GOD OUR FATHER IS RICH IN MERCY
March 26, 2006 -- Lent 4 - Luke 15:11-32
Dear Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Certainly today’s text is a familiar parable that we may have heard many times. It is still good to refresh our memory of the divine meaning here for our learning. In the readings today we heard about forgiveness. In Psalm 38 we sang the same refrain three times, "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." Our scripture lessons (listed below) and Psalm 38 point to the meaning of today’s text also--that our Father in heaven is rich in mercy. Though we don’t deserve and cannot earn it, God forgives our sins. In our first reading we are reminded that God’s gift of mercy comes to us purely out of his grace, his great love for us. So the opening verses of that second lesson give a summary of our text today. In Ephesians Paul writes: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4,5). Today, as we look at this account, these words of Jesus, we are reminded that:
GOD OUR FATHER IS RICH IN MERCY
I. We were dead in transgressions,
II. God made us alive with Christ.
Or as it says at the end of our text,
we were dead and lost; but now we are alive and found.
II. WE WERE DEAD IN TRANSGRESSIONS ( = dead and lost)
In verse 1 and 2 of chapter 15 of Luke it tells us there were two kinds of people listening to Jesus. The tax collectors and sinners were there and were anxious to hear what Jesus had to say. But also the Pharisees and scribes were there. They muttered under their breath, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." They had no use for Jesus, because he came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus continues be telling them the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost sheep.
Next we have the parable of the lost son. Jesus says: "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." During the time of Jesus, the older son was the one who would get the inheritance, the lion’s share of it anyway. The oldest son would generally receive half of the inheritance and the other half was split between the rest of the family. So the oldest son realized his responsibility. He realized that he had to take care of this that was to be his inheritance. The younger son is not so attached, not so responsible. Rarely did the younger son ask for his inheritance, but here we find he does. The younger son wants to go his own way. He wants to run away from his family, from his father; and in the end we are going to see that he runs away from God and loses himself in the world.
The father divides it up, gives his share whatever that was to his son. His share was probably quite a bit; because we hear in this parable the father has hired servants. The son goes off to a faraway country as far away as he can. He has all this money, so he doesn’t take into account that something could go wrong. There is a famine and he becomes hungry, and we are told then, "So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. We note a number of things. This son was very, very desperate. He was lost. The son was dead in his transgressions. It says he attached himself to this foreigner, this citizen of a faraway country. The worst thing of all, this citizen sent the younger son to feed pigs. Pigs for the Jewish people were unclean animals. They did not eat pork or get close to them or they would be unclean. So they were detestable and despicable in the eyes of the Jews. What happens? This son is so lost, so dead, that there is no hope. "He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything." He was ready to eat pig food, the garbage that was thrown to the pigs. No one gave him anything. He was still hungry. He ran off and was lost and dead. He was at the very bottom, wasn’t he? Even this young son realized his predicament.
In the next verse he says, "How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!" The younger son didn’t realize what he had until he gave it all up. He didn’t realize that in his father’s home he was taken care of very well. He gave it all up. We might think of the scribes and teachers of the law here who lived in the Father’s house, who were to lead the people in worshipping God, but in the end gave it all up; because they wanted to go their own way.
This attitude describes our society today, doesn’t it? People want to go their own way. They want to be like this son and say, "I can do it myself." We are taught that way. We are taught that if we work hard enough, we can make something of ourselves. Society teaches us: If we have wealth and possessions, what more do we need? Sometimes we are caught up in the same things and say, "Lord, I am going to go do this and do it my way. I think my way is better. I am going to store up for myself all kinds of treasures. I am going to prepare for the future, so that my kids can go to college, so that I can retire comfortably, so that I never have to worry again money or anything else." But there is always worry about money. Paul wrote in his letter to Timothy: "Godliness with contentment is great gain." How right he was. Then he continues: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10).
Maybe in our lifetime we have at times wandered from the faith in the pursuit of money and the things of this world, and they only brought us sadness rather than joy. It is hard to separate our day-to-day living into the fact that in our day-to-day living we are always to be seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. In our day-to-day living or our earthly occupation we feel we are just providing for ourselves, our family or making enough to give our offerings to church. It doesn’t always cross our mind then that part of this earthly living is also really our Christian living. In our earthly living we are to shine like lights in this sin-darkened world. In our gospel, Christ was the Light, but people like darkness. In the end we can be the richest person in the world, but what good is it? Here is Solomon from the book of Ecclesiastes: "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). We come to see that in our life, don’t we? All these things that the world makes seem so important, we come to realize is a chasing after the wind. The things of this world are destroyed by rust, moth, corruption, and taken away in an instant; so they are not quite so meaningful as we once thought.
But God reminds us he still is rich in mercy. Hopefully, we don’t have to get like this son. When we go off on our path so long and so far, that we are almost starving to death. Today we would say he was homeless, eating pig’s food. The homeless eat out of the garbage cans. Hopefully, we don’t have to go that far before we realize God is still rich in mercy. God wants us in his kingdom. God gives us the opportunity to return, no matter how far we have strayed or how long we have strayed. We stray far and we stray long anytime we sin. That is when we stray from God. What does the Lord say to us? In Isaiah: "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). Indeed, God our Father is rich in mercy.
God, our Father in heaven is rich in mercy and though we are dead in transgression and sin, though we are dead and lost, the Lord reaches out and he makes us alive with Christ. He finds us and makes us alive. We learn that from the example here in our text..
II. GOD MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST ( = alive and found)
The young son is at the bottom of the barrel with no money and no food, except pig food. In verse 17 it says, "When he came to his senses." That is a good translation--when he came to himself and looked around and realized he could not be any worse off. He realized that his father’s hired men had food to spare, and here he was starving to death. He says, "I will set out and go back to my father." And we find out he does. What else does he realize?
The son realizes he is there because of his own selfishness and self-will. He had turned away from his father and his family and his true inheritance to do it his way. Now he sees the error of his ways. He says, "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.’" The younger son realized what he had done was wrong. It was wrong against his earthly father, and it was sin against his heavenly Father. He was brought low in his sin, wasn’t he? In the next verse he says, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men." We are again reminded us of the refrain of Psalm 38: "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." He says, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son; even though he was a son.
We find out that he does return with this confession on his lips, with this feeling of unworthiness in his heart. What happens? He gets there and says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." Before he was able to finish, his father said, "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." We picture the heavenly Father doing the same. As he was here he was shabbily dressed, but the robe signified the honor that the father was placing on his son. It was the same with the ring on his finger and the sandals on his feet meant the father welcomed him back into his home. The servants did not even have sandals to wear. They were barefoot, but the members of the family had sandals.
The father says they are going to celebrate and he tells why. "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate." The older brother wondered about all of this celebration. After all it was this younger son who squandered his inheritance, who lived a riotous life with prostitutes and immorality. It did not seem fair to him. {Jesus is building on the other two parables, the lost coin that is found and the lost sheep. Jesus concluded in the parable of the lost sheep, "There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (15:10).} But does that set well with the older brother? No, he was angry and upset. In looking closely at the words, the brother says, "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." How self-centered was he? He is saying, "Look what I have done." There was no joy there. Again, the scribes and Pharisees come to mind as they had no joy for those who repented and felt no need to repent themselves..
Again, what does the father remind him and us as our text concludes? "’My son,’ the father said, ’you are always with me.’" The older brother didn’t leave or didn’t have to starve. The older brother didn’t have to associate himself with unclean pigs. The older brother had all the blessings all the time as he stayed in his father’s house. He says, "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." Notice that the father says, "This brother of yours." Earlier the older son said, "Son of yours." He doesn’t even want to be associated with him as a brother. The father turns his thinking and corrects him, "This brother of yours was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found."
