Sometimes you can’t leave a passage of Scripture. God has more to teach you so He brings you back to it.
I thought I’d finished my blog series on the parable of the prodigal son (here are the first, second, third, and fourth posts), but the Lord had other plans!
I had the privilege of preaching this past Sunday at Shalom Ministries (thanks for the invitation, Pastor Tony Vento!) and because that parable was on my mind so much, I turned the blog material into a sermon. I hope it worked!
After the church service ended, Dan Jelinek, the associate pastor, posed a question to me: “Why do you think the father never gave the older son a party?” Good question!
I’d mentioned in the message how the lack of any party formed the basis of the son’s complaint against his dad. From the son’s perspective, his father was neglectful, biased, mean, or stingy. But I didn’t deal with the father’s point of view.
Pastor Dan answered his own question. He said that the father didn’t want the son to feel that he’d earned a party, that his dad owed him a celebration.
I agree with Pastor Dan; that was the mentality of the older son. Consider his assertion in Luke 15:29: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you.” Who made the boy a slave? He wasn’t a servant; he was a son, but he acted as though he was an employee or worse.
No doubt the father picked up on his son’s attitude. He noticed his dedication to work but worried that the son was mistaking the purpose of work. It wasn’t meant to earn favor with the father. Work is a way of caring for someone you love. Relationship comes first; then labor.
Sad to say but both sons had this worker mentality. When the prodigal ran out of money, he got a job (vss. 14-15). Slopping pigs wasn’t his idea of a good time, but he had to do something (vs. 16). When it dawned on him that his dad’s employees were faring so much better than he was, he reasoned that he could work for his father (vss. 17-19).
The prodigal son rehearsed his speech and repeated it when he met his dad (vs. 21). Well, not exactly. He didn’t meet his father; his dad ran to greet him (vs. 20). And the son didn’t get to finish his speech (vs. 21). His father interrupted him before he could ask for a job (vss. 22-24).
Both sons had a worker relationship with their father. But the father’s treatment of each revealed his heart of grace. He threw a party for one who never expected it and did not ask for it. And he reminded the other one that he could have celebrated whenever he wanted to (vs. 31). It all depends on grace, the generous heart of the father.
What is your mindset like? How do you view God? Do you feel like you have to earn His approval, that your relationship with the Lord hinges on your good efforts? Or do you enjoy His grace? As Dallas Willard wrote, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”
You can’t earn grace; and you don’t have to.
Jesus’ parable presses the issue–learn who the Father is! And enjoy His presence.
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