If you've been a
Christian for more than a couple of days then you've probably heard of the
parable of the prodigal son, and if you haven't read it yourself don't worry,
I'll post it here so take a few minutes to read it, and even if you've read it
before read it again, its only about 21 verses.
Luke
15:11-32 NKJV
Then
He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his
father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So, he divided
to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all
together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with
prodigal living.
But
when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began
to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,
and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled
his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him
anything.
“But
when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my
father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your
hired servants.”’
“And
he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his
father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your
sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But
the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him and
put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here
and kill it and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive
again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
“Now
his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he
heard music and dancing. So, he called one of the servants and asked what these
things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has
received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
“But
he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded
with him. So, he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have
been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet
you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as
soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots,
you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “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.’”
Now as the title
suggests, I will not be focusing on the entire parable, I will only be focusing
on the road to the Father's house and based off of that, I'd like to highlight
a couple of things.
1. It's The
Same Road; You see, It’s the same road the prodigal son took out of the
Father's house that he took on his way back; it's the same road that leads to
the Father's house that also leads away from it. So, for those of us on earth,
that are traveling down that path on our way back to the Father, what does that
mean for us? Since it's the same road that leads to and from the Father's
house.
First, on that road
we're going to meet a lot of people, we need to careful about the people we
decide to travel with. That we meet them on the road to the father's house does
not mean that're on their way to the father's house, they could be on their way
out. So, ask yourself, "what direction is this person facing?" And
you know the scary part? the prodigal son looked better on his way out of the
Father's house than he did on his way back, so appearances may
deceive us. On his way out he had all the trappings of the father's
house, the goods, the looks, the whole package. He could probably quote the
Father profusely having lived with Him. But on his way back he only had a
humble heart crying out for help from the Father - he looked nothing like the
Father's son.
Secondly, it should
also serve as a heart check for us. That we're on the road to the Father's
house does not mean we're actually facing the Father's house - so ask yourself,
what direction am I facing? No one thinks that they're the on their way out,
and since this is not a physical road but a spiritual one, we need to check our
hearts - Have we started taking ownership of the gifts and the trappings
of the Father's house? Remember, these gifts were from the Father, they were
not given or collected from the devil. On the way out of the Father's house the
prodigal son was an owner, but on his way back, he was returning with the heart
of a steward.
2. Forever
Stewards; continuing from the last point - if you are born again, then
welcome sibling! By virtue of new birth, we have become sons of God and as sons
we have an inheritance in Christ, but by definition of the word inheritance,
you only come into ownership after your parent (the owner of the goods) dies,
but what happens when person does not die? You see, we are sons of a
Father that'll never die, so what does that mean for us as sons that
have an inheritance? It means that even though we'll always have access to
everything the Father has, because He has made them available by His mercy,
it'll always be owned by Him - we'll never be owners. And this is the best way
really, this way all sons have access to everything without any one person
laying claim and denying others access.
But seeing as we're
humans, and we love recognition and ownership, this has
repercussions for us. You see many of us don't mind being stewards for a
while, but after some time something starts itching within us to claim
ownership. We want to put our name on things and people and results, even if
they're from God, and so also did the prodigal son. We don't know how long he
lived in his Father's house happy to be a son who had access to all the father had. He wasn't always disgruntled, there was a time when he was happy to live
off the Father and enjoyed being known as the Father's son, but after a while
he wanted goods with his name on some of it. He wasn't even greedy - he didn't
want it all, just that which was due him.
It's time for us to
stop and take a look at our lives. Have we started putting our names on the
things that belong to God, including ourselves? Or are we itching to put our
names on the things of God? Things like this generally start small, like
wanting recognition for the things God does through us and being annoyed that
no one is giving it to us. Again, I'm going to say that no one wants to think
they're facing away from the Father's house, but some of us are, but if we let
the Word of God do its work in us, there's hope. There's always hope. Maybe we
haven't done a full 180 yet, maybe we're just beginning to turn and have
only turned 20 degrees, cry out to the Savior, His grace is sufficient, His mercy is always available,
and His blood is capable.
3. Let Them
Go; Finally, let people go - even if they're our kids. Sometimes we think
it is virtue to hold down people who want to leave the house of God by all
means necessary, but even the Father let the son go. This doesn't mean that we
don't help people, to quote the book of Jude verse 23 "save others by
snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even
the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." but you can only help those that
know they need help.
The Father didn't
stop the prodigal son from leaving, in fact He gave him exactly what he asked
for and watched him leave. He didn't go and drag him back when he started living recklessly, He didn't run to him when famine hit the city, He
didn't go to him when he was feeding swine, He only ran to him after he came to
his senses and turned towards the Father's house. At every other point on this
journey, before he came to his senses going to him (the prodigal son) may have
looked like help, but it wouldn't have been real help, because before he came
to his senses, he probably thought that all he needed was more goods, not to
return home.
Imagine how the Father must have felt, imagine what must have been said about Him when His son was living a reckless life. He would have been the brunt of endless jokes, but He endured because he had his eyes on the real price, a changed heart for His son, not just his presence or good behavior.
May the Holy Spirit
guide us to give people the help they truly need, not the help that makes us
feel good. Amen.
4. Take Advantage Of Everything In The Father’s House: I find this to be the problem, or one of the problems of the elder brother. He’s in the Father’s house but not really enjoying the things of the father. He’s working for the father and just assumes that his receiving from the Father would be automatic, so instead of asking the Father for the things he wants and needs, he’s instead toiling away and waiting for the father to give the things he wants - without his asking.
But Jesus has told us that we should ask, and we will receive, seek and we will find, knock and the door will be opened to us – or as the book of James put it, you have not because you ask not. What you don’t ask for you’re not likely to receive, and if you spend your life not receiving but instead being a spectator of life where you watch everyone else receive the things that you yourself want, it won’t take long for bitterness to begin to take root in our hearts.
Maybe he didn’t ask because he thought the Father
wouldn’t grant him his request, and a lot of us are like this, we think we
should only go to God with serious or “pious” things, and we feel guilty about
asking God for the things we’d like – please throw that guilt away – open your
mouth and ask. The Father delights in granting us our hearts desires – He
will not give you stone instead of bread or snake instead of fish.
