Two Brothers and Their Dad

There's a familiar story told by Jesus, as related by Luke^[1], paraphrased here:

There once were two brothers in business with their dad. The younger one wanted to leave home and so asked his father for his half of the family estate. When he received it, he left, traveled far away and partied with everyone he could convince to join him.

In time the money ran out and everyone left for the next rave. He was left alone with no friends and no means of support. Finally he got a menial, part-time job in order to have a place to stay. He fed himself by dumpster diving behind eating establishments. Eventually he realized his father's employee's ate better and decided to return to see if his father would employ him.

After a long and arduous trek back home, his father saw him in the distance and ran to embrace him. The son started his prepared speech, "Father, I am not worthy to be called your son..." whereupon his father interrupted him and, calling to his general manager, said "Put his name back on the checking account, put clothes on his back and call the caterer for a big feast. My son has returned."

When the older son returned from a business meeting, he saw all the festivities and asked the nearest employee what was happening. "Your brother has returned and your father is treating us all to a feast." The brother was angry, stalked to his office, slammed the door and sat down for a sulk. His father heard he was back and went to talk with him, "Your brother has returned. Come. Eat. Rejoice."

"But I've worked for you all these years and never asked for anything. You never had a feast for me."

"Oh, son, all I have belongs to you. But today, we must celebrate because your brother who was lost has been found."

Both these sons had their individual failings and short-comings. I don't think the father was ignorant of their problems. He knew the younger would waste his inheritance. He knew the older had a chip on his shoulder. Neither one's issues took him by surprise. But in both cases, he embraced them and reminded them of his love. To one he had to remind him that he was his child, and all he had to do was return to be restored to relationship. To the other, he had to remind him that he was his child and all he had belonged to him.

This parable is the third of a series. The first talked about a lost sheep.^[2] The second talked about a lost coin.^[3] And this one talked about a lost son.^[1] The end of all of them is a celebration of the lost thing being found.

One of Jesus' really mind blowing statements is similar to these stories.^[4] He has just met the woman by the well in Samaria and has engaged her in conversation. She asks Him a question about the proper place to worship. In an almost non sequitur response He replies with "A time is coming, and in fact is now here, when the true worshippers will worship in spirit and reality, for such worshipers the Father seeks out." The idea of almighty, self-sufficient God seeking, being on the look out for, searching out, weak, broken people for relationship is amazing.

As we celebrate Father's Day here in a week, remember the One who wants to be the Father of each one of us. If you're in a far country, out of fellowship with Him, take the risky step toward Him. He will run to you and embrace you. If you're in fellowship with Him and living by His side, remember He loves you in spite of your short-comings. You may be dark, but He finds you lovely. In any case, focus on His overwhelming love, return His embrace and let it be what produces the change to make you into the child He wants you to be.

1. Luke 15:11-32

2. Luke 15:3-7

3. Luke 15:8-10

4. John 4:7-26

The Prince

Several times, one of my favorite radio preachers, Steve Brown, has related this sermon illustration. I haven't heard it anywhere else, but each time he relates it, I think to myself, "I should write that down and share it." Rather than transcribing it, which is a lot of work, I will simply retell it here in my own words. I hope you enjoy it.

There once was a king who had a young son. Like any parent, he loved his son dearly. Every evening, after concluding the business of the realm, he'd find the small prince and they'd play together until bed time. However, one fateful night the king could not find the prince. He searched high and low. The palace staff spent the night scouring the grounds, looking for the youth. He was not found. The next morning, the king dispatched the royal guard to look for him. A reward was posted.

Meanwhile, the prince, wandered off by himself and got lost in the woods outside the castle walls. He floundered through the forest. His clothes tore on brambles and branches. He fell in some mud. Finally, after days of wandering, scared, tired, hungry, dirty and disheveled, he stumbled into a village. Tugging on the coat tails of the first adult he came upon, he told them he was the prince. They laughed at him. He certainly didn't look or sound princely. He went from one person to another. Each one reacted with scoffing, laughing or scolding. Finally, he began begging for scraps of food to feed his hunger.

Days turned to weeks, to months, to years. The young beggar grew and the memory of living in the castle faded into a distant memory and then became a fable in his mind. He fell in with a rough crowd. His natural leadership abilities caused him to rise through the ranks of the underground until he became the most wanted criminal in the kingdom. In his hardened cynicism he rebelled against all authority. The memory of his former life erased by the harsh realities of growing up on the streets.

