Introduction
- This
morning I want to kick off a two part series on the parable of the Prodigal
Son…
- Maybe some of you have heard this story, you may have even recently studied it with us in Men’s or Women’s group. But I wanted to re-approach it because I think that there is so much truth in this parable that can help, encourage, rebuke, and guide us in our Christian life.
- Would you all turn with me to Luke 15:11-24?
- While you turn let me remind you what this story is about. This is the story of a family, led by a father who was probably pretty wealthy. The father had two son’s and one of them decided he wanted his inheritance before his father died, he took that inheritance, moved far away, and wasted it all living a life a debauchery… then he nearly starves to death before finally coming back to his father… here it is in Luke 15:11-24 ESV:
Luke 15:11-24 ESV And [Jesus] said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 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. 13 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. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘ 20 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. 21 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.’ 22 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. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
- Now generally this story is called the Prodigal Son. The word prodigal means someone who spends money recklessly or lavishly. And clearly that name is talking about this younger son who took his father’s money and waited it all.
- But I
really don’t like the name “The Prodigal Son” for this story (The Bible never
calls it that, that was added later) because it really on focuses on one of the
three major characters in this story.
- The three major characters in this parable are
- The Father, who is loving, merciful, and forgiving (If you haven’t gathered that character represents God)
- Then there is the younger son who takes his father’s money and waists it, this young man represents sinners who eventually come to repentance.
- And then there is the third character, the older son, who we are going to talk about in depth next week.
- So for this week I want to focus on the younger son, his behaviors, and his father’s reaction.
- The three major characters in this parable are
Point One: The Prodigal’s Behavior
- So let’s get into point one, the Prodigal Son’s
behavior.
- We can start by looking at verse 15:12 “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.”
- So this story really starts with the younger son
asking his father for things, lots of things…
- And if we know that the father in this story represents God, then really this story is starting with someone asking God for things! Lots of things!
- So this story really starts with the younger son
asking his father for things, lots of things…
- We can start by looking at verse 15:12 “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.”
- Y’all know anyone who asks God for lots of
things?
- Look around you, man, Christians, we do that all
the time, don’t we?
- We petition God over and over and over and over
for things!
- Father heal me
- God help me with my finances
- God give me this Job
- Lord help my relationship
- Bless this, bless that, bless this other thing!
- MAN WE
ASK GOD A LOT OF STUFF DON’T WE!
- Be honest church, don’t say it out loud, but just think about it… how much of your prayer time is spent asking God for things?
- MAN WE
ASK GOD A LOT OF STUFF DON’T WE!
- So right out of the gate we can say we have some similarities to the prodigal son, don’t we? We recognize that our father is rich and powerful and we want some of that for ourselves, so we ask and ask some more!
- We petition God over and over and over and over
for things!
- But hear
me church, before you get too down on yourself for petitioning God and asking
for things, NO WHERE IN THIS PARABLE DO WE SEE THE FATHER SCOLDING THE SON FOR
ASKING FOR THINGS!
- The
father does not get mad and say “How dare you ask for this‽”
- The father doesn’t respond with “You know son all you ever do is ask me for things”
- To the
contrary we don’t see any hesitation with the father giving the son all that he
asked for!
- So just as an aside, I want to mention something
that has been on my heart lately… Please never feel bad about petitioning God,
about asking Him for things, lots of things!
- Sometimes we put our earthly feelings on God,
and think “Man I hate it when people only ask me for things and that is all!”
- Well the reason we hate that is because it is rarely continent for us to give something away, or do something for someone, it normally takes some sort of sacrifice, and be it time or money.
- But God
is not like us, He is all powerful and money is of no object to him. He could
give each an everyone of us a brand new Lexus today and it would not be any
sweat off His back!
- He is not bothered by our petitions, it does not waist His time for He exists outside of time, nor does it slow Him down for He is all powerful!
- But that being said we also have to be OK with
God saying “No” because He knows better and knows what is good for us, He knows
that giving everyone a Lexus at CLC may not be what’s best for the Kingdom of
God, so He just gives Shawn and Sharla a Lexus instead!
- Y’all praise God for that Lexus? Amen, don’t let anyone take that spirit of praise and Joy away from you!
- Sometimes we put our earthly feelings on God,
and think “Man I hate it when people only ask me for things and that is all!”
- So just as an aside, I want to mention something
that has been on my heart lately… Please never feel bad about petitioning God,
about asking Him for things, lots of things!
- The
father does not get mad and say “How dare you ask for this‽”
- Look around you, man, Christians, we do that all
the time, don’t we?
- So back
to the story, you see I think the father in the story is the same way, I don’t
really think it was any sweat of the fathers back to give his son what his son
was asking for, I mean he remains madly wealth and successful through the whole
story, he doesn’t go broke here.
- But here is where it gets tough church… let me read verse 12 to you again.
- Luke
15:12 “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the
share of property that is coming to me.’
- Do you know what he is asking for here? The
younger son is asking for his inheritance! He is saying “Dad I want my inheritance
now!”
- Church, when are you supposed to receive inheritance from someone?
- After they die! Right‽ That’s what inheritance is, and the son wants his inheritance now.
- The son is literally saying “Dad, I can’t wait for you to die! Give me your inheritance now, because I am tired of waiting for you to die to get it!
- Do you know what he is asking for here? The
younger son is asking for his inheritance! He is saying “Dad I want my inheritance
now!”
- I mean the point of inheritance is that it is
supposed to take care of you after your father dies, and this son is saying “I
don’t need you to take care of me, alive or dead, I want it now”.
- And what is amazing is that the father gives to
him!
- And so God does with many people! This right here is the difference between the church, those who are Christians, and the world! And many of us can testify to this truth!
