11 And he 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 to1 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.’222 But the father said to his servants,3 ‘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.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.27 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.’28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,29 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.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Footnotes
[1]15:15Greek joined himself to [2]15:21Some manuscripts add treat me as one of your hired servants [3]15:22Or bondservants
11 And he 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 to1 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.’222 But the father said to his servants,3 ‘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.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.27 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.’28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,29 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.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Footnotes
[1]15:15Greek joined himself to [2]15:21Some manuscripts add treat me as one of your hired servants [3]15:22Or bondservants
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:
Luke 1511 through 32. And he said, there was a man who had 2 sons, and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me. And he divided the 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.
Speaker 1:
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 get to my father, and I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
Speaker 1:
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've sinned against heaven and before you.
Speaker 1:
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.
Speaker 1:
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 to 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 have never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I may celebrate with my friends. But when a son of yours came, who has devoured who has devoured your property with prostitutes, You killed the fattened calf for him.
Speaker 1:
And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. And it was fitting to celebrate and be glad. For this, your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.
Joel Brooks:
Pray with me. Lord, we ask that you would honor the reading of your word, that it would pierce our hearts. God, now I ask that you would speak, that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:
Amen. Last week, I introduced this text by saying Jesus is addressing 2 specific groups of people. You have the religious and the irreligious. The religious being the Pharisees and the scribes at the beginning of chapter 15. And then you have the irreligious, the tax collectors, and the sinners.
Joel Brooks:
And all throughout Luke, he's been taking on those 2 philosophies, those 2 worldviews saying they're absolutely wrong. You cannot relate to God in any of those ways. You can't approach him religiously and thank God, if I just do all the right things, if I keep my life in order, then you owe me. And the irreligious approach doesn't work either, and thinking, I could do my own thing and it doesn't really matter. There is no God and there is no judgment.
Joel Brooks:
Both of those are false. Matter of fact, what Jesus offers is so different in the gospel. When when Christianity was first getting its roots into the Roman Empire, they didn't have a category for it. They they they they didn't know what they call these Christians, so they called them atheists. Because they were so different than the established religions that were around.
Joel Brooks:
These people didn't worship like like the Romans worship. Their god was nothing like the gods that they worshiped. They had no temple. They made no sacrifices. They had no priest.
Joel Brooks:
They they didn't know what category you would put this in. The way that the people related to God was so different. They said, well, they're, it's not a religion at all. They're atheist. And we need to understand what Jesus is talking about here is so totally different.
Joel Brooks:
You have to put a new category in your brain. This isn't religion, it's not your religion, this is the gospel. And I don't think there's a better story in the New Testament to illustrate this. This past week, I started a a very ambitious project, even by my standards, at my house. Some of y'all have driven by and laughed, and I thank you.
Joel Brooks:
I decided to to take down all the siding on one of the sides of my house and to replace it in the rotten wood and then to add insulation and all this stuff and it just kept snowballing. For starters, it's really hard to find wood siding to a home that's 99 years old. You can't find it anywhere. So I'm calling all these different places, and finally I find a lumber yard in Pratt City, and they're gonna sell it to me. I knew it was gonna cost an arm and a leg, but I was gonna do it.
Joel Brooks:
Well, the the manager there, she called me back after I'd already made the order. She goes, I have some amazing news for you. And I mean, she was like working it up. She goes, brace herself. She goes, you could buy all of this lumber for $270 shipped to your house.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, that is way, way, way lower than what I had thought, and I just couldn't believe it. And then she goes, you know what? Good things happen to good people. And I wasn't gonna argue with her right there. But, but I, but I was thinking, I just preached an entire sermon against that and I'm about to preach another one this coming week.
Joel Brooks:
I just said, thank you. And I was like, yes. And and then there was a part of me though, even though I had just preached against it, I actually believed it. Because I had just finished studying my Bible. I was heading towards Beeson Divinity School to go to their chapel service.
