We know the story. It is one of the popular ones that the Lord Jesus told. It is popularly called the parable of the prodigal son. However the man in the story had two sons. Granted, a greater part of the story is narrative of one son (as is this descriptive), it is evident that both sons did not understand the love of their father. I think it should be called the parable of the two sons. And the reason I think so is that the Father still has these two sons.
We have the younger son who feels under appreciated. He does not like the system of the father's house. He feels there is too much wealth in there and too little of personal wealth. He is not happy working for his father, giving so much of his time and resources only to get back so little in tangible terms. He feels he is advancing the course of his father's house at his own expense. He is not happy that many of his father's top servants have so many resources he does not have access to.
Of all the things going on in the house, it is the way money is being spent that matters most to him. His eyes are on the inheritance. Souls are being saved, people are being healed, a lot of charitable work is being done, but he keeps wondering 'how much does the father have?', 'how much do the servants have?', what is happening to all the money being made on a daily basis? How much was spent on this or that, and then he compares that to his pocket money and the amount spent for his last party with his friends. And he is angry.
He is angry at the servants. He is angry with his father. He is angry with his brother- he thinks his brother is gullible to keep serving and serving without any tangible personal wealth. He wants to get his own share of the wealth, and he wants it now. As far as he is concerned, he stands a better chance of living a good life, outside the house than in it. Anytime he is offended, he would leave the house for a few hours, or a day or two, spending that time with his friends, telling them all the things wrong with his father's house.
Do allow more directness since we are talking here about real people -people who are so angry with the church and church leaders. Who take every opportunity to throw stones at her, and them. Who feel that the money in God's house is too much. Maybe some of his servants in charge of certain aspects of his business have certain privileges that they don't have access to yet, and they are angry with the servants, angry with the other sons, and just want to leave the church.
........You find fault with the servants, you find fault with the father, you find fault with the whole system of worship, you believe your brother is gullible to just keep serving and serving without any tangible personal wealth. You have more faith in what you can do for yourself than what your father's house can do for you. You have more faith in yourself than you have in the church. You have left the church, and are using every opportunity in personal life and on social media to tell your friends all the imperfections of the father's house. You find it easy to throw stones at the church. You have many bad stories to tell- both real and rumored.
You are the prodigal son....
The father is God. He loves you. Whenever he looks at his whole estate with his heart. He does not see the wealth, he does not see the buildings, he does not see the servants, and he does not see the splendor. All he sees is you. My son, oh- my son! (What manner of love the Father has bestowed on us....). You are his inheritance, under construction. He is building you with blocks of character and the right spirit, buildings of sagacity and tenacity, perseverance and large heartedness....you are his real estate! But you are leaving....you have left the house, for some minor reason or the other.
The father is asking you to come back home, and sit at the table like a son, and serve because you love him. He is asking you to do it for him, not for the inheritance, not to outdo the servants, or your brother. He is asking you to make Him the reason for everything you do in His house. He is telling you to serve him not because of the work, but because of the relationship. He is telling you that all that he has belongs to you, and yet you are more to him than all that he has. He would demand many things from you, do this for me and do that for me, but it is not because he wants your service, it is because he wants you to be a part of what he is doing.
He has servants, who are serving without knowing him, but he wants you to serve him because none of his servants are heirs, the business does not belong to them- it belongs to you. He is asking you to believe in him as he believes in you. He is telling you that the house may not be perfect, but the father of the house is perfect. He is saying that the seemingly imperfect house has more to offer you than the seemingly perfect world. He is telling you because the head of the house is perfect, but the head of the world is not. He is telling you that if you can see the big picture, you will find the peace that can never be found outside. He is asking you to love him as he loves you, and that you will learn many things by leaving the house, but that the best part will be hidden from you. It is in the house you learn perfection. Perfection is not learned by being surrounded by ideals, it is learned by being surrounded by imperfections. He is asking you to come back home.
