Stewardship

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"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living."
Luke 15:13

I am becoming quite a fan of the younger son. You know him as the "prodigal." But it saddens me that the word "prodigal" has lost its depth of meaning for most. We hear it and think wasteful or wayward. It really has it roots in abundance. Think prodigious (exciting amazement or wonder / extraordinary in bulk, quantity, or degree) or prodigy (a highly talented child.) Like him or not, the younger son was an exciting, amazing, extraordinary and highly talented child.

Consider his offense. 1. He knew that his father was putting away an inheritance for he and his brother. 1 Peter 1:3,4 says one has been put away for you too. 2. He thought "outside the box" and decided that there was no sense in waiting until dad died to cash in. All over the world, people are discovering the wonder of living trusts. Now matriarchs and patriarchs everywhere can enjoy and influence the next generation's use of the wealth they put away for them. 3. He asked his father for what was his. Was it not our father who said that you have not because you ask not?

Admittedly, the warning follows in James 4, that "you ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts." Which, of course, brings us back to the younger son's legacy. He squandered his substance with riotous living. But before he could squander it, something else had to happen. The younger son did something that his older brother and so many of us, have failed to do. He "gathered all together."

Don't you find it interesting that the father didn't refuse his son's request? The scriptures say that he "divided unto them his living." So likewise, our father in heaven has given unto us all things. (1 Corinthians 3:18-23) He has given unto us "all things that pertain unto life and godliness." (2 Peter 1:1-4) But both fathers did so by an act of authorization. The stuff stayed where it was. Father just gave us the right to access it. And that's where the younger son's prodigious nature began to shine. Remember: He "gathered all together."

The word gather is such a powerful word. It means to bring together, collect, pick or harvest what is already there. It took Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel three days to gather the spoils after the battle of the confused kings. (2 Chronicles 2:25) Jesus admonished the disciples to go and gather a waiting harvest. (John 4:35-38) They were so accustomed to seasonal changes that they could not see what was right before them. We too have been blinded by tradition and conditions. We, like the older brother, have been boxed in by a worker's mindset that can only see the availability of an earned wage. But father says; "I spared not my own son, how shall I not with him also give you freely -- all things?" (Romans 8:31,32)

Believe it or not, there is actually an organization called "The Gathering." (www.gatheringweb.com) Their mission: "to serve individuals, families and foundations in expanding their vision and effectiveness in giving to Christian ministries." These are people who each give in excess of $200,000 annually to various charities and ministries. We often marvel at the wealth of such folk. But the only difference between them and the youger son is that rather than going away to a far country to squander their wealth with riotous living, they have chosen to stay close to father and bless his kingdom with their giving. But before either could do anything, they had to gather what father had given.

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