The Parable Prodigal Son

Good morning welcome to our online service… So glad that you are with us today..

This morning we continuing our series on the parables of Jesus... entitled greatest Stories ever told… and this morning we are going to be talking what is arguably the greatest parable that Jesus ever told.. and that is The Parable of Prodigal Son… found in Luke 15.. the word prodigal means wasteful…

but it has also been called the parable of the loving father.. because the parable emphasizes the graciousness of the father more than the sinfulness of the son.

In this parable, Jesus deals with the issue of the Fathers love in relationship to lostness… And our position and Orientation towards His Grace…

ME

One of the greatest things about living in the digital ages are our navigational apps --- Apple and google maps to get directions— There was time that actually need a literal map to figure out to where you were going......

One of my most challenging trips that I ever had was finding a small church in the middle of Brownsville NY… I was 19 years old a student pastor and we responsible for driving an African missionary Robinson Simbale to a small church in New York… I hadn’t done much driving in the States (on the wrong side of the road) never the less... driving in New York City.. It challenging to say the least.…

I remember going over the map several times and making sure I had every turn marked out… I told myself that I was going to stick to the plan… Here is the problem with a map is that — It is not in real time… a map does not account for road works and closures.. and traffic.. and so at one point we got found ourselves horribly lost.... Here you had two African’s trying in NY city lost… and to be honest to this day I am not sure how we go there.. -- It took prayer and divine intervention to get us to that church..

…The church had no sign — just a red door…in the wall.. It had a peep hole and you had to identify yourself before you came in..… I found out years later that Brownsville at that time was known as one of the most dangerous places in America to live with most murders per capita…

Most of us understand the feeling of being lost… Or having lost Something..

When you are lost you have to figure out where you are in relation to your destination... Once your find your mistake you have to reorient yourself and move in the right direction..

Reorientation isn't always easy--- because first you have to come to acknowledge that you made a mistake ... that you had held onto some wrong assumptions…

It is humbling to turn around and make a course correction... and to be honest the last thing us men like to do is stop and ask for directions... It has to be quite bad before we do that…

Jesus in the parable of the Prodigal son is about our Reorientation to the Grace of God.. it is about stopping and asking where am I in Relation to Grace… Have I understood Grace?

As churches we often see ourselves as Grace Communities… Places where people are accepted and loved… We encourage people to come as they are… We Aspire to Grace… We have churches that put Grace in their name… Grace Fellowship… How many Grace Baptists are there… Grace is a wonderful message...

.. But here is the problem is that we can have a misconception of Grace... Grace can come on our terms ... if you fit into our definition of grace we will accept you..

The well known NY pastor...Tim Keller written extensively on the parable of the prodigal son — He says that It profoundly impacted his life and ministry... more than any other scripture.. Helping their church become a grace community...

GOD

T/s How do we become a people and a community of grace?

1. Reorientation of our attitude towards Lostness

Jesus ministry was an attractional ministry… It however did attract those who had it all together it attracted those who were lost…those who were considered immoral --- the tax collector types who were often dishonest…

The lost came to Jesus not because he catered to them by changing his message.... Jesus always spoke truth… but, the reason they were attracted to Him… is simply because he cared for them…He understood their needs and tried to help them… And the people knew it… I remember professor saying to us students years ago… the people don’t care how much we know they care how much we care… True words...

What bothered the Pharisees was not only did Jesus receive or welcome the lost … but he also sat down and ate with them... there is something about food and fellowship and bonding… Eating with unclean… was against the law.. And so the Pharisees responded..

Luke 15:1–3 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.” So he told them this parable:

When Pharisees see the kinds of people that Jesus is hanging out with… they disturbed and disgruntled..

They accuse Jesus of welcoming sinners -- How could he associate with such sinful people... and he even eats with them… What the Pharisees saw as weakness were actually the strongest traits....

Jesus Receives those who are lost.

Jesus was not indifferent to the world. Jesus was inclusive.. He did not set up boarders and separate Himself from the world.

The Jewish religious leaders did not yet understand that the Son of man had “come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Jesus tell three Parables to explain his orientation towards lostness …

Jesus tells them the parable of the lost sheep..

He tells the story of a man who had a hundred sheep... and one day one of the sheep goes missing... what does he do? He doesn’t just wait --- He doesn’t just take the loss… .. Rather this man leaves the 99 Sheep in the wilderness and goes after the one....when he finds the one sheep --he lays it overs his shoulders and brings it home.. .. He then calls his friends to come and join and celebrate the lost sheep that was lost but has now found...

