likely he didn’t think his luck was going to run out. He had finally made it, on his own. He was finally his own man.

And then his luck ran out. Famine. Maybe he was already running low on funds when the famine hit, maybe not. That’s not part of the story. All we know is that according to the scripture, “he began to be in want.” “No man gave unto him.” He had hit rock bottom. He went to work for someone who had more resources, and that guy sent him to feed the pigs. Terrible. I can imagine that the folks listening to the story were revolted. Pigs are unclean, and he wasn’t any better than a pig, eating with the pigs and taking care of the pigs. I think of the movie Willow when Bavmorda says at the top of the castle wall “ you’re all pigs” and then everyone turns into a pig. It’s hilarious. But probably not for this kid. We know the story from here. He runs back to dad after all his bad choices and bad luck. He maybe sees the error of his ways, and is determined to repent and make things as right as he can. 

Now here is where the other definition of prodigal pops up. The father is out looking at the path “and from a great way off, the father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” The son apologizes and asks for a job, saying that he isn’t worthy to be a son anymore. But the father wasn’t going to allow that. He called to the servants and said “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry.” I think he was especially giving, and even forgiving, on a lavish scale. The second definition of prodigal. The son's reception was rich, and lavish. The best clothes, the fancy jewelry, the fatted calf! A lavish feast and celebration, and freely and joyfully given with only the best of intentions. 

For me, this season, I’d like to think that this story isn't so much about the son who messed up as it is about the father who understands his child and loves him anyway. A father who provided everything that his children needed for his family to be happy. A safe home, comfortable living conditions, rules and boundaries and instruction, but saw that his kid might have needed to learn to be happy the hard way. It speaks to me of our loving Father in Heaven, who prepared a plan for us to receive our eternal inheritance. He has given us the knowledge of the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ, who’s birth we celebrate this  Christmas season. He has given us commandments to keep us on that strait and narrow path, and scriptures to keep us on that path and guide us back into his presence. He has given us the greatest gift ever: his Son, so that through Christ’s atonement, he can say “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” 

Brothers and sisters, I hope that during this Christmas season we can all remember that God has given us all the best gifts. He has been more than generous in the way he has blessed and continually blesses our lives, we should in turn be generous and share the joy those gifts and blessings bring us with the people who mean the most to us.