You Are At The Party

This is the third and final part of our Prodigal Series.

Both younger brother and older brother are at the party. The younger brother inside as the guest of honor being celebrated because he was lost and is found, was dead and is alive. The older brother is there but outside the door. He can decide to remain outside, but the invitation comes to him, father comes out, and the older brother IS at the party whether he parties or not.

In the same way, both the younger son types – the “sinners and tax collectors” the mistake makers and ones looked down upon– and the older son types, the Pharisees and Scribes, the ones who have “always done what is right” and will let others know when they aren’t doing what’s right.

Both groups are at the party, but some refuse to take part, to enjoy, to rejoice. When the Pharisees and scribes don’t want to join in all the way and prefer to grumble from just outside, Jesus tells three parables of lost things of value being found and then celebrated, ending with this parable of the man with two sons (Luke 15:11-32).

Plenty of us know and are “younger son types.” When we come to the conclusion that we are not worthy to be called a child of God, we are not worth celebrating or rejoicing, and we are only our failures. Some come to this conclusion on their own, others at the hands of a story twisted by depression, and even others because the “older son types” have let them know that they don’t belong, they are only their mistakes and they don’t have an invitation let alone a place at the banquet table.

Plenty of us know and are “older son types.” If I’m honest, I’m in this camp more than I’d like to admit. We think, “If only everyone was like us, who worked so hard and committed our full selves, did all the right things, and have earned our place here.” And yet, the truth is that we have no more earned our status as beloved child of God than the younger son has lost it. Grace renders our efforts to earn God’s love pointless, for God’s love is for us as a gift, not something we earn (or lose).

YOU are at the party – the radical grace and love of God are for you. They are also for all of those who think they aren’t sons and daughters. And those people are your siblings. They are yours to keep and love and celebrate. Note the Father and older son’s exchange at the end of the parable, when the older son ignores his relationship with his brother by saying, “this son of yours…” the Father reminds him, “this brother of yours…”.

To us younger son types – you are at the party, will you realize that it is for you? Will you decide to leave again? Will you trust that you are worth celebrating? That you are being celebrated?

To us older son types – You are at the party. Will you join in the festivities? Or will you stay outside? Will you dare to celebrate and rejoice when the lost are found and the dead come back to life?

To all of us – we are at the party, let’s celebrate, let’s share the invitation of the father, and like the father look with compassion and go out to meet those who are far off and who are already there just outside. Let’s go out and meet the ones who think they aren’t good enough to be celebrated and celebrate them. Let’s go out and remind those who think they are too good to celebrate that they are at the party and God’s grace is for them and for all.

God is restoring and deepening our relationships with God, neighbor, self. That’s worth celebrating.