Here is our heavenly Father who doesn’t wait for us to get to the bottom of the barrel, who doesn’t wait until we are homeless and so desperate that we have no other place to turn. Instead by his grace God has revealed to us the law, which shows us our sin, which makes us realize we are not worthy, which makes us realize we do not belong in God’s kingdom. We are not really members of his kingdom, still God makes us members by his grace. Our Father brings us into his kingdom. He makes us alive when we are dead. He finds us when we are lost. We are restored. As the Psalm writer says to us: "He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:9,10). That’s a bold statement, and it is one that might be hard for us to fully comprehend because we have a sinful nature. We want to get even. We want to see people pay the price for their sins. But God doesn’t. He sent his Son to pay the price. As a person sees his sinfulness and realizes he is not worthy, his sins are forgiven.
The younger son comes back and does not even get to say, "Make me like a hired slave." The father forgives him. We turn to the Old Testament where David was king. First he committed adultery in his heart and then committed adultery with the leader of the army’s wife and had the leader of the army put to death. Nathan the prophet finally came to him and said, "You are the man." David said, "I have sinned." Then Nathan says he is forgiven, because through it all David was still God’s child. Through it all this younger son, no matter how lost and no matter how dead, was still the son of this father and belonged to the family. We, too, no matter how despicable our actions might be, no matter how often we sin against God in our actions and our wicked words and our evil thinking, are still his children. God, our Father rich in mercy, looks at us and sees us coming from far off and he comes and runs out to us and welcomes us back and celebrates, because there is great joy over the sinner who repents. Galatians says: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:26,27). What does this bring to mind? This verse brings to mind the younger son. What does the father say, "Quick! Bring the best robe and cover up his shabbiness, his dinginess, dirt and filth." God, our Father rich in mercy, also says: "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ". Christ’s robe of righteousness, the best robe, covers all of our unrighteousness – the dirt, filth and shabbiness of sin. The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.
Believers belong to God’s family, and sometimes that makes us different in this world. Sometimes people might wonder about our lives and attitude. The world around us may wonder why we are not out there trying to get and grab all there is in this life to grab and store up for ourselves. Sometimes they might wonder why we aren’t trying to take advantage of our fellowman. Sometimes they might wonder why we aren’t stepping on others to get ahead, why we aren’t so attached to the things of this world. If they wonder, that is a good thing then we are living as children of God and not children of this world.
John says: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him" (1 John 3:1). We are called God’s children. He looks at us in reality the same as he looks at his Son, because his Son Jesus has covered up our sins. We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus himself--God’s children. Sometimes the world may wonder. Sometimes the world, as it was described in our reading, that sits in the darkness and loves the evil and wickedness of this life, wonders about us his children of light. They may wonder why we consider God’s word so important and precious in our life. That is a good thing. It is all because God our Father in heaven is rich in mercy.
God our Father is rich in mercy and gives us an inheritance because he has made us his children. We don’t have to wait to get to heaven to enjoy God’s mercy. We have it here on earth. After the sermon we mention, "that peace which surpasses all understanding". This is God’s mercy to us; his love and peace knowing that our sins are forgiven. This peace of God is our peace knowing that, yes, we were dead and lost in transgression and sin. But rather than staying in that position, rather than being out of the inheritance and out of God’s family, he finds us and makes us alive with Christ. This is our God who is rich in mercy. No matter the false gods all over this world today, no matter the false religions, their gods do not match our God who made the heavens and earth, our God who does not treat us as our sins deserve. In Romans Paul describes how rich in mercy our God is. We cannot earn or buy forgiveness. God says, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy" (Romans 9:15,16). We who were lost and dead are now alive and found simply because God our Father is rich in mercy. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM + www.kqnk.com
Lent 4 readings: NUMBERS 21:4-9; EPHESIANS 2:4-10; JOHN 3:14-21
