This Sunday, we look at Luke 15, the story of two prodigals. Really, three of them. The word prodigal means excessive. There's the prodigal son who is excessive in his reckless living and the prodigal older brother, who is excessive in his pride and stubbornness. Then there is the prodigal God, represented by the father, who excessively meets and greets both sons, but with only one returning to him in relationship.

There are so many things happening on so many levels in these relationships. But to point out a few, let's begin with the first prodigal son. In an essay by Father Paul Scalia, he drives home the point that our ability to blush, even with shame, comes not from just wrongdoing, but also from our recognition of it. Mark Twain once quipped, "Man is the only animal that blushes. He is the only one that has occasion to.”  Ironically, this points to our dignity. The ability to blush comes because, unlike other animals, we are moral agents, capable of virtue, vice and repentance. If we had no dignity, we would have no shame.

Shame and dignity work together in the story. The younger son comes to himself, realizes that although his sins have reduced him to the level of animals, feeding and living with pigs, he maintains a certain dignity. He realizes the truth of himself, his own worth, and his ability to repent. Shame reminds us of our dignity. Our conscience accuses us of sin and reveals that certain thoughts, words, or actions contradict our status as children of God. Scalia maintains that it is the moral nervous system alerting us of injury, highlighting the disconnect between our dignity and our behavior. Then, we can return to ourselves and to the father. As painful as shame can be, there is something worse: the silent conscience that fails to accuse and produces no shame or no recognition of good and evil.

Listen to a typical example of parents praying for this revelation to happen in their children:

“Pray for our beautiful daughter. She once led worship and young women's Bible studies, loved attending and serving and chose Jesus but now there's a life that we don't even recognize. Our hope is in Jesus and our hearts are heavy. We love her, our door is open, and Satan cannot have her."

If shame, reminds us of our dignity, repentance restores it. Confident in the restoration of our status as children of God, the prodigal father runs to meet the son returning home. When we confess, we receive far more than robes, rings, and sandals. As significant as those symbols are, we receive restoration and forgiveness.

We have all been prodigals in one way or another. Either relating to God on a transactional basis, like the older son, or as entitled, arrogant and sloppy as the younger son. I can relate to both.

Finally, there is an area that often gets forgotten in the story. Think about what happens the day after. What habit patterns in both the sons continues to reveal brokenness and insecurity? A wonderful story about how God's mercy and forgiveness never stops. Even if both sons continue in their stubbornness, God's mercy will always be there until the very end of our lives. We can also offer healing and hope as the church to enable children of God to exercise the authority and receive prayer ministry. Growth and healing in the heart and freedom from spiritual oppression are real opportunities as prodigals wake up the day after returning to God.

Come this Sunday and hear the preacher speak of his own experience as a son of the King and a parent. Keep coming back to Him even 1000s of times. I have and still do.