Tim Frodsham. 14 August 2024
Our mission president asked all the missionaries to read and consider the story of the prodigal son before our last zone conference. My wife and I pondered the parable of these lost sons throughout the week. A focal point in considering this parable was Elder Hollands “The Other Prodigal” in a conference address some years ago.
The Other Prodigal (churchofjesuschrist.org)
He points out that we are all prodigals, and as such all need to be guided carefully back to the fold. I would like to ponder with you the faithful son, and his circumstance. I have heard many sermons that laud the return of the prodigal son, then proceed to lambast the faithful son for his jealousy and small mindedness. I believe that every word uttered by the Savior, especially when recounting His parables, means something, and how the faithful son fits into the Savior’s narrative is worth careful consideration. Let’s take a look at the “Other Prodigal”. First, we have all read the response of the father recorded in Luke 15, as he welcomed his son home:
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
We tend to gloss over the father’s interaction with the faithful son. Emphasis is mine:
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
At home, there was a party going on. The family was there, the servants knew all about it, the friends of the prodigal were in attendance, based on the narrative, and were celebrating in the house. The party had been going on for some time. After all, it takes time to “kill the fatted calf”, send invitations and prepare a feast. The only person not invited to the party was the faithful son. He spent the day in the fields, doing as his father asked, and only learned of the party as he returned from his labors for the day and heard the noise coming from the house.
The father sent invitations to sundry and all to celebrate the return of his prodigal son, but he sent no one to invite the faithful son. I do not think that was an omission in the parable. I believe the Savior chooses every word, and though His words, as recorded in the New Testament have been handed down and translated over two millennia, there is nothing to indicate that the parable of the prodigal son was changed in any substantial way over the centuries. The fatted calf was killed, family and friends invited, and a party was in full swing, all while the faithful son was doing the will of his father in the fields. There is another lesson to be learned here, a lesson for the 99 who remain in the fold.
I was assisting with a youth conference one year and noted with interest the lineup of speakers at the conference. All were prodigals who had a profound story to tell of wandering from the covenant path, and as the prodigal son, when ‘they came to themselves’, started their journey home. There was no one among the speakers at that conference who had quietly remained faithful throughout their lives. It is rare, even in the church, that the quiet faithful are celebrated.
I think of the mothers who chose to remain home, doing their most important work with their children, and then their grandchildren. They are certainly not celebrated by the culture of today. Consider the mockery of “Trad Wives” from “the great and spacious building”, or in modern terms, social media. There is a quote that pops up from time to time: “Well behaved women seldom make history”. Those “well behaved mothers” who go about quietly nurturing their family and serving the Lord are making the most important kind of history.
Remaining faithful is not a popular thing. At times, not even in the Church. That was another lesson the Savior was teaching as he recounted the experience of the faithful son. His blessings and recognition, the only ones that matter, are with the father. “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”
The night before that zone conference, we had, over for dinner, the sister missionaries, and a family whose father had been converted and baptized just a few months before. As we discussed this parable, we pointed out that there was much celebration when he was baptized, but as time wears on and he settles into faithful service in the ward, the party ends. Much of what he will do, as with all faithful members of the church, will not be immediately recognized. What is important is that the Savior knows, cherishes his ever-faithful servants, and the reward will come in His good time and at His good pleasure.
In his October 2023 discourse “In the Path of Their Duty” Elder Bednar quoted President Hunter:
“If you feel that much of what you do this year or in the years to come does not make you very famous, take heart. Most of the best people who ever lived weren’t very famous either. Serve and grow, faithfully and quietly.”
He continues, italics are his: “A statement in the Book of Mormon by Samuel the Lamanite best summarizes my feelings for you.
‘Behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes. …
Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth.’”
The faithful son may never be celebrated with a “fatted Calf Party” but he is no less precious in the Father’s eyes. “In the path of his duty” he will be blessed as only God can bless: “All that I have is yours”
In this same discourse, Elder Bednar quoted extensively J Ruben Clark from a 1947 address, the centennial of the Saints arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. He was speaking of those in the last wagon: “To these humble souls, great in faith, great in work, great in righteous living, great in fashioning our priceless heritage, I humbly render my love, my respect, my reverent homage.”
Elder Bednar also celebrated those faithful who continue steadfast in the work “They of the last wagon, all who are no less serviceable, and you who today are pressing forward in the path of your duty are the strength of the Savior’s restored Church. And as the Lord has promised, ‘all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ.’”
The message of the other prodigal in the Lord’s parable is powerful. We all stumble, we all have doubts that what we are doing makes any difference. It does, the Lord celebrates the quiet faithful. “Thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”
Latter-Day Saints 