March 25, 2022 - Luke 15:25-30

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’” Luke 15:25-30 NLT

Lord, it is easy for us to relate to the older brother’s complaint in this story. We are a people who want things to be fair. We want to get a reward for our hard work. When we see someone get something that we don’t think they earned or deserve, often it is easy for us to be upset. But Lord, we don’t want to be people who act like this brother. We realize that your system doesn’t work off what appears to be fair to us. Your system works off grace. Wow are we grateful for that. Without your grace we would all be doomed. If you gave everyone what they deserved all the time, we would all be dead.

Help us learn to be people of grace. We want to extend it to others like you extend it to us. Teach us to celebrate the successes of others, even if we wanted what they got and especially if we think we have more of a right to it. Forgive us for our selfishness. Help us lay our selfishness and our rights at your feet and leave them there. Teach us how to celebrate others like we would want to be celebrated. Teach us to extend love and grace like the father in this story did. Jesus, make us more like you.

In Jesus name, amen.