We always here sermons on the prodigal son right, but what about the older brother? The first person that popped into my head when I heard the message last Sunday was the older brother. The Father ran out of his home to meet this son who went out and squandered all his inheritance. The old brother just couldn’t understand why his father would forgive and extend so much grace. I often catch myself feeling like this, like God why are you doing this or that. I find myself sometimes thinking, why is God doing this a certain way. Almost like every American who likes to say how much better they could do than the president or a professional athlete, we sometimes think that our critiques or non-agreements with God’s ways matter. God is well, God, and we are not. We are simply His creation, so me getting a little attitude over God doing something that I don’t agree with looks like the focus is on me. That is a totally wrong thought… So when things happen and I don’t understand them, much like Jonah didn’t understand why God would send him to
Have you ever bumped into a person at a party or a restaurant? Whatever is in their cup, whether it be a jack and coke or water, it spills and gets all over you and everything else around it. The same thing happens with bitterness. When I fill myself up with bitterness, when people bump me and when life bumps me, the bitterness spills out and affects others. I was talking to a friend tonight and some of her friends are very negative and gossip about others a lot. I guess something happen when they were in high school and her friend is still harboring the bitterness. She is not fun to hang out with because she just constantly shows this bitterness. People do this all the time and don’t even realize that the bitterness has affected them in such a way that no one wants to be around them. It affects their friends, their family, their job, and everything else. It’s a big mess really. This really seems like a lot, like bitterness is heavy and it weighs you down, it is a burden to you actually.
Jesus says his yoke is easy; it’s light, not burdensome. Jesus commands us to get rid of all bitterness and forgive. This is not easy, but it is not heavy. Bitterness impedes our journey; Jesus is all about progression and growth closer to Himself, so anything that holds us down or is heavy is not of Him, like bitterness. How liberating it is to let go of whatever it is that is plaguing you. Jesus wants to take that burden from you, are you willing to hand it over? That’s the challenging part though, the bitterness has become a part of you and now Jesus is asking you to rip it out. I found that is the hardest thing for me to do, let it go, but I also found I am free to be who God wants me to be by letting bitterness go.
Jonah missed out on the blessing of the gourd because he was so angry. How many blessing do you think we take for granted and just not notice that God gives out freely because we are stuck in our bitter, pity party? Let it go folks, it is the best feeling in the world.
