Two sons. One leaves home, squanders his inheritance on reckless living and nearly starves before he wakes up and takes a chance on coming home. This son is easy for us to identify or to qualify - rebellious, inconsiderate, reckless, wild, foolish, lazy, self absorbed, and LOST. One son stays home, works hard, supports the family, tends the fields, kisses the babies and hugs the grandmothers. This son, too, is easy for us to identify or to qualify - loving, conscientious, considerate, hard working, supportive, caring, FOUND.
One father who loves two sons and sees beyond easy identification and past what glaringly meets one's eye. One father who sees into the heart of the boy and receives the pain the child brings, the mistakes the child has committed and remedies them with the miracle of grace. The Father defies and even challenges our identification of the sons. In fact, the father in essence sees both sons as lost. Both sons who are living mistake ridden lives and trying to do their own thing in their own way. One is committing the all too common mistake of pursuing a 'self focused' recklessness. Yet the other is pursuing a self focus all his own - a 'self focused' righteousness. In the end, they both fall short, because it is all about the self and all about pursuing life in their own way to their own ends. The only hope for them is to respond to the miracle of Grace that the father offers. Now, here is where it gets interesting!
In this story of self focused living, one son obviously sees the error of His ways and understands that he can make no claim on His father. No, he sees that he has caused his own pain and that he is responsible for his own mistakes. In fact, when he comes back home (to a father who by the way RUNS to meed him) he doesn't even expect to be treated like a child - the most he can hope for is a place in the servants quarters. And here is right where we see the miracle - the miracle of grace receives this sinner/child as a child of the king and restores him - forgives him and grants him the authority in the home that only a child of the home could have! He is restored because He came to the father broken and beaten - He came home and was received! After being received He was restored.
The other son however, the one we suspect should know better, comes against the father bearing a claim that is quite frankly impossible to bear and speculating on his brother's life in a way that reveals the sickness of his own heart. The one son has forgotten the grace of the Father in His own life and pursued a righteousness all his own. His father owes Him big time - how could he let this rebel back into the fold? Interestingly enough, Jesus leaves us hanging on how this son responds - we simply do not know. Will he stay focused in on his self righteous life or will he, like his brother, come to terms with grace and celebrate the things that the Father celebrates??
The glue that holds this story together is the miracle of grace! No matter where you and I are on our journey, God can and does make the most of our mistakes through His miracle of grace! Where are you? Are you on the side of self recklessness or self righteousness - both are wrong, both resist and reject grace and self righteousness actually resents grace. So, are you resisting, rejecting or resenting today? If so, join us this weekend and dare God to do for you what He is so good at doing for us all. You may be surprised!
Making the Most of this Life
Pastor Biz
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