Stop Whining!

I always enjoy the ricochet podcasts, but what struck me about this one was James' comments about the parable of the prodigal son about the minute 53 mark. "That dude [the elder brother] had a point!" Indeed, he did, @jameslileks. His point was this: "If there were any justice in this world, any reap what you sow cause and effect relationship, I should be able to earn the approval of God (represented by the father here) through my hard-work, my diligence, my devotion to duty, my self-control, my reputation as being the good son, the good guy. Isn't this the aim of religion anyway? Be the best me I can be me."

But, dear James, Jesus had a different point. It is this: "My love, my approval, is not meted out on the basis of earning a paycheck or running up a debt I owe you based on your hard work--even the good things you do. That is the way of the world. My love, my approval, instead, comes to you based on grace, that is, undeserved favor. Think about your daughter. Do you love her because she makes good grades, does her chores without complaining, and keeps her room neat? Or do you love her because you love her--because she's yours. Do you love her even when she flunks a course, forgets a chore, or even throws a tantrum and refuses to make up her bed."

Cont'd below

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Both the younger and the older brother in the parable are trying to get what they want--their share of the father's inheritance and what it brings to them--without really having a relationship with the father. For the younger son, a piece of the father's inheritance means access to pleasures he wanted to experience. For the older son, the father's inheritance was a symbol of all his hard work, his achievement, devotion to duty. But neither son knew and loved the father. He was just a means to an end.

In this parable, Jesus is saying, "I am your treasure, your portion, your inheritance--your deepest need, not the things you think you can get from me whether those things are respectable in the world's eyes or not. Know me, rest in my love and on my favor which I give to you freely simply because you are my son, simply because I love you."

Of course, hard work and doing one's duty is better than being a drunken bum. But that is not the point of the parable. The real question posed by the parable is what motivates you? Both sons had selfish motivations that had nothing to do with loving their father and had everything to do with selfishly getting what they wanted from him; they just had different ways of trying to achieve their goals.

Many commentators think that the elder brother is really the focus of the parable.