The Prodigal Son and The elder Brother

The Prodigal Son and The Elder Brother:

A Different Perspective

(Luke 15:11-32)

I love the story of the prodigal son, it is a story of redemption and restoration. Most  people clearly identify with the prodigal son; the brokeness, the shame,etc. and like watching the victory winning shot of the basketball game they cheer (though they have heard the sermon a million times almost) as the wayward son finds his way home, back into his father's arms and to a feast with the fatted calf. The elder brother coming in from the field hears the celebration and refuses to participate; his wayward brother is getting all this attention and he is disgusted and I cannot say that I blame him. I have seen so many well meaning believers demonize the elder brother. He is the son that faithfully served his father and did not stray as his younger brother remember?  I have heard him called a hypocrite, self-righteous, having a religious spirit and so on. I think people who criticize this character fail to see the heart of his reaction and I want to address this  here and now.

Before I discuss the elder brother, I want to address another position of this story, the father's position. I am not yet a parent, but I have plenty of friends who are and they seem to identify more with the father's reaction to his son returning home more than any other position in the story. If they have a wayward child of their own, they really identify with this father's relief to have his child home safely and long for that reality in their own life. I have one friend in particular who has a child struggling with a drug problem. She and her husband try to extend extra grace to this wayward child in hopes he will come home. His other siblings get annoyed with her and her husband stating they don't get that type of grace when they mess up and how unfair it is. She explained to me that this child  (who was raised in a Yah-fearing home) is in a dangerous place in his walk  with Yah and the extra grace is to get him to repent, not because they are playing favorites and do not appreciate their other children who have not strayed from their faith. Nobody knows the pain a parent endures when they have a child out there living sinfully and they have no idea if they are dead or alive and the relief they feel when they come back home alive. For those who have expereinced this, the father's celebration for his son is completely understandable though others may not understand. I can tell you if this were my baby coming home, I would celebrate too!


 For those who give the elder brother such a hard time I ask you to put down your pitchforks and torches for a minute and just look at him as a son who also needed his father's love and celebration. Are there any out there who have had to be the subject of watching another sibling being the recipient of your parents love and attention and they are wayward, in sin and you have not pursued such endeavors and you seem to go unoticed? It can be quite irritating, no? I will take it a step further, how about those of you who have been faithfully serving the Most High for years and I am not talking about religious activity including regular church attendance. I speak of you loving Yah with all your heart and giving it all you got and your "brother" or "sister" goes on a full tilt boogie with sin and when they come to their senses and return to Yah, he pours out all this love and blessing on them. I mean they get the full red carpet treatment and you have to stand in the shadows while they get all the attention after the stunts they pulled. Maybe I am alone in my observation, but I have experienced this in my own life. To the best of my ability I have tried to serve the Most High most of my life (he saved me when I was 12) and  I have seen others in the kingdom go full throttle in their rebellion, then they repent, and Yah gives them a new job, a new house, new car, an awesome spouse

 and it would leave me there scratching my head. I saw so much of this that for a long time I wondered if  I should just go out and "have fun" and stop trying so hard, it seemed to be getting me nowhere. I felt like my effort did not matter in the eyes of Yah, so I could identify with the elder brother feeling like his father did not notice him. In my heart I know it is not true, but externals can be very convincing.

Let me make it very clear that  I am not trying present this picture  that I am perfect that I do not fall short as we all do, what I am saying is that  I understand it can be frustrating to strive to live right  and those around you can live say alot more relaxed and get celebrated by Yah, after a while you may be tempted to say "why bother?", not that you seek to sin against Yah but the question if the effort makes a difference (It does, we just don't see it at the moment). Remember that when Y'shua spoke of the  parable of the lost sheep, he stated that there was more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 who have no need of repentance so that means that people like the Elder brother can be in a position of right standing with the father and not have to be labled as having a religious spirit as many do tend to do. I do not think the elder brother would have been happy if news came his brother had perished in his rebellion, (at least I hope not!) I think he was upset because it appeared that his younger brother was getting rewarded for going astray and he could not understand what the celebration was really about at the moment; his hurt and anger would not let him.

