celebrate

Saturday March 20th, Luke 15: 28-30 "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' 31-32 "His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" We are the church, the body of our Lord, we are all God’s children and we have been restored. And we want everyone else to be restored just like us. The older brother in this third parable of lost and found is the church. In all three stories about the lost being found in Luke 15 end in rejoicing. We are called as the church to party hardy. There is a reason for the words, “we had to celebrate.” There is no other option for God, and we are called to have no other option for ourselves than to celebrate. Our tendency all too often is to focus on whether the other has repented enough, and it has more to do with our sinfulness than on the prodigal’s. Our sin is to want the returning, the repentant, to grovel a bit more, be repentant a bit more while God wants a party. We are far too busy putting on a good front to have a good time. Remember, we are the church, the body of our Lord, we are all God’s children and we have been both restored ourselves, and called to party hardy at the restoration of others.