Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Jesus told them this parable:
11 Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons.
12 The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’
Then the father divided his estate between them.
13 Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away.
There, he wasted his wealth through extravagant living.
14 “When he had used up his resources, a severe food shortage arose in that country and he began to be in need.
15 He hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 He longed to eat his fill from what the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything.
17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, but I’m starving to death!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 I no longer deserve to be called your son.
Take me on as one of your hired hands.”
’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion.
His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him.
21 Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him!
Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet!
23 Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it.
We must celebrate with feasting 24 because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life!
He was lost and is found!’
And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field.
Coming in from the field, he approached the house and heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the servants and asked what was going on.
27 The servant replied, ‘Your brother has arrived, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received his son back safe and sound.’
28 Then the older son was furious and didn’t want to enter in, but his father came out and begged him.
29 He answered his father, ‘Look, I’ve served you all these years, and I never disobeyed your instruction.
Yet you’ve never given me as much as a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours returned, after gobbling up your estate on prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’
31 Then his father said, ‘Son, 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.
He was lost and is found.’
”
Introduction
As the summer is approaching, I’m thinking about one thing only:
Cycling season!
I have a whole bunch of events lined up, some of which I haven’t done in years because of COVID and some I’ve never done before.
And in Spring you have to train.
You have to put time in the gym.
You have to put time in the saddle on a bike.
You need to put miles under your legs.
And I…haven’t done any of that yet...
The first race I’m doing is called the Whiskey Rebellion Gravel Race, and it’s happening pretty early in the season in May.
I had a chance to hang out with the guys that organized that event, and they told me that they quietly call it the lie detector event.
If you have been telling yourself that you’re ready for cycling season, that you’ve trained enough, that you’re in shape enough, this race will tell you the truth about what you’re believing.
He said that a lot of people face some pretty difficult truths about themselves on those mountains!
And that’s a hard thing, isn’t it?
When you’re telling yourself one story about who you are, but you get confronted with the truth.
It turns out, that’s a vital piece of what’s going on in this story today.
Bible Breakdown
There are two stories going on here in this parable.
Story One: The Younger Son
Dad- I wish you were dead
To come up to somebody and say “give me my share of the inheritance” is quite a scandalous way to start a story.
An inheritance is something you get when an older family member…dies...
So another way to read that sentence that starts this parable is to hear the younger son say “Hey dad!
I wish you were dead!”
And I think what’s remarkably crazy is that the father…goes along with it!
He divides the estate, gives the younger brother his half, and sends him on his way.
The younger brother goes out and lives extravagantly.
In fact, the word “Prodigal” that so often gets associated with this story means (according to Google) “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”
We assume it means someone who leaves and then comes back, but actually it’s this part of the story that gives the prodigal son his name.
But more on that later.
He finds rock bottom, because of course he does.
Wouldn’t you know it, being “wastefully extravagant” is not something that can go on forever.
So this young man hits rock bottom, because of course he does.
Incidentally one of the themes of Jesus teaching is not that rock bottom might happen to us, it’s that rock bottom absolutely will happen to us, and how we respond to that is what really matters.
For his part, the son gets a gig feeding the pigs.
How low do you have to be that looking at pig feed seems appetizing to you?
So the son comes up with a plan: He’s going to go home but not as a son, not as a family member.
He’s going to go work for the family business for minimum wage.
And he’s screwed up so bad that even that feels a little bit like a big ask to him!
Rehearsing his story: I’m not worthy
When you were younger, did you ever get in so much trouble that you started rehearsing your story on the way to see your parents?
That’s what’s happening here, and it gives us a glimpse into what the younger son is believing about himself.
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son.
Take me on as one of your hired hands.”
The story behind the story is that this kid feels like he’s unworthy.
He’s unworthy of being a part of the family.
He’s unworthy of getting his place back.
He’s unworthy of material advantage.
He’s unworthy of his father’s love.
Truth be told, there are a lot of people out there who are telling themselves this story, aren’t there?
I’m not worthy of God’s love.
If you only knew the things I’ve done.
I’m not worthy of forgiveness for where I’ve been.
I have had people in my office on my couch telling me this story, and believing it about themselves.
The Father Confronts This Story: Robes and Rings and Sandals
This is one of the most beautiful parts of this story:
The father sees the younger son while he’s a long way off.
You get the image of the father sitting outside day after day after day waiting for his son to come home.
And now it’s finally happening.
And the father does something totally undignified: He runs.
If you were a person of wealth and status as the father clearly is in Jesus’ story, you did not run.
It was just outside the norms of your culture.
When they embrace, the son launches in to the rehearsed story.
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and...”
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