Mar. 31, 2019                Two Brothers                                      

Twenty years ago, I chaperoned a group of youth from the Illinois Conference as they went to a National Youth Event in Iowa. The youth gathered at Pilgrim Park, and the first day stayed at Pilgrim Park to go over a schedule  for the event and the rules that we needed them to agree to for their safety and for making the most of our time together.

Now one of these rules were that people did not wander off together during the evening events, which all the youth agreed would be a problem on a large college campus where we would be staying. But on that first night at pilgrim park, two of the youth, took a liking to one another and went for a walk.  When the other youth noticed them missing, they notified us, and we found them sitting on the creek bridge talking at 11 pm.

Now the other chaperone and myself, explained to them that the other youth were quite upset with them. They other youth had made a covenant with one another to follow the rules, and they had not wandered off, so we told them that they would need to apologize to the other youth. So in the morning, after breakfast, they apologized and the group was torn, some wanted to welcome them back, it was no big deal to them. Others, were upset, because they had wanted to go out that evening, but were told they had agreed to stay with the group. So they thought there should be some form of punishment for the two who left.

Now there was a rather wise older minister on the trip, (which leaves me out), who told the kids that he had a story for them, and he proceeded to tell them the story of the prodigal son. And he focused on the two brothers, how the one brother had gone astray, but was welcomed back by his loving father. And the other brother was angry that the younger brother should be welcomed back so lavishly, without any punishment. Now as Christians, the minister said, we all love that God welcomes us back, when we have gone astray – and we like to talk about the God whose forgiveness has no limits. But sometimes, when others have gone astray, we forget the story of the prodigal son, and we behave like the elder brother, unwilling to forgive, and unable to get over it, when they receive forgiveness and are welcomed back. And then the wise older minister made a point I like to remember. Not only was it important for the elder brother to welcome back the younger brother for the sake of the family, but also for his own sake, lest his unwillingness to forgive eat at him, and destroy his relationship with the family.

Well as usual, this didn’t immediately impress the kids who were upset, but they grudgingly agreed to abide by the rules they had agreed to together, and by the next day, it seemed the disagreement was over with, the group had a fine trip together, and got along quite well.  

Now some might say that this is silly Christian sentimentalism, how will people ever behave is there is no discipline, boundaries, or consequences. But the parable of the prodigal son is not about how to govern a society. Society has law and order, and there is punishment. But the parable of the prodigal is about how we live together beyond all of that. It’s about overcoming the worldly impulse we have to be unforgiving, and seeks for us to share a forgiveness that is not only good for our families and our communities, but is also good for us as well.