Everything I Have Is Yours

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15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Jesus told them this parable:

11 Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ Then the father divided his estate between them. 13 Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away. There, he wasted his wealth through extravagant living.

14 “When he had used up his resources, a severe food shortage arose in that country and he began to be in need. 15 He hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from what the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, but I’m starving to death! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. 21 Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 23 Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate with feasting 24 because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field. Coming in from the field, he approached the house and heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. 27 The servant replied, ‘Your brother has arrived, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received his son back safe and sound.’ 28 Then the older son was furious and didn’t want to enter in, but his father came out and begged him. 29 He answered his father, ‘Look, I’ve served you all these years, and I never disobeyed your instruction. Yet you’ve never given me as much as a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours returned, after gobbling up your estate on prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ 31 Then his father said, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.’ ”

Introduction

As the summer is approaching, I’m thinking about one thing only:
Cycling season!
I have a whole bunch of events lined up, some of which I haven’t done in years because of COVID and some I’ve never done before.
And in Spring you have to train.
You have to put time in the gym.
You have to put time in the saddle on a bike.
You need to put miles under your legs.
And I…haven’t done any of that yet...
The first race I’m doing is called the Whiskey Rebellion Gravel Race, and it’s happening pretty early in the season in May.
I had a chance to hang out with the guys that organized that event, and they told me that they quietly call it the lie detector event.
If you have been telling yourself that you’re ready for cycling season, that you’ve trained enough, that you’re in shape enough, this race will tell you the truth about what you’re believing.
He said that a lot of people face some pretty difficult truths about themselves on those mountains!
And that’s a hard thing, isn’t it?
When you’re telling yourself one story about who you are, but you get confronted with the truth.
It turns out, that’s a vital piece of what’s going on in this story today.

Bible Breakdown

There are two stories going on here in this parable.

Story One: The Younger Son

Dad- I wish you were dead

To come up to somebody and say “give me my share of the inheritance” is quite a scandalous way to start a story.
An inheritance is something you get when an older family member…dies...
So another way to read that sentence that starts this parable is to hear the younger son say “Hey dad! I wish you were dead!”
And I think what’s remarkably crazy is that the father…goes along with it!
He divides the estate, gives the younger brother his half, and sends him on his way.
The younger brother goes out and lives extravagantly.
In fact, the word “Prodigal” that so often gets associated with this story means (according to Google) “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”
We assume it means someone who leaves and then comes back, but actually it’s this part of the story that gives the prodigal son his name.
But more on that later.

He finds rock bottom, because of course he does.

Wouldn’t you know it, being “wastefully extravagant” is not something that can go on forever.
So this young man hits rock bottom, because of course he does.
Incidentally one of the themes of Jesus teaching is not that rock bottom might happen to us, it’s that rock bottom absolutely will happen to us, and how we respond to that is what really matters.
For his part, the son gets a gig feeding the pigs.
How low do you have to be that looking at pig feed seems appetizing to you?
So the son comes up with a plan: He’s going to go home but not as a son, not as a family member.
He’s going to go work for the family business for minimum wage.
And he’s screwed up so bad that even that feels a little bit like a big ask to him!

Rehearsing his story: I’m not worthy

When you were younger, did you ever get in so much trouble that you started rehearsing your story on the way to see your parents?
That’s what’s happening here, and it gives us a glimpse into what the younger son is believing about himself.
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your hired hands.”
The story behind the story is that this kid feels like he’s unworthy.
He’s unworthy of being a part of the family.
He’s unworthy of getting his place back.
He’s unworthy of material advantage.
He’s unworthy of his father’s love.
Truth be told, there are a lot of people out there who are telling themselves this story, aren’t there?
I’m not worthy of God’s love.
If you only knew the things I’ve done.
I’m not worthy of forgiveness for where I’ve been.
I have had people in my office on my couch telling me this story, and believing it about themselves.

The Father Confronts This Story: Robes and Rings and Sandals

This is one of the most beautiful parts of this story:
The father sees the younger son while he’s a long way off.
You get the image of the father sitting outside day after day after day waiting for his son to come home.
And now it’s finally happening.
And the father does something totally undignified: He runs.
If you were a person of wealth and status as the father clearly is in Jesus’ story, you did not run.
It was just outside the norms of your culture.
When they embrace, the son launches in to the rehearsed story.
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and...”
And the Father won’t let him finish.
Instead, he asks for three things:
A robe, a ring, and ome sandals.
All of these are things that you have when you are a member of the family.
Oh by the way, fire up the barbecue!
The father steps in and confronts the story that the younger son has been believing about himself.
To the younger son’s insistence that he is unworthy of the father’s love, the father says no.
The father proclaims the real good news:
You do belong to this family.
You are worthy of making a fuss over.
You are worthy of having a feast.
You are my son.
You are loved.

Story Two: The Older Son

If the story had ended here, it probably would have been a pretty solid happy ending!
But…The older son.

Reason to be mad: If the younger son took his half early, that’s less principal for the older son to build on.

