2016-05-01 Luke 15:25-32 Two Kinds of Prodigal (7): Condemned by Keeping the Law

TWO KINDS OF PRODIGAL (7): CONDEMNED BY KEEPING THE LAW (Luke 15:25-32) Intro – (Read Lu 15:25-32). A man went to see his doctor about a problem he was having. After testing the doctor sat down to write out a prescription. He told the man, “I want you to take this placebo twice a day for 10 days. If your condition doesn’t improve, I’ll give you a stronger one.” Foolish, huh? Placebos don’t solve problems; they mask them. Yet most of our world is taking a placebo for their nagging guilt problem. They are. It is labeled “good works”; it’s what religion prescribes. That’s what the Pharisees thought would do the trick; and in our parable, that’s what the elder brother is counting on. But all it does is mask the real issue of a disobedient heart. It’s an issue that stays hidden until it runs headlong into grace at which point it explodes in a frenzy of frustration and bitterness. As we have seen there are two prodigals in this story. The first rebels outwardly but is restored to all the rights and privileges of family life when he repents. But the elder brother cannot join the celebration. Why? Because he is lost, too. He is lost at home. His brother is lost by breaking the law; he is lost by keeping the law. He is even more lost because he does not realize he is lost. The father invites him in, but then the story ends. We don’t know what he does. But the shame of his actions is clear. I. Shamefully Rebellious – Not outwardly. He was outwardly obedient. But inside he was a rebel. And it’s what’s inside that counts. II. Shamefully Obedient – He obeyed, but he hated it. He obeyed to earn favor, not because he already had it. It was a shameful obedience. III. Shamefully Angry – He hated his brother; he hated his father; he hated forgiveness, and he hated grace. He hated every element of the gospel. Moralists always do because it tells them their good is not good enough. IV. Shamefully Joyless – He could not celebrate because he had a toxic heart. This all led to an explosive end driven by 2 final characteristics. V. Shamefully Resentful Resentment starts with his brother. “30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’” Notice it’s “son of yours”, not my brother. He’s steamed. He can’t see the humbled, repentant young man his brother has become. He only sees the self-absorbed juvenile delinquent who wasted it all on prostitutes. And he bitterly resents the celebration of a return he doesn’t believe in. 1 But it is the father who takes the brunt of his abuse. His words reek with bitterness. V. 29, “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.” “I never failed you, Dad. I never complained. I never asked for anything. I did everything you asked. You can’t deny that I was faithful. Yet I never got so much as a cheap goat to party with. But this no-good “son of yours” -- this no-account comes around and you kill the fatted calf for him. Thanks a lot -- Dad.” Toxic bitterness overflows. Resentment attaches to elder brothers and sisters like flies on flypaper. This was Jesus point in another parable in Matt 20. A man needed some work done in his vineyard. So he hired some men for a denarius for the day. Then he repeated the process at 9:00, noon, 3:00 and 5:00, in each case promising (4b): ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’” Then came the big surprise. At the end of the day, everybody got the same pay – a denarius. Everyone got the same pay although some had worked 12 times more than the others. Resentment flared, but the owner answers in v. 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’” Grace was bought and paid for by God. How He chooses to distribute it is His affair. To resent someone who comes late to the party of salvation is shameful! Resentment is a cancer of the soul. It can even be a sign that one’s faith is false. There’s an ancient parable that illustrates the point. Some of Satan’s underlings returned to him one day frustrated that all the temptations they had put before a godly priest had failed. They tried everything, but he could not be entices to evil. Satan suggested that they were being too hard on the man. He said, “Send him a message that his brother has been made Bishop of Antioch. Bring him some good news about someone else and see how he handles that!” The demons thought that was strange advice, but nevertheless, they carried out Satan’s instruction – and the moment he received the message the outwardly perfect priest fell into deep, wicked jealousy and resentment. Do you see? The least resentment will do is rob your joy; at most, your soul. VI. Shamefully Judgmental The elder brother’s works condemned him. They were the useless placebo that masked his need for the father’s grace. Some look at him and say, “But he’s right. He did do the right things.” But that’s just the point. He did many right 2 things (certainly not all as he claimed, but a lot) – but he did it for all the wrong reasons. The younger brother’s rebellion was clear. The elder brother’s rebellion was in his heart. But God looks on the heart, and the outward good only hid the wickedness within. He was condemned by keeping the law. In the process, he judgmentally and fatally misjudged everyone around him. A. Judged Others Sinful Elder brothers are super-sensitive to the flaws of others. Look at v. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes.” He’d have branded his brother with a capital “S” – sinner. That’s all he sees when he looks at the returned prodigal. Furthermore, in v. 29 he resents that his father has not given him a goat “that I might celebrate with my friends.” The father has invited the whole town to the young boy’s party. Fatted calves would feed at least 200 people. Everyone was welcome. But the elder brother has a small circle that he considered acceptable. Jesus is aiming at the Pharisees right between the eyes with these descriptions. They hated the common people even as they loved to be revered by them. Their whole life revolved around gaining respect for themselves at the expense of others. Their “in crowed” of friends was very small. But wasn’t the elder brother right? Hadn’t the younger son wasted his money on the pleasures of the flesh? Weren’t the Pharisees morally superior to all Israel? Wasn’t it all true? And, of course, it was. Except for one thing. They forgot about grace. They forgot about forgiveness. They forgot that outward compliance meant nothing without inward devotion. They missed that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works! Judgmentalism comes at the end of a progression. Legalism (the attempt to earn God’s favor) always leads to self-righteousness which always leads to judgmentalism. Why is that? It’s because legalists are never sure where they stand with the Father. They think they are good enough; they compare well with others. But are they really? They can never be sure. Thus, to justify themselves they judge others as less worthy. It is an awful game and it shows so clearly here. Elder brother lostness declares in v. 29, “I never disobeyed your command.” Compare that with the grace Paul knew when he said in Phil 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own.” “I never disobeyed your command” vs. “not having a righteousness of my own.” Could the contrast be any more stark?! Salvation, Beloved, is “by grace thru faith . . . not of works lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Elder brothers don’t get that and so 3 they spend a lifetime justifying themselves at the expense of others. They are driven to this. Their eternal existence depends on it. Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky tells of being a soloist at a concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini who was infamous for his temperamental insistence of perfection. Toscanini was pacing the dressing room in a frenzy repeating, “You are no good; I am no good; the orchestra is no good.” Piatigorsky begged, “Please, maestro, you are making me a complete wreck.” So, as they walked out on stage Toscanini put his arm around Piatigorsky and said, “We are no good. But the others are worse. Come on, Gregor, let’s go.” That is the far country of the elder brother. He is always judging others to be worse. But it’s a horrible misjudgment where repentance has led to forgiveness; and it is always the sin of playing God. Judging others to justify me. B. Judged Self Righteous (no repentance) Self-justification is a major theme in Luke. Why? Because it is the major thing that keeps people out of the kingdom of God – like the Pharisees. Guilt reminds all of us that we need something to be justified by God. Tragically, most people, like the elder brother, attempt to self-justify. Look at v. 29, “I never disobeyed your command.” Was that true? Of course not. No one keeps any law perfectly. But he sure did a lot better than his brother! So from his perspective, he was good to go. It’s like Mom coming into a teen-ager’s room and saying, “Would you please clean your room?” She looks around and says, “It is clean!” And so it is. By his standard! But in real life, we don’t get to make the rules, do we? We don’t get to decide which side of the road we’ll drive on today. There is a rule outside of ourselves. We don’t get to decide how much tax we think is fair to pay. There is a law outside of ourselves. The elder son forgot that. And he forgot that God looks on the heart. He forgot that the whole law is summed up in two commands: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). He didn’t love his father; he didn’t love his brother; he did not love his neighbor; and he did not love the law. He represents all elder brothers who are doing fine by their rules! But Jesus says in John 12:48, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” If we refuse the righteousness of Christ which He offers freely to all who ask in faith, then we will be judged by our own righteousness. But the standard will 4 not be ours; it will be His words; His law; His rules; His interpretation. And the verdict’s already in: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Andrew Delbanco, a Columbia University sociologist, tells in The Real American Dream, of doing research on AA during which he attended various meetings around the country. One Saturday morning he was in a church basement in NYC where a crisply dressed young man shared his problems. In his narrative he was absolutely flawless. All his mistakes were the result of injustice by others. He had been victimized by parents, teachers, authorities and life in general. But now he was going to get his life together and take revenge on all who had wronged him. He was trapped in his need to justify himself, something that could only lead to failure. Delbanco says as the man droned on, a black man in his 40’s, with dreadlocks and dark shades, whispered, “I used to feel that way too -- before I achieved low self-esteem.” How do you do that? Jesus gives the ultimate example in Luke 18: 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ [Do you notice that sounds a lot like some of our prayers!] 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” That tax collector had achieved low selfesteem – but he was justified while the other was condemned by keeping the law. In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis writes: "If we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good -- above all, that we are better than someone else -- I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the Devil." Self-justification, Beloved, is a dead-end street. C. Judged the Father Unworthy Here is the worst judgment of all, judging the father unworthy. V. 29, “you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.” It’s an accusation! “For years of faithful service I get nothing, while this reprobate gets everything. How could you be so cruel? You are unfair and unworthy.” 5 But look at Dad’s answer in v. 31, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” In essence he’s saying, “But you never asked. What you were working so desperately was yours all along -- yours for the asking; but you never asked.” The elder brother represents every religious adherent who will one day stand before God in judgment and say, “How could you accept all these low-lives and yet reject me – after all I did for you? How could you?” And the Father will reply, “You never asked. You chose to work for my favor rather than asking for mercy. It was all yours; but you never asked.” Conc –This story has a tragic ending. You know how it ended? The elder brother picked up a 2 X 4, struck the father over the head and killed him. You say, “That’s not in the story. Jesus didn’t give it an ending.” That’s true. Jesus left the ending open. He was leaving the invitation open to the elder brothers – the Pharisees – to come to Him in faith. But we know their response, don’t we? A few weeks later they took Jesus and crucified Him. And in killing Jesus, Paul says they “crucified the Lord of glory” (I Cor 2:8). The elder brother killed the father as the Pharisees killed Jesus. But in that is good news. What is tragic to mankind was planned by God from the foundation of the world to provide salvation to all who would believe. In Acts 20:28, Paul urges the elders from Ephesus “to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” If you are judging others and blaming God this morning as an elder brother or sister, there is hope. The Christ whom we all sent to the cross with our sins was resurrected and invites all who will to lay down their horribly misguided efforts to save themselves like the elder brother and throw themselves on the Father’s mercy like the younger brother. Rev 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” That invitation can never be earned, but can be accepted by faith. So why not lay down the heavy burden of self-justification and leave it to Jesus? Don’t stay in the far country of outward or inward rebellion. Come home. Spurgeon used to tell of an epitaph he once came across in the obscure country cemetery in England. The headstone was small and of inexpensive material, and on it were chiseled just two words: “Freddy!” as if someone had called a boy’s name. Then underneath this, as if the boy had answered, just one word, “Yes.” Don’t take the placebo of “good works.” Choose grace. Let’s pray. 6