But stories in the gospel of Luke are not just stories are
they? Many of them cut right into the hearts
of our own lives and histories. I have
known too many marriages that began with a sacred covenant to establish a home,
centered in the very plans of God. But
time, and circumstance, and the building of bad choice on top of bad choice, occurs
until that home is forsaken. Not all
these marriages end in divorce. But many
languish on in the abandoned homes of the mind, heart, and all too often bodies
of those who should have never wandered away in the first place. And so rationalization becomes our greatest
enemy. As the prodigal son would reason
you only live once, so why not enjoy this life to the fullest? So the components of two who have been made
to be one flesh reason, that they are free to explore their own needs in the
arms or hearts of another, and somehow this is something that is “not” all that
bad. And rationalization is used to
ignore the pain we cause. Used again to
ignore that we play a role in the dissolution of another’s marriage, telling
ourselves, we would never treat a spouse that way, or justify them leaving,
while this is exactly what goes on in our own experiences and we blind to them
by choice. And we make ourselves the
damaged, the unworthy. And Satan need
not torture us with lies, when the truth of our lives is more than ample ammunition.
So has home been lost to us forever? It is what our enemy would have us
believe. It is what the “normal”
response to cause-and-effect would seem to dictate. What hope is there for the damaged? What home would ever welcome back the damaged
under its graces? We do not deserve a
home. We have abandoned it, lied to it,
forsaken it. That was done to us. That was done by us. And we remain the damaged. This is the ultimate state of the prodigal
son in the gospel parable of Christ Himself.
This is where sin leads, all sin, any sin. We need to truly understand the depths to
which this unfortunate sinner had slid before we can truly understand the point
of this parable. Compare it to your own
life. Find the common ground between you
and the prodigal and begin to understand the entirety of the story. Luke continues this revelation in his gospel
letter to his friend about what we believe and why.
He picks up with Jesus speaking in chapter 15 beginning in
verse 11 saying … “And he said, A certain man had two
sons: [verse 12] And the younger of them said to
his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he
divided unto them his living. [verse 13] And not
many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey
into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” Home already had wealth. Home should have already had
fulfillment. There was rewarding work
there for many who lived there. A son
would have been like a prince in that home.
Taught to manage the affairs of a sprawling home or estate with much
animals, land, paid servants, etc.. The
Father would have been like a king there.
His rule would be law, as all the wealth started with him, and his own
connection to our God. So while the sons
would live a life second only to the father, for this son, that life was not
good enough. Chefs, and masseuse, and
maids, and butlers, staff of every variety to wait upon you, do your laundry,
and treat you as the prince you truly are.
All of it, not good enough. There
was still a hunger in this son, which could not be fulfilled in wholesome
living.
But why grant his request?
Why would a wise father, allow a son to leave with the blessing of much
wealth, knowing what was sure to happen to it?
Could not have God simply ended this parable short, by telling the
rebellious son, sorry kid, you are going to make bad choices, spend money
foolishly, ruin your life, and wind up eating with pigs, lusting after how good
the pigs had it. That is your future if
you leave. Why not instead settle down
with a good wife I could help you choose?
Why not find a heart that will be forever true to your own? Is not fidelity, loyalty, humility, and
beauty worth more to you than any “variety” you may encounter? Grow a family instead of a streak of self-destruction.
Find a wife who would forever look only to your heart for fulfillment, than a
woman only interested in the pleasures of a moment, with no real thought of you
after that. The father could have said
all this, but does not seem to. Instead
he quietly puts the affairs and wealth in order and passes it to his princely
son. The father breaks his own heart to
let his son make his own choices. Love
cannot be mandated. Love must be chosen. Or it is not love at all.
So the son leaves, and finds exactly the lifestyle he had always
imagined. And he falls into a literally
riotous way of living. Drinking, drugs
(such as they were back then), hookers, orgies, a total excursion to fill his
body with all manner of licentiousness.
To no end, to no purpose, only to live for the moment in front of him. And damage takes up the mantle that home can
no longer ever provide. We have left the
wholesome for the wicked imaginations of the heart, only to find those
imaginations can now become real to us.
