The Lost Sons (Part 2)
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
John 14:23-24
“Jesus said, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.
“He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Romans 6:22-23
“Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Please open your Bibles to: Luke 15:21-32
Last week we started taking a look at what is widely known as the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Do you know the little titles that are printed in some Bibles over a group of verses? Some of the older Bibles describe this section of verses as “The Prodigal Son”. Other titles that I have seen are, “The Forgiving Father” and, interestingly enough, “The Lost Sons”.
Remember that in this chapter Jesus is spending time socializing with tax collectors and “sinners”. The Jewish leaders would never associate with such people and so they wondered why this untrained rabbi would do so.
And so their curiosity led them to watch Jesus carefully to see what
So, Jesus began to teach the tax collectors, the sinners, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law or anyone who would listen.
(Give a brief overview description of verses 11-24 to lead into today’s Scripture)
Just try to imagine what this son even looked like!
We don’t know how long he’s been gone but it must take a while to get to “a distant country”.
And now he’s returning from a pig sty in a distant country. His clothing is probably tattered. His spirit is broken. He probably still smells like a pig sty.
He is at the point of near starvation. His hair; tangled and unkempt.
He approaches home looking like a homeless beggar.
With that in mind let’s read from God’s Word: Luke 15:21-32
May God bless the reading of His Word! (Prayer for help)
Luke 15:24
“So they began to celebrate ...”
Can you see why some people refer to this section of Scripture as “The Forgiving Father?”
This is a father who has a perspective on things that is much like our Heavenly Father. Everything in this world will pass away except for the Word of God and our eternal souls.
Oh that we would have the same perspective as out heavenly Father.
But … the elder son did not have the same perspective …
Luke 15:25-26
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’”
That’s pretty self explanatory, right?
The older son has been working on the farm like he always does.
He asks one of the servants about what is going on inside the house and he is told, “Your brother has returned home and they are celebrating with a big party!!!”
What might be going through his mind?
What might be going through ours?
What? He came home and dad let him in? I can’t believe it!
He leaves here with a fortune and comes home empty handed and dad is throwing a party for him! That’s unbelievable!!!
I cannot imagine that it was a pleasant parting when the younger son left home. “Give me my inheritance and I’m out of here! I hope I never see this place again.” Was it something like that? Was the elder son remembering the day his younger brother departed?
Luke 15:28
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.”
This whole celebration thing does NOT go over well with older brother!
I’m not going in there!
So, what does the forgiving father do?
Dad comes out to talk with him. What a great dad!
Here’s a Jewish dad who humiliates himself by running to his rebellious son who has obviously been through very difficult times!
Here’s a dad who doesn’t discipline his rebellious son but lavishes gifts on him and throws a huge banquet in his honor!
This dad should be Father of the Year!
Not only does he celebrate the return of the lost son but he then goes out and PLEADS with his older son to come in and join in the celebration!
This Dad has forgiven the demanding of an inheritance by a son while he was still living.
This Dad has forgiven essentially being disowned by his youngest son.
Now, this Dad is PLEADING with his first born son to come and join the celebration.
All these things are just big no-no’s in the culture of Jesus’ time.
He is a GREAT father!
But eldest son is having no part in it!
Luke 15:29-30
“But he answered his father, ‘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!’”
Sometimes in the heat of an argument you say things you really would not say otherwise. Did the older son really feel that he had been slaving for the father?
He had been working hard. That’s commendable, right?
He had always been obedient. That’s a good son, right?
Yet, the younger son had not only been rebellious and reckless with his inheritance, he had also “squandered your property with prostitutes.”
Dad … you’re making me crazy!!!
Luke 15:31-32
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Oh, the aching heart of the father who did not know if his youngest son was dead or alive. He didn’t wonder where the inheritance went? That didn’t concern him.
I often wonder how many times each day the father would go and look down the road the youngest son had taken when he left home.
How many times did the father strain his eyes and catch a glimpse of someone approaching only to be saddened when it was not his son.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, was the older brother even thinking about his younger brother?
Was the older brother thinking, “Man, I’m glad he’s gone, the arrogant runt!”
Imagine what it would have been like if the elder son had the same love for his brother that the father had. Every day he would have been out on the front porch with his arm around his father’s shoulder asking, “Have you seen him yet? Do you think he’ll come home today?”
In parables like these we are often tempted to pigeon hole people into certain categories; the tax collectors and sinners are represented by the younger son and the Pharisees and teachers of the law are represented by the elder son.
But, Jesus didn’t make it that clear cut.
Like both sons we all have an inheritance.
Our inheritance is this; a life of loving relationship with Jesus and with others.
Some, like the younger son, will squander that life of loving relationship with Jesus and others away until it is wasted and they are all alone in the pigpen of sin.
Others, like the older son, will squander that life of loving relationship with Jesus and others by trying to be good enough; by endlessly pursuing a righteousness that ends in self righteousness and you end up being outside the house while the true life is going on inside.
All through the Old Testament we see the nation of Israel living short periods of loving obedience with the Lord and the Lord blessing them.
Then in their self-reliance and self-sufficiency they drift away from the Lord into the pig pen of idolatry and eventually slavery.
Today we have churches that were once filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within them that have drifted away into the pigpen of desiring to be relevant to the current culture instead of desiring to be intimate with the eternal God! Much like the younger son …
On the other hand we see churches that are bound by endless ritual. Every time church is held the same words are said and the same rituals repeated hoping that “they will be heard for their many words.”
In these churches there is often a great desire for obedience but the relationship is with the church and not with the Lord much like the elder son was always obedient to the father but lacking in having the father’s heart.
As we went through this passage some of us may have been thinking about how others fit into this parable. That is not necessarily bad as long as our individual heart is in right relationship with the Lord and our thoughts of the other are genuine thoughts of concern.
But, let’s focus on our hearts right now.
Have I been in the pigpen of sin like the younger son?
Have I turned to the Heavenly Father to say, “I have sinned against you and am not worthy to be called your son or daughter, please just make me a servant and I’ll be satisfied.”
Have I been outside the “house” of God like the older son?
Have I been resentful of God’s amazing grace when He has forgiven and embraced someone who does not deserve forgiveness and reconciliation?
If you are outside the family of God like the younger son was before his return and like the older son is, there is good news for you!
Jesus is looking for you to return in humility.
Jesus is looking for you to forgive and come into the house and celebrate.
Jesus is looking for you!!!
And, when you do come in there will be rejoicing among the angels of God because one more lost, undeserving sinner has come to Christ.
Final thoughts and prayer.
