The Older Brother and Bailouts

I receive "Cliff's Notes," emails from Cliff Stewart, a mentor of mine who serves as pastor of First Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene, TX. He has a wonderful sense of humor and often shares remarkable thoughts, quotes, etc. This morning he sent a snippet from a sermon by Dr. Michael Halleen. This is a timely message for many of us today.

The older brother became angry and . . . answered his father, “Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. . . .But when this son of yours who has squandered your property . . . comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:28-30)

My financial advisor and I agreed on a conservative investment strategy, believing it was not wise at my age to be taking unnecessary risks with my modest retirement portfolio. I took his counsel, played by the rules, did the responsible thing.

But my bucket got a hole in it. In the past eight months I’ve lost more than 40 percent of the value of my investments. And no one seems to be able to fix that hole. Instead, it’s the guys who broke the rules, the scoundrels who made bad decisions and irresponsible choices, who are getting bailed out. Their bucket is under repair, in some cases being filled with bonuses. The fattened calf is trotted out for them!

I’ve found new appreciation for the older brother in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. He was the one who stayed home and worked in his father’s fields while his younger brother was squandering everything he had been given. He was the one who had been responsible, steady and loyal. Yet we’re often critical of him for being angry about the party his father throws when the younger brother returns home. He pouts, he complains—just as I do to my financial advisor. He refuses to celebrate—just as I refuse to celebrate the good fortune of those being bailed out. Wait! I say. I’m the one who did what I was supposed to.

But the story of the prodigal and his brother isn’t about right and wrong. It’s about lost and found. Jesus seems to be saying that those of us who do the “right things” in life get just as lost—just as disconnected from God—as those who do the wrong things. The older brother standing stubbornly outside the house was as distant from the father’s love as his brother had been in the far country. Both were lost. Each needed to be found. All are welcome at the party.

Of course being responsible—“being good”—is always the better road. But that’s not what saves us. We’re not loved because we do the “right thing.” The love comes first. We choose to live responsibly because we are valued—infinitely loved—by the Father in whose house we dwell.