Others are much more considered and thoughtful about celebrations. For them the significant recital of the event in some way is important - not just the partying.
Have you been celebrating lately? What was important for you - the occasion or the party? Or was it equally both?
Today's Bible reading is about a party - a home-coming party hosted by God!
So who is on the guest list? God is the host, so he is definitely there - so too are all the angels. This much we gather from the first two parables in this chapter - about the lost sheep and the lost coin. In a sense, that's the party in heaven "over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15.7,10).
But it is paralleled by an earthly party too - the celebration of God's earthly family whenever a sinner returns home. Every member of the family is meant to be there - both those who have "stayed close" and those who have "wandered far away".
Notice the opening words of this chapter - "Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this parable…" (vv. 1-2). Those words are significant for the three parables that follow, but especially for the story of the lost son. The party is for the whole family - the tax collectors and sinners, and also the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
In Psalm 23, David wrote, "You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows" (v. 5b). These words are rendered in the Good News Bible, "You welcome me as an honoured guest, and fill my cup to the brim."
We can understand that about David - "a man after [God's] own heart" (1 Sam. 13.14). He did the right thing all the time - well, most of the time - there was that matter of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15.5).
No doubt the Pharisees and teachers of the law believed themselves always worthy to be "honoured guests". If there was to be some sort of celebration, it should be for them - because of their uprightness, their faithful good deeds, their obedience to God's law.
They had a problem with Jesus because he spent too much time with tax collectors and other obvious sinners. Yes, he cared for them - even seemed to love them. Worse than that - he appeared to be suggesting that these no-good people should be guests of honour in a heavenly party - and that they, the righteous ones, should concur with such a celebration too!
Why a party for such people?
Let's hear what Jesus said on another occasion - "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him" (Matt. 23.31,32).
The party is because these no-good people are repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus.
When Jesus speaks of "ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Lk. 15.7), is he suggesting that repentance wasn't necessary for the Pharisees and teachers of the law? No, though at that point he doesn't challenge their faulty understanding of themselves. If they are fully and worthily part of God's family, as they claim, then they should be part of the celebration - glad that these "sinners" have repented. The fact that they exclude themselves from the party reveals them for who they are.
Notice the attitude of the elder brother, "Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!" (vv. 29-30)
His place in the family has nothing to do with the father's generous love. Oddly, he seems to see himself as one of his father's hired servants - an obedient slave. The one who has returned is "this son of yours" - not "my brother"!
No, we don't have to wander far away to know the Father's love and grace. But it is the Father's love and grace alone that guarantees us a place in the family.
Jesus deliberately leaves the story unfinished. The father's love and grace are still open for the elder brother. He can know love rather than servitude. He can be part of the celebration, too.
In all that was fitted into last month's trip to Israel, I was sorry not to be able to visit a Messianic synagogue. Yes, there are Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
The issue for all of us is how we respond to the Father's love and grace.
If we have wandered far away - broken all the rules, squandered all the opportunities, turned our back on God… - we need to understand that the Father is still waiting, wanting to forgive, wanting to welcome. Being with him is home - for everyone, no matter who they are or what they have done!
If we have stayed close - always tried to do our best, read the Bible and prayed, gone to church… - we need to understand that we too can only come to the Father on the basis of his love and grace. We too need to know that forgiveness and welcome. We too need to "come home". We need to recognise that it is the Father's home and to join in the celebration over every returning child of God!
You'd like a celebration? Then come home! The Father is waiting for you!
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