“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Luke 15:25-32.

I can’t tell you how many messages I have heard about the prodigal son that end when the younger son comes home. Yet, this parable is not just about the father and his wayward son. It is about the father and the older son also.  

The older brother was the good son. He did everything right, yet he did not understand the love of the father either. To him the father’s love was something you had to be worthy of. It had to be earned.

Where did this leave him? Would you believe it left him in the same place as the younger brother? Alone. He was alienated both from his father and his brother. He was outside the party. This is a great irony. We don’t often think of good people as having trouble with their relationship with God or their neighbor, but they often do. Think about Jesus day. Who did Jesus  have the most trouble with, the sinners or the good folks? For the most part it was the sinners that had the easier time accepting the gift of relationship with God. Those who knew they were unworthy of God’s love had the easiest time receiving it. Those who thought they could earn God’s love missed it.

When we make God’s love something to be earned, we end up not only having trouble with God but also with our neighbor. We can always find a reason why our neighbor is not worthy of God’s love. And if he is not worthy of God’s love, then he is not worthy of my love.

The foundation of Christ’s relentless love must be the foundation upon which we build all of our relationships. If we do not, we often end up a little like both of the brothers. On our bad days we will feel like the prodigal who was unworthy of his father’s house. On our good days we will be looking down on others whom we deem unworthy of our father’s house. If we bounce back and forth between feeling like a saint and feeling like a worm, it is time to come home to the love of the father. When we do, we will hear Him say, “Come join the party, and bring your brother with you.”