Joel Brooks:
So my a game was on. I was just saying, well, maybe, you know, just maybe God decided to, yeah, throw that my way. Well, right after chapel service, I get a call from her. And she's like, I've got some bad news for you. I I I don't know what was going on, but I really miscalculated.
Joel Brooks:
It's actually gonna cost more than the original estimate that I gave you. And which I was like, oh. And so I hung up the phone, and Dwight goes, I guess bad things happen to bad people. It's probably right. What we're looking at here is, you know, there's that philosophy, that worldview, that if I really put in the effort, if I really pray hard, if I really read my bible, go feed the homeless, I do all this thing, God he's gotta throw me a bone.
Joel Brooks:
You know, good things are gonna come. And Jesus says, no, you do not relate to God this way. And so he tells us the story about 2 sons, which are very familiar. Probably all of us know a prodigal son and and an elder brother. And then he tells us about their father, which nobody knows a father like this.
Joel Brooks:
Nobody has a father like this. Last week, we looked at the younger son. Tonight, we're gonna look at the older. The older son, he's walking home from a hard day's work, like he's probably done almost every day of his life. And as he's approaching home, he hears music.
Joel Brooks:
He hears dancing. And so, we asked a servant, goes, what's going on? And I said, you won't believe this, but your brother? He's he came home and we're having a party and your dad is he slaughtered the fattened calf and it's gonna be a feast. And so, the older brother gets furious.
Joel Brooks:
He is absolutely livid. He's singing, all this time I've worked in the fields. I've I've, you know, folded the laundry. I've done all my household chores. I never left home.
Joel Brooks:
I never said a critical word. I did all these things and nothing came my way. This guy has squandered everything. He's gonna come back, we're gonna throw a party for him. There's no way.
Joel Brooks:
There's no way I'm coming. So, he refuses to go in. And when he refused to go in, everybody would have noticed this in this community. They would have all been talking about it. The the the disobedient elder son.
Joel Brooks:
And yet, the father goes out to him. And and the only thing that would be proper in a culture like this, a patriarchal culture like this, would be for that father, the father to slap his son, say, fine, you don't want to come to the party? Get out of here. Nobody disrespects me like that, but he doesn't. He pleads with them.
Joel Brooks:
Come home. Come home. And Jesus is pleading with the Pharisees. He's pleading with the scribes saying, it is not too late for you. Come home.
Joel Brooks:
But the elder wouldn't do it. I'm I'm reminded of so many stories in my life in which that has been true. In which celebrations, parties have happened for people who I think, God, there's no way they should be honored. It should be me. I usually bite my lip.
Joel Brooks:
At least the elder son voiced it. So he refuses to come in, even after the pleading of his dad. And finally he addresses his dad and he says, look, he doesn't even call him father. He says, you look here. He said, I'm not going to come in.
Joel Brooks:
He's very disrespectful. And we finally, we get to the to the heart of the problem. Look at verse 29. Says, Look, these many years I have served you. I have served you.
Joel Brooks:
He doesn't say, for these many years I have lived with you. For these many years I've been at your home. For these many years I have loved you. He says, no, my relationship to you has been as a master and a slave. I have slaved away in your household.
Joel Brooks:
And he doesn't see any joy in his relationship with with his father. He sees his father as just a task master that he has to obey. There's no there's no love. And I think here in the South, in the Bible belt, we're all in danger of this. We could do all these things for the Lord, but we could be just as lost.
Joel Brooks:
Let me give you some characteristics of, I don't know how you would say this, elder brotherishness. Does that sound good? Characteristics of being like an elder brother. The first thing is, there is a lack of joy in your life. If you have some elder brother in you, there's a lack of joy in your life.
Joel Brooks:
When you're doing all the right things, you think you have your life together, but but still joy always eludes you. Go to church, read your Bible. Right after the service, you run out there and you're the first to sign up for serving, at the hospitality house. You give to Haiti. You do all these things, but really there's no joy.
