a father and his sons (part 3)

In my last two posts I talked about the story Jesus tells in Luke 15 about a son who runs away, wastes all his money and then comes home.

A father who is very generous and throws a huge party.

And a jealous older brother.

So when the older brother comes home from working in the field to find this big party being thrown for his younger brother he refuses to go in.

So his loving father comes out to plead with him. He basically tells him that he loves him just as much as the younger brother and that if he wanted a big party he could have asked for one at any time. He is after all a very generous man.

At this point in the story Rob Bell says in his book Drops Like Stars,

"The older brother then has a moment of profound enlightenment. He puts his arm around his father and says, "you're right, Dad. I'm sorry I've been such an ass. Can I get you a beer?"

... wait what?

Now, of course we know that he is joking. That isn't how the story ends is it?

The father goes out to plead with his son, he gives his speech and that's it.

We don't get to see what happens next.

It ends with a cliff hanger.

If this were a movie I would be really annoyed.

I can almost imagine his disciples being like, "How is Jesus ever going to start a movement telling stories like this?"

This story doesn't wrap up nice and neatly...

No condensed summary...

No three points of application all beginning with the same letter...

It just sits there... unresolved.

The most troubling thing about this story is not what it says. But what it refuses to say...

As I said in the last post I feel like I can really relate to the older brother in this story. But because Jesus leaves this story open ended it demands something of me. This story demands that I ask the question: what kind of son am I going to be.

Just like the older brother the choice lies before me. It happens every day.

I can choose to participate in what God is doing or I can be selfish, insecure and judgmental.

I enter into this story and I live in it on a daily basis... and every time I decide how this story ends.

Grace & Peace