Created for Significance: Measuring Your Worth in God’ Eyes (v9)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
This story in Luke is often proclaimed as the Prodigal Son.
One of the very first songs I ever learned to play on the guitar was a John Denver tune called, “Prodigal Son.” Do some of you remember that?
I wasn’t a Christian at the time, but I was vaguely aware that John Denver got the title from a story in the Bible. So even though I had no clue what the word prodigal meant, it didn’t really bother me, because my perception at the time was that the Bible was such an old book that you couldn’t really understand anything in it, anyway.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, prodigal means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”
Later, when I did become a Christian and came across the story in the New Testament, I remember thinking, “Oh yeah! So this is the prodigal son story,” and wondering briefly what the word meant. After reading the story, I figured that a prodigal must be some sort of wanderer because, after all, the prodigal son in this story wandered off, didn’t he?
It wasn’t until years later, in fact, just this week, that I actually got out a dictionary and looked up the word prodigal.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, prodigal means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”
The story often focuses on the younger son who cashes in his inheritance and wastes it on wild living.
But what if there is more to the story? Notice how it begins:
Only I don’t think that’s what this story is about at all. I don’t think this is a story about a son. I think the story is actually about the father.
Only I don’t think that’s what this story is about at all. I don’t think this is a story about a son. I think the story is actually about the father.
Notice how it begins:
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.
Who’s the SUBJECT of the sentence? The man; His sons are the object.
Who’s the subject of that sentence? The man. His sons are the object.
We often focus on the son that went wild, but the real story is about the father’s extravagant love he lavishly pours his love out on his children. He gives them all he possesses, even though it results in his own humiliation.
This is the story of the prodigal father. It’s about a father who is extravagant and lavishly pours his love out on his children. He gives them gifts they do not deserve even when it means he will suffer and be taken advantage of. And to fully appreciate it, we need to see it in its entirety.
I believe the story tells us a lot about God. It is perhaps, one of the most important stories in the entire Bible! Because the story reveals how God feels about us!
I believe the story tells us a lot about God. The story is perhaps, one of the most important stories in the entire Bible because it’s the story about how God feels about us. If you want to know how much you are valued in God’s eyes, or if you’ve ever wondered if you have any significance in this vast universe, then this is the story for you! Because this story answers the question, “How does God feel about us?”
If you’ve wondered God feels about you, how significant you are to God, then this story shows you!
REVIEW
Last week we learned how God searches for people who are fully commited to Him and desire to join Him in finding those who are lost. This story continues Jesus’ response to those who were condemning Him for hanging out with sinners.
The story unfolds in five scenes:
We saw last week how Jesus responded by confronting their hypocrisy. He tells them about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep and lost one, a woman who had ten coins and lost one, and a father who had two sons and lost one.
This story unfolds in five scenes:
Then verse 11 struck me! “There was a man who had two sons.”
My whole view of God was elevated when I finally saw that the father, not the son, was the central figure.
The story of the prodigal father is a story told in five scenes.
Scene one is set on the family homestead. It’s about the father dividing his property between his two sons.
Scene two covers what happens to the younger son who runs to a faraway land to escape the scorn of the village.
Scene three describes the interaction between the father and the younger son when the younger son returns
Scene four picks up with the older son in the field.
Scene five is about the older son’s response to his father’s generosity toward his younger brother.
To understand the last story, we need to look at some first century Jewish culture. So let’s go scene-by-scene through the parable and take a walk through Jewish culture to fill in the whole picture.
So for the next few minutes, we’ll take a walk through Jewish culture and fill in the whole picture, scene-by-scene.
In SCENE ONE, the younger son asks the father to divide his property so he can have his inheritance now.
In SCENE ONE, the younger son asks the father to divide his property so he can have his inheritance now.
At first glance you probably think either (1) this is a really cool dad to give his son everything now; or, this dad has no boundaries and his children took him for a ride!
But there’s more to it: What Jesus was actually describing here was scandalous. No one in the Middle East would make such a request of their father! Asking for your inheritance early was expressing a death wish for the father!
