Prodigal Son: Welcoming like God

In the prodigal son the father welcomes the younger son, who's come back, with wide-open arms and many of us can relate with the older brother who has stuck by and seemingly slaved for his father as was expected of him. Now his younger brother returns after wasting money, time, and effort and is rewarded like a king with new shoes, jewels, and a great party in his honour.

However this parable helps us to see an aspect of God that most of us can never really understand.  Every day we encounter people or situations and God is there; God's love is for them and sometimes it's hard for us to understand this.

Perhaps the message of the prodigal son is for us to learn to love like God. We cannot be caught up in our own lives, in our own world and our selfishness. 

For us to be like God gives others the grace that God gives each and every one of us every single day; from the saint like person who gives freely of themselves volunteering countless hours and money, right down to the person who acts angry, selfish, and miserable; a person we don't understand and rankly don’t like to be around.

God loves each and everyone equal exactly the same just like the father in the prodigal son loves both of his sons.

This father not only loves this younger son who has returned after years of wasting what his father has given him, but he welcomes him home with arms wide open. 

As most of you are parents I’m sure you can relate to the father whose son has gone off for years and who has clearly had a hard time at life in the last few years.  When that child finally comes back to you, you are thrilled to see him again.  No matter what the argument, you will always love your son.  He will always be welcome in your house.  So while it may be difficult for these men to get over their own egos, they still love one another and want to be together. 

For God, it is the same.  As humans we sometime sin against God, but we recognize what we’ve done, ask forgiveness, and God of course gives it to us and loves us through it all.

What of those who have turned away from God for years and years, or for those who have never had a relationship with God.  How are they to “return home” and to feel welcomed back with open arms by God? 

The answer is us.  We are the church; we are the home to which God helps to welcome people.  So how we welcome people who have taken huge steps to be welcomed is very important.  Christian hospitality, as given to us in the Bible, is a sacred process of 'receiving' outsiders and changing them from strangers to guests.  Think of Abraham receiving the 3 strangers as guests who turned out to be angels. 

This Lent, how can we work to turn those who are strangers into guests?  How can we embody the love and open arms that God has to those who have been away so long like the prodigal son?