The Elder Son
"The lostness of the elder son is much harder to identify. After all, he did all the right things. He was obedient, dutiful, law-abiding, and hardworking. People respected him, admired him, praised him, and likely considered him a model son. Outwardly, the elder son was faultless. But when confronted by his father's joy at the return of his younger brother, a dark power erupts in him and boils to the surface. Suddenly, there becomes glaringly visible a resentful, proud, unkind, selfish person, one that had remained deeply hidden, even though it had been growing stronger and more powerful over the years."It is sad, but true, that the elder son makes me think of the church. It is all too easy to be aware of how the world perceives us: judgmental, superior, intolerant. We are the elder son, standing off to the side, watching the prodigal be embraced and welcomed and feeling nothing but resentment and anger.
The painting is wrong, of course. In the parable, the elder son was out in the fields and he only heard the sound of a party as he was coming in from his labor. But the image Rembrandt gave us works. It shows us how aloof our intolerance makes us.
Nouwen was stunned when a friend told him that he was not the prodigal of the story at all, but was the elder son. Most of us who were raised in the church more easily relate to him. "I've been doing this my whole life," we think. "And you want to come along now? After what you've done? You want to be my equal?" How many of us cannot think about the elder son without thinking of the parable of the equal wages? The same truth applies in both cases. God can give what He wishes to give, welcome whom He wishes to welcome. The generosity and grace he shows others does not remove one iota from what He's promised us. We are still redeemed. We still have our inheritance. The loving father told the elder son, "All I have is yours." But he knew how much more his son would have if he could forgive his brother and join in the celebration.
The parable is open-ended. We don't know if the elder son relented. We don't know if the prodigal stayed true. But there is no question as to the constancy of the father.
posted by Thurman8er @ 10:27 AM
3 Comments:
Are you sure you're just a math teacher? Don't have some theology degrees hidden in your past?
I have a book entitled "Hear Then The Parable" in which this parable is title A Story of Two Sons. In as much as the story is about the prodigal, even more it is a story of his brother.
As you reflect on the characters in this story you soon come away with a different idea as to the identity of the lost son.
It truly is open-ended. More than that it is unresolved. The story is still be written only we are now the principal characters.
Ok, one more book to add to my list. How about a post of your top 10 or 20 must reads in the year 2006?
Good idea on the top 10 books. That's another reason we oughtta start that "seed thought" blog that Brady was talking about. Of course, adding books to the stack doesn't add the time necessary to read them.
And thanks, Randy, but no theology degree hidden in my past. The future, however, is open-ended.
What a great reminder - "the constantcy of the Father." I need that comforting thought in a world of inconsistentcy.
tyrbaioe (I've never had a student by this name)
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