But you’d miss the point of what really happens in this scene because what Jesus was actually describing here would be scandalous to every person who heard it in the ancient Middle East. No one in the Middle East would make such a request of their father. Because to ask for their inheritance early would be tantamount to expressing a death wish for the father.
Author Ken Bailey (Theologian), who lived in that region of the world:
For over fifteen years I have been asking people of all walks of life from Morocco to India and from Turkey to the Sudan about the implications of a son’s request for his inheritance while the father is still living. The answer has almost always been emphatically the same...the conversation runs as follows:
“Has anyone ever made such a request in your village?”
“Never!”
“Could anyone ever make such a request?”
“Impossible!”
“If anyone did, what would happen?”
“His father would beat him, of course!”
“Why?”
“This request means he wants his father to die!”
“Divide your inheritance, so that I can have my share of the estate,” is the request. And to everyone’s amazement, the father does!
“Divide your inheritance, so that I can have my share of the estate,” is the request. And to everyone’s amazement, the father does!
The next words of the story go like this:
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
Most Westerners think he took off so quickly because he was just a party animal, and being in the same town with his conservative old man just cramped his style.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth on wild living” ().
Most Westerners think he took off so quickly because he was just a party animal, and being in the same town with his conservative old man just cramped his style.
But that’s not his motivation for leaving at all. Notice that he didn’t leave immediately. He left “not long after that.”
Why? Because he had to liquidate his inheritance! He had to buyers for his portion of the family farm and his portion of the family livestock. And the only people he could sell to were other people in the village!
Imagine what they thought as Jesus tells the story: This brash young man goes door to door convincing people who knew his father to buy a piece of the family property.
What an insult to his father! Asking for his share of the estate and wishing his father dead. Now he’s selling off property and possessions that had been in the family for generations!
Imagine the scene: At every turn, he’s greeted with scorn and rejection. The family’s estate is a significant part of a Middle Easterner’s personal identity.
He feels the scorn and pressure to get out of town. So finally, he leaves as soon as he has sold the last of his goods.
So finally, he leaves as soon as he has sold the last of his goods. By now, the villagers are openly antagonistic towards him. There’s been talk about shunning or publicly shaming him; taking some action to put this young, insolent upstart in his place.
The property is sold off, the transactions completed, and the son leaves town and heads for the faraway country, where scene two takes place...
In the faraway country, this wayward son gradually descends into his own personal hell.
SCENE 2 is the faraway country. The wayward son gradually descends into his own personal hell.
SCENE 2 is the faraway country. The wayward son gradually descends into his own personal hell.
The text says:
And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living.
His wealth is now gone. His new “friends” are unimpressed and he has no place to stay,
They, too, are unimpressed with this irresponsible young man who is now out of money.
The polite way a Middle Easterner gets rid of unwanted “vagrant” isn’t to come right out and tell them to go home. It’s to assign them a task they’ll refuse.
The polite way a Middle Easterner gets rid of unwanted “vagrant” isn’t to come right out and tell them to go home. It’s to assign them a task they’ll refuse.
So when the young man asks for a job, one of the citizens offers to let him become his pig herder. It’s a job no self-respecting Jewish boy could accept. Pigs were unclean animals according to the Law of Moses. And they had to be fed seven days a week, which meant he also could not keep the Sabbath.
So when the young man asks for a job, one of the citizens offers to let him become his pig herder. It’s a job no self-respecting Jewish boy could accept. Pigs were unclean animals according to the Law of Moses. And they had to be fed seven days a week, which meant he couldn’t keep the Sabbath.
To everyone’s surprise, he accepts the job. But it’s a terrible job, and doesn’t pay well enough to fill his stomach!
In this hole of self-pity, he begins to think honestly about himself. He knows there is no life for him in this foreign land, yet he can’t go home to his father because he’s a failure. He has nothing to offer his father. Middle Eastern sons are supposed to provide for their fathers in their old age, not live off of them.
Now he begins to think creatively. He realizes that he can’t go back home and ask to live in the family house as a son. But maybe he could go home and ask for a job as a hired servant. That way, if he works hard and saves as much as he can, someday maybe he will be able to earn enough to be of some use to his father.
