Luke 15:28
The elder brother, as revealed in this passage, heard music and dancing and became angry. It seems like he knew the mechanics of the house, but the real joy and spirit of the house eluded him. Somehow, he had become angry, bitter, and sour. He had lost his joy, the real joy of service. He had no desire to even see or welcome his lost brother home. He had stayed home, but he seemed no better off than the Prodigal. His heart was as far removed from the Father as the younger brother’s was when he carelessly wasted his energy and his substance with riotous living in a far country.
In reflecting more on the elder brother and his attitude, one of the lessons I learn from the passage is that you cannot effectively minister and serve when you have no joy in yourself and where there is no true love for God and for God’s people. The elder brother could not even pretend to be happy for his brother, that he had finally come to his senses and returned home. He seemed not to really care whether he was dead or alive. He was sad in the truest sense of the word – joyless, miserable, angry, and petty. At home, but lost!
May the good Lord help us never to lose our joy and what some call our “joie-de-vivre,” our joy of living. He was alive, but refused to live and allow others to live and then find themselves. He kept a record of wrongs. He wanted the younger brother punished and not forgiven! He had become cold, callous, heartless, and unkind. He had become peevish and resentful complaining to his father about his many years of unrecognized and uncompensated service, accusing the father of discrimination and favoritism. In fact, the passage informs us, when he hears the reason for the music and dancing, “…he was angry, and would not go in: therefore, came his father out, and intreated him” (Luke 15:28).
To me, the irony of the text resolves around the fact that the elder brother is left standing outside. There is no indication that the father is successful in causing him to change his mind and to come in and celebrate his brother’s miraculous return. The prodigal comes home, but his elder brother is conspicuously absent. His spirit of self-righteousness and arrogance must be contrasted with the penitence and humility of the Prodigal. Jesus diligently warns, “…that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11,12).
We therefore not only denounce the spirit of the elder brother, but we renounce any inkling of his attitude from our lives. May God help us here in the Northeast and beyond to learn to joyfully celebrate others as they find themselves home. May we always be a community of true agape love and fellowship. May we, like the father, run toward the prodigals with open arms, ready to receive them home. May there always be joy, laughter, music, and rhythm in this house as sinners, like we were, are joyfully welcomed and received. Let us be ever so careful to note that the elder brother stayed at home, but he lost his power, peace, and passion for souls right in the house. Serving, but with no joy! It was evident he was lost right in the house, serving mechanically without truly knowing the heart or spirit of the Father! Help us Lord!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