- You see we petition God as Christians and He
gives us what is best for us… But those who are in the world take what is God’s
(And he allows them to) and they waist it.
- They breath His air, eat His food, Live on His earth all for themselves.
- They have premarital sex with His creations, they smoke His plants to get high, they drink his fruit to get drunk, they take all that is Gods and they waist it on themselves! So where some of us, amen‽
- And that’s what the son in this story does, he takes from the father and waists it on himself. And the father allows it.
- And what is amazing is that the father gives to
him!
- Verse 13 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. 14 And when
he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to
be in need.
- So the son takes his inheritance, moves away, and waists it all on sinful living. Then what happens? Verse 14 says a famine arises in the country and the son begins to realize… OH NO! I AM OUT OF MONEY AND THERE IS NO FOOD FOR ME TO EAT!
- Numbers
32:23 tells us our sin will find us out! There is no hiding from the
consequence of sin.
- When you live a life of sin, that sin will catch up to you! It will find you out! Pray therefore that it finds you out while you are still alive, as it did for this young man, that there will still be time for forgiveness and repentance!
- Gal 6:7-8
ESV Do not be deceived: God is not
mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For
the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the
one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
- Again a
biblical principal, if you plant orange seeds you get and orange tree, if you
plant apple seeds you get an apple tree. If you plant sin and destruction what
do you get? You get sin and destruction!
- Again pray that you reap what you have sowed while you are still living and there is time to repent!
- Again a
biblical principal, if you plant orange seeds you get and orange tree, if you
plant apple seeds you get an apple tree. If you plant sin and destruction what
do you get? You get sin and destruction!
- And that what happens in this story, it is by grace that the young man realizes! Oh no! I am out of money and am going to starve to death!
- Thankfully he realized before it was too late!
He realized before He starved to death!
- So he realizes he is in trouble, so he tries to
fix it himself:
- 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
- But that did not work out for him… So then he
has a brilliant idea! “I can return to dad, dad still has money! Maybe I can
work for him!”
- 17 “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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘
- So the
son realizes that he has screwed it up, he also realizes that he can’t fix this
on his own… so he decides to return to his father.
- The same father who he had early took his inheritance from, the one he just couldn’t wait to die!
- He is so nervous about it that he even rehearses what he is going to say to his father! HE PRACTICES WHAT HE IS GOING TO SAY! Look again at verse 18-19 “18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘”
- So he realizes he is in trouble, so he tries to
fix it himself:
- Man this guy is nervous, why? BECAUSE HE REALLY WAS
A JERK TO HIS FATHER! THE SAME GUY HE IS GOING BACK TO BEG FOR FOOD FROM!
- He must be thinking all sorts of things:
- Dad is going to ask me what I did with that money
- He is going to know I wasted it
- He is going to ask me why I left him
- He is going to scold me, rebuke me, I treated him so poorly! Surely he is going to tell me about it!
- He must be thinking all sorts of things:
- And how many people in the world are feeling the
same way toward God?
- They took from him what is His and they wasted
it on themselves. They lived a life of sin and their sin has found them out!
- I know because I have talked to them, maybe some
of you were like them, maybe you are them right now…
- Saying things like “I can’t ask God for this because of this sin that I have done”
- I can’t go back to church because of what I did…
- I have had many people say “You don’t know what I have done, I would never be accepted by church or by God!”
- I know because I have talked to them, maybe some
of you were like them, maybe you are them right now…
- They took from him what is His and they wasted
it on themselves. They lived a life of sin and their sin has found them out!
- And it is such a natural feeling… but the father’s reaction, God’s reaction, is incredibly unnatural!
Point Two: The Fathers Reaction
Lets look at the father’s reaction:
20 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.
- So after rehearsing what he was going to say to
his dad, the son finally gets the courage to return home… and look what verse
20 says, it says “And while he was still a long way off the father saw him”.
- The son didn’t even make it home! It is like the father was looking for him, waiting for him to return! The father saw him a long ways off!
- James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will
draw near to you” And that is exactly what happens in this story, the son takes
the first step to return home and the father sees it and he starts running
toward the son!
- Hear me, the father RUNS toward the repentant sinner! He doesn’t make it hard for the son to come home, no instead he runs towards him, God doesn’t make I hard for us to come to Him, he waits for us to take the first step then he comes RUNNING!
- Again verse 20 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.
- So then in verse 21 the son, probably still
feeling like a jerkbag, a hungry jerkbag at that, starts to recite what he had
earlier rehearsed:
- 21 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 look at this! HE DOESENT EVEN GET ALL THE
WAY THROUGH THE SHORT PRAYER HE REHEARSED, HIS DAD CUTS HIM OFF!
- 22 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. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
- The son starts to repent and the father does not
drag it out, he does not say I told you so, to the contrary, before the son is
even finished, he cuts him off and tells the servants to get his best robe and
put it on him, and a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and to kill the
fatted calf!
- Why? Verse 24 tells us why: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
- You see the Father never mentions the wasted
inheritance, the blatant insult of not waiting until he was dead, he forgets
the sin and debauchery, all he cares about is that his son who was lost is now
found! Because the father know the son did not have to come back, the son could
have died out there.
- The son could have been so stubborn and proud that he refused to return choosing rather to starve to death.
- The son could have been so reckless that he got himself killed while living in his sin.
- You see the father doesn’t care about the money, he’s got plenty, but he only has the two sons, and one was lost but is now found, as far as he knew the one was dead, but is now alive! OF COURSE HE IS GOING TO CELEBRATE!
Conclusion
Alter call:
Salvation: Note that the prodigal son came back for selfish reasons, there is no wrong reason to come to God! He will come running!
Have you turned away from God, are you afraid of returning back to him?
Isaiah 43:25 ESV “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
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