The Elder Son Luke 15:28-32

This story is so much more rich that I have ever understood. The elder son would have known that the day of the prodigal's return would have been the greatest day of the Father's life. As a matter of fact it would have been the responsibility of the elder son to the the key reconciler between the father and the rebellious son. What I have found is that a primary theme in the parable is distance from the father's heart. Keep in mind that over half of the parable is about the elder son. If the story were truly about the prodigal only, would not it have ended upon his return? The story is about 2 sons who both attack the unity of the family, and who are both alienated from the father.

We see the younger son doing things that put him in the lost category, Jesus however points out that the elder son is just as lost! So we sort of learn that there are two kinds of lostness.

As I was studying this it occured to be that perhaps we have misdefined something. The text says that the younger son went of to a "distant country" we have understood this to mean that he left his family and went far away. In other words, he was far from the father. We even say that in our own Christian culture do we not? We say, " Well , I was far from God" Of course usually this is said in the context of us being involved in ,

1. Sexual sin
2. Some other addiction
3. A religious search
4. Maybe just living for ourselves,

Whatever the case, most would agree that if one is involved in one of the aforementioned, he is "far from God"

I started thinking, and the time in my life when I was "sinning", this is not the time where I felt the furthest from God. Honestly, it was when I was choosing sin that I was most cognizant of His presence. Now mind-you , I was never as "far-off" as the prodigal son. For me, the time when I felt the furthest was when I was in seminary, preparing for ministry. This was the time when I was learning the Greek and Hebrew and the do's and don'ts of church life. This was a time in my life where everything I learned was used to judge those who did not know what I did. My faith and Christian walk felt the most mechanical and fake, rarely did I feel close to God. I share this because I believe we have misunderstood the idea of being "far from God" We are far from God when our hearts are distant. We are far from God when the father does not concern us. We are far from God when we have a bible in our hands, a backside in the pew, while at the same time our hearts have no concern with the things of God or a passion for His people. Its a little like loneliness, often times you feel the most alone when surrounded by hoards of people. Just because you are around Christians or just because you are in church, does not mean you are close to God or share His heart!