Joel Brooks:
This reminds me of Paul, who called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees. Says in 1st Corinthians 13, I just had to read from the love chapter, Valentine's. I had to go there. But he says, if I had prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I am nothing.
Joel Brooks:
I gain nothing. And so, if we're doing all these duties, if we're working so hard for the Lord, but we don't delight in this. It's not out of love, it's all for nothing. And this elder brother had made tremendous sacrifices, but he didn't love his father. Another sign that you're an elder brother is if you spend more time seeking god's gifts than you spend seeking god.
Joel Brooks:
More time seeking his gifts than seeking God. Look again at verse 29. But he answered his father, look these many years I have served you, I have never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. Now now you, you're getting to the heart of why the elder brother is so mad. Why he's so angry.
Joel Brooks:
It's because he is just as self centered as the younger one. He he he never wanted the father, but he wanted the things that the father could give. That's what he was after. Both of them, they they they wanted, you know, they wanted the inheritance. They wanted the money.
Joel Brooks:
They wanted all the things that their father could provide for them, But they could care less about the father himself. They were using him to get what they wanted. And the younger son, he he used his father to get his inheritance in golf and be really bad. The young the older one was using his dad by being really good, really good in hopes of that payoff. And we do this all the time.
Joel Brooks:
I get up here, and I I preach, and I read my bible hoping for cheap lumber. Hoping God's gonna throw something my way, you know. You're gonna give me a great spouse. You're you're gonna give me a better job. Yeah, I mean, you owe it to me if I if I sacrifice this way.
Joel Brooks:
God, if I tithe my money, boy, you better really bless me financially. We don't relate to God like this. I'm reminded of a story that Charles Spurgeon told. It's actually in Tim Keller's Prodigal God, but Charles Spurgeon is is the one who originally told this. It's about a farmer who gives a carrot to the king.
Joel Brooks:
It's a great story. A farmer, he he he's been a farmer his whole life, and he comes up with this amazing carrot. And so he goes and he gives the king his carrot. And he says, king, your majesty, I have been farming carrots my entire life, and I have never produced a carrot like this. I give it to you.
Joel Brooks:
So the king, he receives it and he says, thank you. And and the farmer, he walks away, and right when he's almost out the door, the king says, well, wait. Wait. Come here. And he looks at him and he discerns the farmer's heart and says, you know what, I've actually own the land right next to yours.
Joel Brooks:
It's our huge tract of land, and I'm giving it to you. I'm giving it to you. Go and make more carrots like this. And so the farmer he left just absolutely rejoicing. And in the courtroom, there's this noble man and and he hears this.
Joel Brooks:
It's like, my goodness. You got all of that for a carrot? I wonder what the king will give for a horse. And so, the next day he he brings this huge horse into the courtroom. And he comes up to the king, he says, king, your majesty, I I I have raised horses my whole life, but this horse here has no equal.
Joel Brooks:
And, I give this horse to you. And the king said, thank you. And they had this awkward kind of stare in which nobody said anything. So the the nobleman, he turns around and he walks slowly away. And then he's almost walking to a crawl at the door just waiting.
Joel Brooks:
And finally, the king says, wait, wait. And the guy turns around and the king looks at him and he discerns his heart. He says, let me tell you something. Let me explain something to you. The farmer yesterday gave me the carrot, but you just gave yourself a horse.
Joel Brooks:
All you wanted in your gift, it wasn't given out of adoration. You were giving it to yourself. You were using me. That's how a lot of us approach God. We use him.
Joel Brooks:
That's how the elder brother approached his father. Worked hard, gave him these things, but it was ultimately very self centered. John Piper once said that, God's greatest adversary is his gifts. God's greatest adversary is his gifts, and and that is a true statement. In which we begin longing for the things God gives, rather than who he is.
Joel Brooks:
Another telltale sign of, if you have an older brother nish ish ness in you, is if your prayer life is dry. If your prayer life is dry. The elder brother had no intimacy with his father. The father's representing God mean mean he had no intimacy in his prayer life. There was never celebration, there was never joy, but there were lots of lists, lots of requests.