Now he begins to think creatively. He realizes he can’t go back home and ask to live in the family house as a son. But perhaps he could go home and ask for a job as a hired servant. Maybe, if he works hard and saves money, someday maybe he will be able to earn enough to be of some use to his father.
So he comes up with a plan: he’ll go home, admit he was a fool, and instead of asking to be reinstated as a son, he’ll ask to be hired as a servant!
Not a bad plan, except for one thing; even if his father accepts him on these terms, he’ll have to face the scorn and wrath of the villagers.
But his real problem is, how did the villagers feel about him when he left? They hated him. He had disgraced them all by wishing that his father was dead and then again by disposing of the family’s property.
In SCENE THREE, the younger son returns
In SCENE THREE, the younger son returns
Adding to this, he lost all his money to despised gentiles, and the son has no solution for what he’s going to do with the villagers when he gets home. He will simply have to endure the mocking, scorn, and shame they will give him as he walks through the town on the way to his father’s house.
This is where the father reveals his love for his son completely. The father, because of his experience, knows two things.
In scene three, the younger son returns. This is where the father comes into the story in full force.
The father, because of his experience, knows two things.
The father, because of his experience, knows two things.
First, he knows that the son, given the maturity level and the character with which he left home, is bound to fail. He knows if the son ever does come home, it will probably not be as a successful businessman, but more likely as a beggar.
The second thing the father knows is that the village will not treat him well. Since his departure, all the townspeople have told him openly and repeatedly that he should not have granted the inheritance in the first place, that this son is worthless lazy, and deserves nothing short of death.
The second thing the father knows is that the village will not treat him well.
ILLUS: We’ve all seen it! A child runs off, squanders their resources, and comes home begging. Then family and friends say, “Kick the bum out!”
The Father knows that the son, in order to get home, will have to endure the scorn of the crowd with every step he takes through the village.
He knows that, if the son ever does return, the first person who sees him will quickly pass the word that this lowlife has come home and a crowd will gather and likely begin to mock and spit on him, if not hurt him outright.
The Father knows that the son, in order to get home, will have to endure the scorn of the crowd with every step he takes through the village.
The father knows this! BUT WHAT HE DOES in scene three to counteract all this is nothing short of amazing!
The father does five things that would all be considered outrageous in Middle Eastern society...
The father does five things that would all be considered outrageous in Middle Eastern society...
They’re all designed to protect and restore this son that he loves so much; this son who has turned away from him, rejected him, and wished him dead!
1. The first thing the father does is, he runs
1. The first thing the father does is, he runs
When he sees him far off, the father runs to him.
It’s an outrageous thing he does in a Middle Eastern culture, because a nobleman with flowing robes never runs anywhere. He lifts his robe, exposing his ankles, and runs down the road, through the village, in front of all the villagers. He humiliates himself.
One ancient Jewish writer writes this about running. He says, “A man’s manner of walking tells you what he is” (Ben Sirach).
Leslie Weatherhead, a modern scholar writes this: “It is so very undignified in Eastern eyes for an elderly man to run.”
Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher said, “Great men never run in public.”
But the father does! And Jesus explains why. He says:
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
lu 15:20
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him...” ().
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him” ().
He was filled with compassion for him.
The father deliberately runs through the village. He knows he’s creating a spectacle. He knows what he’s doing will attract a crowd. He knows they will talk about his humiliation in the village for the rest of his life.
The father deliberately runs through the village. He knows he’s creating a spectacle. He knows what he’s doing will attract a crowd. He knows they will talk about his humiliation in the village for the rest of his life.
Imagine this for just a minute from the son’s perspective.
He knows the people in the town despise him. He knows there is no way he can get to the father without enduring scorn. But he has to get to the father in order to become his servant.
Imagine the dread as he walks the last few miles toward the town.
As he comes to the edge of the village, he expects to see jeers and angry faces. Instead, what he sees coming towards him are the ankles of his father. To his utter amazement, rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves for what he’s done, he finds a visible demonstration of the love of his father!
As he comes to the edge of the village, he expects to see rocks, jeers, and angry faces. Instead, what he sees coming towards him are the ankles of his father. To his utter amazement, rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves for what he’s done, he finds a visible demonstration of the love of his father!
