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Copyright © Patrick Angier
The younger son desired freedom… why? What was calling him or driving him?
Reflection
There are two ways we may desire freedom:
Freedom from those things that hold us back, limit and restrict us.
Freedom to do new things.
Which sort of freedom are you seeking God for?
Activity
Lay a piece of the gold chain over the stone and use the hammer and chisel to break through the chain. As you break the chain ask God to give you this freedom.
"The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me…. to proclaim freedom" Lk 4:18
The younger son was not due to have received anything until his father was dead and then, unless willed otherwise, only a third of the property. Where a will was made while still alive the father would still have the income even if the capital then belonged to a son.
Reflection
We live in a consumer society where money and wealth buy apparent freedom but where debt and fear weigh many down. How as Christians we spend and treat money can be a powerful witness to others but often causes us much guilt and soul searching. How much do possessions weigh down or help your walk with God?
Activity
Separate out the son’s share of the wealth. Look at the heap, feel the coins and stones, shiny and attractive yet worth so little. Place them back into their piles and as you do so renew your commitment to a transformed lifestyle.
"God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Phil 4:19
The son not only wished to be free from his existing situation but was also drawn to the excitement and tantalising promise of the far off place.
Reflection
We each have things that draw us and motivate us - power, achievement and affiliation.
Our motivations are part of what it means to be human and God can use and redeem them.
Activity
On the table there are a range of postcards. Which are the pictures that you find draw you and attract you? Place these within the square on the table. Are there other cards that you avoided? As you slide each card out of the square ask God to guide and guard your motivations.
"Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God" 1Chron 22:19
The son packed and left, leaving family, friends, familiarity as well as history. A new start, a new place, money in his pocket, every opportunity.
Reflection
"I can only be that which I am willing to share with you" (J Powell) There is a cost to separation.
Activity
Look at the compass on the map and see how moving the magnets can make the compass needle veer away from pointing north. If the magnets are those that influence you; family, friends, church, God etc how far do you have to be separated before they cease to influence you.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ" Rom 8:35
The son recklessly used his money, wasting his inheritance; it wasn’t long before there was nothing left.
Reflection
Wealth and money are not the only resources we have as Christians. Spiritual capital is equally precious and reminds us how easily it can be recklessly wasted, for nations, churches and individuals alike.
Activity
Write in the sand the gifts, talents, and resources God has given you. Take a handful of sand and sprinkle it over those you do not use and smooth over those that you do. For each gift give thanks to God and seek his guidance.
"They will summon peoples to the mountain
and there offer sacrifices of praise, they will
feast on the abundance… on the treasures hidden in the sand" Deut 33:19
The combination of famine and running out of money left the son with no choice but to take whatever work he could,. Religious principles and morals were cast aside as he enviously looked on the pig’s food.
Reflection
'It’s their own fault, they should do something about it' …how easy it is to be judgemental of those in desperate situations…how hard to empathise…to know how and what to pray.
Activity
In the compost are wrapped sweets. Search through the compost with your hands until you find one and, if you wish, eat it. As you do so imagine how the son and those trapped in desperate situations feel, and pray for them
"I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them" Is 41:17
The son had reached a point of despair and realisation, his own strength and skills could not sustain him, and his very self was collapsing. It was time to come back from his self-imposed exile with all the risk that entailed.
Reflection
Changing direction can mean walking back through past mistakes and painful experience. It always involves leaving things; when it is God we turn back to, it is the uncleanness and the sin of the world we seek to leave behind.
Activity
Look at your hands and the dirt that has attached. What are the things you wish to leave behind? As you wash your hands in the water, seek God’s cleansing and renewing.
"Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" Psalm 51:7
Before the son could get home his father was waiting down the road. There is no time for prepared speeches - the fattened calf is killed and the celebration begins.
Reflection
God takes the initiative. He comes to meet us, he welcomes us home, he organises the party, he pays the bill.
Activity
Take and eat from the bread and wine as a reminder of the heavenly banquet.Afterwards, use the prayer below as a response:
"Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that while we were still far you met us and brought us home."
"When you give a banquet invite the poor the crippled the lame the blind" Luke 14:13
The Journey Back
We have travelled into the Labyrinth with the son experiencing his exile and return.
Our journey does not stop here with the celebration and party, however much of an attractive place it is to stop.
We will journey out with the father, sharing in his experiences that will lead us backwards through the story to the beginning where he gives the son his freedom.
The father waited.
Reflection
Waiting makes us ask questions and examine our decisions.
Activity
On the ground is a rucksack. Pick it up, feel the weight, put it on and wait.
When you are ready take it off and move on.
The father waited
Reflection
Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting
Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting Waiting
Activity
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8What time is it for the father? What time is it for you?
The father waited
Reflection
Waiting gives us the time to examine our behaviour; what we did, what we said
Activity
Choose a few of the seeds and place them into the pestle and mortar and grind them down.When you have ground the seeds down, pour them out into your hand and taste the bitterness. As the bitterness lingers pray for those who wait for their hearts to remain soft and their lives open to God.
The father knew his son he had shared all of the son’s life seen him at work rest and play he understood the motivations of his son as well as his behaviour.
Reflection
What motivates you? The son was to learn what the father already knew - that leaving home is not freedom; coming home is.
The Father would watch as his ‘youngest son’ Israel went into exile, and wait for the return fulfilled through Jesus.
Activity
Look at the postcards again. What picture is missing that calls and motivates you? Write it onto one of the pieces of paper, fold it and prayerfully place it in the basket.
The son was wishing the father was as good as dead, and yet the father gave the son his share of the property.
Reflection
Rejection and the feeling of being used are really difficult to respond to. The father had to face both, not with meek submission, simmering resentment or misplaced anger but with accepting understanding.
Activity
Look at the stones and coins in the bottom of the water. Reach into the water and take one out let it dry in your hand - cold, hard, lifeless. Ask God to soften your heart from the times you have been used or rejected. When you are ready, drop the coin or stone back into the water to demonstrate letting go.
The father let the son go free.
Reflection
The love that sets free is a costly love whether as parent, friend or minister. It is a cost we often try to avoid facing. It is the price God pays on each of us through the son.
Activity
Take the silver chain and lay it over the stone. Ask God to help you to demonstrate freedom, giving love in every aspect of your life. Take up the hammer and chisel and break the chain.
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