It's Good to be Found

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

When we hear about the older brother at the end of this parable I suppose we could respond in one of two ways.  We might be put off by the older brother, understanding God’s forgiveness and grace, or maybe in an honest moment, we might say “yea, I identify with that older brother just a bit.”  I would dare say the more we’ve grown up in the church, and the more we’ve been brought up in a Christian family, the more tempted we are to identify with this older brother.  Maybe you’re thinking “okay I know it’s good that the father forgives him, but couldn’t he do a little penance first?  You know maybe make him work in the fields for a few weeks, and just feed him some bread and water for a while, and then eventually allow him back into the good graces of our family.  I mean after all, he really blew it big time.  Shouldn’t there be some kind of punishment?  He doesn’t deserve all this royal treatment.  What about me?  I’ve been here all along.  I’m the good one.” 

Do we sometimes slip into that same false notion as Christians?  The “I’m the good one” mentality.  I’m the one who’s always gone to church.  I’m the one who sings on the worship team.  I’m the one who went to all the bible studies.  Like we’ve somehow arrived and we should have some sort of say as to who is deserving of God’s grace.  Of course what I just wrote is an impossibility.  If any of us are deserving of His grace, than it’s not grace we are talking about.  You can’t deserve grace.  Grace is given when we are not deserving.  God’s grace is scandalous.  It defies all earthly rules and conventions.  The economy of Gods boundless grace can surprise and even offend us sometimes in its extravagance.  Haddon Robinson says it best, "With Him the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is always unspeakable; and the peace passes understanding. There is no grudging in God’s goodness. He does not measure His goodness by drops like a druggist filling a prescription. It comes upon in floods.”

I’m afraid the mentality of the elder brother, and I think a lot of the Pharisees that were there, and maybe a few church folk today, is that God has a limited pie of his love and grace.  Maybe the older brother was concerned about all the attention lavished on the younger son, because he didn’t think he would get the same attention from his father.  But the father dispels that and says “you are always with me.  All that I have is yours.”  From our Heavenly Father’s perspective it’s like He’s saying “All my love, all my forgiveness, all my grace, it’s all yours too.”  Our God has enough love grace and forgiveness for everyone who will seek it. 

The story is told by Ernest Hemingway of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained to the point of breaking. Finally the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “DEAR PACO, MEET ME IN FRONT OF THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE AT NOON. ALL IS FORGIVEN. I LOVE YOU. YOUR FATHER.”  The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office, 800 “Pacos” showed up. 

Sounds like Paco is a pretty familiar name in Madrid.  Sounds even more like of lot of guys desiring the love and forgiveness of their father.  And with our Heavenly Father it’s not just 800.  It’s not even 8 billion.  It’s all mankind for all time, and He offers that forgiveness and grace through the person and work of His son Jesus Christ who was telling this parable.  The Pharisees were in that crowd, and they really seemed to struggle with this sort of message.  They really thought God’s love should be doled out to those who earn it.  They had a whole list of extra-biblical rules and regulations on top of the already existing law to get you there.  But all it did in the end was to make following God burdensome and nearly impossible.  That’s not how God wants us thinking at all.  He’s our gracious loving Heavenly Father, and He’s much more interested in our following Him, than following a bunch of manmade rules.  When we stray from Him He longs for our return, and never forget, that like the prodigal son, we can never go so far away that we cannot find our way back to His love and grace.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for Your love and grace in my life.  I thank you that in those times when I’ve strayed, You have welcomed me back with open arms, and You forgive my sins when I repent.  I thank you for Your overwhelming goodness.  Amen.