You may remember the story Jesus told, that we call
"The Prodigal Son" (Luke 15: 1 - 3, 11 - 32).
A man had two sons. One day, the younger son demanded
that his father give him his inheritance immediately, not at the father's
death. The younger son then went off and spent all of it capriciously and
unwisely. The young man had gone off and lived a self-indulgent,
dissolute life. He was now alienated from the father (who represents God
in this parable), and ceased to love him. Didn't the father now have
every right to denounce this son? But, upon the younger son's later,
humble and repentant return home, the father forgave him and told the household
servants to prepare a great feast of celebration ---- because his lost son has
returned!
And then there is the elder brother. He is
fastidiously obedient to whatever his father wishes. But he is completely
under self-control and quite self-disciplined. However, when he hears of
the feast and fuss his father is making over the return of the "bad"
younger brother, he too becomes alienated from the father and refuses to join
in the feast his father is giving to celebrate the younger brother's return.
The lover of prostitutes is saved by his humble
return to the father, but the man of moral rectitude is still lost!
The older brother's problem seems to be the self-pride he takes in his
highly moral daily life. Unlike his brother, it is not his wrongdoing,
but his righteousness that may keep him from wanting to share in the father's
feast.
What is wrong with these two different ways of life, as
represented by the two sons? They represent the two ways to be our own
Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting one's
own course. The other way is by mindlessly just keeping rote moral laws
and being very, very good.
Most people think of sin as merely failing to keep
God's rules of conduct. But, Jesus' definition of sin goes beyond
that. Folks like the older brother believe that just by keeping all the
moral laws in our daily behavior, then we will have "rights".
God thus will owe us ---- there will be answers to our prayers, a good
life, and a ticket to heaven when we die. So, we do not need a Savior who
pardons us by giving free grace, for we will be our own Savior.
Jesus does not divide the world into the moral "good
guys" and the immoral "bad guys". He shows us that everyone
is dedicated to a project of self-salvation, to using God and others to get
power and control for ourselves. We are just going about it in different
ways. Even though both sons were wrong, nevertheless the father cares for
them and invites them both back into his love and to the feast. In the
view of Jesus, while everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is
called to recognize this and change. But, the prerequisite for receiving
the grace of God is to know you need it.
A man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of
moral mis-behaviors can be every bit as spiritually lost as the most
profligate, immoral person. Why? Senior Pastor Timothy Keller of
the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, has written: "Because, sin
is not just breaking the rules. It is putting yourself in the place of
God as Savior, Lord, and Judge, just as each son in the parable sought to
displace the authority of the father in that son's own life.
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These thoughts are brought to you by the CPC Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping that you will discover some personal
spiritual growth this Fall.
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