The Runaway

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

MacArthur writes that "Though a child can grasp the tale, its meaning is probably the most rich and complex of Jesus’ parables. This story deserves more than just a barebones treatment; a mere superficial understanding that fails to grasp the depth and richness of its message....Like the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, this parable depicts God’s joy over the salvation of the lost. But while the first two parables emphasize God’s part in seeking sinners this third one, while touching on God as the seeker, focuses more on the human aspect of salvation—man’s sin, rejection, repentance, and return to God.

Luke 15:11–20 ESV

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Ceramic pottery is beautiful, but it’s also really fragile. If you drop it, it’s going to shatter into tiny pieces. When that happens, most people break out the broom and dustpan and throw away the pieces in frustration.

But the Japanese have developed a traditional art form called kintsugi—this process uses special metals like liquid gold or liquid silver to meld back together the broken pottery pieces. It takes what appeared to be irreparably broken and creates something out of it that is just as—if not more—beautiful than the original. This is a picture of the type of transforming forgiveness and love we see in this story. It reminds us that no matter how big a mess we make of our lives, we can never be too broken for God.

Teaching:

1. Who Is the Younger Son?

A. He’s the Runaway

 There are three main characters in this parable, and we’re going to spend time on each of them. First, we’ll look at the younger son—the Runaway. He’s the first one we meet and the “prodigal” from the title of this story.

The Runaway doesn’t look so great in the beginning of this story. He begins with a demand—he wants his share of his father’s inheritance.

Technically, it belongs to him, but he’s not supposed receive it until after his father’s death.

Wish you were dead.

But why wait around when he could be out having fun with that money right now? So he sells this inheritance—which included a portion of his father’s belongings and land—and runs away.

That’d be like going home right now and selling off your dad’s car, his clothes, and the family’s furniture so you can start a life of partying.

What kind of kid does that?! This son is basically saying he wishes his father was dead. To make it even worse, he promptly throws away this money—which was supposed to provide him safety and security for the rest of his life—on a reckless lifestyle and frivolous things.

This story actually reflects a modern trend. Did you know that 1 in 3 Americans who receive an inheritance are in debt in less than two years? 

According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years.

Easy Come, Easy go.

The temptation to spend all your money in an attempt to buy instant happiness seems pretty universal.

The shiny things of this world…

New truck…

Pastor Matt Chandler calls this the Culasac of stupidity.

We think it’ll fully satisfy us.

Back in Luke 15, it doesn’t take long for the Runaway’s selfishness to catch up to him. He thought he was invincible, but then something outside his control happens—a famine hits.

With no food, no money, no home, and no one to turn to, the Runaway is in pretty big trouble.

In desperation, he takes the worst possible job for a Jewish man—tending pigs.

Pigs were seen as the most unclean animal in his culture, so having to get down into the mud with them a huge blow to his ego. The Runaway hits his low point when he realizes he’s hungry enough to be drooling over the pigs’ slop!

At this point, the Runaway is desperate to go home. He remembers his father’s love and generosity—even his father’s employees are well-fed and treated with kindness.

But the Runaway also believes that he’s “no longer worthy” to be welcomed back into the family after the terrible way he treated his dad. He decides to return home anyway, planning to apologize and beg to be hired as a servant.

When the Runaway finally comes home, expecting to have to prove he’s changed and to earn back his place in the family, he receives the unexpected: his father runs out to greet him with open arms, shouting, “Welcome home, son!” Even though he made mistakes, he is still loved. Nothing’s changed his father’s love.

2. How We Are Like the Runaway

What does “the good life” mean to you? Everywhere we look, commercials, internet ads, and culture try to convince us that “the good life” means parties, popularity, money...and they encourage us to go after those things at any cost.

That’s exactly what the Runaway did, and it’s what we do too. We convince ourselves that this is what “the good life” looks like; we get so caught up chasing it that nothing else matters. Even when we know what we’re supposed to do—or what will ultimately be good for us—sometimes it doesn’t feel worth it to give up the things we want right now.

All around us, people are encouraging us to “live our truths” and reject anyone else’s opinion if it conflicts with our own.

The Runaway thought he knew better than his father and better than the wisdom of his culture’s traditions. He thought he could do it all on his own.

What rules do you wish you could just get rid of right now?

There are good in rules.

But he wasn’t thinking about what was really good for him or how his choices would impact anyone else. He probably didn’t set out to hurt his father and his family—that was just a byproduct of his selfish decisions.

Sin and rebellion are often like that. We feel like we’re just going after what we want, but we aren’t thinking about what is really good for us or who gets hurt along the way. We don’t care if we’re disregarding God’s will, rebelling against what we know he wants for us and is calling us to do.

Sin often leads us to places we never wanted to go and it’ll keep us there longer than we wanted to stay

It’ll have us doing things we never thought we’d do. Sometimes it takes a rock-bottom moment to realize where our pursuit of “the good life” has taken us and how much we’ve lost along the way.

When we get there, we realize that something isn’t right, and we need to ask for forgiveness. That’s one of the hardest things to do. It’s never easy to admit we’ve been wrong. Like the younger son, we feel like we need to earn back God’s favor when we’ve disappointed him.

3. Misunderstanding the Father’s Heart

At each point in this story, problems arise when the Runaway misunderstands his father’s heart. In the beginning, he sees the rules as something meant to control him and keep him from what he wants right now.

He thinks his father is trying to keep him from something good, so he decides to go out and get it for himself. When he decides to come back, he assumes he’ll need to earn his way back into his father’s favor.

He can’t imagine that he’d be welcomed back into his father’s home after all he’s done to reject it.

It can be hard for us to comprehend this kind of love. In fact, the ways the Runaway misunderstands his father’s love in this parable are the exact ways we misunderstand God’s love for us.

We can see his rules (as laid out in the Bible) as a way to control us and keep us from doing the things we really want (sin).

We think we know what is good for us better than God does, so we go out and get it for ourselves. And when we mess up, we think we have to earn our way back into God’s good graces.

We can’t fathom a God who welcomes us back with open arms no matter what we’ve done and how many times we’ve rejected him.

But that’s what he does. It’s who he is. He gives us rules because he knows what is best for us better than we do.

And he will always  welcome us home when we return to him, no matter how far or for how long we’ve walked away.

God doesn’t wander from us-

The Runaway shows us two truths that might seem contradictory at first:

We all want to be in control of our lives, and that often leads us to rebel and sin.

No matter how far we walk away, God always welcomes us home…no strings attached!

It’s both a warning and a comfort. We will all sin, but that’s not an excuse. We are called to seek out and follow God’s rules, but no one is perfect.

We’re going to fail sometimes. And when we do, it’s so important that we know we will always be able to come home to God.

He won’t be demanding that we prove ourselves to him; he’ll be waiting with open arms to welcome his child, whom he loves more than anything.

So, what's the moral of the story?

It's about forgiveness, my friends. It's about grace. No matter how far we've strayed, no matter how many mistakes we've made, our Heavenly Father is always ready to welcome us back with open arms. So, if you've been feeling like the prodigal son lately, it's time to come home. God's love is waiting for you, just like that father waited for his son.