In the Eye of the Beholder… Its Not Fair!
Luke 15:25-30 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
I’ll admit it! Most of the time I am the younger son, devouring the father’s wealth. But every once in a while I become the “put upon” sibling, who thinks they have been devalued because SOMEONE ELSE received what they wished they had gotten.
Luke 15:31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
If not for the father’s reminder, we might have believed that the older son had a legitimate anger issue… but no… nothing – let me say that again – NOTHING was taken from him. Nothing was kept from him. NOTHING was charged to his account! Except maybe a little wine whine…
It’s not fair!!!!
He left – I stayed… He partied – I worked… He took – I obeyed…
… and HE gets the royal feast? HE gets the fattened calf (feast of kings) – I don’t even get a young goat (just our everyday BBQ fare).
Granted I didn’t ask… but I might have wanted to celebrate with my friends if YOU had offered… I am the good son, the price of my loyalty and obedience SHOULD AT LEAST be a ROYAL PARTY!
And there we have the TRUE anger issue – the eyes of greed. I see that which I want and someone else has/gets.
Cain (of Cain and Abel) had this same anger issue. Genesis 4:3-15 gives us the details. Like our older sibling, Cain gave what he wanted to give to the Lord. When it was not received like he thought it should be, he became angry! ON TOP OF THAT… he saw that his brother’s offering was accepted “with regard” (verse 4).
Cain became angry and his countenance fell (verse 5). In other words, a murderous rage takes over as he SEES THE UNFAIRNESS – in this case – by God.
Our sibling doesn’t appear to want to KILL his brother, but certainly he is angry enough to disrespect and disobey his father’s wishes for a reunion celebration. One might say, whereas Cain believed he had the authority to permanently rid himself of the competition, our older boy was more passive in his reaction – he just wanted to KILL the JOY and character of his returning competitor.
In our world today we certainly have plenty of JOY KILLERS of both types of siblings!
Unlike the younger sibling, there are plenty of us who refuse to recognize the pig sty we are in and DEMAND that not only do you accept our lifestyle but YOU MUST continually fund it.
And… there are many of us who HATE sharing our “hard-earned” (or someone’s hard-earned) largess with those brothers/sisters who CHOOSE to be different.
In the eye of the beholder, both of us probably have the same or a similar chant… “NOT FAIR!!”
In the eyes of our Father God we have the same issue.
Genesis 4:6-7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
We both may have an anger issue…
Notice I said anger issue – not anger sin. Anger is not a sin, it is an emotion. What we DO – what triggers the action – in the midst of our anger is the sin crouching at the door.
Cain murdered his brother, when asked where his brother was he lied and gave his excuse… “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
God said… yes you are… “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”
In Luke 15:32 the father said… yes you are – “this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found… we had to celebrate and rejoice!”
Our eyes look to the benefit/profit to ourselves. We are the hammer of self preservation to nail of any thief who would threaten to steal our portion…
When you are a hammer – every competitor for insatiable desires – looks like a nail.
We were not created to be hammers… or nails.
Just as our Creator God IS love, we are created to be lovers.
Matthew 22:37-40 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The question is… If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?
There is no such person as an angry lover… your either a lover or you are an angry person. (again not talking about the emotion but this time talking about the character)
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
If we look upon someone else, and our eyes behold a reason/excuse for anger and/or violence toward, we may be beholding sin – crouching at our door.
“It’s NOT fair” may be the tempter’s song, calling you to kill and/or destroy the person – character – possessions – attitude of someone whose only wrong is to stand and block your spotlight for a moment.
What’s in your wallet eye?
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)… (NOT FAIR!)
Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)… (DOING WELL!)
Whether we choose to sin or choose to do well, there is just one thing I want us all to remember…
“What have you done?
We will be found out!
Whether you kill the body or kill the spirit…
“The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible