SPECIAL DAY: FATHER’S DAY
TEXT: LUKE 15:11-32
TITLE: “THE LOVING FATHER”
INTRODUCTION: A. I like this little prayer for dads:
Mender of toys, leader of boys,
Changer of fuses, kisser of bruises,
Bless him, O Lord.
Mover of couches, soother of ouches,
Pounder of nails, teller of tales,
Reward him, O Lord.
Hanger of screens, counselor of teens,
Fixer of bikes, chastiser of tykes,
Help him, O Lord.
Raker of leaves, cleaner of eaves,
Dryer of dishes, fulfiller of wishes,
Bless him, O Lord.
B. Three boys were bragging about who had the better father:
The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a
poem, and they give him $100.”
The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of
paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $1000.”
The third boy says, “My Dad is ever better than that. He scribbles a few words on a
piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes 6 or 8 men just to collect all the money!”
1. My own dad taught me how to be a man: to work hard, to be honest, to do
everything you can the best you can, and to love your family
2. You are most blessed if you had a caring, loving father to bless your life
C. The model for all fathers is our Father in heaven
1. The passage we’re going to look at this morning has been known as the parable of
the prodigal son.
a. The bulk of the story is about the younger son who disrespectfully leaves his
father behind
b. Another portion of the story is about the older son who didn’t understand what
relationship to the father is all about.
c. The focus of the story is on the great and gracious love of the father
2. Wm. Barclay: “There is no chapter of the New Testament so well known and so
dearly loved as the 15th chapter of Luke’s gospel. It had been called the gospel in
the gospel; as if it contained the very distilled essence of the good news Jesus came
to tell.”
3. Let’s look at this well-known passage and see what Jesus wants us to understand
I. REBELLION
--Lk. 15:11-12 – Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father,
’Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.”
A. When the younger son asked for his share of his father’s estate, his request was legal but cruel
1. According to the Old Testament law, the younger son was entitled to 1/3 of his father’s estate and it
was acceptable for a man to divide his estate among his heir while still alive.
2. It was cruel because the son was basically saying: “I wish you were dead! I’m tired of you and want
to be free from your control over my life.”
a. The younger son’s attitude was marked by sinfulness and selfishness
b. He had decided he knew more about how to live life than his father did.
3. The father, lovingly and graciously allowed his son to choose his own path
a. Dad gave his son the required portion of his own life’s work
b. The younger son wanted what his father could give him but he did not want his father.
B. For the person who refuses to place his faith in God and give their life over to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ, that describes how they live their lives.
1. The lost person lives their life living as if God were dead
2. They say to God, “Give me!”
--They want what He can give them but do not want Him
II. RECKLESSNESS
--Lk. 15:13 – “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and
there squandered his wealth in wild living.”
A. “Far country” represents anyplace that you’ve tried to go to get away from God
B. The younger son lived by worldly philosophies that say, “Enjoy today!” “Go for the gusto!” “Get all
you can while you can!” “Life’s a party so have a blast!”
III. REFLECTION
--Lk. 15:14-17 – “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he
began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his
fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave
him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired men have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death!’”
A. “I must be out of my mind!”
B. Notice that in the far country, nobody cared whether he had what he needed for day-to-day existence
IV. REPENTANCE
--Lk. 15:18-20a – “‘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 your hired
men.’ So he got up and went to his father.”
A. Repentance is not being sorry for where you’re at and staying there
--Repentance is being sorry for what you’ve done to get you to where you’re at and then getting up and
doing something about it
B. The biblical definition of repentance is like someone traveling the wrong direction, realizing it, and
turning to go the right way
1. It involves self-examination, determination to change, and action to move in the right direction
2. Peggy Noonan, conservative commentator, just recently wrote about Charles Colson: “Colson
functioned in the Nixon White House as a genuinely bad man, went to prison and emerged a genuinely
good man. He told the truth about himself in ’Born Again,’ a book not fully appreciated as the great
Washington classic it is, and has devoted his life to helping prisoners and their families. He paid the
price, told the truth, blamed no one but himself, and turned his shame into something helpful.”
--Colson showed true repentance when he turned from going the wrong way and has been going the
way God wants him to go ever since
V. RECONCILIATION
--Lk. 15:20b-24 – “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion
for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said
to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his
feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and
is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
A. When the son began his return, the father was waiting and watching
--The father anxiously and hurriedly went to meet his child
B. Because of the son’s repentant, humbled, contrite spirit, the father gladly receives him and restores
him into the family
1. Robe – to replace old, worn, smelly garments
2. Ring – family seal
3. Shoes – only slaves went barefoot
VI. REJOICING
A. Whole household throws a celebration
--“fatted calf” – was an animal set aside, fed best feed, and saved for a celebration of great importance
B. What caused the celebration?
--vs. 24 – “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
VII. REACTION
--Lk. 15:25-32 – “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.’ The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with
him. 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!’ ‘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.’”
