The "Righteous" Sinner
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Introduction
Is it possible for a professing Christian to live sinfully and not know it?
Is it possible to have a strong knowledge of theology, understand the details of how a Christian should act, and at the same time misunderstand the way of Jesus Christ?
In the last five weeks, we have journeyed through the teachings of Jesus concerning the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost
When the shepherd found the lost sheep, and when the woman found the lost coin, and when the father welcomed home his lost son, Jesus taught us that the heavenly Father and all of heaven welcomes returning sinners!
But the story - the teaching - does not end there. There is one more part of the story.
To understand the final part of this teaching of Jesus, we need to remind ourselves as to who were the original hearers of his message.
Text: Luke 15:1-2
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
The teaching of Jesus about the lost.
The audience:
Tex collectors and sinners.
Most likely Jesus’ disciples and other followers.
The Pharisees and the scribes.
The reaction of the Pharisees and the scribes to Jesus’ outreach to sinners:
They complained.
They were angry.
They were disgusted.
And, that describes the attitude of the older brother.
Text: Luke 15:25-28
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’
28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
The older son was out in the field - working.
He hears the sound of music and dancing.
He is told that his younger brother has returned - and there is a big celebration.
Big Idea
There is a big problem when rules and rituals take the place of relationship and compassion.
Jesus teaches that religious people can lose sight of the significance of God and His love.
Point 1
Self-Righteousness exaggerates one’s value at the expense of others.
Self-Righteousness exaggerates one’s value at the expense of others.
The older son was angry and refused on join the celebration.
The older son rejected the father’s invitation.
The older son responded to the invitation with anger toward the father.
28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
The older son as a “slave” - one who serves out of forced obligation rather than out of gratitude and love.
He does not understand the meaning of “son.”
And, he does not understand the meaning of “father” as well.
He could not see why his father should be so full of joy at the return of the prodigal.
He complains that the father has never given him a young goat (of much less value than the fatted calf) for a feast with his friends (who would have been respectable people and not like the other boy’s associates).
The proud and the self-righteous always feel that they are not treated as well as they deserve.
The proud and the self-righteous always feel that they are not treated as well as they deserve.
He cannot even refer to the prodigal as his brother but as this son of yours.
30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
The older son tells the father that he is wrong.
God will always do what is right.
God will always do what is right.
31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
The welcome to the younger son was the right thing to do.
The father had to do it.
Joy was the only proper reaction in such a situation.
Notice that he does not speak of “my son” but your brother.
The older boy might try to overlook the relationship, but it was still there.
The father will not let him forget it.
Conclusion
Jesus leaves certain elements of the story unresolved.
How did the older brother respond to the father’s words?
How did the younger brother live after the celebration concluded?
We may see ourselves as the younger son, received by the father in love, forgiveness, and restoration.
But there might be great value in seeing ourselves as the older brother.
It is a common human failing to think that we are not appreciated as we ought to be, that people do not give us credit for what we have done.
But Jesus reminds us that God loves us—and we need to love one another.