Jesus explains the parable.... He is talking about the joy of heaven when one lost sinner repents and turns to God.

There is joy is more joy in heaven in the one that repented… Reorientate.... than the 99 who remained…

This is about the Father's heart towards lostness.. up until this point the Pharisees might be nodding that makes sense... Jesus flips this parable on it's side and says there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents then 99 righteous person who sees no need for repentance... Jesus is dealing with gospel centered GRACE..

Now Jesus illustrates the same principle again in the Parable of the Lost Coin...

The same with the silver coin--- loses 1 of her 10 coins -she will sweep the house and search until she finds it. when she does she calls her friends

The second parable echos the same theses this time a woman has 10 silver coins and she looses one... she puts on every light... she sweeps the the whole house until it is found... Have you noticed that when you loose something... the best thing to do is start cleaning up... Jesus says just like that woman's joy of finding something precious and dear... so is the joy in heaven over one repentant sinner...

These two parables help us understand something of what it means to be lost. To begin with, it means being out of place. Sheep belong with the flock, coins belong on the chain, and lost sinners belong in fellowship with God.

But to be lost also means being out of service. A lost sheep is of no value to the shepherd, a lost coin has no value to the owner, and a lost sinner cannot experience the enriching fulfillment God has for him in Jesus Christ.

But to turn this around, to be “found” (saved) means that you are back in place (reconciled to God), back in service (life has a purpose), and out of danger.

If we are going to be People who exemplify Grace… we have to understand the fathers attitude to lostness..

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism said, “The church has nothing to do but to save souls,” . “Therefore, spend and be spent in this work.”

T/s How do we become a people and a community of grace?

1. Reorientation of our attitude towards Lostness

2. Reorientation of our attitude of Indifference .

Now we come to the parable of the Prodigal Son...The parable of the Prodigal is amplification of the other two parables… The purpose of the parables is to is to first get our attention… there is a surprise factor that is designed to make us think about the lesson — There are a number of unexpected responses in the parable of the prodigal son..

Luke 15:11 Jesus tells a parable of

of this man who had two sons, and one day the youngest son wanted his inheritance. AND SO HE SAYS TO HIS FATHER GIVE ME MY SHARE OF PROPERTY THAT IS COMING TO ME..

Here is a son that is sick of being at home...

He longed for a life where he could get up when he wanted to, go where he wanted to, and return when he pleased. Life at home was claustrophobic.

He probably also reasoned that he was only going to be young once—and that under the present arrangement he would be “ancient” (probably thirty at least!) before he would be able to enjoy his wealth. And as he followed that train of thought, he minimized present joys and freedoms. Everything was lousy—even the food!

Familiar story, isn’t it?

Now, the request of the youngest Son to have His share of the property ....would have been would have come as as Shock to the original hearers..

If you had two sons, then when you died, the estate would be divided with two-thirds to the elder and one-third to the younger. The rule of thumb was the oldest got a double portion of what all the other children got. So if there were only two, the eldest got two-thirds and the youngest got one-third. That happened when the father died.

But here the son was requesting His inheritance before the father died..

What the younger son is saying is, “I want your stuff, but I don’t want you. I want the father’s things, but I don’t want the father. My relationship with you has just been a means to an end, and I’m tired of it. I want my stuff now.” Unheard of!

In fact your are dead to me...

To get the full impact of the shock value… In the western culture we value our individualism… The middle Eastern culture was an Honor/Shame culture..for the Eastern culture their psychological identity resided within the family… It was a patriarchal system where never questioned the authority and dignity of the father… If this happened to a family the Father would be expected to drive the boy out of the house with verbal if not physically remove a son.,.. but this father doesn’t do that It says, “So he divided his property between them.”

This another Shocking response.. this is a big deal..

The word property here is the word BIO which means life... it represented the fathers lively hood.. all that he had put into the land over the years... He was essense saying ...Give me your life..

To lose your land was to lose yourself and to lose part of your land was to lose your standing in the community, which was tied to how much land you had.

This son is asking his father to tear his life apart, to tear apart his standing in the community, to tear himself apart, and he does!

Soon after the property is sold....the youngest son take off too a distant country.. not only did he abandoned the father he abandoned His people..

At this point He would be considered dead to his family and community--- He would have been totally lost.....