Words can’t express what this scene conveys! You can only imagine it in your mind.
2. The second thing the father does is embrace and kiss his son
2. The second thing the father does is embrace and kiss his son
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
Can you picture it? They’re embracing, eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder.
The text says, ”He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” ().
Can you picture it? They’re embracing, eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder.
The son pictured himself coming home and begging for work. He starts his planned speech, but his father cuts him off! He puts his arms around him and kisses him on both cheeks!
The Greek word used here to describe what the father does is kataphilew. Literally it means, “to kiss again and again.”
The Greek word used here to describe what the father does is kataphilew. Literally it means, “to kiss again and again.”
ILLUSTRATE: Picture yourself in this scene!
Picture yourself in this scene! You have wronged God and you know it. You know you’re going to need to grovel, admit wrong, and make all sorts of promises and really mean it.
You have wronged God and you know it. You know you’re going to need to grovel, admit wrong, and make all sorts of promises and really mean it.
So you approach him. And you’ve got your whole speech planned. Only he doesn’t even let you begin. The minute you approach him, he embraces you! Showers you in love and forgiveness.
It’s a powerful picture, isn’t it?
when the father runs and kisses him, how could he not accept the father’s love for a son?
See his plan? Admit his guilt and ask to become a servant in his father’s household.
Now, look at the actual speech when it comes out in scene three. The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be your son” ().
What’s missing from the speech? His request to become a servant!
Why is it missing? Because he’s overwhelmed by the father’s love!
His plan was to earn his way back into his father’s favor. He never intended to ask his father to accept him back just as he was. How could he do that?
But when the father runs and kisses him, how could he not accept the father’s love for a son?
3. The third thing the father does is call for a robe to be put on his son
3. The third thing the father does is call for a robe to be put on his son
Here are his exact words:
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
Question: Who owned the best robe in the family? The father.
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him’” ().
Question: who owned the best robe in the family? The father.
The father and son are still standing on the edge of the village, and the father wants the whole village to know that he has accepted his son. So he sends his servants to get his own best robe so the son can wear it as he walks home through the village.
4. The fourth thing the father does is call for a ring
4. The fourth thing the father does is call for a ring
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
“Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet” ().
“Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet” ().
The ring is probably a signet ring. It’s the ring the father would use to sign all documents, which means the son is a trusted, empowered member of the family. The sandals are a sign that he is a free man, not a servant. Servants didn’t get shoes. They walked barefoot.
5. Finally he celebrates! The father says:
5. Finally he celebrates! The father says:
And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
Finally, the father says, “Bring the fatted calf and kill it” (). Not the fatted goat or sheep or chicken. The fatted calf. Why a calf? Because a calf had enough meat on it to feed the whole village.
Why a calf? Because a calf had enough meat on it to feed the whole village!
“Bring the fatted calf and kill it” (). Not the fatted goat or sheep or chicken. The fatted calf. Why a calf? Because a calf had enough meat on it to feed the whole village.
“Bring the fatted calf and kill it” (). Not the fatted goat or sheep or chicken. The fatted calf. Why a calf? Because a calf had enough meat on it to feed the whole village.
Do you see what the father is doing?
He’s inviting the whole village to share his joy. He doesn’t want the son only to be reconciled to him, he wants him to be reconciled to the whole village. He wants everyone to have a relationship with his son.
Wow! This is a story that no one could have anticipated!
One commentator writes, “For Palestinian listeners, initially the father would naturally be a symbol of God. Then, as the story progresses, the father comes down out of the house and, in a dramatic act, demonstrates unexpected love publicly in humiliation.”
It is a rags-to-unbelievable-riches story. Only the riches aren’t about money, they’re about measuring your worth in God’s eyes!
It is a rags-to-unbelievable-riches story. Only the riches aren’t about money, they’re about measuring your worth in God’s eyes!
It is a rags-to-unbelievable-riches story. Only the riches aren’t about money, they’re about measuring your worth in God’s eyes!
Do you see what Jesus is doing with this story? He is communicating to every person who ever wanted to take a step toward God, just how significant we are to him; how God feels about us.
He doesn’t just wait for us, he runs to us.