It is good that the prodigal came home, it is good his father welcomed him with open arms and celebrated him, he had a chance to make a new start as anyone who has made the wrong choices desprately needs. I am sure any one of us who lost everything in walking away from our heavenly father  can appreciate the grace the prodigal received and welcomed it for themselves. I know I would. However, I do want to mention that though he felt ignored, the Elder brother was actually in a better position than his brother.  Even though the prodigal son came home and was restored, he had squandered his inheritance, the elder brother had not, the father said to him "My son," the father said, "you are always with me, and everything I have is yours." (vs 31)That is the part of the story we forget about, that sin still has a consequence though we are forgiven. There are many of our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of Yah that have been restored, but though they have yet to see it this side of heaven that they squandered a portion of their inheritance, (some of those men and women may be us) if not all of it and when they see  what they squandered , there will be regret, but praise Yah their eternal life with Yah did not perish. We don't discuss the story like this because we don't like to think  about the fact that there is accountability for what we choose. Sure we can squander our inheritance here and still make it to heaven, but do we really want to weep for the loss we will face? I do not want to think about it myself, trust me.

I think the elder brother was like many of us, he wanted his father's approval and to be celebrated, but the truth is he had it all along, he just failed to see it because he did not get the fireworks his younger brother did. Fireworks are nice, big, and spectacular, BUT they are temporary. the elder brother's inheritance and his relationship with his father is forever. For the many who feel uncelebrated  by our heavenly father this side of heaven at times (notice I said feel, and feelings are not truth) I encourage you to remember what is written in Hebrews 9:10: For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. He has not forgotten and in due season, he will celebrate you too.


Shalom

God, I need a Favor

The Favor of Yah (God) is a popular subject of many bible teachers in christian circles today. Several books have been written on the subject selling millions of copies. People clap with joy and excitement at the many sermons on the subject because after all, it is nice to be favored, right? To be singled out as special? To be the subject of special treatment  and attention? To walk into an airline and get bumped to first class, or to have the owner of a restaurant comp your meal or give you a dessert on the house and it is not your birthday? These are nice little perks that the Most High does for his children and it is always nice to be the recipient of such attention, but we must not miss the true purpose of Yah's favor, and that is to empower  the man or woman her has selected to fulfill his divine purposes on the earth.When Yah selects someone to fulfill a plan he has ordained, the assignment is never an easy one, so his favor is not a luxury, it is a necessity to bring it to completion. There are many key figures in the bible that received tremendous  amounts of favor from Yah, but if you look at their lives, what they had to face and endure to accomplish what he assigned, you will understand favor's underlying purpose in Yah's overall plan.

Joseph had a dream that his family would one day give honor to him, but the path that lead to that prophecy being fulfilled was extremely difficult. The bible says he was given favor by Yah when he was a slave and when he was in prison. To sustain him through all his difficulties and to position him in a place where he would come in contact with the person (the cup bearer of Pharaoh) who would be his key  to the place and his promotion to become Egypt's Prime Minister, he needed Yah's favor and lots of it.  Queen Esther, a Hebrew orphan and captive in exile was gathered along with probably hundreds of other young women to be a part of the Kings harem and possibly his future Queen. The odds of her being chosen by the king were slim to none without divine  intervention. Yah gave her favor with the right people who groomed her and prepared her to be presented to the king and she was chosen to be queen. However, her new crown was to position her to help save her people from annihilation not so she could sit back and eat dates all day. Noah found favor with Yah to build an ark (that took over 100 years to build) to protect his family and many animals in the midst of  Yah's judgement on the earth. Yah let Moses find favor with the Pharaoh's daughter as a baby and his life was not only spared during a time when male Hebrew boys were being killed, but he was raised under the watchful eye and protection of the very people who called for his execution (if that is not favor I do not know what is). Miriam (Mary) found favor with Yah to be the mother of our Messiah Y'shua which put her integrity in jeopardy  (being pregnant and unmarried) and put her in danger as some time after messiah was born as King Herod sought to kill Y'shua.

I want you to see something here. The common thread that connects all these people together is this, Yah had placed tremendous amounts of favor on these people because they were called to be in a position that would save lives, many, many lives. When you see people given resources, supplies, access to people in places of influence and other things in ways that are out of the ordinary and in some situations just impossible under natural circumstances, that is Yah's favor at work to assist them in saving lives, not to drown themselves in excess. Not to say they do not enjoy some of the benefit, but that is not the sole reason. With the exception of Miriam (Mary) every single one of the aforementioned people were called to be deliverers (Mary gave birth to the greatest deliverer of them all, Y'shua our messiah) . The favor that Yah gave them was not just for their personal benefit, but for the benefit of many. Noah finding favor with Yah to build that ark not only saved his life, the life of his family, and countless animals, but it delayed Yah's judgement for over 100 years (the length of time it took to build the ark) giving the people around him extended time to repent. Sometimes the people around you are spared  (or at least delayed)Yah's immediate judgement because of his favor on you as you fulfill his purpose in their presence. Yah is always about the greater good and for his glory alone.  Joseph was able to save the lives of millions (including his family) during a very severe famine that could have destroyed millions of people because of the favor that ear marked his life.


