Luke 15:11-32 - Pastor Jon Noyes

Summary
Pastor Jon Noyes preaches on the prodigal son, showing how both the wayward and the self-righteous need God’s grace. He challenges us to recognize our own lostness and embrace the Father’s unconditional love and forgiveness.

Transcript
This morning we're going to be back in Luke 15. We're going to pick up in verse 11. So if you don't mind flipping there, remember that Jesus here, is in the middle of a trilogy of parables addressing the religious establishment and picking up in verse 15, Luke 15, sorry, 1511. And he was talking about Jesus and Jesus said, "A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. Not many days later, the younger man gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. And there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he would give gladly, and he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread? But I'm dying here with hunger. I'll get up and go to my father and I'll say to him, 'Father, I've sinned against heaven and in US site. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Take me as one of your hired men.' So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I've sinned against heaven and in US site. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him and put the ring on his hand and the sandals on his feet and bring out the fat and calf. Kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found and they began to celebrate. Now this older son was in the field and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing and he summoned all the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come and your father has killed the fat and calf because he's received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry and wasn't willing to go in. So his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look, so many years I've been serving you and have never neglected a command of yours and yet you've never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who's devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fat and calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you've always been with me and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice for your brother of yours was dead and he's begun to live. He was lost and he's been found.' Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the opportunity to, gosh, just to be in your word this morning. Here we have a picture of your amazing grace and would that grace spill out not just from this pulpit and to our hearts and our minds but would spill out these doors and into our very community that needs it so much and then from our community out into the world around us, God. You're the God who's there. You're living inactive. You change hearts and minds. Even today turning heart, hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. So we would pray that you continue that work that you've done, that you've begun rather. You're an amazing God. Hold me pure to this text and we'll be changed forevermore by it. Your words, it's all for your glory in Christ's name. Amen. So this is probably in my estimation one of the most powerful depictions of God's grace in all of Scripture. It's a parable that I think as I was reading it, every one of us here could probably quote at least parts of it. He was once lost, now he's found. I think we knew what was happening. I think it resonates with us not because it's just, because it's not just a parable that Jesus is telling to the Pharisees, but it's a parable, a story that actually resonates with each and every one of us because in a very real sense, this is all of our stories. In this parable, we see our reflection as though in a mirror. Here Jesus reveals the boundless love of the Father, the power of true repentance and the danger of self-righteousness, something I think we've probably all experienced in our lives to some extent. This parable, it's a climax of a series of three stories that Jesus is telling us in Luke, where we find ourselves. The parable of the lost sheep, which was I think two or three weeks ago, and then we looked at the lost coin. It was that last week? I can't, last week I don't remember. It all runs together. Now we have the parable of lost son. In each case, something valuable goes missing and its recovery leads to great rejoicing. Jesus tells us these stories in response to the, if you remember David's words, the grumbling of the Pharisees and the scribes who are offended and we're upset with Jesus that he would welcome sinners and he would dine with them. And then through these parables, Jesus reveals to us the very hat of God, a God who seeks the lost rejoices in their return and offers grace that completely defies human expectation. The theme of grace that's so prevalent here, it's nothing new throughout the history of God and his people. We see a gracious God throughout the Old Testament. Even we see the same pattern. We see rebellion, exile, repentance and restoration. It's woven into the history of God's people in this parable. At the onset before we dive right in, I also feel like there's often a misunderstanding as it's preached. Jesus is redefining everything we thought we knew about connecting with God. He's showing us the destructive self-centeredness of the younger brother, but he's also condemning