Lost And Found
29 "But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'" (Luke 15:29-32)
As Jesus spoke to a group that included tax collectors and others deemed to be sinners, some in the religious establishment looked on with disgust. They could not understand why Jesus would surround himself with people they considered to be unworthy. So Jesus told three stories about rejoicing over finding what had been lost - the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In each story it's clear that what had been lost might be considered unimportant. After all, only one sheep had wandered off and there were many others to tend to. The lost coin certainly had value, but surly the woman could get by on what she still had. And the lost son had made his own devastating choices, while the father still had an obedient son at home to rejoice over.
It could be tempting to see in these stories a devaluing of what one has or, in the case of the son, those who have been faithful. But Jesus closed the story of the prodigal son with the reminder that those who have always been faithful loose nothing when the wayward return home. The obedient son's share of the father's wealth did not change - it didn't increase when his brother left and it didn't decrease when his brother returned. It's possible that the animosity felt by the "good" son was solely a response to the honor and recognition that the father displayed for his brother while seemingly taking his own faithfulness for granted. Perhaps the dutiful son forgot that, during the time that his brother's life was in turmoil, he had safety, security, comfort and peace. The more disciplined son may also have taken for granted his continuous access to, and his favorable relationship with, his father.
Like the faithful son, we have a choice to make. God wants all of creation restored to God's self. We can join in the party and celebrate when anyone or anything lost is found, or we can sulk under the false assumption that we deserve something that someone else doesn't deserve. Everything God gives us is a gift. We have not earned it - we couldn't earn it if we tried. The time we get to live in right relationship with God is its own treasure. May God give us the grace and humility to joyfully welcome everyone to the home we have with God.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
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