Repenting of our Service and Obedience

This morning the sermon was on the brother of the prodigal son.  Unfortunately I didn't get much out of it, since my head was a bit foggy, but it did get me to thinking, again, about different things that have come together in that passage for me at different times.

The basic story is well known. One son cashes out on his promised inheritance early, takes off, wastes it all, and becomes dirt poor (this is all Luke 15 ESV):

 ¹¹And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Then he decides to go back, and try his luck with his father, hoping to at least get a better job than feeding pigs.  His father is gracious and forgiving far beyond his expectations:

 ¹⁷"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' ²²But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

Many people stop here with the story, and talk about how wonderful God is in forgiving us.  And that's right, but Jesus doesn't stop here; he continues with the story of the other brother, the one who didn't go away and spend his inheritance on prostitutes. When he heard the news of his brother's return, and his father's forgiveness and celebration, he was not happy.

 ²⁵"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in.

One thing that did come across this morning, was that the Bible does not just give us good examples to follow, but also bad examples to not follow.  This brother is jealous of his brother, and refuses to participate in the celebration.  How do we feel when someone next to us gets something good that they didn't deserve?  Are we happy for them, or are we bitter that they didn't get what they deserved, or that we didn't get something even better?  Why can we not rejoice that God is gracious with our neighbor, without being disgruntled that He wasn't even more gracious with us?  But the wonderful part of the story is that the father doesn't leave this son in his sulk:

^28bHis father came out and entreated him,

This son's response is rather telling of his relationship to the father:

²⁹but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

This son looks at his relationship with his father as one of service and obedience.  Long years of service, and no disobedience, should earn a reward.  And what reward was he seeking? "you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends." Clearly he sees his father as someone to serve and obey, and get stuff from, and not as someone to celebrate with.  He wants the good things his father has to offer, to go celebrate with other people, his friends. And when he compares his service and obedience with his brother's sin and dissipation (including prostitutes, no less!), he is irate that his dad is celebrating.

Looking at it another way, when the first son took his father's goods in order to go party elsewhere, he later repented, and recognized that he had sinned against his father (v18).  He knows that he is no longer worthy of an intimate relationship with his father, but goes back to him anyway, and is graciously received.  But the son who never left had the same idea (take dad's stuff and go party elsewhere), and hadn't repented, since he had conformed to his own idea of righteousness: service and obedience.

This is one of the core problems with legalism, or works righteousness. I develop a conception of what is right that is attainable for me personally, then I feel good about myself and complain about anyone else not following it.  I am limiting God's actual righteous requirements (which I have not met) to feel good about myself, and at the same time, I have misapplied my own standards, to become a measure of judgment against my neighbor. 
The irony is that this is not at all what God is looking for.  He doesn't want us to try really hard to live by a certain set of rules, and complain about those who don't. He wants relationship with us.  For the father, this is not a question of sins, service and reward, comparing service and obedience with dissipation and fornication.  This is a question of life and death:

 ³¹And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

The son who stayed home always had relationship with his father, however badly he misconstrued it, and however little joy he drew from it.  But his brother had been dead to their father, cut off from relationship by his open rebellion, and had returned to life and relationship.  When the prodigal returned, he didn't give the father back all the money he spent on prostitutes and wild living; his father bore that cost himself.  But he returned to relationship with the father, and that is cause for celebration.
I think often we look at God as this cosmic vending machine, where we put something good in, and get something good back, and then go eat it somewhere else.  But I think this conception cheats us of both our relatinhsip with God, as well as our true enjoyment of His gifts, which were meant to be enjoyed in relationship with Him.  I think it is good to enjoy the gifts of God, but if that enjoyment leads us away from relationship with God, then it will be short lived, and ultimately hollow.  God has meant for us to enjoy Him first, and through Him we also have temporal pleasures to enjoy.
And this is the great truth that John Piper has been reminding us of: God's greatest glory amounts to our greatest pleasure.  God wants His own glory above all else, and that includes us being happy (in the long term, not necessarily right now).  If we chase our own (right now) happiness, we lose it all. Or, as Jesus said,

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:24-25 ESV)

and

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt 6:33 ESV)

So we cannot be righteous by trying hard, and we can't really party (in the long term) with the stuff we can get by working hard.  But if we consider God as our best and only hope, He will make us both righteous and happy.  Not that it won't be hard for us sons who have stayed home, and worked hard to serve and obey.  We think we have it coming to us, and aknowledging that we don't have it all together, and that we really do need God more than He needs us, is hard.  Fortunately God helps with that, too, if we come to him, asking, seeking and knocking for his help.