Let's start with one of my favorite parables from the bible, the parable of the lost son.
Luke 15:11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 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.’”
The first question when reading this is: Who are you? The younger brother or the older brother? I laugh when I hear people say, "Yup, I have a brother who is prodigal." or "I know someone like that."
The story of the prodigal son is fascinating. If you look at the context, Jesus is appearing to explain to the Pharisees why he is hanging out with such sinners as prostitutes and tax collectors.
He has built a continuum of three parables, one about a lost sheep, one about a lost coin and then this one about the lost son. From the continuum, he makes it very clear that the return of something lost is extremely valuable.
But there is something quite different from how the lost son returns when compared to how the lost coin and lost sheep return. Unlike the sheep and coin, the lost son makes a choice to return. It says something very powerful about free will. It says something very powerful about how God is such a loving father that he will allow us to choose our path, sacrificing everything and still loving us unconditionally despite our choices.
Now, perhaps you have said, "I am the older brother. Yes, I have sinned. I do have a friend who is prodigal and as a Christian, I need to be less judgmental. I don't want to be legalistic like the Pharisees." If this is you, you have missed the boat. You are just at the starting line of Christianity.
Consider Luke 18:10-14.
10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
or Romans 3:23 which says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
If you look back at the parable, you will find that the older brother is waiting outside while a celebration is occurring inside. Where does the parable end? Remarkably, leaves the older brother outside, left with a choice! To stay outside or join the celebration. Jesus is not explaining to the Pharisees that saving the sinners is valuable, he is explaining to the Pharisees that they are waiting outside and have a choice laid before them.
A good friend of mine once told me, "The hardest thing for a man to do is to be truthful to himself about who he is." And the truth is, we are all sinners, wading around in our own pig slop.
That same friend also told me, "The first step to change is realizing where you are. If you don't know where you are, you won't be able to get to where you want to go."
So the process of change goes like this: 1) Being blind to sin, 2) Discovering your sin, 3) Choosing to rely on the Father.
So, who are we, the older brother, the younger brother, the Pharisee or the sinner? Some people will say, "I am such a sinner, I know I am prodigal and I rely on the Lord everyday to give me grace." This is a great attitude. There is however, a subtle message portrayed that somehow, you are a better Christian because you are aware of how much a sinner you are. Somehow, there is a sense of pride of knowing more or being more aware.
Consider Proverbs 14:12 which states "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death."
So I offer this answer; you are both the older brother and the younger brother. You are both the Pharisee and the sinner. And the only way for you to realize the true nature of your sin is for God to reveal it to you. In other words, at any given point in time, we may be dealing with the sinful nature that we are aware of as well as the sinful nature we are blind to.
Understanding this, you may choose to obey. You may choose to conform. And blessings will reign upon you, but will you be transformed? How do you really know if you have been transformed?
Transformation is the first miracle you will experience as a Christian. Christianity boils down to one statement: "If Christ can die and raise himself from the dead, then he too can raise me from the dead."
John 2:1-11 outlines how transformation takes place.
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.c He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
If we want Jesus to transform us, we must be empty water jars. For some people, they feel a void, deep down, it seems impossible to fill. If you don't feel it, you may be covering it up with something else or somehow avoiding it. But if you do feel it, I am telling you, that is the starting point.
We remain empty waiting for Jesus to fill us, then he overfills us to the brim so that we are overflowing with living water. Finally, in the third step, he transforms us. And the fruit of that transformation tastes sweeter than anything we have ever tasted before.
You may be saying to yourself, "So I have been filled. I know what you are talking about. But I am still not convinced it was God." So how do we know, we know, we know we have been transformed? Consider John 5:1-19.
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' "
12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
For 38 years this man laid suffering. For 38 years! He had hoped and prayed and asked God for a miracle. Then, he found Jesus.
He tried to boss Jesus around, he tried to tell Jesus how to solve the problem, he tried to teach Jesus. But Jesus left him with a choice. He called him out across the water. And instantly, by faith alone the man was healed.
And when he went to the ones who should have understood, who should have related. When he went to the spiritual leaders, all they saw was sin. The man had just been healed after 38 years of waiting. After 38 years of not being able to walk! And their response was that he should not be carrying his mat on Sundays!
You will know you have been transformed, when an undeniable miracle occurs in your life. Do not be surprised when you explain what has happened and people seem to be blind to it. Do not be surprised when they seem to focus on something entirely different than what is so clear to you. Do not be surprised when you try to point Jesus out to them and they cannot find him.
This is God's way of telling you that your transformation was real. That he loves you enough to share this intimate moment with you and you alone. And out of excitement, you may try to share with your loved ones or the religious leaders and they may be blind to it. God will use your story, so be patient. Rather than cast your pearls before swine, choose to save the best wine for last by using discernment. You will know when the right timing is. And when you share, have this on your heart: "Whoever has ears, let them hear."