He doesn’t let us bear the shame of living our lives as if we wished he were dead. He bears it for us. He kisses us. He puts his robe on us, his ring on our finger, his sandals on our feet, and he kills the fatted calf to celebrate us and invites everyone else to celebrate us with him.
SCENE FOUR is about the Older Son.
SCENE FOUR is about the Older Son.
The Older Son stayed home; but, if you read the story carefully, you’ll discover that he, too, has left his father.
As the scene opens, where is the Older Son? He’s out working in the field.
Now, remember what verse 11 says, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them” ().
So the older son owns everything that he and his father now live on. It belongs to him!
So the older son owns everything that he and his father now live on. It belongs to him.
As the older son is coming in from the fields, he hears music and gets the report from one of the servants that his brother has returned home safely and a party is going on.
What’s the older brother’s response to this? He becomes angry and refuses to join the celebration.
This is a severe insult to his father! Now the Older brother is humiliating his father in front of the whole village!
The older son’s role was to welcome all the guests, but he’s pitching a fit! Rejecting his father!
If you read farther, you find that, IN HIS HEART, the older son has distanced himself as much from his father as the younger son.
but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
He says to his father, “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” ().
But the son is out of line!
First of all, does he think of himself as a son? No, he’s been slaving for the father. He hasn’t lived with him like a son, but like a servant.
Secondly, he’s mad because the father never gave him an animal to throw a party with his friends. But did he not own everything? He could have thrown a party any time he wanted!
The Older Son has a pity-party and complains how deprived he was, because his father never given him anything; no calf, no chicken, not even a goat!
And the father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
But the father says in verse 31, “I already gave it to you! All these years it’s been yours.”
“I already gave it to you! All these years it’s been yours.”
So the father says, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours” ().
“I already gave it to you! All these years it’s been yours.”
It’s interesting the story that ends with a twist. In fact, it’s a perfect ending!
All three stories are told in a Chiastic Structure: A method of story telling that had perfect symmetry.
EXAMPLE: It’s like a country western song:
A. Man gets married,
B. becomes a drunk,
C. wife leaves him,
D. dog runs off;
D1. dog returns,
C1. wife comes back,
B1. man stops drinking
A1. Marriage is great!
A1. Marriage is great!
We see it in each parable!
IT’S LIKE a Music Scale! [Demonstrate — Do Rey Me Fa So La Ti Do]
[HIDDEN NUGGET]
The structure is in the story about the Shepherd and the one about the lost coin. BUT the third story has a problem!
Let’s take a look… keep in mind, all stories from this region, and nearly every story from the Bible, are told with a structure known as chiasm. But look at the stories of the Younger and Older brother.
Jesus, like all good Jewish storytellers of his day, tells this story in a chiastic structure.
Jesus, like all good Jewish storytellers of his day, tells this story in a chiastic structure.
Jesus, like all good Jewish storytellers of his day, tells this story in a chiastic structure. Bear with me for a minute, and I’ll explain…
A Chiastic Structure is a story with PERFECT SYMMETRY. All stories from this region, and nearly every story from the Bible, are told with a structure known as chiasm.
Bear with me for a minute, and I’ll explain…
: YOUNGER BROTHER
All stories from this region, and almost all stories from the Bible, are told with a certain structure to them called, chiasm.
You see it the parable of the lost sheep
A The Shepherd loses a sheep…
B he searches for and finds the sheep…
C he carries it home on his shoulders…
C1 he calls his friends to rejoice...
B1 celebrates with a feast…
A1 because he found his sheep
The style of story-telling uses a perfect order of symmetry...
Parable of the Lost Coin
A Woman loses a coin...
A
No one can serve two masters;
B She searches for the coin...
for either he will hate the one
C
C and love the other,
C
[then the story unwinds]
and love the other,
C′ or he will be devoted to one
C1
C′
or he will be devoted to one
B′ and despise the other.
B1 She find is and calls her friends neighbors...
B′
and despise the other.
A1 She celebrates finding the coin...
A′ You cannot serve God and wealth.
A′
You cannot serve God and wealth.
You cannot serve God and wealth.
