My Worthless Son!

I have been living where I do for over thirty years.  I pastored a church here for twenty-three years.  There is no surprise then that I have a lot of acquaintances in this county.  Our paths seldom cross since I retired.  Most of our out of the house activities are in one of the “villes” nearby, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, or Nashville.

I ran into one of those seldom seen acquaintances at the Post Office yesterday.  We exchanged greetings, and I went to my box.  I didn’t recognize him at first, but by the time I got the door closed on the mailbox, I realized who he was.  We then took the time to catch up with each other’s family.  We each have three children who are now all adults and scattered.  He was surprised there were now ten Baldwin grandchildren.

This father made a statement that has not left me, “We don’t know where our worthless son is.”  It is as close to his exact words as I can remember.  There was a mask of a smile on his face as he made this statement.  The tone of his voice was carrying a long tenure of spurned parental love.  Though he tried to hide it, his eyes seemed to show the sad weariness of a combatant returning from a long crusade.

I heard him.  I hurt with and for him.  I thought about his words evaluating his son since that conversation.

I guess that the son is now in his late twenties, maybe early thirties.  It’s not that his son is missing.  It’s more that he has just not cared enough to let his parents know where and how he is for a while.  I hope that he will eventually.  This son’s adulthood never arrived.  The son continues to operate in his early adolescent rebellion stage.  He grew up, but he never grew out, at least not yet. The son believes he lives in a society that is bent on limiting his pursuit of happiness. 

This father used the word “worthless” to describe his son, but his heart cries out for his son to return, taking his adult place in the family and community.   This son is worthless in that he brings no joy to his parents. However, his son is worth a great deal to his father.  No one grieves over something for which they care very little.  I guess the father’s pain is not that his son is worthless, but his feeling of being a useless father to his son. 

Now would be the appropriate time to mention the Prodigal Son and loving father story Jesus told.  But I’m not.  You have already made that connection, so go ahead and follow the Holy Spirit’s leadership in that pondering of truth.

Feeling worthless is not a pleasant place to live.  Living with someone who feels worthless, no matter how much you tell them otherwise, is hard, just plain hard.

It just may be that we find our true worth in this life as we develop the skill of making sure everyone around us feels worthy, even when they don’t deserve it.  And that is the Gospel; God says you are worth a great deal to him.  No matter how you feel about yourself or how others feel toward you.  You are NOT worthless to your Creator, never were and never will be.  No matter how hard you chase after happiness instead of Him. (There is another side of this story. “Does the son feel his father is worthless?”  I have more thinking to do.)                                                                               

Picture – Pops goes with his granddaughter to the pumpkin patch.