More Prodigal Thoughts

This image can be found here

Still on Luke 15:11-32.

I've been thinking a lot about the older brother these past few days.  It seems to me that he is as lost as his brother, though in a different way.

The younger brother took his inheritance, left home, squandered the inheritance, and ended up as someone's hired hand.  He "hit bottom," as we say in 12-Step language, and he turned back.  He didn't expect much, but he knew he had made a wrong turn.

The older brother, on the other hand. stayed on the farm.  He "worked like a slave," and "never disobeyed" a command.  In fact, he left home too; he didn't recognize himself as the heir, the beloved child of the father.  He thought he needed to be a slave.  He has squandered his inheritance, and made himself a hired hand.

Paul tells the Galatians that they have been adopted by God: "So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God" (Gal. 4:7).  He is urging them not to return to the economy of servitude, of debts and payments and rules that earn merit.  "You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters" (5:13); don't waste it!  Celebrate.

There's more than one way to waste God's love.  We can walk away in defiance, but the subtler (and probably more common) way is to insist on earning what God wants to give us in grace.  Such a posture works well for institutions that feed on feelings of guilt or duty, but it's not what Jesus came to bring us.

In my life I've been both brothers.  Both of them have a lot to learn.  I think the older brother has the harder task, because all around him people applaud his earnest service.  But the real inheritance eludes us as long as we think about earning.  The gift of God is infinitely greater than any wages.

And the goat?  That goat is yours anytime you ask.  It's up to you to go get it.  You are free.

Are you trying to earn God's love?  Let go.  Let God love you.  Enjoy the party!