Untitled Sermon (18)

Scripture Introduction:

You come home from work and plop yourself on the couch. It’s been a stressful week and you would love to escape into a favorite television show. You’re about 15 minutes in and your muscles start to relax…shoulders loosen…breathing slows....you slowly drift into the show you are watching.

Then all of a sudden a child interrupts. Snot running down his nose. Whimpering. You’re immediately roused out of your slumber. Clearly something has gone wrong.

You try asking him whats wrong but all you get are those pants and mumble words in between sobs. After a couple of minutes you realize that what has happened is that he’s got a missing toy. But this isn’t like a favorite toy, or a blanket he just has to sleep with, or a stuffed animal, or something like that. No this is just a piece that he has 8-10 others just like it. It’s not all that important to the game he is trying to play. It’s insignificant.

But unfortunately for your plans of relaxation, that little piece is not insignificant to the child. You come up with a great plan. Self-serving, but entirely reasonable. “It’ll turn up later, you go play, and I just be if we wait a little bit we’ll find it somewhere.” What you really know is that if you can get him to stop focusing on that little piece and get wrapped up into a game then he will forget it exists…kind of like what you are hoping to do with that TV show.

You and I know that this is not going to work. His plan is different.

He wants to call in a search party.

Stop everything.

Grab the flashlights.

Disassemble the entire house.

All of this to find a one-inch piece that is barely discernible from his 10 other one-inch pieces.

What do you do? Do you convince him of your plan…you’ve got 99 pieces just like this one…can we please just let me relax a little?!?!?! In a hundred years you aren’t even going to remember this moment.

Or do you call up the family, the neighbors, the local police, the national guard, and start a search party?

Which one is closest to the heart of Jesus?

Luke 15:1–32 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: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 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. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 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!’ And he said to him, ‘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.’ ”

Sermon Introduction:

As we read through that passage did you notice little chapter headings on top of each section. Parable of the lost sheep. Parable of the lost coin. Parable of the prodigal son.

What’s the focus of these?

It’s on the thing that was lost but now found. So what are these parables about? Is it about the heart of God for lostness? Yes...

What about that story that I told earlier about the dad wanting a moment on the couch but the little boy just having to have that toy? What was that about?

I think it all depends on who you are in the story. It could be that you are the little kid. Missing piece lost…mom or dad puts together search party…item found…yeah! Or missing piece lost…mom or dad can’t pull themselves away from screen…missing piece not found.

Or it could be from the perspective of the parent on the couch. Relaxing night ruined by sobbing child, who just had to have that piece. Or family rejoices as missing piece found.

When we come to these parables that Jesus tells it’s the same thing. But who is Jesus’ main audience for these parables? I would argue that the reason why Jesus tells us these parables is because of the Pharisees response.

Look at verse 2 and 3. Pharisees are grumbling because Jesus receives sinners and eats with them…now look at verse 3. “So he told them this parable....”

Why is he telling the parable? These parables are meant to say...”Why you so angry at grace, bro? Don’t you know what heaven is like?”

Why would ANYONE ever get angry at grace?

Put yourself in the shoe of the Pharisee for just a moment. You’ve been putting in so much work. Living right. Trying to follow God’s laws and commands. You don’t smoke, curse, chew, or go with girls who do. You’ve been doing this since you were a child. And you’ve mostly succeeded. You’re a “good person”. Or to put it in SWMO slang…you’re a good ol’ boy.

But things aren’t going quite like you’d hoped. There is still so much immorality in the land. So many people who aren’t following the path of God…they are just stomping all over the 10 commandments. And you look around and realize that you’re still under Roman rule. You aren’t free in your own land. You’re still paying crazy taxes…the promises of God to your people aren’t coming to fruition. And you know…absolutely know…that the reason why God isn’t blessing your people is because of these tax collectors and sinners. Those who aren’t faithful. Those who are living in so much immorality. It is because of them that Jesus is judging you.

When Messiah comes he’ll fix everything....

Now you’ve got a new teacher on the scene. Son of a carpenter with a bit of a checkered story involving how he was born. But crowds are following him. There is talk that he is the Messiah. You’re weighing all that…when Messiah comes he’ll rescue us…he’ll help us....he’ll reward us. I’m the good son and I’ll be justly rewarded for our good behavior.

But this guy, this Jesus of Nazareth…listen to who is coming to him. Listen to who he is spending his time with.

Tax collectors and sinners. These are the ones who are the problem. When Messiah comes these guys should be getting crushed, they should be rejected. But “this man receives sinners and eats with them...”

That word there for “receives” is an interesting one. It means to accept someone…to welcome them as an honored guest. It’s the same word used in Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:20 ESV

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

You get the picture? This isn’t just hanging out with them, holding your nose, well I guess “those people” need Jesus too. No, this is rolling out the red carpet…celebrating their presence…enjoying them as people. Being glad that they are there. Overjoyed. Like the party couldn’t start until they were there type of thing.