What he does next is unimaginable… He takes his Fathers property and squanders his fathers life work on reckless living…

Luke 15:13 ESV

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.

To those who heard what this son had done would have been unforgivable.. not only did he take Fathers means of earning a living… but squandered it. Total dishonor..

What this story does is set us up… for the extent of the lostness of this son… He is so far from Grace… He is so lost… to the point of being dead to the family.

There younger brother -- Self centered

1. Dissatisfied with Grace (favor of the father)

2. Dismisses Grace (favor he has received)

3. Resistant to grace..

This is what happens when we far from Grace… we become dissatisfied… dismissive and resistant to Grace…

But life in the far country was not what he expected. His resources ran out, his friends left him, a famine came....and left him working out in the wilderness eating pigs food..

Thomas Huxley said, “A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do just as he likes”

Sin promises freedom, but it only brings slavery… Jesus taught

John 8:34 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

it promises success, but brings failure; it promises life, but “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The Youngest son thought he would “find himself,” but he only lost himself!

God created us in a moral universe, and even though acts of sin may be pleasurable in themselves, they never have good consequences. Sin always has a bad or negative consequences—and more to the point, they are soul destroying.

They destroy whatever spiritual life you have in you, and if you persist, or make a continual habit of sinning, what you’re doing is quenching the Spirit of God in your life. You’re destroying the life of God in the soul that you have.

When the son was at the lowest point of his life he came to senses what is that?

Luke 15:17 ESV

“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!

But, the this son remembered his Fathers house... maybe he despised living at home... couldn't wait to leave... but then he got into w the real world and it wasn't so easy...

The son thinks back to his Fathers house..

He thought about his fathers servants and remembers how well they ate.. they were not eating the bitter pods that he was eating…food that was basically pig feed… The son is faced with himself — and He comes to that moment.. where he realizes He missed the exit… before you can reorient you life — You have to acknowledge — missed the Mark.. “I have sinned.”

Even he knew that he didn't deserve any preferential treatment.. He knew that His life needed a course correction… and so He plans to say go to his father I have sinned agains heaven and against you… I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants…

He wanted to pay his father back...

The rabbis taught if you had violated the community mores, the only way back into the community was not just an apology; you had to make restitution

The gravity of His sin brought him to point of repentance..

“Repentance” is what the Bible calls it—being honest to self and honest to God. He acknowledged that what he was doing was wrong and admitted he needed forgiveness that only his Father could give.

And so He returns to the Father in humility with heart of repentance… Looking for Mercy… but not only does he get Mercy… He get Grace...

This Father noticed his son as soon as his silhouette hit the horizon... He knew immediately that it was his Son.. Now some fathers might be grumbling like the Pharisees... This better be good… Here he comes groveling saw this one coming… There is none of that.... Rather the Father felt compassion...

Here is another surprise.. HIS FATHER RUNS TOWARDS HIS SON.

IN those days it unusual that you would see a father running in his robes..-

“according to tradition, the ‘way’ a man walks ‘shows what he is’ and therefore a dignified man does not run”

It is here that the story finds its true focus: The father runs, choosing to lay aside his own reputation rather than expose his son to humiliation by the towns people. -ran towards his son and embraced him and kissed him..

The So immediately repents..

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you... I am no longer worthy to be called your son...

The scripture outlines for us these movements towards God... ‘=The first is the conviction of sin... It is one thing to know that we made a mistake... we missed the mark... but it is godly sorrow that is going to bring us to the point of forgiveness..

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Conviction is needed for change... The second movement is the response of the inward response of faith…

In the book of Acts.... Paul and Silas are deliverer miraculously from Philippi by an earthquake…At midnight Paul and Silas were singing Hymns and songs.. When a huge earthquake hit and knocked down the prison walls… When the Philippian jailor saw he had lost a his prisioners… he knew that he was as good as dead and so he is about to take his life and Paul says... Stop don’t harm yourself we are all here... don't harm yourself... Our actions can have impact upon others responding... This reminds me of St. Fransis of Assisi words… “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.”

He fell down before Paul... and He asked -- what do I need to be saved... Paul says believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.. Inward response of faith.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

.. 3.. With faith comes this confession of sin... believing means confessing 1 john 1:9 - and turning away from sin ---

4 another movement in forgiveness is restitution.... Luke 19 :8. We see that Zacchaeus the tax collector... gave half of his goods to the poor and restored four fold to those whom he had defrauded..

