This younger son is working in a spiritually unclean environment that is completely cutting him off from his own people.
Why was this young man alone?
Wasted his money (v.13) – American theologist view
Famine in the land (v.14) – Russian theologist view
No one gave him anything (v.16) – East African theologist view
There are a lot of reasons we find ourselves alone, far from home, in the metaphorical pig pen.
THE LOVE OF THE FATHER
In his mind, this isolated young man has lost the right to be considered the son of his father. And yet, what happens? The moment his father sees him, he runs to embrace him.
Dignity - When he sees his son he is "filled with love and compassion.: He doesn't see a shameful loser; he sees his son.
Proximity - He runs to his son. He embraces him. Despite the fact that he was probably filthy working in a pig pen and walking dusty roads for weeks, the father gets close.
Hospitality - He throws the son a feast. The fattened calf is an expensive luxury for special occasions, and yet he welcomes him in.
Even Unity - When this son left home he implied his father was better off dead. And yet look what his father calls him in verse 24: "This son of mine.: The divisions the son created fall away in the father's love.
The father heals his son's isolation in every possible way. Why? Because his son is family.
The distinctive of God's family: grace.
No matter who you are or what you've done, you belong.
THE OLDER SON
The son wasn't necessarily being immoral. He was just being bad with his money. If that's true, then the older brother's accusation about prostitutes is just slander.
The younger son, isolated and alone, is given dignity and hospitality by his father. His father chooses proximity and unity with him, despite his past choices. That is the distinctiveness of this family. The father's love and grace defines this family's identity. But this older brother wants nothing to do with it.
If this is a family defined by love and grace, than in this moment the older brother has become a prodigal son as well.
Until we are willing to set aside our indignation, to give up our "right to be right,: until we experience the unity Maron talked about two weeks ago, we cannot become the irresistible movement of love that can heal our isolated world.
FAMILY
Dignity, hospitality, unity, proximity, and now family. These concepts are both a call to action for the church and a call to trust for those of us who are isolated ourselves.
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'You Were Made for More' because God created you ON purpose FOR a purpose. This is the vision of Grace Church, led by Pastor Barry Rodriguez and based in Indianapolis, IN.
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