This is angering to the Pharisee. These guys didn’t DO anything. Why are they getting favored status. They put in zero work. They lived much of their life actively harming our community. They are part of the reason we are under Roman rule. And you are eating with them....

And that’s why Jesus tells the parables he does. 100 sheep…leaves the 99…goes to find the one. Finds it…and what happens?

He rejoices.

Then he calls all his friends and neighbors together and says, “rejoice with me...”

Then Jesus says…that’s what heaven is like. It rejoices when the lost are found.

The same thing happens with the parable of the lost coin. She lost something valuable, she searches like crazy for it, finds it…and then calls the friends and neighbors to rejoice.

Then Jesus says…that’s what heaven is like. It rejoices when the lost are found.

Now we come to the most well-known parable. The story of the prodigal son. This one really hones in on the situation.

A man with two sons. The young says, “Father give me my share of the property....”

That’s basically saying, “I am going to live my life as if you were already dead, pops.” And it’s amazing what happens here. We aren’t given any of the discussion…surely the dad knew this wasn’t going to be a good idea for the son. But he does it…he divides the property.

The son then gathers everything he has and takes a journey to a far country. You are supposed to hear in this…that he has abandoned his family. He is as far away from his upbringing as he possibly could get. He is rejecting you and everything you stand for. That’s what is happening here.

The son squanders everything on reckless living. He’s broke. And then a famine hits. He’s unprepared. This guy got himself into the mess that he is in. So he goes and hires himself out…he’s a pig farmer. Now what you are supposed to hear at this point is that this guy has dropped to the lowest of the lows. Pigs are the most unclean of animals to a Jewish person. And he’s in the slop of it. But not only is he in the slop…he himself is so hungry that he wants to fed pig food, but nobody even gives him that. This guy has hit rock bottom.

Verse 17. “But when he came to himself” that’s the language of repentance. There is a heart change that has taken place here. And he starts to think about home again. Even the servants there are eating..he’s a servant in a pig field and can’t even eat pig slop.

I’m going to go back. Maybe dad will let me even be a servant.

He’s not thinking of being a son at this point. His bar is so low. There is a hint here of this being a little connected with what we saw a couple weeks ago with taking the lowliest seat at the table. This guy is doing that. He’s humbling himself. He’s not going to come back as a son…he doesn’t deserve that…he’s blown it. He’s just happy to be at the table.

He arose and came to his father. He’s still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embrace him and kissed him.

Slow those down for just a second.

Father saw him. Was he looking? Was he longing? How did he see him so quickly?

Felt compassion. splangnidzomai. That’s feeling it in the pit of your stomach. It’s compassion that moves to action. Like sheep without a shepherd. He needs rescue. Not anger. Not rejection. Not I told you so. This is “receiving” him type stuff.

And ran. He runs. That’s not a dignified posture for a dad. Probably an older dude too…it’s going to hurt a little. But he can’t contain his excitement. That’s what we are supposed to see here. He’s not hesitant about lavishing grace upon his son…he’s overjoyed and he can’t contain it.

And he embraces him and kisses him. That’s acceptance. That’s greeting him as a son and not as a servant.

The son gets out his rehearsed speech in verse 21....but it doesn’t matter. The father moves right into what it seems like he’d been planning for awhile.

Best robe.

Ring on the hand.

Shoes on the feet.

Fatten calf. Celebration.

For this my son was dead and is alive again. Lost but now he is found. And they began to celebrate.

This is following the same pattern as the other parables, but it has a few more details. There is humanity involved in this one. Humanity with all it’s complexity and bad choices and gray areas and hurts and family dynamics and everything all wrapped up into that. But it’s still the same.

Something valuable was lost. It is found. Rejoicing happens. And then community rejoicing happens. That is the pattern.

But Jesus gives us something else in this parable. And it ties it all together. “now his older son was in the field...”

He’s working. He’s doing what good sons do. He’s working for the family. He didn’t just come from squalor. He doesn’t have the filth of pig stench on him. He draws near to the house.

That’s probably intentional language from verse 1. He’s drawing near to his family…his house…his family name…his people…his kindred. But he hears music and dancing. So it’s not a Baptist occasion I guess. And the son calls out to his servants…catch that, he’s got his own servants…and he says, “what in the world is going on.”

Was he wondering if his dad was throwing him a party. Is this going back to a story like Esther…where Haman is assuming the party is all thrown in his honor but the party that is thrown is going to expose his heart for what it really is? Is something similar happening here?

Your brother has come…and your father…has “received him back safe and sound.”

What SHOULD the brother be doing at this point? He ought to be rejoicing as well. His father’s pain should have been his pain. And to have his brother back should have caused rejoicing....but think about this for just a moment.

What does accepting the brother back mean? What does it mean for him to now be treated as a son instead of a servant? An inheritance would have been split up into thirds if you had two sons. The older son gets 2 shares and the younger son gets 1 share. So let’s say that pops in the story has $1200. That means big brother gets 800 and little brother gets 400.