the moralistic religious pride of the elder brother, all while speaking to our hearts through the acceptance of an unconditionally loving father. Jesus begins by telling of a man who had two sons, the younger son, eager to break free from the authority of his father, makes a shocking request. He says, "Father, give me my share of the property that's coming to me." In essence, if you think about it, and maybe some of us can resonate with this, I don't know, you want what yours, you don't want to wait for it. But if you think about the request that's given, especially in the context of the culture that it's happening, basically what this son is saying is he's saying, "Dad, I wish that you were dead, so that everything that you promised me will now be mine right now in the present moment." Not only was this request incredibly disrespectful, but it was legally and culturally scandalous. Yet the father grants his son's demands, allowing him to take his share and leave. And so the son travels to a far-off country and he squanders his reckless, his living, and his inheritance on reckless living. Again something I don't know if any of you other than me can resonate with. I have a difficult relationship with my father. If you know me, you know that. And one of the very few things that my father's ever given me was a small investment that came from baseball cats. Every Easter my dad used to give us a full set of TOPS baseball cats. So Easter morning was spent sorting. They used to get the long boxes. You guys remember this with the stale gum in every pack? So we used to eat the gum on Easter morning and sort our baseball cats into the plastic sheets and make sure we got every single one of them. And then we go and trade the extras that we had. Well, my dad, when he left my mom, he took those baseball cats and he converted them into cash and then he invested that money. And then through the divorce my parents settled that we would get that investment as kids. Well being a stupid kid, what I did is I actually called the investment firm, pretended to be my father. It worked. Pretended to be my father, took out the money and bought a Jeep, a CJ7 for five grand and drove it for about three months until it broke down. And that Jeep still sits at some shop in Maryland to this day rusting away, I'm sure. You know, I three months of pleasure squandered this inheritance where I'd let that five grand sit or heck, bought like Tesla stock or Bitcoin. I mean, I'd be living large. I know what it is to squander an inheritance. I don't know if you guys have that in your backgrounds. But this is exactly the picture that we gave here. The son asks for what ultimately is his by right, but not at that moment. And he takes it and then he runs off and he squanders it on prostitutes and I'm sure alcohol and just a good time. You know, and the son in doing so, he embodies the temptation that we all face, a desire for autonomy apart from, well really any authority, but especially the autonomy from God. And it's the lore of sin that promises freedom, but delivers bondage another reality that I think many of us can probably admit. Guys oftentimes when I share my story of coming from atheism to Christianity, I kind of stress or I try to stress the fact that I didn't have to hit rock bottom like the gentleman here, the, this son, he hit rock bottom. I didn't have to. I enjoyed my sin. Like sin is fun. That's why it's so tempting. So in pursuit of pleasure and leisure and ultimately chasing his own personal autonomy, the son leaves, he takes everything that is his and then he squanders it. And then this downrope spiral, if we think about it, there's something deeper here for us. It mirrors Israel's history, the time and again God's people turned away from him, seeking fulfillment in foreign lands and foreign gods as Deuteronomy 28 warns us. This leads to exile. Just as the prodigal son here finds himself in a foreign land destitute and broken. His story is not just an individual tragedy, but it's actually a representation of Israel's history. It's a reflection, actually, if you think about it, of the, the, the reality of the human condition of you and me. You know, I love it. I love when we sing the hymns here at church. You know, the hymnist is the one who wrote prone to wander. The Lord, I feel it prone to leave the God I love each and every one of us is, is bent in that direction. Maybe that's why this parable resonates with so many of us. Maybe that's why we remember it so clearly because it does. It hits our heart, not just our mind. So let's understand the depth of the, the younger son's lostness. He wanted the father's wealth, but not the father. His hat was just as much about self discovery as the elder brother's hat was about self righteousness. Both were alienated from the father though. And this is the point. And in the midst of, of his misery, the, the younger man has a moment of clarity. He thinks to himself or maybe he says out loud to himself, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread? But I'm perishing with, with hunger here. I mean, he's, he's, he's resorted to eating pigs. Lop guys. Like, what would it take for you today to get to the place where you would eat pigs? Lop. That's where this man is. That's what he's realizing, but his suffering. You see, oftentimes guys