One day the law finally caught him. He was tried, convicted and rightly sentenced to death. Through a long series of events, too long for this brief synopsis, the king found out this convicted criminal in his dungeon was his beloved son. He went down many flights of twisting stairs, descending from the royal chambers to the dark, dank sub-basement cells. He went in and sat on the cot opposite the sullen condemned man.

The king talked with the prince about their days long ago, playing together in the warm summer evenings, their mock sword battles in the lengthening spring afternoons, the stories told around the fire during dark winter months. The king described his great love for his son. The hard heart of the younger man was unmoved. Finally, the king told him he was free to go; he would not be executed the next morning.

With tears streaming down the age lines of his face, the now elderly king climbed the stairs back to his chambers.

A while after the king left, the younger man tested the cell door and found it open. He cautiously crept up the stairs. There was no guard. He left through the courtyard and gates, unchallenged. "The old fool is more daft than I imagined," he thought to himself as he left.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that the one-time prince found out the king, in order to satisfy justice, had been executed in his place.

That's not the end. The ending hasn't been written yet. You see, you and I are the former prince. Jesus is the king. The story's conclusion is written as we, as individuals, decide what we are going to do with this great sacrifice that was made on our behalf.

This is obviously an allegory. If you are interested in more detailed, historical information about Jesus and what His love drove Him to do for you, I recommend reading the gospel of Luke. It was written by a Greek physician for a Greek audience and so is probably easier for those of us from a Western culture to understand than the other gospels, written to people with more of an Eastern cultural background.

What my cat taught me this morning...

Tasha, the elderly feline that graciously lets us stay at her house reminded me of a biblical lesson this morning. She has lived with us for 14 years, and in that time we have consistently tried to teach her that the kitchen counter is no place for cats. For most of her life, she followed this rule pretty well. She stayed off the counter whenever we were present.

Fourteen months ago, a litter of four kittens came to stay with us too. The young ones did not amuse Tasha, batting at her tail and all. Such indignity! There were a couple scraps, but over the last number of months, they seem to have come to some sort of truce.

However, the impetuous ones have not yet learned the “no prowling zone” of the kitchen tops although we have been as firm and consistent with them as we were with Tasha. Well, Tasha has now decided she can be up there too and has become just as bold in jumping up there right in front of us.

As I was scolding and putting her down this morning, the sobering passage in Ezekiel 18:21-24 came to mind:

“If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

“But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.”

Those of us who have walked with Jesus for a long time do not get a free pass to sin any more than those who have not. If anything, we have a weightier judgment because we know better. Sometimes the temptation is “just this once won’t hurt.” The problem is it does hurt. We need to be careful to guard against compromise and comparing ourselves with the culture around us. We need to remember there are absolute rules God has set in place independent of what voices around us say. Tasha serves as a counter-example to not follow the example of the young ones and become emboldened to do what we know is wrong. We are in a race. We need to run the distance. We need to focus on the finish line. We need to finish well.

For further meditation

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Galatians 5:7-8

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

No cats were harmed in the writing of this article.

A Tale of Two Neighbors

Three years ago, Jim and John moved into new houses next door to each other. They were both in their early thirties about five to seven years into their careers. Since college, they'd seen their incomes double. They'd paid off most of their college debt, their cars only had another year of payments and they'd put some money aside. They felt they were in great financial shape and ready to take on the challenge of home ownership.

Following the trend, they both got the most house they could afford using no-down, low-interest, adjustable rate mortgages with the payments around 35% of their take home pay. The budget was tight, but they were living the dream of new home ownership. With the clearing of their other debts in a year or so and continued increases in their pay, they'd get some breathing room soon. With the hot housing market they anticipated good appreciation; in a couple years they'd have six figures of assets and the payment would be down around 25% of their income. They could tighten their belts for a couple years for that kind of payoff.

Six months later, they found themselves with more debt. New homes required finishing inside and out. Landscaping was installed. Since they'd had apartments before, they needed yard tools to maintain the yard. Inside the windows needed to be covered and appliances installed in the laundry room and kitchen. The old apartment furniture was out of place in a shiny new house and needed to be replaced. This was all just part of normal start-up costs they reasoned, a couple years and it'd all be paid off. In any case, the houses had appreciated 5% already; the equity already covered the new debt.

A year later, John's company was going through tough times and he was told there would be no raises this year. This was better than Jim; his company closed its doors and he was scrambling for another job. He found one after only one month of putting living expenses on credit cards. In this time, the houses appreciated another 2%. Not the super hot market just before they bought, but at least it was something.

