Measuring Your Worth in God's Eyes

For the last few weeks we have been in a series talking about why God created you. You were created to do something wonderful for God. When He brought you into this world, He already had a plan for you.

Jeremiah 1:5 NIV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Last week we read the first several verses from Luke 15. Today we will continue with the rest of that chapter. The chapter began by describing who Jesus was talking to. Let’s look at verses 1-3 again.

Luke 15:1–2 NIV

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So we know that Jesus was having a conversation with tax collectors and sinners, but the Pharisees and other religious teachers were listening in. This is important with knowing who Jesus’ audience was as He began to tell these stories. Of the three stories in Luke 15, the third story is the most significant. Today, I hope to bring out many details about this story and teach you many things. Let’s read it.

Luke 15:11–32 NIV

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

I truly believe that this story will give us a great look at the father, more than it will the sons. We know the character of this story. There is a father and two sons. This story answers the question, “How does God feel about you?”

If we were to break up this story, we could break it up into 4 scenes.

Scene One - Dividing the Property

Beyond the first sentence, “There was a man who had two sons”, Jesus wastes no time in presenting an unthinkable situation in a Jewish family, in which the younger son asks his living father for his share of the inheritance. According to Jewish customs, a man’s property was transferred to his heirs only upon death, at which time the oldest son would receive a double portion of the inheritance. Before the death of the father, the property remained under his control and could neither be subdivided nor sold. Against these practices, the younger son’s demand is preposterous and offensive, it is like he is wishing his father dead. Equally odd is the nonresistance of the father, who “divided his property between them.”

This is what Author Ken Bailey wrote about this. He has lived in that region of the world for many years. He said, “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 goes something like this...

“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 requests means he wants his father to die!”

One Middle Eastern writer, Ibrahim Sa’id, writes, “The shepherd in his search for the sheep, and the woman in her search for the coin do not do anything out of the ordinary beyond what anyone in their place would do. But the actions the father takes in the third story are unique, marvelous, divine actions which have not been done by any father in the past.”

The younger son’s words are, “give me my share of the estate.” And to everyone’s amazement, the father gives it to him.

Then the story goes...

Luke 15:13 NIV

13 “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.

Many people think that he got his inheritance and just took off, but he didn’t. It says, “not long after that.” So, we know that he stuck around for a little bit. But why? He had to liquidate his inheritance. He had to find a buyer for his portion of the family farm, his portion of the family jewels, his portion of the family livestock. And the only people he could sell to were other people in the village.

So, think about it. This young son was going from door to door, trying to convince people who knew his father to buy a piece of the family property. All those people knew that this boy had insulted his father, shamed him, and wished him dead. And now he was doing the unthinkable, selling off property and possessions that had been in the family for generations.

Everywhere this young man goes he is greeted with amazement, horror, and rejection. The family’s estate is a significant part of a Middle Easterner’s personal identity. As the scorn mounts, he feels more and more pressure to get out of town. As soon as all the negotiations are done and the transactions completed, the son leaves town and heads for the faraway country.

Scene 2 - The Distant Country

In this distant land, this wayward son gradually descends into his own personal hell. Look at what verse 13 says again.

Luke 15:13 NIV

13 “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.

In other words, he wasted all of it. And the people in that distant country know that. They, too, are unimpressed with this frivolous young man who is now out of money. The polite way a Middle Easterner gets rid of someone that is not wanted is to assign them a task they’ll refuse.

So, when the son 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 appease his hunger.

So, as he is in this pig pen, he begins to think. He knows there is no life for him in this distant land. He thinks maybe I can go back 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.

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!

The plan has merit, 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.

How many of you have ever returned back to the town that you grew up in? It is hard to return if you haven’t been successful. This guy has not only not succeeded, he’s a miserable failure.

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. Adding to this, he lost all his money to despised gentiles, and the prodigal 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 the father’s house.

Scene 3 - The Return Home

Up to this point you haven’t seen much of the father, but now you are about to see a lot more of the father in the story.

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 that if the son ever does come home, it will probably not be as a successful businessman, but more likely as a beggar.

Second, the father knows 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 a rascal, and deserves nothing short of death.

The father also knows, if his son ever does return, the first person who sees him will quickly pass the word that this pariah has come home and a crowd will gather and likely begin to mock and spit on him, if not hurt him outright. He 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.

So, knowing all this, look at what the father does in scene three. 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.

The first thing the father does is, he runs. When word comes to him that his son has been seen on the outskirts of the village, the father runs to him. Can you see why this is so significant? Instead of letting his son run the gauntlet, the father runs the gauntlet for him.

It’s an outrageous thing he does, 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.”

A modern scholar writes, “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.

Luke 15:20 NIV

20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The father was filled with compassion for him. That’s how the Father feels about his children. He has compassion on us. Remember what I told you last week, “People Matter to God!”

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.

