Your Worth In God’s Eyes
Created For Significance Series
CCCAG 3-21-21
Scripture= Luke 15:11-31
Growing up , probably the biggest positive influence on my life was my Grandfather.
He was a good Lutheran man, had a great reputation around Hayward, and when I spent my summers with him he would often teach me what being a man was all about. Work Ethic and honor were the two primary lessons he instilled in me.
As I entered my teenage years, I started heading down the wrong path and instead of spending my summers in Hayward with my Grandfather, I'd spend them at home with my friends generally getting into trouble and doing things I shouldn't.
When I was about 16 years old, my grandfather and grandmother came to visit and my Gran father was shocked to see that I had my ear pierced.
Today it's tattoos to show your self-expression but for guys in the 1980s it was getting your left ear pierced.
My Grandfather saw that, shook his head and called me his little prodigal.
I had no idea what prodigal meant, so I looked it up in the dictionary later and found that Webster defined the word prodigal as a word referring back to Luke 15 meaning, “rebellious, wasteful, extravagant.”
In reference to me and my behavior at 16, he was referring to me throwing away all the gifts that God has given me so I could try to be popular, have fun, and be irresponsible, knowing it would threaten my future.
In Luke 15, we have a very similar story unfolding, that many of us who have been around the church for awhile have heard a few times.
It’s the story of the prodigal son
Prayer
This is the story of a son who was reckless, rebellious, and wasteful. Having convinced his father to give him his inheritance early, he squandered it all on fast living before coming home.
Every single time I have ever heard this story preached on or taught , the focus is always on the son and his actions. Most times I’ve spoken on it, the focus has been on the son.
Only I don’t think that’s what this story is about at all. I don’t think this is a story about a son.
I think the story is actually about the father.
Notice how it begins, “There was a man who had two sons” (Luke 15:11).
Who’s the subject of that sentence? The man. His sons are the object.
Why is this important?
This story answers the question, “How does God feel about you?”
This story is the capstone of Luke chapter 15. In the first 2 stories we focused on a loss sheep and a lost coin and the joy of the people when they found that which was lost.
The first two stories focused on the lost thing, this story focus’ on the Father, who is representative of God Himself.
So for the next few minutes, we will immerse ourselves in 1st century Jewish culture so we can understand exactly what Jesus wants us to see in this story.
The story of the prodigal father is a story told in five scenes.
In scene one, the younger son asks the father to divide his property between his sons so the younger can have his inheritance now.
The father grants that request
At first glance, you might call into question the character of a father that would do this.
If you did that, you’d miss the point of what really happens in this scene because what Jesus was actually describing here would be scandalous to every person who heard it.
No one in the Middle East would make such a request of their father. Because to ask for their inheritance early would be tantamount to expressing a death wish for the father.
This would be so disgraceful to the father, that at the very least it would have earned the son, no matter how old he was, a severe beating.
One Middle Eastern writer, Ibrahim Sa’id ,writes, “The shepherd in his search for the sheep, and the woman in her search for the coin do not do anything out of the ordinary beyond what anyone in their place would do.
But the actions the father takes in the third story are unique, marvelous, divine actions which have not been done by any Middle-Eastern father.”
The next words of the story go like this, “Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth on wild living” (Luke 15:13).
I’ve always had it in my mind that the son got what he wanted, and left town immediately, but that is not what happened. It wasn’t like the father in the story could pull out the checkbook and write a check. Wealth was measured in animals, possessions, servants, and land.
The son couldn’t leave immediately.
Why? Because he had to liquidate his inheritance. He had to find a buyer for his portion of the family farm, his portion of the family possessions, his portion of the family livestock.
Keep this in mind- he probably lives in an area with only a few hundred people. Who is he selling this to?
The people he has known his entire life.
So as Jesus is telling this story, his listeners were imagining this brash young man, going from door to door, trying to convince people who knew his father to buy a piece of the family property. All those folks knew that this boy had insulted his father, shamed him, and wished him dead. And now he was doing the unthinkable, selling off property and possessions that had been in the family for generations.
As the scorn mounts, he feels more and more pressure to get out of town.
So he leaves as soon as he has sold the last of his goods. He heads for the faraway country, which is where scene two takes place.
In the faraway country, this wayward son gradually descends into his own personal hell.
The text summarizes what may have been years of wasted life saying, “He squandered his wealth in wild living” (Luke 15:13).
He wasted it.
The citizens of this faraway country know that.
They, too, are unimpressed with this frivolous young man who is now out of money.
Some cultural context here-
The polite way a Middle Easterner gets rid of unwanted people who have worn out their welcome isn’t to come right out and tell them to go home.
