The Prodigal Father And The Lost Son

June 9, 2024 Sermon

I don’t want to alarm you, but we have a problem. It’s not just our church. It’s not just the Yonge Street Mission. But we have a problem.

The problem we have is actually universal. The apostle Paul summarized the problem in this way:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:14-20

This is a powerful expression of the universal human struggle with self-control and the long to be free from the grip of sin.

Today we are going to look at one of Jesus' many brilliant parables that connects deeply with this problem we are discussing, and with the human condition.

It is impossible, I think, to read the story without seeing ourselves in it. As ________ read the passage, all those really listening would have felt something, more than likely, that resonates.

As we look at this passage, we are really looking through a window at much of the human story, and again we will see ourselves in the attitudes and actions of the son or sons in this story.

Jesus tells his story specifically to the “tax collectors and sinners“ who were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

They’re were the Pharisees and the teachers on the law present who were generally not enjoying Jesus.

And Jesus’ teaching in chapter 15 of Luke is really in response to the contempt that the Pharisees and teachers of the law were expressing both toward Jesus and toward his followers.

At the beginning of Luke 15 the author says that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered: “This man welcome sinners and eats with them“.

To us in 2024, those eight words really seem like no big deal. But in this ancient context the Pharisees and the teachers reflected the general attitude of the spiritual leadership of the day.

They assume like attracts like. In that day, eating with someone implies acceptance, a bond with someone.

The fact that Jesus was welcoming to sinners, and even worse, that he freely shared meals with them, was beyond the pale.

It was something these religious leaders struggled to understand, and it was something that did not boost the reputation of Jesus in their eyes, to say the least.

Upon hearing their grousing, Jesus tells three stories about the lost becoming found. Jesus tells 3 parables

In Luke 15:4-7, Jesus tells a parable about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one lost sheep, emphasizing the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents compared to many righteous individuals who do not need repentance.

In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus shares a parable about a woman who diligently searches for a lost coin and celebrates its recovery with her friends and neighbors, illustrating the joy in heaven over one repentant sinner, which of course echoes the theme of the previous parable.

We can’t possibly know if the Pharisees and the teachers of the law understood either of these parables; personally I suspect the “tax collectors and sinners“ were further ahead in grasping what Jesus was saying.

Whether or not they were tracking with what Jesus was saying, Jesus goes on to tell the story called the parable of the lost son.

The son we should understand as us, each of us here in this space. The father we should understand as being God.

15:11 “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’

And what I notice first in the story is the son asking for his inheritance, which is, sadly, very much like the son saying: “I wish you were dead, dad. Give me my money”.

So he divided his property between them.

As I see the son and watch the father’s response, one thing that’s clear is that the father, and thus God, is really not at all what you would call a controlling person.