 Yah can show favor on anyone for any reason without answering to any of us.  His word is chuck full of ways his favor is made manifest to us and it's benefits:

1. Favor is a Shield (Ps 5:12)
2. Favor accompanies wise choices (Prov 3:1-5 & Prov 8:35)
3. When a man takes a wife (Prov 18:22) how is that for Yah being pro-marriage?
4. Takes away reproach (Luke 1:25)
5. Humility brings favor (James 4:6)

There is an abundance of scriptures on the subject and it tells me Yah's enjoys bringing his favor into situations to change men's lives and glorify his name. However like with anything, there is always the potential for abuse or mishandling of such a precious gift. We must take measures to always be grateful when Yah bestows his favor in our life but to also know that where much is given, much is required and he expects us to handle his benevolence properly. Yah's favor is not :


1. To be used as a get out of jail free card when we choose to continue to sin.

There are scriptures that document  when Yah's people got into sin, their choices got them into hot water, they sought his favor and he helped them (II Chronicles 33:1-10) but in many of those situations, they stopped sinning and made amends. We get ourselves into pickles and we need help from Yah to get out of it. There is nothing wrong with enlisting Yah's help when we are in over our heads, my concern is that many preachers today  are teaching Yah's people that he loves his kids sooooo much that what they do is of no consequence all they have to do is call on his name and presto his favor wipes away their mess. This is a dangerous and mis-leading teaching and I will be bold enough to say spits on Y'shuas sacrifice for us.  He was severely beaten, whipped, and CRUCIFIED for our redemption. He did not die for our redemption for us to treat sin so cavalierly. If we find ourselves in a mess of our own choosing and Yah's bestows his favor on us and delivers us, we better gratefully take measures to not make light of it and neglect so great a salvation and it is not a license to do more of the same.

2. To manipulate circumstances to satisfy our greedy desires.

"Oh God give me favor to get that new car, promotion, to snag a husband, snag a wife, to hit the lotto, etc." and the "prayer" list goes on. Again I say this is not to say that  Yah does not answer prayers like these, but I believe if he does, it is in alignment with his purpose, not so we can make a genie out of him. If we are asking for favor to obtain something we better consider why we are asking for it in the first place and really consider if it is in alignment with our Yah ordained purpose. If he answers that prayer, we may live to regret asking for it. King Hezekiah asked Yah to extend his life when the prophet told him he was about to die. He asked  to remember him and Yah extended his life by 15 years during which time he got lifted up in pride, showed off Israels sacred treasures to a heathen king and fathered a child named Manasseh who succeeded him on the throne and was one of the most wicked kings Israel ever had. (II Kings 20). Yah's plans are bigger than we could imagine and it goes far beyond us trying to play the favor card to get "stuff" from him. If that is all we see favor for, we are in sad shape and missing the point.

I will share a true story of how one aspect of how Yah's favor works. I have a friend who is a pastor in Los Angeles who took a trip to see her sister last year in Texas. Her connecting flight was not for a few hours, but as soon as she landed she was informed that she had been upgraded to first class and put on an earlier flight. She was happy for the upgraded  seat as she had been ill and a large comfortable seat was what she needed. Little did she know however that as soon as her plane left Dallas, a torado hit the area and had she been on her original flight, she would have been stuck in Dallas as they had to ground all the planes for a couple of days. In this scenario, Yah's favor had a specific purpose, that upgrade spared her a 2 day delay, possibly saved her life and she was treated to some extra perks to boot. Yah's favor always serves a multi-faceted purpose to accomplish much at once. Those two days she would have  "lost" she was able to spend her sister (as planned) and experienced some spiritual breakthroughs for her ministry from which many people are benefiting. today.

I have another colleague who is an attorney whose passion is for orphans and fatherless children. I have personally witnessed her receiving  an abundance of favor with heads of state, celebrities, and other people of influence to have access to funds and resources for her non-profit organization and other events related to her work.  She uses her access to these things to help these neglected children have a shot at a better life. She does not use it for selfish reasons and because of her faithfulness, Yah has given her more.


The Yah we serve is awesome and there are times he shows us favor just because he loves us and as a sign to us he tends to the smallest details in our lives. I am not here to present Abba Yah as a tyrant  who is selfish with his loving favor (far from it), but I just want to admonish us to stop and consider what his favor is really about; it is to help people, to save people from destruction and make their life and the lives of others better. Let's keep in mind favor's  true purpose, to not take it for granted, to know we will give an account for how we use it, and to use it wisely.


Shalom