are suffering. We think sometimes there's nothing in it except for suffering. It's the result of the fall, which is true. But what we don't realize oftentimes, I think that God, God uses our suffering and he does here. And one of the clearest examples in scripture as to why and how God uses suffering our lives is it, it brings us to repentance. The suffering that we, we go through, right? So, so, so, so tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance, proven character, proven character, hope and a hope that does not disappoint is what Paul says. Going from tribulation to hope. And in the, in the way there, in the process there, it leads us to repentance. When Jesus was asked about the evil in the world, he, you know, you remember the, the, the tower of Celiome fell, the tower fell in Luke and in, and it crushed all the people and the disciples are asking him, what are those innocent people in Jesus? He didn't use that opportunity to offer a free will defense for the problem of evil. What he did is he says, unless you like lies, repent, you too shall perish. He uses an example of real world suffering gratuitous even maybe. He uses an example of suffering to call people to repentance to him. And this is what's happening in the, in the heart and the mind of the younger son here as he's in exile of his own doing, squandering his riches, laying with pigs, eating their slop. Now he's thinking to himself, how much better would it be just to be a slave on my father's property? You know, but his suffering here brings him to this, this place of repentance. While living with pigs, the son realizes that he's sinned against both heaven and his father and he resolves to return home hoping just to be received as, as a mere slave. And then again, we have an Old Testament picture here. If we remember back in Hosea 11, where God lamented Israel's waywardness as he's done so often, yet he recalls his fatherly love to them in, in, in Hosea 11, one through four, it says, it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up in their arms, but they didn't know that I healed them. And just as, as God, he tenderly calls his people back. The prodigal son here is drawn homeward by the memory of his father's kindness and unconditional love. True repentance too. And this is what we can take home. If you're looking for, I guess, an application point from this first section here, the younger son. So it would be that, that, and this is something we're trying to teach our kids right now. It's really difficult. You know, true repentance isn't about mere regret, but about transformation of the hat. It's not about being just sorry because you face consequences for your sin. It's about coming to, to love what's right for its own sake because it's right. And that parable goes on. So Jesus tells us that while he was still a long way off the, the younger son, I mean, this is such a beautiful picture. His father saw him. Can you guys like just imagine this with me? What, what must, what this must look like? This man, this, this man who, who's coming home after squandering everything that's been gifted to him stinking. He must have stunk so bad. Like he must have stunk so bad. I mean, I can picture him dirty, filthy, stinking, poor, trashed. His father sees him coming from a long way off and, and he felt compassion is what the word says. And then he ran and he embraced and then he kissed him. Yuck. I mean, this is not the expectation that, that we should expect. I mean, culturally, the father would have been expected to, to remain dignified. He's the, he's the Lord of the manna. He's not going to lower himself to that. Actually he should have expected the son to come groveling. He should have, he should come back crawling and in shame. But this father here, he runs a completely undignified act for, for Middle Eastern patriarch. And then he throws his arms like, can you guys picture this with me? This father throws his arms around this son and he welcomes him home before the son can even finished his rehearsed confession. The son hasn't even mumbled the word and the father's gone chasing after him. I mean, imagine the, like I said, the smell of the son, his posture is broken this. And he, and he's met by an exuberant father running, hugging, kissing. The reminded of Genesis 33, 4, where Esau instead of seeking revenge on Jacob ran and met and embraced and fell and kissed on his neck, if you remember. And then they wept together in this moment of unexpected grace. This is a foreshadowing of, of this father's love in the parable. But more than that, it's a foreshadowing of our heavenly fathers love for each and every one of us sinners. You see the father, he doesn't make him earn his way back. Instead he calls for the best robe for a ring and for sandals, symbols of restored sonship where slaves went barefoot, sons were shoes. The ring signified authority. He orders a feast declaring for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is now found. And notice something else here with us. The father's response to the son's return is completely disproportionate to what the son had done. It's by pure grace, pure joy, pure love. This act of running is more than just an emotional thusiasm. It's a picture of God's willingness to humble himself and to save us. Even humble himself to a