How the Father Sees.
Luke 15:1-7TLB
(Download a good picture of Rembrandt’s portrayal of the younger son. Play on screens while I talk).
Author Henri Nouwen recalls his visit to a museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he spent hours reflecting on Rembrandt’s portrayal of the younger son—You might know as the prodigal son.
As the day wore on, changes in the natural lighting from a nearby window left Nouwen with the impression that he was seeing as many different paintings as there were changes of light. Each seemed to reveal something else about a father’s love for his broken son.
Nouwen describes how, at about four o’clock, three figures in the painting appeared to “step forward.”
One was the older son who resented his father’s willingness to roll out the red carpet for the homecoming of his younger brother. Secondly, the younger son who wasted his inheritance on prodigal living. This son squandered the family fortune, causing them pain and embarrassment in the process.
The other two figures, one of an adviser of the family, and the last—near the door on the back left, the mother.
Nouwen saw himself in all of them—in the wasted life of the father’s youngest son, in the condemning older brother, the sinners and the religious leaders. However, Nouwen also experienced the Father’s heart, He experienced the love of the Father that was big enough for anyone and everyone.
I’ll ask you this question now, and then at the end of the service: Can we see ourselves anywhere in Rembrandt’s painting?
Luke 15:1-7TLB Dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus’ sermons; 2 but this caused complaints from the Jewish religious leaders and the experts on Jewish law because he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them! 3-4 So Jesus used this illustration: “If you had a hundred sheep and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? 5 And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6 When you arrived you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.
Verse 7 Jesus states, “Well, in the same way heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who haven’t strayed away!
“All that Father does is motivated by His everlasting love for us.’ ‘A love that is perpetual, unending, and eternal. He has drawn us with a loving-kindness that will never run out or dry up.” P.H
Hear the Father’s heart—Jeremiah 31:3AMP The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
When describing what everlasting love means, I believe that Jack Winter says it best... "There was never a time in all of eternity when we were not loved by God."
There is nothing we can do to make God love us anymore than He does right now.
Going forward, Luke 15:8-10, Jesus speaks again of a woman that had 10 valuable silver coins, but one coin was lost in the vicinity. Jesus states, “This lady will sweep the floors and look in every nook and cranny of her house, until she finds this valuable coin.”
And then Jesus states, “And when she finds it, she rejoices over the one coin!”
Verse 10… in the same way Jesus say’s, “There will be more joy over one lost sinner that repents!”
“What do I hear Jesus say throughout chapter 15?” P.H
Jesus stresses’ how much love His Father has for every individual—lost and found! By the way, the Bible never calls the younger son—the prodigal son—That’s what he did, not who he was!
This gets the reader of Luke 15, ready for—verses 11-32, In these verses, we see a non-fictional story about a father with two sons.
Contained within Luke 15:11-32, these 21 verses of scripture are awesome truths that show us what can happen to anyone who rejects fellowship with the Father.
Luke 15:11b-13TLB “A man had two sons. 12 When the younger told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die!’ his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes.
For decades we’ve majored on “the prodigal.”
Commentaries call the younger son— The prodigal son, preachers call him— The prodigal son, but the Bible, nor the sons Father ever calls him—the prodigal son.
Again, remember this, prodigal living is what the younger son practiced, it wasn’t who he was!
Please hear this, “God sees who you really are, and not what you do.”
First truth I want you to get:
You are not what you do.
You’re not an alcoholic.
You’re not a drug addict.
You’re not a homosexual.
You’re not a criminal or a thief.
You’re not a little old sinner.
You’re simply a person in want, and you’re turning to ‘things’ because you have not understood how good ‘Father’ is!!!
“Stop solidifying your identity based upon what you do, or what you did; Start identifying with who you are in Jesus, and you’ll change what you do.” P.H
2 Corinthians 6:18NLT And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”
Again, Prodigal living is what he did, it’s not who he was.
Luke 15:14-16TLB About the time his money was gone a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16 The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the swine looked good to him. And no one gave him anything.
Truth number 2, When you join yourself to a system outside the Father’s house, you end up a slave instead of a ruler.
Key Point: Anytime we draw back from the Father, we end-up in want.
The younger son joined himself to a native from a far country; the older son joined himself to slaves in the field—He had a slave mentality.
Luke 15:17-19TLB “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”
He’s saying, “I will arise…’I will arise is to repent.”
Re, means to come back. Pent, is the prefix of Penthouse. Put the two together—Re-pent. Repent: To come back to the top; to think on a higher level; to take it from the top; start from the beginning.
Again, He said,“I will arise and go to my Father’s house!”
Truth number 3, The younger son, rehearsed what he would say to his father— “Make me like one of your hired men.”
Neither younger, or older son enjoyed their Father, because one was too busy breaking father’s commandment, and the other, was too busy trying to keep them.
“When you’re trying to keep commandments you’ll feel like you need permission to enjoy all the Father has provided.” P.H
Truth number 4, “You don’t need permission to be blessed, you are blessed!”
Luke 15:20TLB “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming, and was filled with loving pity and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
“If you’re saved—born again, ‘You have the kiss of the Father upon you.” P.H
Luke 15:21-24TLB “His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you, and am not worthy of being called your son—’
22 “But his father said to the slaves, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. And a jeweled ring for his finger; and shoes! 23 And kill the calf we have in the fattening pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has returned to life. He was lost and is found.’ So the party began.
The robe, ring and sandals, help show the father’s high level of love, honor and authority he had for his son.
“I’ve stated this before, but I think it would be very interesting if we celebrated a lot more when one comes to repentance.” P.H
The Apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:17-19NIV so we could celebrate the Father’s love. 17 that we might be rooted and established in love, may have power together with all of the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
The father heard about his son coming home. Finally the Father sees him, and proceeds to run toward him rejoicing!
Luke 15:25-30TLB “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working; when he returned home, he heard dance music coming from the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 “‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast to celebrate his coming home again unharmed.’ 30“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to; and in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after spending your money on prostitutes, you
celebrate by killing the finest calf we have on the place.’
Truth number 5, The older son’s mentality became,“I don’t care what’s missing: A lost sheep, a lost coin or a lost brother, just guard what you have, don’t give and surely don’t care!”
Again hear the older son’s sarcasm, “You’ve never even killed and prepared an old goat for me, but your other son comes home and you prepare the best fatted calf—veal meat—veal Parmesan!
Hear the Father’s answer—Luke 15:31-32TLB “Look, dear son,’ his father said to him, ‘you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. 32 But it is right to celebrate. For he is your brother; and he was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’”
As Jesus gave details of this true Bible account, Sinner’s hung on Jesus’ every word—These sinners were a type of the younger son. The religious leaders listening—These men were a type of the older brother—hard hearted and bitter.
And then there was Jesus—He and His Father were one; therefore, He represented Father God—The Father and the Son are unified, they’re all about love.
What about us? Can we see ourselves anywhere in Rembrandt’s painting?
Benediction.
