Prodigal Who? Part Two

Perhaps you read my post from yesterday and thought… “But I do pray… and I read my Bible and spend time with God.” In fact, when God dropped that on me Sunday Morning, that was my exact reaction, yet I knew that at the same time that I was guilty of wanting the stuff more than anything. A sermon by Pastor J.D. Greer of Summit Church in Durham, NC put it in better perspective for me and resolved that internal conflict.

If you are like me, sometimes you get frustrated when the fruit of your relationship with God (i.e. “the stuff”) doesn’t come as quickly as you’d like. Whether you’re hungry to see miracles, or you’re trying to trust God for basic provision, this disappointing feeling can come. If you especially feel it coming on when you see other Christians get “YOUR” stuff, that you’ve prayed long and hard for, well congratulations, you’re the second son.

Unfortunately, the 2nd son, is just as bad as the first. He represents a second group of Christian Prodigals. The first son outright says “I don’t care about you dad. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you died so I could get your stuff quicker.” The second is a hard worker, but to what end? When stuff starts getting passed around to celebrate for his brother, his true colors show. He was doing the work ONLY because of what he will get from his father. He only had enough respect to wait for the father to die along the natural course. When he doesn’t get what he wants, and it seems that his wasteful little brother gets everything, he gets pretty ticked. Big Bro didn’t care to celebrate with his happy father, because he wasn’t looking to see his father pleased.

When it came down to it, both son’s are after the same thing, Dad’s Stuff. Neither one cares much about his relationship with his father. The first one threw it away, the second one couldn’t see what it was worth to him in comparison to the stuff his brother was getting. He failed to realize that even if he didn’t get to spend it now, all of Daddy’s money was practically in his pocket. Which son are you? We are all closer to one or the other. Let’s put the appropriate value on our relationship with Papa God. There is no other like Him.

To listen to the sermon by Pastor Greer, go here… http://media3.sermonsonline.com/multimedia/summitchurch_19944_20K.wma

Prodigal Who?

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, Jesus tells a heartwrenching story of a shameful son and a merciful father that has become all too familiar to our ears. When we hear it, we assume that we know it. We lable the characters: the father is God, son number one is a lost soul, and son number two is a weak Christian. Got it! NEXT story. But really… think for a moment, who is the prodigal son? It wasn’t until I was in the middle of preaching yesterday morning when the reality hit me.

If you were to speak to a Messianic Jew (a Christian of Jewish heritage) about the story of the Prodigal Son, he may not know what you are talking about at first. That’s because, their cultural knowledge causes them to name the story after the Merciful Father. Why is that? Just think about what this son is asking for. He comes up to his father and says:

“Dad, I know that one day a large portion of all of this will be mine. I’ve been dreaming about what I would do with it since the day you told me. Well, I can’t dream any longer. I no longer want to work with you on this ranch. I want my portion now so I can do what I want with it. Yeah, I know that an inheritance is supposed to come after the death of the father, but, frankly, you look a little too healthy to me. At this rate, it will be forever before I get a piece of all this. I may even have a family of my own. I can’t wait any more, give me what’s coming to me.”

It may seem like a harsh description of that verse at first, but really think about it. There were two things that would have made that son happy that day: either his dad forks over the cash, or his dad drops dead and he gets it the real way. This was a shameful request. I imagine that when Jesus told it, the people were in uprage [[I'll tell you where i woulda put that boy!]]. Everyone had already (wrongly) guessed the ending, thinking that the father would have left the son out to starve in the famine, as he deserved.

Well, you know the rest of the story… the son wastes generations worth of work (the nature of an inheritance implies generations), he hits the bottom by working among “unclean” animals, comes home, and is shocked by his father’s extravagantly warm welcome.

But heres what hit me. This son wanted nothing to do with his father. He had no care for a relationship with him, he had no desire to work with him. All he wanted was his stuff. See, this son couldn’t actually work “for” his dad, because all the work that he was doing was for his own benefit. He was building his own inheritance. But he wanted nothing to do with it. He had no care for his father or his way of working, now for a father-son relationship… he only wanted his stuff.

So we wonder again, if the father represents God, who does the son represent? It can’t be a lost soul, because God is not their father. I believe I was mid-sentence when I realized that I am the Prodigal Son. You are the Prodigal Son. The church in its current state is a Prodigal Son of God. We turn to him and we say:

“God, I know that one day I’ll get to heaven and I’ll get to enjoy all of this. Believe me, I’ve dreamed of it since the day you adopted me. But here’s the problem… I can’t stand to work on this ‘ranch’ with you. I don’t really care to get to know you, or hear what you have to teach me about life, I just want your stuff. It would be great to be a miracle-worker, but I’m not too fond of the thought of spending time with you to learn your trade. When I’m sick, heal me. When I’m poor, feed me. Even when I’m not so poor, make me materially prosperous, but don’t even think for a moment that I’ll be reinvesting into your ranch. And you may go ahead and forget that we’ll have even a remote relationship. I don’t plan to write (pray) to you, I don’t wanna hear your lessons on life (read your word). Just gimme the stuff and let me be on my way.”

We’re in trouble. We’ve entered into a relationship with God, but its not the relationship that interests us… we just want his ticket to heaven and his prosperity on Earth. We’re in it for his stuff. Well, what about Him? Have we forgotten about Him? What is a relationship with the God of the Universe worth to you? And you who are reluctant to work “for” him, such a thing doesn’t exist. You cannot work “for” someone who is building up your inheritance. Every brick you lay in the Kingdom of God is a part of your own home.

So what now..? Here’s the good part of the story. The moment you decide in your mind that you’re coming home to be with your Daddy, your Daddy is already lacing up his running shoes. Go home and meet him. Be with him. Spend some time with him. Your Dad is the God of the Universe. I just thought I would remind you, as He reminded me, that ever moment spent with and “for” him is worth it.

If you want to hear the messages (past two weeks) that I preached about relationship with God, you can hear them on our ministry website. They are in English and Creole. If you know French, you can navigate your way from www.geraldbatailleministries.org while browsing throughout the site. If not, the direct link to the Sunday Morning Messages is: http://bataille.wordpress.com/media/dimanche-matin-culte-dadoration/