Fast forward to the present. John has received a 3% raise since buying the house. Jim has changed jobs twice, each time getting a little more pay, but deficit financing the jobless months. The house payments are still 35% of their take home pay. The cars were paid off but then started breaking down so they were traded in for new leased vehicles. The housing market has softened a bit, prices are down 6%; they're not upside down on the mortgage, but they don't have much appreciation either.

And those low-interest mortgages got adjusted. Up. A lot.

Those tight budgets they were barely making work are now completely broken. There is not enough money coming in to make the payments. After six months of slipping behind, the houses are put up for sale. They sit for two months with almost no activity. They drop the price to sell for the cost of the mortgage. Still no activity. The banks foreclose and they both file bankruptcy.

John looks at his situation, each decision he made over the last three years, the circumstances that were given him and realizes the mistakes he made. Yes, there were things outside his control. But there were also many decisions he made that, with some foresight, he could have anticipated as problematic. Now with hindsight, he can clearly see the high risk financial lifestyle he's been living. He can also now make changes. He's still in his mid-thirties with plenty of time to adjust, make better decisions, recover and continue forward.

Jim looks at his situation and sees life throwing road block after road block at him. He has no control over what's happened. He's upset at the mortgage company for taking so much and then wanting more. He's upset at the companies' management: one went out of business and the other fired him. He's upset at the government and its leaders for such a terrible economy. He talks with his friends about how bad things are and somebody should do something to fix it.

Are you John or Jim?

This account is purely fictional. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Harley's note: About a month ago I read this article on Get Rich Slowly. The idea of locus of control,, a long forgotten concept from psych class, has been bouncing around in the recesses of my mind in the intervening weeks. Then yesterday this story popped out of my fingers. Hope you enjoy it.

Practice listening

I really liked this morning's sermon. The Pastor is doing a series on prayer and today's topic was about spending time building intimacy with Jesus by listening to Him through the written word. One point that he raised was that we typically tend to listen to Him more in the hard times than in times of ease. This prompted a thought that I want to explore a bit here: It's much easier to hear his voice in the hard times if we've practiced listening to it during the easy times.

To start, I want to look the following parable:

Matthew 25: 1-13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the prudent answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'

And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. And later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.'

But he answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Within context, Jesus is talking about the big trouble that's coming just before His next advent. This parable is of course applicable to that time, but I think it's equally applicable to any troublesome times that come into our lives.

First, I want to notice that this is about wise and foolish believers, not about saved and unsaved people. All these individuals had lamps, symbolizing ministries. All had oil, symbolizing Holy Spirit anointing. They were all doing anointed ministry.

Secondly, I want to notice that some had just enough oil for the ministry they were involved with whereas others had an abundance of oil. I believe the foolish were spending time in prayer, bible study and fasting in order to be prepared for the ministry they were pursuing. Conversely, the wise were spending time in these same disciplines in order to have an intimate relationship with Jesus and ministering out the overflow of the resulting anointing. Both were doing the stuff, but the motivations were different. Up to this point, there is no noticeable difference between the wise and foolish virgins.

Thirdly, I want to notice that sometimes God introduces a strategic delay. He doesn't operate on our time table. Sometimes the heavens are as brass because of our disobedience and God is waiting for us to repent. Other times it's because, for His own purposes, He chooses to delay. It's at the end of this delay that we see the difference between the wise and foolish.

Fourthly, I want to notice that we can't live off another's relationship of intimacy. When the foolish realized they were in trouble, they went to the wise and asked to borrow some of their anointing. Their response, while at first sounding harsh, is actually just a reflection of the reality that their individual histories in God were their own. While others can be told of them as encouragement to pursue the same, the existential lessons can't be acquired second hand, only experienced first hand. I love music and am taking guitar lessons. I would love to be able to play like my instructor, but all he can do is teach me principles and ways of learning. If I want to be able to play like him, I need to invest time doing the practice, day-in, day-out, over an extended period, to gain the experience. Just like my instructor, the wise can communicate what they do, but they can't transfer the actual experience.

Finally, I want to notice that those with a surplus were ready to minister. I don't interpret the end of this parable to be a statement of the virgins' status regarding salvation. I understand it to be a statement as to their preparedness to minister during the time of trouble. I think of Paul's statement in 1st Corinthians 3:14,15 which says 'If any man's work which he has built on [the foundation of Christ] remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.' Whether it's the big trouble at the end of the age or the little troubles that come into our lives, trouble will come. When it does, the wise will have a history in God that allows them to minister to the Lord and others through that time and receive a reward. The foolish will come through that time being saved but suffering loss, not being able to participate in the glory of what God's doing in that time.