Kirk Reflections 20th October 2024.

Rev. Frank Ribbons brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

Frank will be joining us for 2 weeks while Erick is on Study Leave.

We’ll be looking at two parables of Jesus, although there may be a referral to other parables as well.

The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)

This week, we will be looking at the Parable of the Lost Son, or as I knew it growing up, the parable of the Prodigal Son. That latter title is rather odd because it gives no real clue as to the point of the parable and makes it sound as though the son was simply a very generous benefactor.

Before I knew what “prodigal” meant I thought it actually meant selfish and thoughtless, which is how the parable portrays him.

I like looking at passages we know well. It’s the stuff that we know back to front that can often deliver surprises which we then remember, perhaps because we can link what we have learned to a story we know well. It is easy to take the well-known stuff for granted and therefore pay it less attention. This happens across the board in all sorts of situations for us. Often these times can surprise us.

I am from Perth, so I support their football team in a very moderate understated way. Being from a small town and of underdog kind of status, I never expect them to win. So when in 2021 they won the Scottish Cup and the League