By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
I’ll bet I’m not alone when I say I’ve yelled “What a jerk!” at someone or at least thought it.. There’s the idiot who cut you off as if you didn’t have a right to the road.
There’s that woman who berated the waitress for a simple mistake. Then, there’s the guy who wouldn’t shut up talking about a topic he barely knew enough about to spell.
Sometimes I feel surrounded by these kinds of jerks especially when I can’t get them to shut up so I can add my three cents worth.
Jesus told a parable to the Pharisees about one of these kinds of jerks. Which is fine. He is after all, God. But, I just hate to see myself as the central character in one of his parables.
You know the story. It’s in Luke 15 about the ungrateful brat who wished his father was dead so he could have his share of the estate now while he was young and could really have fun instead of waiting for the old man to kick the bucket later when he’d be too old to enjoy his inheritance. The prodigal son.
Did you know “prodigal” means someone who spends lavishly and foolishly? I guess the name fits him pretty well, but I still sort of like “jerk”.
Jesus set him up in the story to be exactly that…a jerk that the Pharisees would have no trouble disliking. It wouldn’t sit well with them to have a kid want his inheritance early.
Nor would they like the “father” character who gave in and gave it to him. What kind of a dad would just give his rather snotty son his inheritance early?
So, after telling the parables about the lost coin and the lost sheep, which they would have understood and agreed with, he comes along and ups the ante with a lost son.
But, here they should see the difference. The coin didn’t lose itself, the sheep wouldn’t know better than to stay with the flock but the boy, he most certainly knew what his request was saying to his father. Here, they would be disliking the boy and the father.
The only character in the story they’d think well of would be the older brother whom Jesus would make an object lesson out of later.
So, the kid goes off, does the “prodigal” thing and runs out of money. Ultimately finding himself, a Jew, slopping pigs for a gentile. Eventually, hunger overcomes pride and he decides to go home, not to be a son but a plantation worker.
Here’s where all the wheels fall off the Pharisees’ wagon. The father doesn’t berate the boy, instead look what v20 says: “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.”
This twist must have really angered and frustrated the Pharisees because giving grace was not something they were noted for. They would not have run to the son. They probably would not have even acknowledged his presence.
But, just in case you are estranged from God today over some sin that interfered with your relationship with Him, remember those 4 words “he ran to him”.
God doesn’t hold our “jerk-ness” against us. He has already forgiven us. We just need to turn around and accept his hugs, his love and his restoration. How about it? Worth the chance that God loves you enough to have already forgiven you?
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.