A. The older brother was really no better off than his younger brother
1. He had a resentful relationship with his father
2. He refused to acknowledge his own brother
--He calls him “this son of yours” and not “my brother”
3. There was no joy in being part of the family
--He was only grudgingly obedient
B. Notice again that just as the father went out to meet with the repentant younger son, he goes out to
meet with his oldest.
1. The father loved both boys equally
2. The father was gracious and kind in his treatment
VIII. RELEVANCE
A. To truly understand this parable, have to look at Lk. 15:1-10 – Now the tax collectors and “sinners”
were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This
man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you
has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and
go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and
goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found
my lost sheep.’ 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. Or suppose a woman
has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully
until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says,
‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
B. I read a story a number of years ago that has always stayed with me.
-- In the early years of World War II after U.S. forces invaded northern Africa, crude airstrips were
established in the African desert They were used to carry out bombing runs across the
Mediterranean on Italy. The Lady Be Good was a Flying Fortress, B-17bomber, making these long
and dangerous flights.
One night, the Lady Be Good was returning from a bombing run into Italy to the desert air strip
guided by a radio beam. The radio beam would signal that they were on a straight line toward the
base. The crew never knew until it was too late that they had a strong tail wind that brought them
back much sooner than expected
Having no visual point of reference, they simply over-flew the directional signal and kept
flying until they ran out of fuel and crashed in the Libyan desert more than a hundred miles from
water. They were lost and had no idea where they were. No one else knew where they were, either.
The plane was perfectly preserved in the desert. The crew survived the crash landing only to die of
thirst in the desert because they were totally lost.
1. Jesus is letting us know: God cares about people who are lost
--God doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants the lost to become found.
2. He knows that all they can do on their own is harm themselves.
--But what joy He feels when the lost becomes found! All of heaven rejoices!
CONCLUSION: A. The man had two sons – both sinners
1. Younger son was rebellious, reckless, disrespectful and morally decadent
2. Older son was jealous, had a lack of love for his father and his brother, he was false
and selfish in his motives for serving the father, egotistical, ungrateful, and blind to his
own sinfulness.
3. Yet the father was loving and offered his grace and mercy to both
4. In the two sons, there are two contrasts:
a. When the openly rebellious person comes “to their right mind,” when they turn and
go to the Father, they know for certain that they don’t deserve God’s grace and
goodness
b. However, those who only profess to be devoted to the Father believe that they
deserve their rightful inheritance and believe they’re good enough to deserve God’s
grace and goodness
B. None of us deserves God’s grace and goodness:
1. Rom. 3:10 – “There I no one righteous, not even one…”
2. Rom. 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
3. But the Father loves us and offers us an unbounded grace
a. To the rebellious, disobedient prodigal, the message is: “Come home! The Father
loves you!”
b. To the prideful, self-righteous older brother – “Come into the house and enjoy the
feast! The Father loves you!”
C. Many of you have probably seen the commercials for the new movie called
“Cinderella Man.” It’s based on the life of legendary boxer James J. Braddock and
celebrates a man who models sacrificial love for his family.
Braddock was born into a blue-collar Irish Catholic family in 1906. He grew up
fighting and by age 20, turned pro. He won fight after fight and became one of the best
young boxers in the world. However, injuries from fighting began to mount up and by
1929, at the time of the stock market crash, Braddock was washed out as a fighter.
The Great Depression was Braddock’s worst opponent so far. To feed his family, he
worked on the New Jersey docks but the work was irregular. One desperate winter,
Braddock and his wife were forced to send their children to live with relatives.
Braddock turned for support to the priests of the local parish. They encouraged him
to keep his faith in God because God would provide an answer. Braddock’s prayers
were answered in an unexpected way. The time out of the fight game had allowed his
battered body to heal and his work on the docks strengthend his body.
In 1934, Braddock had the chance to stand in for a boxer that couldn’t fight.
Braddock beat a strong heavyweight named John Griffin. He then beat two more top
heavyweight contenders: John Henry Lewis and Art Lasky.
Braddock then faced heavy-weight champion Max Baer-a womanizing show-off who
had already killed two men in the ring. Braddock was listed as a ten-to-one underdog,
and his wife feared he’d be killed by Baer.
Braddock became a hero in the eyes of Depression-weary Americans who saw a
family man like them: struggling against the enemies of unemployment and poverty.
On the day of the Braddock-Baer match-up, Americans walked for miles to anyplace
they could hear the fight on radio.
James J. Braddock was a man who did whatever was necessary to provide what his
children needed. He loved and cared for his family.
--Our heavenly Father did what was necessary to provide a way of salvation from our
sins. As sinners, we are poor and lost and have no hope except the grace and mercy of
a loving Father.
