On Friday, 27 August 2021, 06:13:52 pm AEST, ianmurray <imurray8@...> wrote:
Hello Ray,
Prodigal son
Ever since hearing about the parable of the prodigal son as a child I have felt sorry for the good son although I can understand?
the message that this parable is sending.
Wealthy man and agent
I find the message in this parable very difficult to determine. The wealthy man admires the cunning of his dishonest agent but is still
badly treated by him and losing money.
What is your understanding of the message that this parable is sending?
Blessings,
Ian
----------------------------
Hi
Ian,
The
parables in Luke 15 and 16 should be taken as a single message about how God?loves lost sinners and his love restores us to a right
relationship with God. Heaven is filled with lost sinners who have come
home.?God waits patiently, with loving compassion to restore?our full
relationship?when we return to him with humble hearts. He freely offers us
everything in the Kingdom of God without?dwelling on our past waywardness.
The
prodigal son (or really, the prodigal father with two lost sons) follows the parables of the Lost Sheep (more rejoicing in heaven over a single sinner saved than 99 citizens who never put a foot wrong) and the Lost Coin (God's angels celebrate every time even just one sinner repents).
Jesus
used these three parables to demonstrate what it means to be lost, how heaven
celebrates with joy when the lost are found, and how the loving Father longs to
save people. Because the younger son was as good as dead, his return was a time
for rejoicing but the jealous elder son who still held the remaining 2/3 of the
father’s estate begrudged losing even one fatted calf,? Bitterness and resentment kept the older son from forgiving his younger brother. He was lost in his own sins which blinded him to the treasure that he had and had freely enjoyed through his constant relationship with their father.
This brings
us to the Parable of the Unjust Steward, which is based on the admonition in Deuteronomy
8:11-18 that everything comes from God and we should be thankful for all that we have and use it as He
directs. Jesus wasn’t teaching us to be dishonest, but rather that we should shrewdly
use our present worldly wealth and opportunities for future spiritual benefit. People
can see worldly wealth in three ways:
- The
thief says, “What’s yours is mine—I’ll take it.”
- The selfish person says, “What’s mine is mine—I’ll
keep it.”
- The believer says, “What’s mine is
a gift from God —I’ll use it to His benefit.”
So how can wealth be used to serve God?
- Do everything for the glory of God.? Maintain a single-minded focus on God. We
can’t serve two masters, and worldly wealth is particularly meaningless from a heavenly perspective (can't take it with us).?Wealth should be your servant, not your master.
- Jesus said to use wealth, not store it up.?Use
available resources to win people into the kingdom.?
- There is nothing secular before the throne of God, so we shouldn’t act as if it’s
any different on earth. It’s not helpful to split the material (e.g., money)
from the spiritual (e.g., religion) and pretend that they are mutually
exclusive.
- The rich man (God) appreciated that money itself was inherently worthless and had value only in what it could get done, and the unjust steward actually got a lot done (numerous accounts closed, numerous debtors freed of debt, numerous smiles, and plenty of good will).
The story of the rich man and Lazarus flows naturally from these four parables. After physical death, it's too late to repent. Don't put off until tomorrow, etc.? Fleetwood Mac was halfway correct when they sang, "Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone," but they certainly missed the mark theologically on "[tomorrow] it'll be better than today."
Blessings,
Ray
P.S.? You have received this email because you have enrolled for this course through U3A Brisbane for Term 3, 2021, OR you are a member of the R09 Discussion Group.? Please contact Ray at ray.sarlin@... if you wish to be removed from the mailing list for this term.
