Are You Ready To Join The Celebration?
Good Morning Friends,
The definition of prodigal has multiple meanings. We have come to associate it with all the aspects of one of the most well-known parable stories in the Bible. It is both characterized by the wasteful and demanding son but also the lavish father. The story is traditionally referred to as “The Prodigal Son”, but this title is not found in the Gospel. The story might be called the “Lost Son,” to parallel the stories of the “Lost Sheep” and the “Lost Coin.” But it also might be titled, “The Two Sons,” for in the end it is the resentful, envious and narrow-minded older son that had not had a change in the direction of his life which the Prodigal Son literally demonstrates. The story of the lost son is the most complicated of the three and takes the longest to tell. The first two are about things we own and the third, the story of the lost son, is about relationships… something we cannot and should not try to own… though some may try. Here is the story of a son that withdrew from his father’s love, was thoughtless, and wasted what the father had given him and violated his father’s moral values. This is an in your face story for the Pharisees, but I also think in time it is a prayer for Gentiles…. a prayer for those at war to return home. Here we too can either relate to the lost son, the resentful older son or the father. We too are forced to face our sins and be encouraged to come to the conclusion that we can be part of the coming home celebration. All we need to do is to say, like the lost son, that we are sorry, that we were wrong and ask to be forgiven. The door is open. The light is on. Are You Ready To Join The Celebration?
Scripture: Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”‘ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'”
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (NRSV)
Message: In today’s scripture from Luke we read about the story of the lost son, the prodigal son. It is preceded in the same chapter with stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin all in response to the Pharisees grumbling and growling about Jesus eating with sinners. Indeed, Jesus did love to spend time with sinners…eating with them and treating them as old friends and He made no apologies to the religious leaders for doing so. In each story something is lost. In each story something is found and in each story we are asked to come and celebrate. Jesus and the angels in heaven do love to celebrate, and especially so when a life is the focus of what is found. The story of the lost son is the most complicated of the three and takes the longest to tell. The first two are about things we own and the third, the story of the lost son, is about relationships…something we cannot and should not try to own… though some may try. Here is the story of a son that withdrew from his father’s love, was thoughtless, and wasted what the father had given him and violated his father’s moral values. This is an in your face story for the Pharisees. They can either relate to the lost son, the resentful older son or the father. They are forced to face their sin and encouraged to come to the conclusion that they too can be part of the coming home celebration if they would but say, like the lost son, that they were sorry, that they were wrong and ask to be forgiven. Sometimes I think about heaven being my true home. At other times I picture my earthly home, which is modest by Naples standards, being raised up in the clouds. From time to time I will also imagine Jesus greeting me at my own door when I come home from a trip. Amazing what we can imagine. In today’s scripture and devotional we are invited to imagine coming to the celebration. We are asked to decide where our heart is, where our true home is and what it will be like to celebrate in the joy of coming home.
Pray that God lavishly share His abundant and sufficient grace on all of us. Pray that the goal of our love would be to share it. Pray that we find that which has been lost in our lives. Pray that we remember the joy of returning home. Pray we have an attitude of gratitude. Pray we are called home to the joy of every sin confessed, of every relationship transformed when we respond in the affirmative to Christ’s invitation from heaven to come celebrate. Pray we have compassion for the lost for we too have been lost. Pray we put forth the effort needed to reach the lost in all walks of our lives so we might be found. Pray we be persistent in the quest. Pray we truly believe that people who are spiritually lost are too valuable to give up on. Pray we repent when our compassion, effort and persistence wanes. Pray we never get disconnected. Pray we never lose our identity. Pray we discover in us a commitment to love. Pray we experience the joy and value of finding the lost. Pray we let God get His hands on us and bring us home.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 