Wednesday, March 9

Luke 15:25-30

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours, who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

In his book, “The Prodigal God”, author Tim Keller tells the following story.

“Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. So he took it to his king and said, “My lord, this is the greatest carrot I have ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” The king was touched and discerned the man’s heart, so as he turned to go the king said, “Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all.” And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king’s court who heard all of this. And he said, “My! If that’s what you get for a carrot – what if you gave the king something better?” So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.”

Like the nobleman in Keller’s story, the older brother in Jesus’ parable does the right things for the wrong reasons. He serves his father because he assumes that the father’s love for him is conditional upon his obedience. Therefore he also assumes that if he serves and obeys his father – he will be rewarded accordingly. He has fundamentally misunderstood the love of his father.

Earlier in Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep “in the open field” to search for one lost sheep. When the shepherd finds the single lost sheep, Jesus says he “calls his friends and neighbors together” to have a celebration. To me this is one of Jesus’ most clever and surprising stories. I think Jesus is catching his listeners off guard here – and here’s why. I think Jesus is saying, “What shepherd in his right mind would leave 99 sheep in the open field – where wild animals and thieves are abundant – just to go look for one lost lamb?” Think about it. Wouldn’t the prudent thing be to simply to realize that one got away and was probably already dinner for a pack of hungry wolves – to simply cut your losses and go home with 99% of your inventory intact? Why risk anything else? And furthermore, why would any self-respecting shepherd throw a party when he finds ONE sheep?

I think Jesus is using a kind of irony to make his point. I think he’s telling us that while none of us would be foolish enough to leave 99 sheep to look for just one – that God is exactly that “foolish.” He’s saying that every single one of God’s sheep is of inestimable and irreplaceable value to him – not because of what they do for him, not for their service to him, but just because they are HIS.

This is what the older brother struggles to accept. He thinks his value to his father is based on his obedience and service – this is why he thinks he deserves more than his younger brother – who has failed to obey and serve their father. But he is wrong. His value to his father is not based on how well he performs! His value is based on the father’s love for him simply because he is his son.

For those of us with “older brother tendencies” – this is hard to accept. We want to be valued based on how well we perform! We want to deserve what we get! And yet, all the while, we fear that we aren’t performing well enough and that therefore we are not worthy of love. To us older brothers I think Jesus would say something like this, “There’s nothing you can do to make me love you any more than I do right now – and there’s nothing you can do to make me love you any less than I do right now. So relax! Stop trying so hard and just let me love you as my child!”

Brian Coffey