Luke 15:21–32 (ESV) (part four of a four-part series)
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Sympathizing with others who are suffering from the consequences of their own actions is good, but grace is much more.
For starters, grace includes forgiveness. Forgiveness goes way beyond mere sympathy. Of course, in order to offer forgiveness, you have to have something to forgive. Let’s get back to the boy who teased the bull. There may be nothing to forgive there, assuming the bull’s okay, so it’s not so hard for Farmer Brown to feel sorry for the teenager. But suppose the bull’s not okay. Suddenly, forgiveness isn’t so easy.
But that’s not all; grace includes sacrifice. Sacrifice is a lot like forgiveness in that you lose something. But forgiveness is about something already lost. You can’t get it back anyway, so why keep the emotional baggage? Thus, forgiveness can be just as much a gift to yourself as it is to the person you’re forgiving.
But sacrifice isn’t just about the past. You deliberately create a cost. We’ve all done this for people we love, but Christ calls us to do this for our neighbor—even our enemy. Imagine Farmer Brown paying the kid’s medical bills (and not because of some legal obligation). His love for his neighbor is such that he wants the kid restored to health and is willing to pay a price to see that happen.
That’s grace.
But there’s one last point. God’s love for us is greater than even our love for ourselves. This is where the parable of the prodigal son really gets its wings. Notice that the father loves the son more than he loves himself. This gets back to the way people in charge see things differently. The prodigal son is no more ready to accept forgiveness than his brother is to give it. They both have a son’s perspective. The prodigal son expects (even wants) to be a servant in his father’s household. He says as much with the words, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He’s just as surprised as his brother by the father’s forgiveness.
But the man in charge sees this without all that baggage. He cares about more important things.