But think about this from the son’s perspective. He knows his father lives in the middle of town and that the town hates 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. So he sets his jaw and he walks the last few miles towards the town. And sure enough, at first sighting on the outskirts of the village, word starts spreading. People are going to gather. He’s about to endure the worst moments of his life.

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.

The father runs. The second thing the father does is, he kisses his son.

Luke 15:20 NIV

Think about it. They’re embracing, eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder. In the son’s mind, he had pictured himself coming home and abasing himself. First, he’d kiss his father’s hand, then he’d kiss his father’s feet. But the father won’t let him. He puts his arms around him and kisses him on both cheeks.

The son can’t bend and he can’t stoop. All he can do is accept this love. The Greek word used here to describe what the father does is kataphilew. It literally means, “to kiss again and again.”

Now put 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. 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.

Look at the son’s planned out speech again. He says...

Luke 15:18–19 NIV

18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’

His plan is to admit his guilt and ask to become a servant in his father’s household.

Now look at what actually happens.

Luke 15:21 NIV

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Notice that his request to become a servant is missing. That is because the son is 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?

The third thing the father does is call for a robe to be put on his son. Imagine this. Here are his exact words...

Luke 15:22 NIV

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

We need to understand something. It was the father that owned the best robe in the family. 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.

The fourth thing the father does is call for a ring.

Luke 15:22 NIV

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. 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.

And finally, the father says...

Luke 15:23 NIV

23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

Not the fatted goat or sheep or chicken. the fatted calf. The calf was used because that meant the whole village was invited to this feast.

Do you see what the father is doing?

He 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.

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.”

This story is like a rags to riches type story. Only the riches is not about money. They’re about measuring your worth in God’s eyes.

Jesus is speaking to anyone that has ever wanted to take a step toward God. He lets us know just 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 we 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 4 - The Older Son

The older son hasn’t left home, but if you read the story carefully, you’ll discover that he, too, has left the father. As the scene opens, where is the older son? He’s out working the field.

At the beginning of the story, notice there are two mentions of the older son.

Luke 15:11–12 NIV

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one 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. 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 that a party is going on.

The old brother becomes angry at this. He refuses to join the party. This would be a severe insult to his father, humiliating him a second in front of the whole village, because the older son’s role at a party was to welcome all the guests. With him not at the party, everybody know that he has rejected his father.

If you read farther in the story, you will see that the older son has distanced himself as much from his father as the younger son.

Luke 15:29 NIV

29 But he answered 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.

First of all, he doesn’t think of himself as a son? He says, “I’ve been slaving for you.” He hasn’t lived with him like a son, but like a servant. This is the very thing the younger son had decided was the best he could do after he had shamed his father.

Secondly, he’s mad because the father had never given him an animal to throw a party with his friends. Notice that, in his mind, his friends are not the father’s friends. He doesn’t want to party with his dad or be friends with his friends. He developed his own relational web and the father has nothing to do with it.

The truly sad and amazing thing about the older son, though, is he felt deprived by the father because the father had never given him anything; no calf, no chicken, not even a goat. But what happened when the younger son left? The old son go his share of the inheritance too.

Luke 15:31 NIV

31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

The older son has distanced himself. And he refuses to join his father at the party. so what does the father do? The same thing he did for his younger son; he humiliates himself by leaving the party and going out to his older son.

When you look at this story, Jesus tells the story of two sons. You have the beginning, the middle, and the ending of the younger sons story.

If you look at the older son’s story you have a beginning, the middle, but you don’t have an ending. We are not told what the older son does.

I believe that Jesus is doing something very deliberate with this story. There is a lack of resolve.

In the first story, the son is far off, but in the end he is found. In the second story, the son is far off, but in the end what does he do? That’s the question Jesus poses to the Pharisees after telling them about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Clearly in their minds, they were the 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 didn’t want to be near the father.

Jesus is saying, “The younger son understands and accepts that he was far off and has been found. He admits he was lost. The father comes out to him and outrageously welcomes him back into the home. The older son is far off, too. And he’s proud, because he knows he’s not really all that bad of a guy. 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?

The point of this story is that the father loves all his children so much that he is willing to suffer and be humiliated in order to bring us home.

Can you relate to one of these sons? Have you wondered away from the faith and you realize that you would rather spend time walking with Jesus and wondering out in the world lost with no hope. Or maybe you are the second son that has worked so hard for the kingdom that it seems unfair that someone comes and gets saved and there is much rejoicing over that person that hasn’t lived their life like you so why should they deserve the party.

The truth is God loves us all. God loves everyone. He loves the person that has been going to church all his life. They can quote the bible forward and backwards. He also, loves the person that is lost and doesn’t think he is lost. He thinks he is having a good time. He wants nothing to do with God. He loves them too.

God loves your worst enemy. He loves your best friend. People matter to God and therefore they should matter to us.

I want to pray with you this morning. If you are lost and you want to be found by Jesus, just receive him this morning.

Those of you that have served Jesus for a while now. Will you open up your hearts and welcome those that come searching for an answer. Reach across the aisle and show them the love that Jesus shown to you.