The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them.
Luke 15:12 NIVUK
In 1989, the rock band Queen released a hit song that reverberated around the world. So much, in fact, that it became an anthem for multiple communities – including the anti-apartheid uprising in South Africa.
Its chorus featured a simple and striking message:
I want it all
I want it all
I want it all
And I want it now
Sadly, they never got to perform this song in concert as, less than two years later, their singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS.
However, the rallying cry has remained down the generations.
Unfortunately, while we can say that there are those who are legitimately fighting for rights they should have and are absolutely entitled to, there are others who stain the legacy of human rights movements across the world by claiming rights that are not theirs to have.
They want it all. They want it now. But they should not have it.
That is precisely the position of the youngest son.
What he does here is impudent, it is cheeky and it is the height of disrespect.
You see, as second son, he was entitled to a third of his father’s estate – his more responsible brother was entitled to double.
However, he would normally inherit this share of the estate only when his father died. While his request is not altogether unusual, it is pretty impudent to demand the money now purely so you can have a good time with it, instead of to invest it. And any father worth his salt would know his son’s nature and realise why the money was being requested.
Do you know any earthly father who would honour such a request?
Yet this one does.
He gives his insolent son a third of all he owns.
That, in itself, is quite shocking. In Jewish society, parents were responsible for disciplining their sons (e.g. Proverbs 15:5, 23:13-14). Here the father will know of his son’s intentions, but is willing to give him the money anyway, even if he is falsely seen as enabling the son’s sinful life.
More than likely, this father is simply respecting the choice his younger son has made, even if he disagrees with it. And we would mostly approve of a father who makes a brave choice like that.
This is an image of God, who provides life and breath to both those who are good and those who are evil (Matthew 5:45).
But there is also another side to this, which we should find very challenging. We see it in Romans 1, where Paul discusses the choices of those who reject God:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
Romans 1:21-24 NIVUK
The last verse is the kicker: ‘God gave then over...’
In other words, they rejected God, so He simply said to them, ‘Okay, then, have it your way.’
And then, the next thing you know, they plunge themselves into a never-ending chaotic vortex of degrading and harming themselves and others.
It is a terrible thing for God to let you have your way. It never turns out well.
Since after the Second World War, Western culture has become gradually more and more permissive – each generation demanding acceptance for behaviour that their forebears would have found unnatural and repulsive. It’s hard for us to blame our children, or for children to blame their parents, because each generation has done the exact same thing.
So let’s stop this generational struggle. Let’s see this for what it is.
All of us, across the board, suffer from ‘younger son syndrome’. All of us want to enjoy the pleasures and privileges of God’s bountiful creation, but accept none of the responsibility.
All of us want to live our lives on our terms.
But later on, all of us wake up and realise that we can’t.
All of us are answerable and accountable to someone else. And that’s not a bad thing, if we’re honest. It keeps us in check.
The younger son set out with a head full of dreams and a heart full of hope into a bellyful of trouble.
Why?
Because a life driven only by love of yourself will ultimately be dry, empty and lonely.
However, there is a sneaky paradox here – a detail that is often missed.
You see, the father gave the younger son his one third share. We know about that. But he also gave the older son his two thirds share, twice the share of the younger son.
And what did he do with it?
Nothing!
Both sons showed a serious lack of gratitude for the work their father had done.
One son took off to squander everything his father had given him.
The other wouldn’t touch it – wouldn’t invest it or make it work – because he believed it wasn’t his.
Two sons. Two very different people.
Both estranged from their father.
Both lost.
Prayer
Father, I'm sorry for the times when I am self-centred and try to live my life by my own rules. I know it isn’t possible and will only leave me empty and lonely. I want to live life your way show me how, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Questions
1. In what ways is our contemporary culture a lot like the younger son? Are you ever tempted to live like that too?
2. What motivates the younger son to live like this?
3. The way the youngest son became estranged from his father is obvious, but what about the oldest son? How was he estranged?
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