Reading: Luke 15: 1-3 and 11-32 A while ago my son gave me a book called `The Prodigal God` by Timothy Keller. As the name suggests, it takes a fresh look at Jesus` parable of the prodigal son and, as I read it, it set me thinking - which was just what my son intended!

As the book points out `prodigal` actually means `recklessly extravagant`. It certainly applies to how the son spends his inheritance, but why does the book call God prodigal? Let`s review the story and see.

Keller reminds us that, as Luke presents it, there were two groups of people in the audience when Jesus told the story. Chapter 15 starts `Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, `This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.`` So his audience included tax collectors and sinners who wanted to listen and Pharisees and scribes who were grumbling, and the story is for both groups.

In Luke`s scene Jesus first tells the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin and concludes `there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents`. Then comes the parable of the prodigal son.

Keller describes it as a drama in two acts - Act 1 the Lost Younger Brother and Act 2 the Lost Older Brother. In Scene 1 of Act 1 the young bloke asks for his share of the inheritance.

This is a bit of a slap in the face for dad, who is still very much alive! It`s probably fair to say dad is insulted and hurt. A charitable interpretation might be that the young bloke was trying to `discover himself`, independent of dad. To make some decisions for himself - something his big bro wasn`t interested in, apparently.

Dad agrees, the young bloke grabs the money and, in Scene 2 he runs away and proceeds to make some dumb decisions for himself. He hits rock bottom and `comes to his senses`. He decides to head home and humble himself before his dad. As Keller puts it he makes a plan - `make me one of your hired men and I can at least try to pay you back`.

But in Scene 3 his plan falls on deaf ears, lost in dad`s loving welcome home. And what a welcome! `Put the best robe on him` and whose robe would that have been? Probably dad`s! A ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, and a banquet to celebrate. Absolutely over the top, excessive, and now you see how Keller can see God as the prodigal one, recklessly extravagant in his welcome.

So, despite his best plans the wayward son doesn`t get the chance to earn his dad`s acceptance, it comes free, undeserved, and that`s a problem for big bro` in Act 2.

He has stayed at home and worked on the farm. `Worked like a slave all these years`, he says, `where was my party?` But of course he`s got it wrong, this isn`t the young bloke`s party, it is the father`s party, a symbol of God`s unconditional love for all His children.

But if dad loves both his sons unconditionally there`s a big problem for big bro to swallow, and that is the question of fairness. His outraged response to his dad shows none of the respect due to the patriarch and oozes injured self-righteousness.

`Look at all I`ve done!`, he cries, haven`t I earned something? But Jesus message to the Pharisees and scribes is clear. `No!` God`s love is unconditional for all his children, no matter what they have done or failed to do.

The unstated question that cuts to the heart of the issue for big bro, and for the Pharisees and scribes is `Why?` What was big bro`s motivation? Why did he choose to work for dad, not like a son, but like a slave? That doesn`t suggest it was done out of love for dad, so what was the motivation?

The young bloke`s escape was partly to free himself from dad`s control. It seems to me big bro had a similar motivation. `If I work like a slave I`ll put dad in my debt so he will have to do what I want.`

But it didn`t work like that because dad`s love for both sons was unconditional. There was nothing the young bloke could do to be disqualified, and there was nothing big bro needed to do to qualify.

So there was a clear message for both groups of hearers. For the sinners and tax collectors Jesus message was `No matter what you`ve done, God loves you. He`s not just sitting at home waiting for you to come back, he`s running down to road towards you with open arms and the party is waiting!`

For the Pharisees and scribes the message was a bit different. `You think you`re so superior to these others because you`ve lived a good life and earned God`s good will, but you`re wrong! God`s love is free for all, unearned and undeserved. You thought you had God in your pocket, but God won`t be controlled. Will you join the party?`

The question this leaves for both groups is what to do about it. In the story the young bloke has already made his choice. He has gone in to the banquet, and by implication Jesus invites the sinners and tax collectors - and everyone else who thinks they aren`t good enough for God - to grab their free invitation, accept that God loves them unconditionally and join the banquet that is life in all its fullness.

But the story leaves us in suspense about big bro`s response. Will he be able to accept the free invitation or is he too incensed by the unfairness of it all? Because that`s what`s at the heart of it, isn`t it? He has his nose out of joint because it just isn`t fair! How can his dad welcome the young bloke back as if nothing had happened? Surely justice demands that there be consequences?

But now dad has thrown the party, the music is playing, the people are dancing, the calf is roasting. What can big bro do about it? He has two options. One, he can hold on to his feelings of unfairness, let them dictate how he acts and stay out of his father`s party. Of course by doing this he will insult and hurt his father, and that`s just what he criticises his younger brother for doing. But perhaps he is so blinded by the unfairness that he won`t see his dad`s hurt. He will also end up alienated from his brother, but perhaps right now he just doesn`t care.

The other option is to let go of the need for things to be fair, accept that his dad has the right to throw a party if he wants to, accept the invitation and join the party. Of course that will raise the problem of how he deals with the young bloke. After all the young bloke`s actions hurt dad, not big bro, and dad has forgiven the young bloke.

I don`t know about you, but I can identify with the young bloke and big bro. Sometimes I know I`ve blown it, done something dumb, unloving and maybe hurtful. It is fantastic to think God loves me anyway.

But sometimes on the good days when I do the right thing it is tempting to think `If I clock up enough good days and quietly forget my slip-ups maybe I deserve to be in God`s good books - certainly more than some other blokes I know. But God says `No! I love you just the same whether it is one of your good days or one of your slip-ups. Forget what`s fair, just join the banquet! And what is this banquet we are invited to? It is to live life in all its fullness, celebrate God`s unconditional love for all and try to live it out.