Money enables it. But money does
not do, anything the imagination has not first conceived of. Money becomes a tool of evil, because choice
has already determined where it will be spent, and wasted. And in the self-deception of anyone who has
left what is intended to be wholesome, for something else, damage creeps in and
destroys the desire for what we know is better, and what is right. Damage perverts us. Damage twists us into a creature who prefers
the night, who prefers the unusual, the different, the something else. Home is not only gone for us; it is barely a
memory for us.
Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in
that land; and he began to be in want. [verse 15] And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine. [verse 16] And
he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and
no man gave unto him.” Time to
hit rock bottom. First the money runs
out. Evil often has a high price tag. And damage deludes us into thinking that
spending to attain our desires is a good idea, even if we stop eating, or lose
everything in the process. But after
already losing all the money, the unpredictable hits. A famine.
No one could have seen that coming.
But any fair weather friends you might have made in your evil
wanderings, are now more concerned about feeding themselves, than they are about
some formerly rich schmuck, whose only imagination was ever more perverted each
time they encountered the boy. So the
best this former prince can do, is to get a job feeding pigs. Kosher ideas would prevent him from touching
pigs, let alone feeding them. But it gets
worse. He is feeding pigs food he is not
allowed to eat himself. He is now
literally starving to death in front of pigs he has to maintain from that same fate. Here is where the damage has led him to. Here is where every sin leads.
Jesus now continues in verse 17 saying … “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants
of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! [verse
18] I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, [verse 19] And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one
of thy hired servants.” A rare moment
of clarity dawns upon the brain of the damaged.
Home is better. It always
was. Even in the times of great want and
need, the wholesome is always better than the perverted. Faithful love is always better, than fleeting
lust. The son now realizes the magnitude
of what he has done. His sin now lies
naked before his own eyes. He has
damaged himself. He has sinned against
God, not just his father. He has
destroyed his life and turned himself into something less than pigs. He now only aspires to be a hired hand, a
servant in his father’s home once again.
No more the prince, as he has forsaken that honor, just a field hand
would do nicely, at least the hired servants eat bread, they have always had
more than enough to eat. But while he
remembers that fact now, he never noticed its value when it was right in front
of him. Becoming a servant, that is
justice, or perhaps more justice than he even deserves. But this is the limits of his hope based upon
who he has become, who he has allowed his choices to turn him in to.
Jesus continues in verse 20 saying … “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him.” Here is
where all of our ideas about ourselves are broken upon the anvil of God’s
love. We do not deserve it. And so we cannot fathom why God would love us
with the passion He does. We have done
nothing to earn it, and in fact, everything to run away from it. We have insisted upon our own wisdom, and
left His home. We have insisted upon our
own wicked ideas, and forsaken the wholesome for the perverted. We are damaged. He sees us damaged. But while we are a great way off, He is already
moved with compassion. He runs down the
pathways we long ago abandoned to meet us such a long way from the front door
we are trying to reach. And when Jesus
meets us, He does not begin to tell us – “I told you so”. In fact there is no condemnation at all. Even though we deserve it. Even though we know we deserve it and so does
He. Instead there is weeping tears of
joy, a hug tighter than that of a bear, and a fatherly kiss upon the neck to
further reassure us we are welcome once again.
Jesus continues in verse 21 saying … “And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. [verse
22] But the father said to his servants, Bring forth
the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his
feet: [verse 23] And bring hither the fatted
calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: [verse 24] For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost,
and is found. And they began to be merry.” The damaged begins with a declaration of
admittance of who he has become. The
damaged realizes he is no longer worthy.
The damaged understands he has sinned, and caused pain like the ripples
of water when a stone is dropped into it.
So he begins his confession. But
it is interrupted. Dad is not having it. Dad knows what he says is true, he knows the
confession is well earned. But Dad is
not having it. He will not be met by the
fate he aspires to, but instead will be met by the fate His Father aspires for
him. The best of the Father’s robes is
brought out. The Father’s own ring is to
be brought out and given to this returning prince though he only wished to be a
servant. A party is held, and the whole
of the estate is to participate, a holiday is declared and happiness abounds
across the entirety of the fathers domain.
Home for the damaged.
