The Elder Son

Attitude

Has someone ever suggested to you that you need an attitude adjustment? I know that has happened to me time and again. Often that statement wouldn’t change my attitude it would just make it worse. I remember when I was a kid and that was suggested I would normally dig in deeper to the poor attitude I had. My frown would become more pronounced and my eye brows more furrowed. It would normally be awhile until my attitude improved and I joined the rest of the family doing whatever it was they were doing. You could say it would be awhile before I joined the party.

Sometimes our attitudes can be toxic. Not only to us but also to others around us. This morning we’re continuing our series through the parable of the prodigal son focusing on the elder sons attitude surrounding the return of his younger brother. In this parable you can see his how his attitude affected him. I don’t know about you but I far too often find myself, like the elder son struggling with my attitude. Even today I occasionally need an attitude adjustment.

Scripture tells us to have the same attitude of Christ Jesus. Thank God almighty he provides his Holy Spirit for us to adjust our attitudes and make us more like Christ. As we hear the story of the prodigal son, I want us to think of our attitudes. Are our attitudes pleasing to God? Do our attitudes too often reflect the attitudes of the scribes and the pharisees? It is my prayer that each one of us including myself leave here with an attitude adjustment. That we leave here better reflecting the same attitude of Christ Jesus. Listen to the Holy Spirit as he speaks to you this morning.

Prodigal Son

As Jesus continued with his parables he told the story of prodigal or lost son. It went like this there was a man who had two sons. The younger son came to his father and asked for his portion of his inheritance. The father sat down with his son and gave him his inheritance. The younger son took his inheritance and left home.

He went far away to a distant country and there he squandered his inheritance. He spent all that his father had given him on reckless living. Soon every thing he had was gone. A great famine plagued the country he had fled to and he had found some work, working with someone’s pigs. As he was feeding the pigs he found himself so hungry that he longed for the food that was saved for the pigs. Then he came to himself and was aware of how far he had fallen. That he had hit rock bottom. He thought to himself about how much better off the servants in his fathers house are compared to where he is right now. At that moment he decided to get up and return to his fathers house. He said I will return to my father’s house and I will tell him father I haved sinned, I acted wrongly against heaven and against you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired servants.

As the younger son journeys home practicing his lines the father sees him a long way off. The father runs to meet his son and embraces him and kisses him. The younger son says to him Father I have sinned, wronged you and heaven and I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired servants. The father sends for his servants and says get my ring and bring me my best robe, prepare the fattened calf for my son was lost but is found, was dead but is alive again.

The Elder son was coming back from a long day of working in his fathers fields as he approached the house he heard what sounded like a party going on. He asked one of his fathers servants what was happening, why is there a party? The servant told him your younger brother had returned home and your father has killed the fattened calf to celebrate. The Elder son became bitter and angry and refused to go in and join the party. His father came out to talk to him. The older brother said to his father, “look I’ve labored for you faithfully, I’ve always obeyed and done everything you’ve told me to, but you have never even given me a young goat to party with my friends. But when this son of yours who has wasted his inheritance on prostitutes and other reckless living you kill the fattened calf and throw a huge party.” The father replies son you will always be my son and everything I have is yours, but we are right to celebrate because your brother who was lost has been found, was dead and is alive again, so today we celebrate.

The Elder Son

I hope you heard the holy spirit speaking to you through the retelling of this story. I wanted to focus on the older son in this story today. There are a few things we can learn about him from the story itself. One that he is not at all happy that his younger brother has returned home safe and sound. He is actually angry and bitter. The second thing we can learn about him is that he is very much a service means reward individual. What do I mean by that? Well we can see from the conversation with his father that he rattles off quite the list of things he has done for the father but has never been rewarded for any of it. He thought if anybody should be getting a party it should be me, not this son of yours. This is what is often referred to as checklist holiness, I did this ok lets check the box. He had the I do you give attitude. We can also tell that he really resented his younger brother because he doesn’t even call him my brother upon his return. This is what we can understand about the older brother from the story.

Now we have to remember that this is the last parable in a series on lost and found in . If we go back to the beginning of the chapter we can see that the scribes and the pharisees are upset that Jesus eats with tax collectors and other sinners. These sinners were coming to Christ. The older son in the parable represents the scribes and the pharisees who see tax collectors, prostitutes, leapers, and all kinds of other sinners or unclean people coming to Christ. They see the outcasts of their society not only coming to Christ but Christ going to them. This makes the scribes and pharisees upset because after all they kept God’s law so religiously that the messiah must have come for them and not these others. How often is our attitude that of the scribes and pharisees? Who are the outcasts of today’s society that might make you cringe to see them walk through the doors of the church? I gurantee we all have our own class of sinner that would make us do that. God has been working on me with mine all week. Ask God to show you who yours is. Our attitudes can and need to change. Unless our righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees we will never see the kingdom of heaven.

While I was at General Assembly in Indianapolis, I was blessed to see a friend I haven’t seen in a long time. In fact before this last Tuesday I can tell you the exact date the last time I saw him. It was Dec. 7th 2001. That was the day my chaplain assistant training was done and I returned home. My friend who I served with through basic training and chaplain assistant school, is also a minister (not Nazarene) who now lives in Indianapolis. Him and I are friends on Facebook and we met for lunch on Tuesday and we were catching up. At one point I remembered seeing pictures of him on Facebook in a baptismal baptising a lot of people. I did not expect the next words to come out of his mouth. He looked at me and said, “Yeah I lost my job for that.” What I thought would be a time of rejoicing together at people being reconciled to God was a sore spot for him. I said what why? Well I was pastoring in a church in a well to do community and all those people where outcasts in this well to do community and they started coming to church making decisions for the Lord changing the dynamic of the congregation in a way the well to do did not like. So they decided to let me go. Brothers and sisters this should not happen in a church that claims to follow Christ.

The truth is this happens too often, whether it be by dismissing the pastor or by leaving the church. I’ve seen it happen both ways. I will repeat it again unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees we cannot enter the kingdom of heave.

The Problem and Solution

The problem with the older son is his attitude. Often the problem with us is our attitude. We don’t know if the older son heeded the words of his father, got over his attitude and joined the party or not, but God our father has provided a way for us to get over our poor attitudes. He has made a way through our Lord Jesus Christ that we can have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. When ever you sense that you are having a pharisee like attitude toward someone, or group of someones stop and pray for them. Don’t just let your poor attitude become more and more toxic, ask the Holy Spirit to change your attitude toward them, that you would have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. It is only when we get over our poor attitudes that we can join the party.

Join the Party, Join the Family

I remember when I was a kid standing in the corner or staying in my room for a long time before my attitude improved enough to join the family. Whether it was at the dinner table or watching evening TV. If you sense the Holy Spirit revealing to you places your attitude needs improvement don’t dig in yield. Letting go of that toxic attitude will truly allow you to rejoice with the rest of the family.

The Pharisees had an attitude problem, an attitude that would like to have kept the outcasts of society away from Christ and Christ away from them. Christ came that all may have life and have it more abundantly lets not stand in the way of God’s grace. Every prodigal son and daughter are welcome home no matter their baggage. The amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ has dealt with and continues to deal with my baggage. As we end we’re going to sing Amazing Grace, I’m going to kneel at the altar and ask God that my attitude towards others be that of Christ Jesus, I invite you to join me at the altar this morning. After the hymn I’m going to close us in a word of prayer. Come to the altar join the party, join the family.