After Repentance we see the father clothing the Son in His royal garments.. The father instructs his servants…

Bring out out the family ring — the one with family crest… Bring out the best robe.. the best Robe literally mean the first robe — the best garment in the house… Clothing was often used as a symbol of favor and status in the Bible… When Jacob favored Joseph — He gave him this long flowing robe of many colors…The contrast here is the shabby clothes that the son was waring… exchange of garments…

The father instructs his servants to bring the fattened calf --- The fattened calf… was in reference to the animal specially fed and kept to be slaughtered on a special occasion especially prepared for the celebration...

The servants knew exactly where these items were…

You get the impression that the Father had made plans for the Son’s return..

We don't know how long the son was away...but we know that the father was ready tow welcome him home..

The Fathers response to the Younger brothers lostness was overwhelming GRACE/favor

Outside of Christ we were aliens ad strangers but we have brought near by the blood of Christ... They began to celebrate... Now, here is the twist in the parable..

1. Reorientation of our attitude towards Lostness

2. Reorientation of our attitude of Indifference

3. Reorientation of our Assumptions

We think of this parable as the parable of te prodigal son… but it is really the parable of the prodigal sons..

It’s a story of two sons. It’s a story of a younger and an older brother. You are meant to compare and contrast them. If you don’t compare and contrast them the way Jesus wants you to, you’re going to miss the radical message of this parable, and it is radical.

This parable is also about the lostness of the older brother.. As the Celebrations began the … The older brother arrived home and as he drew near to the house he heard all the festivities and dancing ...

He asks one of the servants what is going on here… Your brother has come home and your father killed the fatten calf --- and has received him back...

The oldest brother is angry and unfair… In some ways we feel the older brothers pain… It didn’t seem fair --

While the younger son was sowing wild oats, the elder brother was sowing the crops

The older brother would not go into the Celebration, and the father noticed that he was missing. So the father came out and pleaded with him,

but the older son said,

Luke 15:29–30 ESV

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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

The father said, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (vv. 31–32).

. The older brothers response to Grace.

a. while the Younger brother resisted the Fathers grace because of selfishness… and the older brother resisted the Fathers grace because of Self-righteousness.

The younger brother was trying to get control by leaving and disobeying, and the elder brother was trying to get control by staying and obeying, and they’re both lost, they’re both alienated from the father, and they’re both saying, “I would like your things, but I don’t want you.

The young son had been far from the father (in a distant country) because of sins of passion. But the elder son was separated from his father through sins of attitude. He was even farther away than his younger brother and he had not even left the farm

At the end of the parable you discover that the older brother is more alienated from God than the younger brother

b. The Fathers Response to the older brothers lostness

The Father moves towards our lostness in all three parables.

The Father searches for the one lost sheep... He searches for the one lost coin and moves towards two prodigals.

God has a deep love for fallenness and lostness of mankind… Not desiring that any perish but all come to eternal life.

The message is about a God who loves the Prodigal… He loves the indifferent to his grace... you can never out run grace, you can never wonder beyond the fathers limits...

Malcolm Muggeridge wrote:

“The true purpose of our existence in this world‚ which is, quite simply, to look for God, and, in looking, to find Him, and, having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation.”

He is a limitless God with limitless forgiveness... .

..

Conclusion

YOU

Jesus in the parables is always challenging assumptions.. Jesus gives us three responses to grace… We can ether.

1. Discount Grace/

2. Dismiss Grace -

3. Discover Grace

As the parable ends… We are never told whether the Older Brother goes to the party…

As we’re on the edge of our seats asking the question, “Will, in the end, the family come together in unity and love? How will the other brother respond? Will they all come together in the end?” Jesus ends the parable and never tells us. Cliffhanger.

Why? Because Jesus want our assumptions to be tested… He wants us to think about are own lostness.... there are two juctspostions....poles..

Either we are the younger brother -- where it's obvious that we have wondered... and is with the pigs... and otherwise we are lost in the pews and can't see past our own self righteousness…

God is desires us to be people who full of grace… First step is to respond to this offer of Grace… You might find yourself today in two places in regards to your orientation to grace… You can find yourself lost or you can find yours self — in the house but still not fully embracing grace grace...

Remember that Jesus is addressing the Pharisees… who were grumbling and complaining about the company that Jesus was keeping… The Older brother represents the religious world… it represents the pharisaical side of us…where we can be preoccupied with our own claims upon God--- and fail enter into the joy of welcoming those desperately lost into the family of God.