Home to undo the damage. Home to
offer what it always offered. And the
free will to choose it. Love has been
chosen, and not forced. And greater love
has been offered full of forgiveness not even dreamed of. Restoration is now abounding. What was lost is now found. What was dead, is now alive. But sometimes the damaged know better the
value of a thing they did not deserve but were able to be given anyway. The ones still in the paradise of home, have
not yet learned that they live in paradise.
They spend their lives seeing the restrictions that come from wholesome
living. These restrictions are not seen
as the fences around a castle, but rather as begrudging prison bars. This happens because the imaginations of the
residents of this home are as evil as the one who left it. But they use the determination of their sheer
will to restrain their bad behavior, but want it just as much. And the motives of the one who lives in
paradise are not less damaged, but only damaged in a different way.
Jesus continues the story in verse 25 saying … “Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew
nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. [verse 26] And he called one of the servants, and asked what these
things meant. [verse 27] And he said unto him,
Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he
hath received him safe and sound. [verse 28] And
he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated
him.” So not only does the
stay-at-home brother not feel better about his brother coming home, he is
resentful about it, gets angry, and throws his own version of a temper tantrum
refusing to go inside to join the party.
But the dad loves all his sons, and He goes outside to invite this angry
brother in. He does not send a servant
out to order the son to go in, instead he goes out himself. Imagine this, the humility of the father, to
have to pursue his home-bound son for something that should have brought joy to
him naturally. But if all you see is a
prison instead of a castle, it is easy to miss the paradise you reside within. Home should be more than that.
Jesus continues in verse 29 saying … “And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do
I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou
never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: [verse 30] But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured
thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.” Jealousy, and a non-forgiving spirit. This son believes he has earned a party or
two, for being obedient to dad’s laws. He
believes he should have been recognized for that obedience at least once, or a
couple of times. But never. You see this son knows nothing of the value
of fidelity, or the infinite worth of his wife, and his home. He takes them all for granted. But his heart is still somewhere else. He still secretly wants the ease his brother actually
acted upon. This brother mentions
harlots, because harlots have often been upon his own mind. But he believes that by staying home, and being
the good son, he will get his reward in the end. He fails to see that his reward was ever with
him. His home, the home he lived in, the
job he worked at, the family he was given that love him – were already the
rewards he should have been acknowledging.
You should not need the fatted goat, or the fatted calf, to understand
that value, if your heart is right. A
faithful heart is worth more than an infinite number of harlots, so why imagine
something as desired, when what you have is already better?
Jesus picks back up to conclude this series of parables in
verse 31 saying … “And he said unto him, Son, thou art
ever with me, and all that I have is thine. [verse 32] It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this
thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” The father in this story, the king, and our
Lord Jesus, is telling us – heaven is not the reward, a righteous life is the
reward. Evil is not the thing to desire,
it is the plague to avoid, for it brings the damage and punishments of a thousand
hells with it. Forget the afterlife,
focus on the now. Seek the wholesome for
its own reward. Find your place in a
home built under the roof of God. Under
his restrictions meant to make it a paradise.
Wives look only to your husbands, never letting your hearts, or minds,
or bodies find distraction anywhere else.
Become that gift of infinite value, no husband can ever ignore. Husbands find fulfillment in the homes God
has already given you. Do not let the
damage of seeking variety destroy everything of value God would have you live
within, everyday of your lives.
And for those who have already made mistakes, and compounded
them, and find themselves damaged beyond what they believe is possible for redemption
in the here and now. Look here at the
example of how the heart of God works for that which is damaged beyond all
belief. There is no condemnation. There is redemption, and restoration. It is possible, through the lens of the love
of God, to forgive that which has been done.
To put the past into the past, not forgetting, or excusing what we have
done to ourselves and our homes. But
bathing ourselves in the blood of Christ, and having Him take our sins from us
forevermore, to bury them at the bottom of his oceans. And what is more, to welcome us back right
here and right now into the home that God would give you once again. This is His plan. This is His ability to love us right back to
where we were always supposed to be. There is a home for the damaged. There will ever be one. And its reward is the life that comes with
it, a life you will experience everyday from now unto your death, and then
beyond …
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