Everett Henes: Lost and found
Undoubtedly, many of you are familiar with the story of Jonah — the man who was swallowed by the great fish because he did not want to bring God’s word of judgment to Nineveh. God had commanded him to go and to proclaim that in 40 days the city would be overthrown. You might think that Jonah was scared. The prophets often brought words of judgment to God’s people. Taking a word like that to those who are outside of the covenant people could be met with death.
Interestingly though, it wasn’t because Jonah did not want to bring a word of judgment to Nineveh that he fled to Tarshish; rather, it was because he knew that through the word of judgment God would bring salvation to those people. Jonah did not want the Ninevites to be saved. That is an odd fact to consider. Jonah was grumbling because of God’s grace to those in Nineveh. He would rather have seen them overthrown.
The book of Jonah ends with him sitting outside the city, waiting for its destruction. It’s an abrupt ending to a short story, but I think that Jonah embodied the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ day. They did not mind God’s grace so long as it was given to those who were deserving of it. So long as it was given to people like them.
This is the danger for God’s people in all ages — to begin to think of themselves as a “cut above.” It is very easy to move from singing about “amazing grace that saved a wretch like me” to seeing ourselves as somehow better than others. The danger in this is that we can become an obstacle to what God is doing. We become like Jonah, looking down on those others who are receiving the grace of God as well.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables to drive home this point. Jesus is spending time with “tax collectors and sinners” and the Pharisees grumbled at him. Jesus doesn’t directly answer them, but instead goes on to tell three clear stories. The first two have to do with items that were lost and found. The first is about a lost sheep and the other is about a lost coin. In both instances, the things are sought and there is great rejoicing when they are found. The third parable, though, is the most popular of all: the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
The parable tells of a father who has two sons, the youngest one of whom asks for his share of the inheritance and leaves home to squander it on a life of indulgence. This would cause great pain to the father, of course, since the son is basically asking for the father to be dead. The inheritance would not be his until his father died, but he wants that now. He takes his inheritance, we are told, and squandered it on reckless living. Literally, he lived in a wild, abandoned manner. All that he had learned, all that he had seen growing up in his father’s home — he rejected it all and got as far away from his father as he could.
When the son has spent all his money, he finds himself in dire straits. He sees his situation and devises a plan. He will go back to his father and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” He would at least be able to eat that way.
The story focuses then on the father, who sees his son from a distance, and runs to him and embraces him, welcoming him back with open arms and throwing a feast to celebrate his return. The son is not able to recite his whole speech before the father is on him, weeping with joy.
The parable then turns to the older son, who had remained at home, and is resentful of the father's forgiveness and generosity towards his younger brother. He was like the Pharisees, angry at Jesus’ love of sinners. Jesus teaches us two things in this parable, and both are non-negotiable for Christians. He teaches us of the love and forgiveness of God towards repentant sinners. The Father is always watching and waiting. This parable also teaches us that we should rejoice when those who are lost are found. We are always sinners who are saved by grace.
— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Everett Henes: Lost and found
