Will you forgive the repentant sinner?
Yesterday I read the parable of the Prodigal Son: when I say that, you probably will remember the story. But I noticed something new this time.
Right before that, Jesus is teaching, and tax collectors and other notorious sinners came to listen to him…Jesus associated with them and even ate with them! This upset the Pharisees and the teachers of the religious law. So, Jesus tells two stories. One, about a lost sheep. A sheep that was once in the fold but wandered off (that was me) and how the Shepherd left the others to search for the lost one. And when He found it, He put it on His shoulders and called his friends and neighbors to rejoice with Him because He found His lost sheep. ‘In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!’ (Luke 15:7)
And the next story was like it: a woman who had 10 silver coins lost one of them (that also was me). She lit a lamp and swept her entire house until she found it. And when she found it, she called together her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her. ‘In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.’ (Luke 15:10)
Then we read this: ‘To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story. “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, “I want my share of tour estate now before you die.’ So, his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.’ (Luke 15:11-12)
And I thought: what point?? And then it hit me: when someone repents and turns to God, we need to forgive them also and stop judging them for their past sins! If we really believe that when we repent and turn to God that He removes our sin from us, then why do we think it’s ok to hold on to the sins of some other repentant follower of Jesus?
The prodigal son left home and squandered his inheritance on wild living. But then he ran out of money, and a famine came. He noticed that the pigs were eating better than he was! And that’s when he finally came to his senses and realized he would be better off as a hired servant in his father’s home. So, he went home, rehearsing his apology to his father. When his father saw him coming from a long way off, he was filled with love and compassion. The son began to ask for his forgiveness, but the father was already treating him like royalty! The finest robe, a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet! Then they killed the fatted calf and lost no time in beginning the celebration. When the older son came in from the field, he heard music and dancing: he found out that his brother had come home and the fatted calf had been killed, and he was angry and wouldn’t go in. “His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ His father said to him. ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost but now he is found!’” (Luke 15:28-32)
So, here’s what I noticed:
-the older brother, who stayed at home, felt threatened by his brother’s return.
It comes back to money and position. He didn’t understand the father’s generosity or his wealth, and that the father had already given him everything. He could afford to welcome his brother back because his position remained secure, and his inheritance was secure, although he didn’t believe that it would be.
-the older brother didn’t really love his younger brother. He was so focused on the sins of his brother that he cared nothing for his life. He even referred to him as ‘this son of yours’ not as his brother. He didn’t want him to come home!
-the older brother didn’t really love his father either. He said that he ‘slaved’ for him and never disobeyed him: that implies resentment. He’s doing what he feels like he must do, without joy, just plodding along for the future inheritance.
-the older brother didn’t know that he already possessed everything. He lived with a poverty mentality, like he couldn’t even celebrate with a young goat. He never asked. He could have done it whenever he wanted.
-the father loved the older son just as much as the younger son. He left the party to beg him to come in, and he called him his ‘dear’ son. The older son didn’t see how loved he was and had no room to love a former sinner.
-the Pharisees were the older son. I just realized this today: Jesus told this story to the Pharisees who were upset that Jesus was associating with known sinners.
But the Pharisees are invited to the party too! They didn’t think they were sinners, because they ‘slaved’ for him and never broke the rules. But that kind of thinking is deadly: no one is righteous, not even one. In my case, I know that I am the one who wandered away, in desperate need of forgiveness. But now that I have returned to the Lord, I need to remember what I have been saved from. And to have compassion for others who are ‘notorious sinners’ like me who repent and return to God. We need to forgive them and welcome them home: and we can’t do that if we stay outside reviewing their sins and refusing to go in! There’s going to be a great party one day in heaven, and I don’t want to miss it. I don’t want you to miss it either.