"You Always Had Me" (Luke 15:11-32)
Normally we think of the parable of the prodigal son highlighting the contrast between a repentant sinner and a self-righteous individual. The younger son squanders his inheritance, leading to a life of hardship and desperation. Ultimately, he realizes his mistake, repents, and returns home, seeking forgiveness and a place as a servant.
A prodigal son squanders his inheritance and returns home, seeking forgiveness, and never changes his desire to work as a slave. His father, overjoyed, welcomes him back with a grand celebration, symbolizing redemption and forgiveness because his father does not allow his younger son to receive the village’s ridicule.
The older son returns from the field. He sees the celebration and is resentful of the celebration. He has slaved for his father all these years. Rather than going into the banquet, he chooses to plead his case. He tells his dad how hard he slaved for his father.
The contrast of this parable is profound. The younger son repents and potentially thinks that he needs to prove his worthiness to come back into his father’s house. We do not know his full realization. In fact, he might even be manipulating his father by working as a slave. You see he can work hard to be a slave, then his father has to embrace him as a son, and he gets another inheritance. However, when his father invites him to the banquet we see that he is not working to manipulate his father, but understands that he is to enjoy his father.
The older brother should go into the banquet and celebrate that his brother has come to his senses. Rather, the older brother focuses on how he slaves to prove his worthiness for his father’s affection. He failed to see that his father did not demand for him to slave or be a slave, but to enjoy his relationship with his father. He has always had his father.
One thing that the parable is teaching us is that the Christian life is not about proving our worthiness of God’s grace, but enjoying our Lord as we are in communion with him, the saints throughout the ages, and should even see ourselves aligned with the angelic assembly. Let us be a people who enjoy the fellowship we have with our God seeking him out of gratitude rather than slaving for his approval.