“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15:28-32

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We are invited to live in God’s house as celebrated, loved children. Joyful and free, to ultimately become like the Father to a hurting world: generous, patient, welcoming, gracious and full of mercy. Through Jesus, we are empowered and propelled into the good works he’s created in advance for us to do. In this Sunday’s message, Pastor Kathryn Myers surfaces a soul-piercing question from this parable: will we mindfully say yes everyday to the many invitations God is extending us?

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What’s the context?
After accusations from the Pharisees about who he spends time and dines with, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and shows them how different the character of God is than they make it out to be through the parable of the prodigal son.

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Who is inviting us?

• Our God, extravagantly generous, dancing with us in relationship, allowing us our free will, long suffering, patience, waiting, compassionate, merciful at our return, aware of where we are, wooing our hard hearts pleading with us, to allow his grace to penetrate our hearts and empower us to respond.
• The father’s response to the younger son:some text
  • The first action of God is to respond to the request of his younger son, not withholding his treasure but rather freely, one might say prodigiously - wastefully and extravagantly - giving to his son.
  • Imagine a father whose son is lost! He is waiting at home for his return with long-suffering, his patience is not impersonal, it's a suffering, a heartache, a longing for his child’s return. The father is looking on the horizon.
  • Before the father knows the son’s heart, before he’s heard any utterance of repentance, the mere glance of his son creates a surge of compassion in his heart, and he RUNS towards him, casting off his dignity, throws his arms around him, and covers him in kisses repeatedly
• The father’s response to the older son:some text
  • We see that the father notices that his older son is absent. He leaves the celebration in search of, and to woo his older son. 
  • He clearly is full of total love for him. He pleaded with the older son, and “he begged him,” some translations say.
  • The father simply invites the older son to come to the party, he corrects him with an invitation. This is how God disciplines us, he graciously teaches us with the truth.

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What are we invited to?

• We are invited to share in the joy of the father, which is meant to be spread and multiplied among us.
• When our hearts want to close, we are invited to open them. The sin in us would sometimes rather burn a bridge between others instead of building one, but instead give the love of God permission to let his love lead the way.
• Jesus invites us in this parable to return to the Father’s house, and in doing so, claim our identity as sons/daughters and heirs. 

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How are we empowered to respond?

• We are ultimately empowered by, through, and in Jesus himself. Everything we need to respond lies in the resurrection power of God. 
• Jesus paid the entry price for us to enter into the father’s house. Through Jesus, we are propelled into the good works he’s created in advance for us to do.

Additional Resources
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen
Hebrews‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭15
1 John 1:8-9
1 Timothy 1:15-16