Two robes—one a
favorite, well-worn robe; the other the best one in the house. These two
robes were worn by two children of God. Two robes—the favorite robe; the
best robe. Which one is yours?
Every family it seems
in one generation or another has a “second-born” child. Psychologists and
social scientists who study the family have defined the characteristics of
a “second-born” child. Studies have shown that, whereas the “first-born”
child tends to be loyal, obedient, and walks the straight-line of
behavior, it is the “second-born” who
tends to go against the grain,
challenge authority,
goes his/her own way,
strays from the more “straight and narrow” path,
is more of a rebel and just seems destined for more
“bumps in the road” than the “first born.”
The “first-born” is the one who follows the dependable, predictable,
conventional path through life and is usually successful in whatever he or
she does. The “second-born” is the one who is perceived as not as
dependable, utterly unpredictable, and whose unconventional journey leads
to quite a different place in life indeed.
This may well resonate
with you this morning as you consider the family of your origin and your
own place in it or as you consider your own children. Some just seem to
follow the “straight and narrow” while others just have to go their own
way. Now it must be said when psychologists and social scientists talk
about “first-born” and “second-born” children they are not necessarily
referring to birth order. Studies do confirm it is usually the child born
second that is the more unconventional and that observation, therefore,
gave rise to the term “second-born child.” But studies also confirm that,
regardless of the actual order of birth, every family in one generation or
another has a “second-born child”. The question this morning is, which
one are you?
Now I can rant and rave
all I want this morning about the shortcomings and misbehaviors of
second-born children because I was born first, three years before my only
other sibling, my brother, Kevin. Furthermore, I am the eldest of an
eldest son, so I ought to be pretty safe in this analysis, right? The
straight and narrow path…dependable…I became a minister for goodness
sake! How much more straight and narrow can you get?
But Jesus tells the
story of two sons. The younger one acts just like a “second-born child”
is supposed to—unpredictable, irrational, unconventional, rebellious. He
takes his share of the property and
squanders (it) in dissolute living.
(Luke 15:13b)
He spent everything. This is classic “second-born” behavior. He is the
extreme example of the younger child. By his own decisions and
initiatives he finds himself so desperate that he would gladly eat the
pods which are the food for the pigs he has to tend in order to survive.
But then, Jesus says,
the younger son came to himself and realized that his father’s hired hands
are so much more provided for than he, himself, his father’s own son, who
is now starving to death. He resolves to return and all the way home he
rehearses to himself what he will do and what he will say when he gets
home.
Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before you, I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired
hands.
(Luke
15: 18b-19)
He is still a long way off, going over and over in his heart what he will
do and what he will say when he finally gets home, when his father sees
him at that great distance. Jesus says the father is
Filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him
and
kissed him
(Luke 15:20b)
Completely disregarding what his son is so desperate to stammer to his
father, he orders the servants to quickly bring the best robe in the
house, this robe (display “best” robe), and puts it on him. His
father ordered a great celebration, “for,” the father said,
this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and
is found.
(Luke
15:24a)
Jesus says the younger son came to himself, realized who he really was,
and came back as one who had forfeited his rightful place in the family.
When he returned his father welcomed him with joy and brought out the very
best robe to put about his shoulders. You see, the young man was hoping
there was still room in his father’s heart for him to have the least place
in the household. He was embraced, forgiven, and welcomed to the place of
honor in his home.
Is this robe yours? Is
this a description of your life? Have you spent time away from God,
seeking after lots of other things in life and finding that they
ultimately just don’t satisfy? Have you ever squandered your inheritance,
taking the precious gift of life that God has graciously given you and
thrown it away on things that don’t mean very much at all? Are you tired
and hungry and want to come back home? You know your life—only you can
answer. Is this robe yours? God says it’s time you came to yourself,
wear this robe proudly, and come back home.
Or maybe this other
robe (display well-worn robe) is yours. Is it? It’s a favorite
robe, a well-worn robe. It is the robe worn by the eldest son. It is a
favorite robe because his father give it to him a long time ago. It is
the one the son who stood faithfully by his father wore every day as he
carefully and faithfully attended to the responsibilities and hard work of
the household. He is the classic “first-born child”—loyal, obedient,
walking the straight and narrow, dependable, conventional, destined for
success in life.
After the younger son
returns, the older son, the one who wore this robe, hears music and
dancing coming from the house and he asks a slave what was going on. The
slave replies,
Your brother has come, and your father
has killed the fatted calf, because
he has got him back safe and sound.
(Luke
15:27)
When he heard that he got very angry and refused to go in. When his
father came out to plead with him to join them, the number one son said,
Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave
for you…I
have never disobeyed…yet you have never given me even a young
goat
so that I might celebrate with my friends…But when this son of
yours
came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you
killed the fatted calf for him!
(Luke 15:29b-30)
Jesus says the father replied,
Son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours.
But we had
to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead
and
has come to life; he was lost and has been found.
(Luke 15:31b-32)
Being the “first-born” is maybe not
so easy after all. What is life like, this predictable, conventional,
successful life? Well, its hard work. It takes discipline and stamina to
make it the right way in life, doesn’t it? You have to stick with it, do
it for a long time. If you work long enough and hard enough you might
even get the feeling that you deserve exactly everything you’ve got and
nobody else better try to claim that same place as you unless they earn it
just like you did. You got where you are by your own determined effort.
If somebody else made the wrong choices and squandered away his chance
then too bad for him, even if he is your own brother.
What makes the older
son really mad is that the younger one got back his place in the family
and it was just given to him. The father gives it to him as a gift—he
didn’t do a thing to earn it. What the older son forgets is that
everything he has is always a gift of his father. He didn’t earn
his place in the family any more than his younger brother did. What Jesus
decries the most in the protest of the eldest son is not so much that he
wants to claim a higher place than his brother but that he, if he had his
way, would not let his wayward brother claim his own place at all.
This robe, this
favorite, well-worn robe, a gift of the father a long time ago—is this
robe yours? Is this a description of your life? Have you worked hard all
your life, setting goals, following the straight and narrow path, building
on your inheritance and claiming for yourself a good place in life? Are
you among the faithful 20% that always to 80% of the work? Are you
resentful of those who, having gone their own way, having made other
choices, now come back home and are given a place of grace and honor just
like yours? Do you even feel unappreciated and unloved in response to the
lavish grace of God poured over one who was once lost but now is found?
You know your life—only you can answer. Is this robe yours? God says
it’s time you come to yourself, wear this robe proudly, and come back
home.
Jesus, you see, the
teller of this story, wore another robe—the robe draped across the table
this morning. A robe of dishonor put on his shoulders by the soldiers who
arrested him; a robe stained by his own blood; a robe that was stripped
from him and gambled away among his tormentors. Jesus wore this robe that
children of God might wear these and find acceptance and love in the
household of God. Jesus gave his life that “first-born” and “second-born”
and all God’s children may have life. Jesus rose from the dead that you
might rise above your wrong choices and your graceless, narrow
exclusiveness to eternal life. This robe, you see, this robe that Jesus
wore is the robe of a God who, like a loving parent who comes out to
welcome the unfaithful who seek forgiveness and who comes out to welcome
the faithful to the reconciliation party. God wore this robe that you
might wear these with joy.
Two robes—one a
favorite, well-worn robe; the other the best one in the house. These two
robes were worn by two children of God. Two robes—the favorite robe; the
best robe. Which one is yours? Put it on; wear it; it is a gift.
