“... but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”
Luke 15:29-31
Though we live in a covenant of grace with the living God, we’re not always in a position to receive it—or perhaps, we’re simply unwilling. Like both sons in the parable of the Prodigal Son, we sometimes approach God with a formulaic mindset, believing that our title or actions should earn us a specific reward. Yet this is not how God interacts with His children. In our current series, Wasted Grace, Pastor Amy Perez unpacks this parable to reveal that, like the father in the story, our heavenly Father extends to us a grace that is rich and freely given—a boundless, even reckless, love.
What is the context?
- Jesus shares this parable with His disciples, Pharisees, and community members.
- The Pharisees and scribes question Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors.
- The story’s unexpected outcome challenges the crowd’s understanding of God’s mercy.
Relying on Performance
- We often fall into thinking of ourselves as servants who must earn God’s love or blessings, rather than resting in our identity as His children.
- The older son believes his high performance should earn him a reward, not realizing his father isn’t looking for performance at all but rather a surrendered heart.
- The father’s response is an invitation to freedom, modeling God’s desire for us to live free from captivity.
Robbed of Purpose
- The older son views himself as a hired hand rather than an heir. With control over the fields, harvest, flocks, and estates, he could have lived with purpose, knowing his faithful stewardship was growing his inheritance.
- Jesus promises freedom from toiling—we no longer work as slaves. Our true purpose is to be sons and daughters of God. From this identity, we see every arena of life (work, home, relationships) as a place to be faithful.
- When we know who we are, we step into the grand adventure of our Father’s work, with ever-evolving gifts and a deeper purpose.
Resentful of Grace
- The Bible defines grace as a gift—bestowed undeservingly from someone of higher rank to someone lower.
- The older son misunderstands grace, thinking it’s something to be earned. This causes him to approach his father with resentment and to reject grace for his brother.
- When we see God as a harsh, stingy taskmaster, our view of Him distorts. This leads us to resist embracing His grace and prevents us from extending grace to others, failing to see them as worthy of the Father’s love.
Restored to Sonship
- God’s grace is not only our salvation but also our ongoing transformation. In this story, we see the shift from slave to son. His grace empowers us to change, faithfully transforming us daily into the image of Jesus.
- The father in the story isn’t defensive or angry—he delights in his children, just as God delights in us. If we remain stuck in a servant mentality, we may miss the invitation to intimacy with God.
- The father’s love and grace in this story are extravagant—almost “wasteful”—overflowing beyond what can be received. He continually gives of himself, holding nothing back, demonstrating a love we can’t fully comprehend.
Additional Resources:
- Genesis 33:8
- Exodus 34:6
- Esther 8:30
- Ruth 2:10
- Proverbs 3:22
- Psalm 36:5-9
- Psalm 45:2
- Psalm 51:1
- Luke 2:49
- Luke 18:21
- John 10:12
Dinner Party Questions
- Can we truly grasp the fullness of what God has for us? How has viewing ourselves as distant servants kept us from experiencing the abundance of His love?
- Have you ever felt resentful of God’s grace when it doesn’t match what you think you deserve—or what others deserve?
- When was a time you experienced God’s grace as “reckless” or extravagant in your life? How did it transform you?
- In what ways do comparison, entitlement, or bitterness influence your view of God and His grace?