cross. You see in the ancient world running was seen as a dishonorable act for an elderly person and the father, he doesn't care. He didn't hesitate. And just as the father took on that posture, so too did the father in heaven. He took on the posture through his son Christ as he humbled him to a cross for you and for me. And a foreshadowing of Christ for us. And then the parable, it could have ended there, but it doesn't. It could have ended right there with the lost son and I'd be happy. Lesson learned, but there's another son. And maybe even a more profound lesson. Well, at least for us, Jesus includes this other character, the older brother. Like the prodigal, this son never left home. And when he hears the celebration, he becomes angry and refuses to go to the party party party. This hope again, can you guys relate to this at all? Jealousy that fills our hearts. I'm raising four daughters guys. This is something Rihanna and I are really, if you have the magic pill, let me know. Well, what we keep saying to our daughters is like when one of them gets Eva, he's the oldest, right? So she gets the phone first, right? She gets to sleep over her friend's house first. Well, daddy Eva can do it. And what we say is what's good for Eva is good for you. Eventually, right? Eva breaks this ice, but there's that heart issue. It's in all of us. It's not just in my girls. It's in all of us. And it's in this elder son too, never left home. And when he sees the party, it's raging. The fat and calf that's been slaughtered and his elder brother, it doesn't say shout. It's a homeboy still stinking. We're in the best robe with the ring on his finger and his sandals on lounging, drinking great wine, eating fantastic meat. The brothers filled with this feeling we all get it stats here, right? It stats here. And then some of us can't help it. And it flows out like this. And this is what's happening here. How dare you dad? You know, he looks at these things and he says, look, these many years I served you dad. I've never disobeyed you not even once. And you've never given me anything like this. You've never given me a fat and calf so I could celebrate with even my friends. And his resentment, it runs deep. While outwardly obedient, he sees himself more as a servant than as a beloved son. He harbors inside his soul bitterness, feeling overlooked and unappreciated. He can't comprehend a love that welcomes the unworthy. His frustration is not merely about fairness. It's about a heart that's been estranged from grace. And the elder brother has been laboring under the illusion that he's earned the father's favor. And the return of the prodigal exposes the fragility of his self-righteousness. The older son represents, of course, it's clear he represents the Pharisees. Then this is the audience that Jesus was speaking to. They couldn't fathom why Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. Their hearts were filled with self-righteousness instead of grace. In this part of the parable, it serves as a warning. You see, you and I, we can today be outwardly obedient while being inwardly estranged from the fava. This attitude of the eldest son here echoes Jonah's, "Do you remember Jonah? I love Jonah. He's such a stinker." I mean, you guys remember Jonah, the prophet of God who went called to Nineveh to preach revival and repentance? He went straight there. No, homie went the complete opposite direction, right? Of trying to avoid to do something he didn't want to do to people he absolutely hated. He hopped on a boat, only the face calamity, only be pitched overboard. They wind up in the belly of a big fish. Just to be vomited out on the very shores of the land, he was trying so desperately to avoid. So there he is, Jonah, right? He's in a land he doesn't want to be among the people he despised, asked to do something he doesn't want to do. And then what happens? What happens? They repent. Who repents? All of them, even the king. Like, can you imagine this guys? It's like this, okay, today instead of sermon time, we're going to go down the downtown LA and I'm going to preach revival. And you guys are there with me and all of LA repents right there on the spot, even Gavin Newsom repents on the spot. That's the experience that Jonah had. Yet you've flipped to the end of the story. I mean, if that's me, I'm like, what? I am one with God. Jesus uses me. Get out of my way. Uh-uh. Jonah here. He's under a withering tree with a worm, right? And then he's grumbling like the Pharisees. He's grumbling just like the Pharisees. He can't see what's just happened. He's filled with resentments. When God extends mercy to Nineveh, he hates it. And like the older brother, Jonah, he's angry that God's grace is given so freely and undeservingly to a people that are so obviously apart and away from him. You see this parable here, just like Jonah does and just like Jesus does every day in my heart at least, it challenges us. Are we willing to celebrate when God's mercy is extended to others? Like even to those we're jealous of, even to those we hate. Did we join heaven in celebration as was shared during a time of forgiveness when we get that resolution after we confess our sins from this pulpit a couple of weeks back? Do we celebrate what's actually been done? The God of heaven extending to us lavish