So lets say dad cashes this out…little bro squanders his 400. And now you’ve got 800 left. But what happens when little brother gets back into the family. That 800 is now divided into thirds again. This is costly to the older brother…and he didn’t make the decision…he was doing good this whole time…he was obeying the father…doing everything he asked…dutiful servant…and just because of grace, just because of compassion…That 800 is now 533.

This isn’t fair at all. The younger brother’s restoration would come at great cost to the older brother. And so he’s angry.

v28. He was angry and refused to go in. Do you see what his happening here. He’s not coming to the party. This is the Pharisee grumbling…and what is happening…what Jesus wants them to see is that they are threatening to shut themselves out of the kingdom.

But the father entreats him…this is what Jesus is doing here. He’s pleading with them…don’t let grace make you angry. Celebrate grace, son.

But the older brother responds...”Look…I’ve done everything right and you never celebrated. No young goat. No party for me. Why haven’t you celebrated my obedience, father? But no—this son...”He has devoured your property with prostitutes…and you celebrate!?!?!?”

Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours....it was fitting to celebrate. He was lost but now he is found. Heaven rejoices when the lost are found. Is grace going to make you angry? Are you going to forfeit your own grace because you can’t bear this for your brother?

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And that’s the question that hangs over this whole story. What are we going to do with God’s grace?

A few points of application here and then we’ll be finished.

There is most definitely in these parables a spotlight shone on the beauty of grace. And we may look at that even more fully next week. There is much to be learned from the prodigal, from the lost coin, the lost sheep.

God rejoices at repentance and returning…and the fattened calf is ready. A party is waiting to happen.

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But there is one more key thing we need to see here. Lots in common with these 3 stories. But there is one little difference. Lost sheep…what happens. A good shepherd goes and searches for it…and he finds it. Searcher goes and finds. The coin…a lady goes and searches…finds the coin. Searcher goes and finds. The prodigal son…he leaves…he’s lost....

Wait.

Nobody goes after him.

Who should have gone after him? It should have been the older brother. He should have been the searcher. But he wasn’t. And that’s the point here for the Pharisees to catch. Who should be inviting the sinners and the tax collectors? Who should be receiving them? Who should be declaring good news for the poor? Who should be doing justice and loving mercy?

It should be them.

But they aren’t. They are too busy “obeying”. But it’s a selfish type of obedience. Their mindset is if I obey then father will bless me…it wreaks throughout the whole story of the prodigal son. He was expecting a party…he wanted a young goat…he was keeping tabs...

There is a story told…it’s not in the Bible…but it’s a really early story:

One day Jesus said to his disciples: “I’d like you to carry a stone for me.” He didn’t give any explanation. So the disciples looked around for a stone to carry, and Peter, being the practical sort, sought out the smallest stone he could possibly find. After all, Jesus didn’t give any regulation for weight and size! So he put it in his pocket. Jesus then said: “Follow Me.” He led them on a journey. About noontime Jesus had everyone sit down. He waved his hands and all the stones turned to bread. He said, “Now it’s time for lunch.” In a few seconds, Peter’s lunch was over. When lunch was done Jesus told them to stand up. He said again, “I’d like you to carry a stone for me.” This time Peter said, “Aha! Now I get it!” So he looked around and saw a small boulder. He hoisted it on his back and it was painful, it made him stagger. But he said, “I can’t wait for supper.” Jesus then said: “Follow Me.” He led them on a journey, with Peter barely being able to keep up. Around supper time Jesus led them to the side of a river. He said, “Now everyone throw your stones into the water.” They did. Then he said, “Follow Me,” and began to walk. Peter and the others looked at him dumbfounded. Jesus sighed and said, “Don’t you remember what I asked you to do? Who were you carrying the stone for?”

That’s why you get mad at grace. Because we assume that our goodness is going to payoff…when someone gets grace who has done less than we believe we have done…we respond in resentment. And when somebody blows it we don’t chase them. We assume that pig food is their just recompense. When they come back…in spite of our neglect and not pursuing them....we respond in anger instead of grace.

Because we realize that grace is costly. It’s costly to us. That story of the prodigal son only happens at great cost to the older brother. It’s his stuff…his inheritance…that is being used to lavish these gifts on the younger brother. The prodigal son being brought back in only happens at great cost to the elder brother.

And in our story…the elder brother isn’t willing to pay the price. And it ends up costing him his own inheritance…he refuses to go into the party.

But can I tell you about another older brother....

Who leaves everything to chase down the one…who goes into the pig slop…he comes to the tax collectors and the sinners and calls them....and they respond…and they have a big party.

Who are you in this story this morning?

Are you the prodigal son who needs to come home? You need to know that there is abundant grace for you.

Are you the older brother who needs to follow the Greater Older Brother, Jesus, in pursuing the lost. Do you need to come into the party? Do you need to drop that anger and repent of it?

Jesus is offering grace and a party for both brothers this morning.