The Prodigal

I recently heard a message about the Prodigal that rocked my world.  Tim Keller, at a Willow Creek Leadership Summit spoke about the Prodigal God.  Here's a few thoughts from his talk:

"The definition of a prodigal is recklessly extravagant."

God is not only the God of the prodigal son but he is also a prodigal God.  He is recklessly extravagant in his love for a broken humanity.  To bring it closer to home, he is recklessly extravagant in his love for ME!  Sometimes I cringe at just how selfish, proud, arrogant, angry, bitter...you get the point, I can be.  I don't know how many times I've read the parable of the prodigal son and just assumed the definition of prodigal meant: "one who squanders wealth and is unwise." 

"The main point of the parable is that both the younger and older brother are alienated from the father.  Neither really loved the father but they loved the father's things."
 

"Elder brothers are obeying God to get things.  They think they offer Jesus a righteous record and then they get things.  People who believe the gospel think differently.  Jesus gives us a righteous record and then we live for him.  We have every spiritual blessing."

I've always seen the older brother as a Pharisaical representation but I haven't attached how closely I resemble the older brother.  The older brother was counting on his goodness, his faithfulness, his relentless pursuit of doing the right thing to pay dividends in the end.  I have caught myself in the past lamenting why certain things don't go my way, I've been faithful, good, do the right things, shouldn't God bless me? Have I slipped into the mode of an older brother?
 

An interesting point about the Prodigal parable; the father had given half of his wealth to the younger son.  When the younger son returned, where did the father get the resources to kill the fatted calf, put an expensive robe on his shoulders and place a ring on his finger?  It had to come out of the older brother's estate!  Maybe that's why the older brother wasn't too excited about the younger bother's return!  

Tim states we need to get to a new level of repentance.  The Pharisee's repented but only saw it as another thing to do on their list.  They didn't see repentance as the key to open up the gates of grace and freedom from things.  I need to repent for the "right doing" with the wrong motives.  Instead of doing right to leverage God, I do right and remain faithful because of what Jesus, my true older brother did for me.  He gave up his place, paid the price for my sin, gave up everything so I could have an eternal inheritance.  

Just some things I've been wrestling with,

Marty