Prodigal God pt1

Title: Prodigal God pt1

Text: Luke 15

D.T. Grace is about what gets people home.

Introduction: (Paige GPS story)

The way we viewed the same map with the same roads and locations depended greatly on our perspective.

In my view, there was a clear and correct way to read a map. (North is at the top, south is at the bottom, west to the left, and east to the right)

In Paige’s view, she really only cared about what gets her home.

The reason I share this story is because it’s going to relate to how we approach the subject matter of our new series.

Today we start a series called “Prodigal God” . This series is based on the 2009 book by the same name. This series will delve deep into the parable which is commonly referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. However, author Tim Keller calls this parable “The parable of the 2 lost sons.

We find this parable in Luke 15, and this parable is actually part three of a trilogy of parables. This is how the chapter begins, and it provides a lot of context for the situation surrounding the parable.

READ Luke 15:1-2

Luke 15:1–2 ESV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

The teachers of the law would be constantly perplexed as to why the “sinners and tax collectors” are so drawn to Jesus. They would notice how Jesus was always surrounded by this sort, so they to would start listening to Jesus so they can try and understand what made his message so attractive to them. However the Pharisees would eventually reach the point where they cannot keep their feelings bottled up anymore, they make their feelings known,

There is something we MUST notice about how this chapter begins. What prompted Jesus to tell this parable? It was when the Pharisees became angry and indignant that Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners that Jesus tells three parables, the last being the Prodigal son.

These parables came as a response to the anger and bitterness of the Pharisees.

When this parable is taught, its focus almost exclusively rests upon the younger brother's flight and return, as well as his eventual reconciliation with his father. While this is certainly a key aspect of the story, to focus clearly on the “prodigal son” does the parable injustice. The plight of the older brother is equally important. Because Jesus isn’t just telling a story about lost sinners who come home, but also of their kin who are unwilling to accept them because of bitterness and a hardened heart.

Because of this Tim Keller in his book will refer to this parable as “The parable of the 2 lost sons” Keller says this “Each brother represents a way to be alienated from God, and a different way to seek acceptance into the kingdom of heaven.”

The fact that Jesus gave these parables as a response to the attitudes of the Pharisees should make this truth abundantly clear

Each brother would embody a perspective, and it’s not hard to realize what these perspectives are. The younger brother embodies the perspective of the irreligious, while the older brother embodies the spirit of the religious.

A natural question which often comes as a result is “which side is Jesus on? The irreligious? Or the religious. The answer to this question is mirrored by J.R.R Tolkien in his book “The Lord of the Rings” In this book the ancient character Treebeard tells a couple of young hobbits “I am not altogether on anyone's side, because nobody is altogether on my side. There are some things, of course, I am whose side I am altogether NOT on. Jesus makes it clear that he is not on the side of the religious or irreligious, but rather seeks change for both of them. This is what Tim Keller sums up Jesus' mindset when approaching this parable. Through this parable, Jesus challenges what nearly everyone has ever thought about God, sin, and salvation. His story reveals the destructive self-centeredness of the younger brother, but also condemns the older brother's moralistic life in the strongest terms. Jesus is saying the irreligious and the religious are spiritually lost. Both life paths are dead ends, every thought the human race has had on how to connect with God is wrong.

In order for us to get the most we possibly can from this series, we must become brutally honest with which brother we identify with most closely. Everybody identifies with one of them. We may not completely embody their spirits.

I.E We may not have burned every bridge with our family, and lived so wild we hit rock bottom. However some of you may be thinking. There are times I got pretty close

Others realize the older brother probably needed to soften his heart, but at the same time we understand his concerns. The father could very well be extending his hand to someone undeserving who may take advantage of his grace.

Acknowledging this is so important because on every occasion where a younger brother and older brother encounter Jesus, the younger brother connects with Jesus better.

Luke 7:36–40 “One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.””

Luke 19:9–14 ESV

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

Matthew 21:31 ESV

Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

Does Jesus say this because he wants the sinners and tax collectors to enter the kingdom first? Does he like them better? No, Jesus just knows they connect with him better. Why? They connect better because they are not plagued by their own self righteousness.

Most of us should identify with the older brother. This isn’t unique here, it’s true of most churches in western civilization. Which means we must constantly keep our moralism in check, and ensure it’s not becoming a moralistic self righteousness.

This means we open ourselves up to the younger brothers.

Maybe we get taken advantage of, maybe our patience is tried. But we must open ourselves up to them, and celebrate when they seek change.

Conclusion: Let’s go back to the story of the map. I was caught up in what is the correct and proper way to read a map. Paige was just concerned about what gets her home. This applies to grace. We cannot approach grace like I approach a map (a list of traditionally correct ways of doing things) Instead we approach Grace like Paige approaches a map. She only cared about what gets her home. Grace is about what gets people home.