Bible stories are often told in this pattern.
()
Chi is the Greek letter that looks like an “X”
Bible stories are often told in a pattern, that you could diagram like this.
It’s kind of like a country western song:
A. Man gets married,
B. becomes a drunk,
C. wife leaves him,
D. dog runs off;
D1. dog returns,
C1. wife comes back,
B1. man stops drinking
A1. Marriage is great.
YOUNGER BROTHER
: YOUNGER BROTHER
A The younger son goes off
B Everything is wasted in wild living
C Everything lost
D. The Great Sin (feeding pigs for gentiles)
E. Total rejection
F. Change of mind
[then it unwinds]
F1 Initial repentance
E1 Total acceptance
D1 The Great Repentance (“I am unworthy”)
C1 Everything gained
B1 Celebration of the Son’s return
A1 The lost Son is found
Perfect symmetry!
That was the structure of the story of the Younger Son. But now look at the structure of the story about the Older Son.
But look at the structure of the story of the older son.
SCENE FOUR: The Older Son
A. A son is far off
B. Your brother safe/a feast
C. Father comes to reconcile
D. “How you treated me”
D1 “How you treated him”
C1 Father tries to reconcile
B1 Your brother safe/a feast
A1 A son is ___________?
A1 A son is ___________?
See what’s missing? The conclusion, there’s no ending!
I think this was deliberate! Everyone who heard the story knew a piece was missing! The structure didn’t fit—Jesus left out the ending and implied a significant truth!
The structure didn’t fit—Jesus left out the ending and implied a significant truth!
IT WOULD BE LIKE a Music teacher leaving out the not of a scale! [Demonstrate leaving off the octave, leaving off the final “Do”— Do Rey Me Fa So La Ti STOP]
IT WOULD BE LIKE a Music teacher leaving out the not of a scale! [Demonstrate leaving off the octave, leaving off the final “Do”— Do Rey Me Fa So La Ti STOP]
SCENE FIVE is the Older Son’s response! But there’s no resolve, no ending to the story.
SCENE FIVE is the Older Son’s response! But there’s no resolve, no ending to the story.
The lack of an ending is a slap in the face to the Religious Leaders—Jesus leaves them hanging!
THE FOCUS IS BACK ON THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS who rejected Jesus for hanging out with sinners!
In their minds, they would have looked for the end—the final note!
Do you see the missing piece? Which piece? WHAT THE OLDER SON DID!
Which piece? WHAT THE OLDER SON DID!
In the first story, the younger son is far off, but in the end he is found.
In the second story, the older son is far off (IN HIS HEART) but what does he do? WE ARE NOT TOLD!
Many of these Pharisee were older sons. They were the ones who had stayed around, tried to obey, and served God like slaves.
Many of these Pharisee were older sons. They were the ones who had stayed around, tried to obey, and served God like slaves.
But in their hearts they were far off! They didn’t want to come to the party and celebrate the return of wayward sons who squandered their living in foreign lands.
They rejected their father’s method to restore lost children!
The Younger Son understood and accepted that he was far off. He admitted he was lost and needed rescued.
But the Older Son was too proud. He’s mad at the father, so he pitches a fit and refuses to come in.
But the Older Son is too proud; he’s not really as bad as his brother. He’s mad at the father, so he refuses to come in. The father comes out to him in just as much humiliation as he comes out to his younger son. He talks about rejoicing and asks the son to come in.
Does the son come in? Do you come in?
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
The point of this story is the Father loves ALL His children so much, He was willing to suffer and be humiliated in order to bring them home.
Will you come home? Will you let Him love you? Will you be in close relationship with him? Will you acknowledge how much he loves you and respond to that love? Will you find your significance in your relationship with God? Or will you reject His offer to come home?
[Pray] Father, if we understand this story right, it’s a description of the unbelievable way you love us, and your open-armed desire to have us enter your home and live with you. Some of us want to come home today. Anybody want to come into the arms of God right now? [Pray for them.]
It’s also an illustration to us about how much you long for those outside this room to come home, too. God, as we enter into this new era of our church’s history together, would you use us to invite and welcome people into this family, this home of yours? In Jesus name, amen.