It’s to assign them a task they’ll refuse.
So when the son asks for a job, one of the citizens offers to let him become his pig herder.
It’s a job no self-respecting Jewish boy could accept. Pigs were unclean animals according to the Law of Moses. And they had to be fed seven days a week, which meant he couldn’t keep the Sabbath.
To everyone’s surprise, he accepts the job.
But it’s a terrible job and doesn’t pay well enough to stave off hunger.
The son is at rock bottom.
Has anyone here ever hit rock bottom? You’re so deep in your mistakes that you look up and the light shining down into the hole you’ve dug yourself is barely visible?
In this hole of self-pity, he begins to think honestly about himself. He knows there is no life for him in this foreign land, yet he can’t go home to his father because he’s a failure. He has nothing to offer his father.
In his culture, sons are supposed to provide for their fathers in their old age, not live off of them.
So he comes up with a plan. He realizes he can’t go back home and ask to live in the family house as a son. But maybe he could go home and ask for a job as a hired servant. That way, if he works hard and saves as much as he can, someday maybe he will be able to earn enough to be of some use to his father.
The plan has merit, except for one thing; even if his father accepts him on these terms, he’ll have to face the scorn and wrath of the villagers.
That’s his real problem- how did the villagers feel about him when he left?
They hated him.
He had disgraced them all by wishing that his father was dead and then again by disposing of the family’s property.
He wasted everything his father had worked his whole life for and is coming home in rags.
Yet he sets out.
In scene three, the younger son returns.
This is where the father comes into the story in full force.
The father, because of his experience, knows two things. First, he knows that the son, given the maturity level and the character with which he left home, is bound to fail.
The father knows that if the son ever does come home, it will probably not be as a successful businessman, but more likely as a beggar.
The second thing the father knows is that the village will not treat him well. Since his departure, all the townspeople have told him openly and repeatedly that he should not have granted the inheritance in the first place.
They probably reminded the father of Deut 21:18-20 that said this disrespectful and rebellious son should have been brought before the elders of the town who would have sentenced the son to death by stoning.
The father knows that
And what he does in scene three to counteract all this is nothing short of amazing.
In scene three, the father does five things that would all be considered outrageous, disgraceful, and even dishonorable in Middle Eastern society.
They’re all designed to protect and restore this son that he loves so much even though this son has turned away from him, rejected him, and wished him dead.
The first thing the father does is, he runs.
When word comes to him that his son has been seen on the outskirts of the village, the father runs to him. Can you see why this is so significant?
Instead of letting his son run the gauntlet of judgment that was surely coming from the rest of the town, the father runs the gauntlet for him.
Remember, this father is being portrayed as a nobleman if you will- like a baron, duke, or knight in England who had strict behavioral rules.
This father breaks all of them.
He lifts his robe, exposing his ankles- considered very shameful in his culture, and runs down the road, through the village, in front of all the villagers. He humiliates himself.
Jesus explains why. He says, “But while he was still a long ways off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him” (Luke 15:20).
This whole parable is describing how God the Father feels about his children. He has compassion on us, even and mostly when we have done nothing to deserve it.
Imagine this for just a minute from the son’s perspective.
He knows his father lives in the middle of town and that the town hates him.
He knows there is no way he can get to the father without enduring scorn and possible judgment.
But he has to get to the father.
So he mentally prepares for the worst and he walks the last few miles towards the town.
And sure enough, at first sighting on the outskirts of the village, word starts spreading. People are going to gather. He’s about to endure the worst moments of his life.
As he comes to the edge of the village, he expects to see people picking up rocks, jeers, and angry faces.
Instead, what he sees coming towards him are the ankles of his father. To his utter amazement, rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves for what he’s done, he finds a visible demonstration of the love of his father.
Words can’t express what this scene conveys, friends. You can only imagine it in your mind.
This is exactly why Jesus spoke in parables, particularly when he was talking about God the Father
- because some things about God are too incredible to reduce to simple didactic statements- they need to be demonstrated through a narrative.
Power of testimony, people can argue facts, they can’t argue your story
The second thing the father does:
Luke 15:20 ”He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
Can you picture it?
They’re embracing, eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder.
In his mind, the son had pictured himself coming home and abasing himself, throwing himself face first at his father’s feet.
First, he’d kiss his father’s hand, then he’d kiss his father’s feet. But the father won’t let him. He puts his arms around him, holds him upright, and kisses him on both cheeks.
The Greek word used here to describe what the father does is kata-philew. Literally it means, “to kiss again and again.”
Picture yourself in this scene, friends.
