The Prodigal Players Part 3:
The Elder Brother
Luke 15.11-32
Rev. Matthew M. Fry

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Gracious One, you are merciful beyond our wildest imagination, quick to forgive and slow to anger. Yet, we are so often the opposite, slow to forgive, and quick to anger. Open our eyes during this time so that we might grow into mercy and forgiveness, as you would have us. Speak Lord, your servants are listening. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

We pick up today in the series on this passage, and as I have said before, this passage that I think is misnamed as the Prodigal Son. I really think the point to which Jesus was driving was about the Elder Brother. Remember the context. The tax collectors and sinners, to use the language in verse 1 of chapter 15, are gathering around to listen to Jesus. These are the people that don’t have access to the temple and the worship rituals, because they are unclean. They aren’t allowed to go to church, basically. But, Jesus is taking temple to them, to the unclean, to the deplorable section of society. And the insiders, the Pharisees and scribes, the folks who can get into temple and who can decide what one must do to get in the temple, they start to grumble and complain, as they say, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So, with everyone around, tax collectors, sinners, as well as Pharisees and scribes, Jesus tells three parables, the last of which is the one that has been before us these past 3 sermons. And the beauty of it is that while welcoming the unclean, read Prodigal Son, Jesus also includes the Pharisee, scribe, and religious insider, read elder brother. So, with that in mind, hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the Gospel of Luke. Listen.

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

An interesting tidbit about this parable. There’s no one we can relate to, no character in the story that the listener can say, “Yep that’s me.” And it’s the same for the Pharisee and scribe and religious insider and regular church attendee. It’s no good to say we are the Prodigal, cause then we mistreat our families, and go live the unclean life that the hearers and first readers of this parable would instantly recognize as deplorable. It’s not just the prostitutes and the squandering of money, but the non-honoring of thy parents, and the pig stuff. This guy is slimy from the beginning, and through the end. The Prodigal Son breaks the Levitical law, which is unthinkable to the Pharisee, and lives the life that most church goers would have a hard time believing that one could really repent from. Some pasts are just too vulgar.

And we can’t say that we identify with the Prodigal Father. First off, the Prodigal Father is somewhat equated with God, and to say we are the father is to say we are God or at least God-like, and that is blasphemy for the Pharisee as well as for us. Plus, there is just some bad parenting. The father doesn’t treat his children fair, which is culminated by the taking of the fatted calf. This comes up when the father reminds the elder brother that, “everything that I have is yours.” Well then, the father just took the elder brother’s best animal and killed it to celebrate with the Prodigal without so much as informing the elder brother, much less asking his opinion or permission. When you really look at it, the father is anything but fair.

What we are left with is the elder brother. And the brilliance of this parable is that this is the exact thing the Pharisees and scribes were left with. I think Jesus tells this parable to get to the elder brother, so that the Pharisees understand how God works. Through the Father we learn that God lets us have complete free will, and lets us go into the hands of the world. We see that even when we fail, and fail miserably, for the only thing that is worse to the hearers of this parable than hanging out with prostitutes is hanging out with pigs, being in contact with something so filthy, but even when we fail like that, the Father waits at the edge of town, rejoices over our presence, does not make us repent, or more important for the Pharisee, clean ourselves up. You don’t gotta change for the father to love you. And the father has a huge celebration for us. God does not play favoritism for those who always do right, who stay with the father, who are the elder brother.

That’s the tough lesson, isn’t it? It is human nature to want to be rewarded for good behavior. We’re trained into it as children, and the training continues throughout our lives. Whether it is a sweet snack or staying up late because we helped with chores or a special gift or treat for bringing home a good report card or a promotion or added bonus money because our work is above expectations, or whatever, we want to be rewarded for good behavior. That’s the way the world works. But if God the father is anything like the Prodigal father, then that’s not the picture painted by Jesus as to how God works.

Here’s what I understand to be the picture of how God works as told through the parable of the Prodigal Family. God is abundantly merciful, and we as humans don’t always see that as fair. But God isn’t concerned with whatever our ideas of fair are, nor is God concerned with living up to any idea of fairness. Except perhaps in that in showing mercy to all, God is fair in that. But the only mercy shown to the older brother is found in these two statements. The first is this, “Everything I have is yours.” Inheritance of all that belongs to the father is no small deal. But the second, and bigger mercy shown to the older brother is in the invitation given by the father. We don’t know the exact words spoken, but in verse 28 we find that when the elder son won’t come in it reads, “His father came out and began to plead with him.”

I’ve said this before but it’s been a while. The kingdom of God is a party. Your invitation depends upon the overarching mercy and love of God, not upon your worthiness. And because the kingdom of God is a party, all you’ve got to do is accept the invitation, and join in. Hell, the absence of God, is found by all who decry how unfair God is, and who refuse to associate with the unclean or those whom society deems unlovable. Actually, it’s not that Hell awaits folks like that, that they will find hell. Instead, if they looked around, they would realize that they are already in hell, that there is a party going on to which they are welcome, but which they refuse to join, and are therefore left in the bitter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or in current terms, constant complaining about the state of affairs and a decided and enduring lack of contentment.

Do you want to be the elder brother? Well, I do in parts. I’d like to remain faithful and not have to come to the realization that the stuff the pigs are rooting in and eating looks appetizing. I’d like to inherit the kingdom of God, like the elder inherits the father’s possessions. But if the father is throwing a party, you’d better believe I don’t want to miss a single second. Because I believe that the father really knows how to throw an eternal party and celebration of life that begins now and continues forever and throughout all time. And since I believe that missing that party would be more than a shame, it would be hell on earth, I’m going to make sure to keep my eyes open, watch as God embraces all people, including those that are deemed dirty, and try to do the same. I will not, like the Pharisee or the elder brother, try to decide for myself who is worthy. Instead I will realize, unlike the Pharisee or the elder brother, that such a determination is not up to me, or to my ability to understand the Spirit or the scripture, but is up to our merciful and gracious God. And I will do my best to try to remember that God is in control, and I will ask for forgiveness often when I forget. But mostly, I’ll try to find where God is celebrating and join in. And by doing so, I will certainly find the kingdom of heaven as it is present here on earth. Amen.