When you have a big chunk of money that’s collecting interest, it makes a lot more interest.
If you take half of that chunk out, it makes half as much interest!
So not only did the younger brother do something offensive in wishing their father dead, but his actions had a direct impact on how much money the older brother stood to gain when his time came.
So…he’s got reason to be miffed.
So imagine now that all of a sudden, the younger brother comes home and the older brother finds out that they are choosing to reward this behavior with celebrating, using the father’s resources, which ultimately means also that the older brother has less to gain..
He’s probably a bit more angry.
So he is sulking out in the field, and the father comes out to try to talk him back in, and this is where we start getting the older son’s story.

He has worked faithfully his whole life.

You can almost hear the list forming in the older brother’s head, can’t you?
Don’t you remember when I brought in the harvest on that freezing Saturday?
Don’t you remember when I stayed up all night to fix that hole in the fence?
Don’t you remember when I plowed the field the way you wanted, instead of my own way?
I have put in my time.
I have done my work.
I am the good son.

He has been quietly feeling like he’s been cheated that whole time.

Meanwhile, the older son says, you’ve never given me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
This is a bit of a dig, isn’t it?
After all that work, you were still stingy with me.
After all that work, you never paid up.
After all that work, I’ve been cheated.
There is such disdain from the older son toward not so much the younger brother, but directed right at the father himself.

The Older Son’s Story: I am worthy because of what I do.

All of it, especially when it’s combined with the older son’s view of his younger brother, comes to his story he’s believing about himself:
I am worthy because of what I do.
I am the son that stayed.
I am the son that slaved.
I am the son my idiot younger brother refused to be.
I’ve done it all for you, and you deserve to pay me back for this.
And you know what, I’ve heard this story from Christians before too.
You know I never missed a Sunday around here!
I give every single Saturday to the mission work of the church.
Surely God is going to give me the best spot in heaven, because I’ve done so much for God here on earth.

The Father Confronts This Story: You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

In the same way as with the younger brother, the Father confronts the story the older brother is believing about himself.
First of all, let’s make explicit what I’ve been implying here for a bit: The father in this story is God, right?
So Jesus could have had the Father who he knows so well say anything in this moment.
Quit your bellyaching.
You know, you could have worked harder though!
Maybe you’ve been here the whole time, but you know you didn’t dress right...
No.
Of all the things Jesus could have had the Father say:
You are always with me...
Not because you worked super hard.
Not because you put in the hours.
Not because you are the most righteous.
But just and simply because you are loved.
And everything I have is yours.
The Father doesn’t hold anything back from his children.
The Father doesn’t play favorites.
The Father loves each and every one of us exactly the same.
You know, coming in to a place like Church is a lie detector test of a different kind, isn’t it?
What kind of stories are you telling about yourself?

Apprentices

1. Identify our stories.

The two stories here are only two examples.
The “I’m not worthy” story.
The “I’ve put in the hours” story.
The “I’m American so obviously I’m a Christian” story.
The “At least I haven’t murdered anybody” story.
The “Nothing good ever happens to me” story.
I wonder if we can have the insight to know what story we’re telling ourselves...
Or if perhaps it’s better for a trusted friend to help us see what we’re missing.
Either way...
Librarian Sarah has taught me a bunch about “unreliable narrators” in certain stories.
Characters in the book might be telling you what’s going on, but because they’re in the story they may not have the most accurate understanding of what’s actually going on.
The truth is when we’re listening to our own hearts, we can become unreliable narrators about our own stories.
We believe our own hype.
We oversell our own shortcomings.
We don’t see straight.

2. Listen to the Father’s Story

The reason we keep reading the Bible for stories like this is because the one who created us is a reliable narrator.
Jesus wants to tell us exactly who we are.
Jesus wants to confront the stories we’re telling about ourselves.
Jesus wants us to understand the reality of his love.
You are loved right now, right here, in this room, on the livestream, wherever you find yourself today.
You are loved regardless of what terrors and nightmares live in your past.
You are loved no matter how much energy and effort you think that you brought to the experiment.
You are loved no matter what someone else is trying to tell you about what you have to do to earn that love.
You are loved.
Period.
End of sentence.
Everybody.
In fact, Timothy Keller wrote a book a few years back called “Prodigal God.”
Because if to be a prodigal is to spend extravagantly to the point of irresponsibility, isn’t that what God does here?
There is no price the Prodigal God wouldn’t pay to show you love.
There is no limit to the way the Prodigal God will celebrate your return.
There is no hesitation, none, on the part of the Prodigal God in calling you a son or a daughter.
Get the robe. Get the ring. Get the sandals.
It’s party time.

3. Help proclaim the story to everyone we know.

The problem is, there are still a lot of people out there who are believing the wrong story about themselves.
There are still people who are believing that they aren’t worthy of God’s love.
There are some churches who are telling people they’re unworthy, and that makes me madder than we have time to get in to here.
There are some people who believe because they have put in the time and effort, they are more worthy of God’s love than anyone else.
There are still people who think that God’s out to get them.
There are still people who don’t think they belong.
Jesus point in telling us this story was to make sure we know what story God was singing over us.
And he continues to invite us to go out and tell the world.
The prodigal God loves you more than you will ever know.
And he keeps whispering these words over each and every one of us:
You are always with me.
And everything I have is yours.
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