grace. It's unbelievable. Going further and I think that this is actually a really important point for us. The bad son was lost in his badness, but the good son here, guys, the bad son was lost in his badness, but the good son was lost in his goodness. Both are in need of the same grace. This son's bitterness is also practical. If the youngest son is fully restored, what happens to the inheritance that was already split in half? If it's split in half again, I'm ticked. If I'm that, I can understand the older son's dilemma here. Instead of half, I'm getting a quarter. He already spent his half. It's not fair. But the older brother here, he sees grace. Not as unfair, but as a personal loss. This is in the midst of self-righteousness, viewing God's generosity as a threat rather than a joy. But God's grace, guys, God's grace can't be quantified. He never runs out. I'm reminded of the poem by Annie Johnston Flynn. "Fear not that thy need shall exceed his provision, or God never yearns his resources to share. Lean hard on the arm of the lasting availing, the Father, both thee and thy load will up bear. His love has no limits, his grace has no measures, power no boundary, known unto men, for out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again." He never runs out of grace. Ever. And what's the older son's response? Does he enter into the patty? Party? We don't know. We don't know that the parable ends without telling us. It's a mystery. And this is intentional. You see, Jesus is inviting his listeners, us by extension, the Pharisees implicitly, to respond. He's leaving an open ending. You see, it's important to understand that Jewish storytelling, the parables often follow and eight stands a structure, but this one only has seven. It's eight and then seven. The missing eight stands a suggest an open ending, calling the Pharisees and the religious leaders to fill in the conclusion with their own response. Check yourself at the door is what Jesus said. Check your hat. Where are you? Will you rejoice in the grace of God? Where are you going to remain outside clinging to yourself? Righteousness. Zephaniah, three seven. That's right. Zephaniah. I mind deep for you guys. Zephaniah three 17 paints a picture of the father's hat. The Lord your God is in your midst. He will rejoice over you with gladness is what the prophet says. The joy of God and the return of a sinner is overwhelming. The question is, is do we share in that joy or do we stand outside arms crossed demanding fairness rather than grace? Imagine if God was fair. Oh, you see the Pharisees. They didn't get it. And then that's why Jesus and Matthew, he levels these types of words on him. What do you teach us of the law and the Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in the people's faces. You yourself do not enter nor will let you let those who enter you who are trying to. What do you teach us of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you travel over lands and see to win a single convert. And when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you. That's Jesus. So wherever guys we find ourselves, I'm wrapping up, I think I'm wrapping up. I don't know. I didn't put my timer on. Wherever we find ourselves, guys, because the call is the same as it was then that's important for us to think about these things. The call is today, just as it was then returned to the father. His arms open wide, ready to welcome the lost and restore the broken. And when sinners repent, we join the heavenly celebration, which we talked about a few weeks ago. Would you rather stand outside in judgment? How dare that God be so graceful? I'm struck by something else here, and this is perhaps the most profound thing. And then I've said it before from this pulpit, and I say it again, that when I preach, guys, I mean, it's really for me. I mean, there's definitely an act of selfishness because the fingers point back to me when I provide these statements, I'm wrestling with them. I'm struck by this, that perhaps our greatest takeaway, it's not identifying with the younger son and it's not identifying with the older son, but it's allowing our heart to be moved by the heart of the father in the story, to allow the father here in this parable to become Ahat. Here at Soli, we're called to be more than simply a church that recognizes grace. We're called to embody it. The father's extravagant love for the lost, his resentless pursuit is unrestrained joy and restoration. These things have to shape our own hats. Do we share in his longing for the wayward to return? Do we rejoice when the undeserving find mercy? We not only receive God's grace, but would we be a church and a people who extend it? Bring God's love to a world so desperately in need for the embrace and the returning kiss of a father. May we never lose sight of the grace that's been so freely given to us, to you and me. May we extend that same grace to others, even those to whom we disagree, dislike, despise. That's the type of church I'd like to lead us to be, rejoicing with God as he saves the world. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your amazing grace, all that you have done, that you are doing, and that you will do. Thank you for using us, this little church. It's your ends and for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.