"The Prodigal Son." This is the title most often given to the parable we heard from Jesus this morning. But there’s a self-righteousness to this title. It says: look how wastefully extravagant the youngest son was. That’s the meaning of prodigal after all, wastefully extravagant. He not only asks his father for his inheritance early - a gesture that says nothing less than “I wish you were dead so I could benefit from your riches” - he spends it all in record time. In the Greek, it says he “scattered his substance.” He lost not only the money he demanded from his father, he lost himself somewhere along the way. And he has the gall to go crawling back to his father to ask for more. Not repentant, mind you, but expectant; entitled. Titling this parable “The Prodigal Son” turns it into a tale of how not to be. It makes us feel better because surely w ...