The Sin of the Elder Son

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

One problem with this thread. Altho the elder brother had no compassion on his younger brother and stood in need of correction the Father declared that all he had belonged to HIM.

The Father rewarded the elder brothers faithfulness in giving him everything.

15:31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 15:32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’” Luke 15:31-32

Yes we can learn compassion for the lost from the parable but we can also learn the reward of faithfulness.

Yes but I think the POINT is that while I am sure he did not see himself that way, the older son was JUST AS undeserving as the younger.

Salvation is still a free gift, no matter how good or bad we have been.

[OneAccord]

I wrote and posted this in July 2009:


The Elder Son
Luke 15:25-31

by OneAccord

We’ve all heard the story about the Prodical Son. But what about the other son? The Elder Son is the one who served his father faithfully. He remained true to his family, He was faithful in service, and never lived the riotous life that his younger brother had lived.

However, the Elder Son in this story serves as a perfect example of many Christians who have become a little too pre-occupied in the Fathers service.

For one thing, our first glimpse of the Elder Son is while he was returning from the field… far from the fathers house. Yes, he was faithfully working, but sometimes, working for God becomes our priority rather than God Himself. While the Elder Son busied himself with his chores, he was depriving himself of some quality time with his father. Elder Sons of today are so busy working for God that they often neglect their relationship WITH GOD. No time to pray, got to get to the next church function. Can’t fast, having a church dinner tomorrow night. You can tell today’s Elder Sons from a mile away. They are the ones who have no time for their families, because they have to rush to the next revival or campmeeting. Like Peter on the night of the Lord’s arrest, they follow the Lord but only from “afar”. Martha was acting like an Elder Son when she concerned herself only with SERVING Jesus, while Mary sat at His feet establishing a relationship with Him. (Luke 10) While we “must be about the Father’s service”, we must never neglect to spend quality time with the Lord.

In fact, the Elder Son had spent so much time away from the fathers house that he failed to recognize that sound of merriment. This reminds me of the present day Elder Sons who have neglected their fellowship with the Lord to the point that they no longer even recognize the moving of God’s Spirit. In fact, in some cases, they have drifted so far from the Fathers house, that they now find Pentecostal worship quite annoying. Just as the Elder Son in our story became angry with all this unnecessary merriment, the Elder Sons of today are annoyed and embarrassed by the moving of God’s Spirit. This Elder Son was so removed from fathers house that he didn’t understand what all the music and dancing was all about. He had to ask what it was all about.

And, he became angry. His anger was motivated by jealousy and hatred. And he refused to enter his fathers house. Like the Elder Son here, present day Elder Sons refuse to enter into the blessing of God because they don‘t like all that noise in the church service anymore.. The Works of the flesh rule them rather than the Fruit of the Spirit. There is no joy to their Christian walk. Theirs is a life of spiritual drudgery, conforming to man made rules, rather than being led by God’s Spirit. They aren’t motivated by love when they see a sinner give his heart to the Lord. Rather, just like the Elder Son here, they begin to judge their own spirituality by what they perceive as a lack of spirituality in others around them. They become self-righteous. “Why, I’ve been a faithful member for years, and you’ve never made such a fuss over me!” They point out the mistakes and failing of others while they gloat about their own spiritual accomplishments. (Luke 15:29-30) Like another Elder Son in Luke 18, they stand before God pointing out their own spirituality while rejoicing that they aren’t “like other men…or even this publican…", who humbly cried out to God for mercy.

Many Elder Sons of today have no interest in establishing a relationship with God. Their only interest in being in church is for what they can get from the church. “….Thou never gavest me a kid…”, the Elder Son wailed. Being a Christian isn’t about what we can GET, but rather about what we can GIVE. In addition, the Elder Son was satisfied with living beneath his spiritual privilege. He would have settled with a kid when he could have had a fatted calf anytime he wanted it. God wants us to prosper and be in health but often we settle for just getting by! We sing “Lord, just me a cabin in Gloryland”, when it is the Fathers good pleasure to give us His Kingdom! The Elder Son settled for the life of a servant when, in fact, he was a SON!

This Elder Son boasted that he had …at any time “…never transgressed thy commandment….”. There are Elder Sons today who are proud of the fact that they have convinced themselves (and others) that they are without sin. John tells us that if we say we have no sin , we deceive ourselves. (1 John 1:8.) John also has quite a lot to say about hating our brothers. (1 John 3)

The Elder Son had no interest in spending time with His Father. He just wanted to spend time with his friends. (v 29). Many of today’s Eldest Sons think of the church as nothing more than a social meeting place where the latest gossip or the latest recipe or the latest sports scores are freely exchanged. Hearing the sermon has about as much interest to them as praying at the altar. The Supper Room takes precedence over the Upper Room.

The most insidious thing about this Elder Son is that he felt he had to earn place in the fathers house. Some today think they have to score points with the Great Scorekeeper to be a part of His Kingdom. We don’t earn our place in God’s Kingdom. That place was bought and paid for at Calvary. We don’t do works to get saved, we do what the Bible requires of us because we ARE saved! One of the greatest verses in the Bible is found in Luke 15:31. The father said to his son…” Son, thou are ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” And God is saying the same thing to us. Perhaps its time for us to come in out of the fields of our thinking we have to earn our place in God‘s Kingdom. Perhaps its time for us to come down from our lofty perches, and enter our Fathers House, where there is the sound of joy and gladness. Perhaps we need to lay down our self-righteous and judgmental tools of labor, and pull up a chair at the Masters Table.