He is saying a day in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Ask Esau, he was a hunter and he went out daily to hunt game, but the blessing was in the house. And ask Jacob, he had his eyes on the inheritance and would scheme to get it, but all would fail until he would come to terms with God.....but that is another story. The Father is saying to you 'where you are staying is not good, come back home'. He is asking you to come back home. He is waiting for you to return.
He is asking you to come and sit in the house like a son and do what you do because of him and not because of anything else. There is nothing he will not give you. He may not give you now because he loves you, and sees what you do not see, but if you ask for it out of turn, he would give it to you to show you that he values you above all he has, that losing all his wealth cannot be compared to losing you. And when you have lost your way and you stumble back home, head bowed, he would still receive you.
Take your eyes off the money, put your eyes on me. Take your eyes of the materials, gaze upon Me. Keep giving, keep loving. These are my people, and this is my house. It is not complete, but I am building it, it is not perfect, but I am washing it, it is not ideal, but I love it. My house does not consist of things or money, it consists of people. It is the people in the church that matter to me, not the things. One day, the house will be perfect, and those who have stayed in it would laugh with me. You are missing out on what I'm doing for you. Come back home.
Would you?
The other son....
He is angry. He is angry because his father throws a party when the erring son returns home. He would have preferred that his father ignore or punish him for a while and then relegate him to a very junior position for his unruly behavior and greed, instead of celebrating his return with such flare and fanfare. He has served his father and gone on many errands for him, some of them difficult, but never has his return been greeted with such jamboree. He is sullen and angry as he tells his father this.
Here is a son fresh from the dirt, grateful to just be in God's house. You've been serving a long time now. He's just getting ready to give some fresh praise, not a familiar praise, but real heartfelt thanksgiving. You have your style of worship, and dancing, and singing. He is surprised at the embrace, and overwhelmed by it, he does not count himself worthy of the father's love, eternally grateful for it. You are comfortable in your service record and spiritual resume, to the point that you think God owes you now. He's not giving a 'you know, God is my ole time buddy', but a 'God is awesome, wow praise'. You've forgotten where he brought you from, and how he brought you out. Every meeting time, heaven knows what you are going to do...it's the same old measured praise. To be frank, heaven is bored with your familiarity, it's been a long time they really danced over there. It is heart music that moves them, and heart music is muted by a sense of entitlement.
The father loves you not because of what you are doing, but because you are his son. He loves what you are doing, but he loves you because you are his son. If you are faithful, he will love you, and if you are not faithful he will love you. When the two sons stand before their father, the greater question in his heart is sonship, not service, and he wants the greater question in your heart to be fatherhood, not service. Service is good, and has its reward. Those who have served from their hearts will find out at length and at the last day, that God is not unrighteous to forget their labor of love, and that he is a rewarder of they that diligently seek him. Everyone is accepted in the beloved, but not everyone will be given equal responsibility in the age to come. Thats where service counts.
However, God loves all His children because He is love, and if you approach God based on what you are doing for him, you will never understand what He has done for you. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! When two sons stand before the father the primary question should not be one of service, but one of sonship, when two Christian brothers meet, the primary question should not be one of service, or denomination, but one of fatherhood. You are missing out on the party going on inside the house. Go in and celebrate with your prodigal brother.
Is this a Christian brother? And is she a Christian sister? Is God his father? If so, embrace him. How large his church is, how many cars he has or does not have, how many jets, how much wealth he does or does not have, how many divorces, how much controversy surrounds him, how much make up surrounds her face, whether he is travelling around the world or not, whether the pastor likes her more, or whether his leg space is a one room apartment, are not the primary questions. If he is your brother, brother- embrace him, sit with him, eat with him, or her.
The father is asking you to open your heart, to your brothers and sisters. He is telling you that your personal race consists mainly of others. He is asking you not to run them over. There might indeed be a speck in his eye, but it is illogical to make removing it a prerequisite for embracing him- (there's a pun there). He is asking you to extend hands across denominational lines, and embrace your brother.
Would you?
Would we?
