Luke 15:1-3: Are you a Prodigal?

Have you read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke chapter 11? Do you relate to one of the characters in that story? It happens to be the topic of the study my small group is doing called Prodigal God written by Tim Keller. This week, we focused on the audience who was listening to Jesus when he told this story and how those people (and we) fit into the story:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: (Luke 15:1-3)

As we examined the characters in the story and how they were like the groups of listeners, we came up with the younger brothers or tax collectors and sinners and the older brothers or Pharisees. The tax collectors and sinners were on paths of "do what you want" but were now returning to God because they were lost. The Pharisees were standing on the moral high ground and were so focused on doing what was right that they failed to have relationship and were also lost. The problem for this group is that they were too proud to recognize and admit they were lost.

Of course that leaves one more character, the father, who is extravagant in his love to both his sons, just as God is with us. To the younger son, he gives him the inheritance that he asks for and then when the younger son returns having squandered that inheritance and recognizing that he is no longer worthy of sonship, the father gives him a robe and a ring, signifying that he has put him right back to his place of being a son in his household. Not only does he restore him to his place in the family, but he greets him by foregoing dignity and running out to him, not waiting for the younger son to approach him and apologize. For the older son, the father leaves his party and begs the older son to come in and join the festivities. He humbles himself and begs his own son just to celebrate. To both, the father lavishes an extravagant love.

This weeks discussion focused on the need to focus on relationship. In that relationship, we will find an understanding of what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to love. We will not become lost.

I have had these ideas and thoughts rolling around in my head this week and thinking about how that plays out today, for me, and in the lives of others around me. I have also had my Google News notifications filling my inbox with news stories about Exodus International, which is an ex-gay ministry. Let me share a quote from one of the articles on CNN:

"From a Judeo-Christian perspective, gay, straight or otherwise, we're all prodigal sons and daughters," Chambers said. "Exodus International is the prodigal's older brother, trying to impose its will on God's promises, and make judgments on who's worthy of His Kingdom.
"God is calling us to be the Father -- to welcome everyone, to love unhindered."

The organization is shutting down and reforming under a new name, Reduce Fear, with a new mission:

"This is a new season of ministry, to a new generation," Chambers said. "Our goals are to reduce fear, and come alongside churches to become safe, welcoming and mutually transforming communities."

 I want to give credit to this organization for recognizing that they were lost and needed to take a different path. For seeing that the mission of Exodus International made them like the older brother and also congratulate them on the new mission, which is one worthy of the father. I pray my blessings on their faithfulness to this new mission and that they could impact churches to make them safe, welcoming and transforming communities.

Back to my small group, one of the parting ideas we discussed was a health check on how churches were at embracing the marginalized and what they needed to do to improve in this area. It seems that Reduce Fear is on a path to help churches to do this.

Each of us can probably relate to the younger or older son in the story of the Prodigal Son, and possibly both at different seasons in our lives; more focused on "doing it right" or on our "own desires" and neglecting relationship. But it is only in relationship that we have opportunities to spend extravagant love, love that the world would see as wasteful, but we know to be the essence of life.

Let us find ways to be a prodigal, like the father in the story, giving away love extravagantly, spreading it everywhere we go with abandon.

Luke 11:5-13 - Expect Results

If I haven't mentioned it before, the small group I am apart of is studying prayer. This week, the focus was on Luke 11:5-13:

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

One of the discussion points was praying audaciously with an expectation of results. At the end of the meeting, I challenged the group to pray audaciously as we shared our prayer requests and then live in a way that expects results...

A little background: One of the people in my group, Lizzie, has been my running partner for the past six months and I started running with, Chase, another of the group members last week. 

The next morning I was meeting with Lizzie and Chase. I arrived and Lizzie was there. When Chase didn't show up, we started running around the parking lot while waiting. After a few minutes, I sent a text to make sure Chase was still planning to come...no response. Eventually we decided to run part of our route.

When we arrived back to the parking lot, Chase was there. Even though time was tight, we decided to run a little bit more and called him over to join us. As soon as he joined us, he asked, "Do you have my phone?" He couldn't find his phone and he had been delayed looking for it and had finally come, hoping that I had found it (the small group meets at my house). I had not, so I called home to have Thomas look for it, but he didn't see it among the chaise or couch cushions. So as we completed our run, I prayed out loud, "God, help us find this phone! We really need it to show up."

So I headed home with Chase following me. He was hoping that the phone would be on the side of the road where he had parked the night before. I kept thinking about all the kids who walked down the road on their way to one of the two schools in the neighborhood...

When we arrived back to the house, Chase started looking along the road and I went to check inside again. He quickly came in...no phone! I decided to just remove all the cushions to check there again. Chase started to insist that was unnecessary...and then we saw it...his phone.

God answered our prayer and we celebrated! I loved the way God had brought us on this journey. We talked about praying audaciously and expecting an answer with the whole group and then God gave the three of us that were meeting together for a run the opportunity to practice it the next morning. God was faithful and the phone was found. The story was shared with the whole group, and now with you.

Have you ever talked about some section of scripture and then seen it applied almost immediately in your life? I feel like it happens all the time when I engage with God and others, how about you? I would love to hear your stories.