[Charnock]

A quote from the book is profound. Keller quotes someone whom I can't recall who said, "the problem with Pharisees is not their sins, it's their damnable good works." Repentance is more than acknowledging our immorality. It's also acknowledging all the times we did the right things for the wrong reasons. Whenever we pray, give, fast, serve, worship, help, forgo the forbidden fruit or do anything else that is good and right for any other reason than simply out of a love for and a cherishing of our Father and wanting to do nothing more than to please Him, to be close to Him and to bear the fruit of His Spirit in our lives, we sin. Self righteousness is as damnable a sin as any act of immorality and rebellion. In fact self righteousness is a form of rebellion in it's own right. It's seeking salvation independent of God. It's an attempt at being your own savior. It's a sin that is subtle and difficult to detect because it is clothed in everything that is right, admirable and good.

Deacon, this is pure literary gold.

[crakjak]

Originally Posted by Raven

The Prodigal God is an excellent book. Just read it for the first time at my daughter's and promptly ordered a copy for myself and two more for each of my sons. Anyone will profit greatly from reading this book.

Hello my friend, don't make yourself so scarce!

Love the book, great story from the master story teller. Shows that when we are not in fellowship with the father, due to persisting in sin, or wallowing in our religious good works, we are STILL the Father's child. And He as a perfect gentleman goes about His business, but He is longing and desiring our fellowship. Seeking to save us from our independence and delusions, so that we can enter into His life.

Of course the underlying truth, that is so much missed, is that in both cases He has not forsaken either son, and will ultimate lead both to repentance and salvation. Beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father, that we can trust all our loved ones in His hands.

Christmas blessings to you, and all of your family.

[crakjak]

[QUOTE=Titus2woman;1120121]Yes but I think the POINT is that while I am sure he did not see himself that way, the older son was JUST AS undeserving as the younger.

Salvation is still a free gift, no matter how good or bad we have been.[/QUOTE]

So true, yet not believed by most religions today. Most belive we are saved because we earn that salvation by works, rather than because we are children of the creator, and He has paid for our salvation.

Our works should be a natural (rather a spiritual) outflowing of our salvation. Not the reverse.

[deacon blues]

At the end of one lesson an elder approached me and asked, "Do you think the father in the story was completely right?" I said, "well since he represents God in the story, I would say yes." The man said, "well until you've worked all day in the field while others don't, you won't understand why the older son was angry."

To me it underscored how we can be in church so long that we miss the essence of being a Christ follower. Here is a man who has been in church for many decades, but he can't wrap his mind around what Jesus is saying here. I said to him, "I agree that people who work hard while others don't deserve to be rewarded while others deserve to go without. But this isn't what Jesus is saying. He's talking about salvation and being restored to God. In the context of the story it's about our relationship with the Father. You raised two girls. Did they not both choose to different paths of life?" He nodded (the elder girl did all the right things and is now married and a lawyer. The younger sister took the wild side route). I asked, "In spite of their different choices, don't you love them both equally?" He again nodded in agreement.

We are so predisposed to reduce Christianity into a cause and effect system rather than a relationship with God, that we lose understanding the simple message of grace. He chose us. He loves us. He paid the price for us. He is ever reaching out to us whether a rebel or a religious zealot and trying to get us to believe in Him, trust in Him, and to rest in Him. Who cares if I do more for God than someone else? Who cares if I have been a Christian longer than someone else? Who cares if someone else has done things I haven't done, committing sins I haven't committed, taken a path I haven't taken? Before a holy God, what does it matter? It doesn't! We are just fortunate that He has compassion on any of us, and greets us with a smile and an open door that simply says, "You are welcome here".

[Scott Hutchinson]

Is there a link to this book ?

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

One problem with this thread. Altho the elder brother had no compassion on his younger brother and stood in need of correction the Father declared that all he had belonged to HIM.

The Father rewarded the elder brothers faithfulness in giving him everything.

15:31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 15:32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’” Luke 15:31-32

Yes we can learn compassion for the lost from the parable but we can also learn the reward of faithfulness.

The parable has more to do with how lost the elder brother is rather than about compassion for the lost. This is where so many people miss the point of the parable. While Jesus is being criticized by the religious, the sinners are having a relationship with Him, and by implication, they are repenting of their sinful ways as a result. So while heaven is rejoicing, and Jesus is rejoicing, and the Prodigals are rejoicing over their restoration to God, the "older sons" are angry and criticizing Jesus for associating with these people.

Jesus is trying to manifest their lostness, but they aren't getting it. It has nothing to with "the reward of faithfulness". How do you explain the faithful Christian who suffers with a painful disease and dies? How do you explain the faithful Christian who is being imprisoned somewhere in the world, or worse, martyred for their faith? How do you explain the faithful Christian who lives in poverty? There are so many holes to the idea that "faithfulness = rewards". It's a pitfall that has caused many to stumble, question God, get bitter or live for Jesus void of joy, contentment and peace.

We are invited to believe in Jesus and serve Him cheerfully and gratefully, come what may.

The words of the father to the elder son represent the fact that the religious Jews had every advantage: the oracles of God, patriarchal heritage and the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. It isn't Christ's attempt to promote rewards-based thinking. In fact the whole parable is designed to point out that both sons are lost, alienated from the father and need to be restored in their own way.

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

Is there a link to this book ?

I don't know. I purchased the ebook from Barnes and Noble.

[Sabby]

Thanks for a good post, Deacon. It's sounds like a book I could use.