Extending Hope to Church Members
And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Luke 15:31, 32, NKJV.
What a tragedy to spend all your life in the father's house while never understanding his heart. Even worse, what a travesty to spend all one's life in church and never coming to grips with the Father's love and grace.
With the elder son we have returned to the parable of the coin earlier in Luke 15. Shiny and nice, the coin looks good on the outside. But it is lost. And being a coin it doesn't have any spiritual sense. Impressed with its own outward appearance, it doesn't even know that it is lost. But it is still in the house, the church, the synagogue.
Here Jesus returns to the Pharisees in His audience of verses 1 and 2. Speaking to all those listening to Him, He provided the parable of the lost sheep for the commoners (average sinners) who knew they were lost but didn't know what to do about it. He presented the story of the lost son to represent the listening tax collectors, rebels at heart who were living it up on their ill-gotten gain. But the scribes and Pharisees and other "good" church members get two doses: the parable of the senseless coin and the parable of the church-going, hardworking person who appears to have everything in order, but who is totally lost, yet doesn't know it.
The parable closes with the older son, who doesn't have the slightest idea why God loves a party. He is feeling critical of others and sorry for himself. Yet he could have had a party. All he had to do was ask. The tragedy of the older sons of life is that they never understand the Father. They just sit in church and grumble--even about grace.
The story closes with the father going out into the dark to see if he can't reach the heart of the older son, searching for him just as the woman did for her coin.
The most frustrating part of the parable is that we don't know what happened. That's because it hasn't ended. It's me and you who are out there on that dark evening. And God is asking us if we are going to continue to have the mind of a hired servant or are finally going to become genuine sons and daughters.
And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Luke 15:31, 32, NKJV.
What a tragedy to spend all your life in the father's house while never understanding his heart. Even worse, what a travesty to spend all one's life in church and never coming to grips with the Father's love and grace.
With the elder son we have returned to the parable of the coin earlier in Luke 15. Shiny and nice, the coin looks good on the outside. But it is lost. And being a coin it doesn't have any spiritual sense. Impressed with its own outward appearance, it doesn't even know that it is lost. But it is still in the house, the church, the synagogue.
Here Jesus returns to the Pharisees in His audience of verses 1 and 2. Speaking to all those listening to Him, He provided the parable of the lost sheep for the commoners (average sinners) who knew they were lost but didn't know what to do about it. He presented the story of the lost son to represent the listening tax collectors, rebels at heart who were living it up on their ill-gotten gain. But the scribes and Pharisees and other "good" church members get two doses: the parable of the senseless coin and the parable of the church-going, hardworking person who appears to have everything in order, but who is totally lost, yet doesn't know it.
The parable closes with the older son, who doesn't have the slightest idea why God loves a party. He is feeling critical of others and sorry for himself. Yet he could have had a party. All he had to do was ask. The tragedy of the older sons of life is that they never understand the Father. They just sit in church and grumble--even about grace.
The story closes with the father going out into the dark to see if he can't reach the heart of the older son, searching for him just as the woman did for her coin.
The most frustrating part of the parable is that we don't know what happened. That's because it hasn't ended. It's me and you who are out there on that dark evening. And God is asking us if we are going to continue to have the mind of a hired servant or are finally going to become genuine sons and daughters.
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