You have wronged God and you know it. You know you’re going to need to grovel, admit wrong, and make all sorts of promises and really mean it.
So you approach him. And you’ve got your whole speech planned. Only he doesn’t even let you begin. The minute you approach him, he embraces you. It’s a powerful picture, isn’t it?
Remember, the son had a speech all ready, and probably rehearsed it dozens of times on the way home-
“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of our hired men” (Luke 15:19).
See his plan? Admit his guilt and ask to become a servant in his father’s household.
Now, look at the actual speech when it comes out in scene three. The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be your son” (Luke 15:21).
What’s missing from the speech?
His request to become a servant.
Why is it missing?
Because he’s overwhelmed by the father’s love.
The son’s plan- earn my way back. Earn my father’s forgiveness and maybe someday his favor.
But when the father runs and kisses him, how could he not accept the father’s love for a son?
The third thing the father does is call for a robe to be put on his son. Imagine this. Here are his exact words: “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him’” (Luke 15:22).
Question: who owned the best robe in the family?
The father.
The father and son are still standing on the edge of the village, and the father wants the whole village to know that he has accepted his son.
So he sends his servants to get his own best robe so the son can wear it as he walks home through the village.
Amazing, isn’t it?
The fourth thing the father does is call for a ring. “Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet” (Luke 15:22).
The ring is probably a signet ring. It’s the ring the father would use to sign all documents, which means the son is a trusted, empowered member of the family. The sandals are a sign that he is a free man, not a servant. Servants didn’t get shoes. They walked barefoot.
Finally, the father says, “Bring the fatted calf and kill it” (Luke 15:23).
Not the fatted goat or sheep or chicken. The fatted calf. Why a calf?
Because the Father was throwing a party for the whole village, and needed a cow sized amount of meat.
Do you see what the father is doing?
He’s inviting the whole village to share his joy. He doesn’t want the son only to be reconciled to him, he wants him to be reconciled to the whole village. He wants everyone to have a relationship with his son.
Wow!
This is a story that no one could have anticipated.
Especially someone from 1st century Israel.
The story of the prodigal son is the ultimate rags-to-unbelievable-riches story.
Only the riches aren’t about money, they’re about measuring your worth in God’s eyes.
Do you see what Jesus is doing with this story?
He is communicating to every person who ever wanted to take a step toward God, just how significant we are to him; how God feels about us.
He doesn’t just wait for us, he runs to us.
He doesn’t let us bear the shame of living our lives as if we wished he were dead.
He bears it for us.
He kisses us.
He puts his robe on us,
his ring on our finger,
his sandals on our feet,
and he kills the fatted calf to celebrate us and invites everyone else to celebrate us with him.
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
What an awesome God we serve.
I’m going close by briefly touching on the last scene in this story.
Remember, Jesus is speaking not only to sinners who needed to hear that God loves them like the Father in this story, but to the Pharisees who were criticizing Him for being around sinners.
Jesus is going to show the Pharisees where they are in this story
Scene four is about the older son. The older son hasn’t left home, but if you read the story carefully, you’ll discover that he, too, has left his father.
As the scene opens, where is the older son? He’s out working in the field.
The older son owns everything that he and his father now live on. It belongs to him.
As the older son is coming in from the fields, he hears music and gets the report from one of the servants that his brother has returned home safely and that a party is going on.
What’s the older brother’s response to this? He becomes angry.
He refuses to join the party.
Again, middle eastern culture-
This would be a severe insult to his father, humiliating him a second time in front of the whole village, because the older son’s role at a party was to welcome all the guests.
With him not at the party, everybody knows that he has rejected his father.
This is where you see that, in his heart, the older son has distanced himself as much from his father as the younger son did years ago.
He says to 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” (Luke 15:29).
Those two statements tip us off to the older son’s distance from his father. First of all, does he think of himself as a son? No, he’s been slaving for the father. He hasn’t lived with him like a son, but like a servant.
So the father says, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours” (Luke 15:31).
“I already gave it to you! All these years it’s been yours.”
Despite that, the older son has distanced himself. He refuses to see the goodness of His father and share in the mercy shown to the younger son.
These were the Pharisee’s and their attitude might reflect some in the church who can’t accept those people who drifted away from God and might want to come back.
Don’t be the older son. Have the heart of the Father
The point of this story is that the father loves all his children so much that he is willing to suffer and be humiliated in order to bring us home.
How do I know that? (Point to the cross)
John 3:16-17
If God loved like that, who are we to deny that love to those seeking God, even after living apart from Him for years.
Altar Call-
Father, give us Your heart for the lost.
