This weekend at Christ's Church of
Flagstaff I am preaching on the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15.
My main point is that followers of Jesus have to treat prodigal sons like the
Loving Father did. I heard a message by Reggie Joiner, at a conference called
Orange, several ago which inspired much of the content of this sermon. I also
read a book by Henri Nouwen called, The
Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, which influenced many of
my thoughts. You can check out the book here:
I would like to unpack a question
that arose in my preparation that I could not address in the time allotted for
my sermon. Why did the Older Brother respond to his brother’s return in the
manner in which he did? In my sermon I contrasted the attributes of the Loving
Father to those of the Older Brother. Everyone in their right mind would agree
that the Loving Father is the person we should all emulate in this parable, but
why do we find ourselves acting like Older Brothers? Why do we find churches
and other institutions full of Older Brothers?
The
attributes of the Older Brother are being preoccupied with themselves,
operating from a context of shame, throwing fits, criticizing Loving Fathers,
and turning off the lights on Prodigal Sons. Why do we find people who are calling
themselves Christians, but don’t display the attributes we find in Christ? Why
do we find ourselves, after decades of service to God, becoming judgmental and
critical? Here is how Nouwen articulates the issue in his book, “Not only did
the younger son, who left home to look for freedom and happiness in a distant
county, get lost, but the one who stayed home also became a lost man.
Exteriorly he did all the things a good son is supposed to do, but, interiorly,
he wandered away from his father. He did his duty, worked hard every day, and
fulfilled all his obligations but became increasingly unhappy and unfree” (pg.
69).
It is
so hard for many of us who have been living for Christ to admit that we have
become a resentful Older Brother. What we have to confront inside of our selves
is the reality that our obedience and duty have become a burden. In the name of
Christ we no longer serve with joy but rather with resentment toward those who
don’t keep the same standards we keep. We have never left home with lust for
things of this world, but we have become just as lost as our Younger Brothers
while we stayed home and tried to please our Loving Fathers.
We slip
into Older Brother thinking and attributes when we lose sight of the joy of
serving Christ and instead focus on comparing our service to everyone else’s
service. We who have become Older Brothers need to focus on Christ and not our own
behavior. We think by doing the right things we will please him; we do this
because it works in other areas of our lives. Older Brothers try to please
their parents, their school teachers, their friends, their spouse, and their
boss. We are people-pleasers who think of God as an authority figure in our life.
The reason we have to eradicate
Older Brother thinking is that it will kill our hearts from the inside out. There
is something in our nature as humans that seems to resent obligation and when
that obligation comes in the form of religion or God we will start to resent
him. Jesus talked about us when he said, “…these people honor me with their
lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teaching
are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are
holding on to the traditions of men.” Mark 7:6-7
So what can we do to start becoming
more like the Loving Father and less like the Older Brother? First, read the
parable of the workers in the vineyard found in Matthew 20:1-16. Take some time
to really process through your emotions when you think about this parable. Are
you bitter that God let’s those who live like hell on wheels and repent at the
end into the same Paradise he will welcome you into? Are you resentful that you
don’t have the courage to break the rules and “have a little fun”? Are you
rationalizing your Older Brother attitudes as you read this parable? To move
past Older Brother thinking we have to first admit that we struggle with it and
ask God to forgive us. It sound trite, but until you confront the brutal facts
you can’t move on to step two.
Step two: Spend time with Prodigal
Sons.
 |
| Which one are you? |
That should solve the problem. I
know it’s simple and sound sarcastic, it’s not. Most of the Older Brothers I
know have loved ones who are Prodigal Sons. They may email them stuff from Joyce
Meyers and Joel Osteen, but they don’t really spend time with them. They don’t
go to the places Prodigal Sons go. If you email Jesus stuff to people you haven’t
had lunch with in over a year you are most likely an Older Brother. I’m not
saying God can’t use email or Facebook to bring a Prodigal Son back, but the
usual pattern involves a Loving Father embracing them.
Remember step two: Spend time with
Prodigal Sons.
Older Brother thinking is the
biggest obstacle to my church and your church accomplishing our Christ given
mandate…Make Disciples. May we all start to display the attributes of the
Loving Father and repent from our tendency to become Older Brothers!
Comments?