Joel Brooks:
If your prayer life more resembles you talking to a boss than to a lover, then you might have a little elder brother in you. And I think that's how a lot of us relate to God. We respect him, we realize he has power, we realize that he has authority, and so we come to him with these requests. Or we ask him permission for things. Or we ask him to give us some guidance as how we can do certain things.
Joel Brooks:
But it's a very cold relationship. There is no just adoration. There isn't a worship God, worshiping God in the beauty of his holiness. Another characteristic of being an elder brother is that there's a lack of forgiveness in your life, lack of forgiveness in your life. Look at verse 30.
Joel Brooks:
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf fattened calf for him. The reason the, the older brother is so mad here is because the fattened calf that his father had killed was his calf. Remember? He already had divided the estate. And so, the the younger son had already gotten his third of the estate, and he gets the 2 thirds.
Joel Brooks:
Now, anything else that the father gives away, is ultimately coming out of the elder son's pocket. And so, his dad's forgiveness cost him something. Hurt him. And that was a, that was a very expensive gift. That was only done in the most special occasions, like a wedding that you would slaughter the fattened calf and have a feast for the entire village.
Joel Brooks:
Son, the older son cannot believe it was wasted on this guy. You know, all forgiveness cost something. All forgiveness. You can't just say, oh, I forgive, I forgive you. And there's, there's no cost.
Joel Brooks:
All true forgiveness, there is a cost. When somebody has wronged you, and I mean really wronged you. For you to forgive them is gonna hurt you. You're not just gonna be filled with love and joy and just happily do it. No.
Joel Brooks:
You're going to take the penalty that they deserve and you're going to put it on yourself. Maybe if somebody slanders you, publicly slanders you, blogs about it, tells, you know, just horrible things that absolutely aren't true. For you to forgive that person without just, you know, blogging and telling the whole world that person scum, they're a liar, and all this. But for you to not do that, to do that, instead of just forgive, it is going to hurt. Because you want to be vindicated.
Joel Brooks:
You want to lash out, and every time you want to lash out and you don't, what happens is you receive that. You take your own blow. And, it hurts you. All forgiveness cost. And we see here what the elder brother should have given away freely.
Joel Brooks:
The father gives it away, but there is still a cost to forgiveness. He can't forgive his brother. He can't even call him brother. Notice what he says, this son of yours. Sounds like Lauren and me when one of our children does something bad.
Joel Brooks:
Lauren, do you know what your child did? Not my child. Do you know what your child did? He doesn't say, Hey, when my brother came home, he goes, no dad, this son of yours, when he came, killed a fat calf for him. Says, the son of yours squandered his money on prostitutes, and you kind of get this sneer with that.
Joel Brooks:
I would never do something like that. He feels morally superior to his brother and you cannot forgive anyone that you feel morally superior to. You can only judge. If he were to forgive his brother, and not only is going to cost him more the inheritance, but it's going to cost him the things he really wants to hold on to. His pride.
Joel Brooks:
It's going to cost him his self worth, his feeling of superiority. And I think the reasons that we hold out and we don't forgive people is because we have other gods there, other other idols that are really ruling our life. And we're like, I can't forgive you because if I forgive you, I can no longer feel morally superior to you, and I have to feel that. That's my God. If I forgive you, well then I got to swallow my pride and I can't do that because my pride is really my God.
Joel Brooks:
And we don't forgive because of idolatry in our lives. We have to hold on to feeling superior. The elder brother just can't let that go. Both of these sons need to repent. I mean, it's easy to see it with a younger son.
Joel Brooks:
He's the poster child of sin. I mean, he really is. He's he's a guy, you know, left home. He's the he's the drug addict, you know, sex, drugs, rock and roll, all that stuff. He's the poster child for needing repentance.
Joel Brooks:
But the elder brother, he says, I've obeyed every command. You know, you you can't point out to anything, you know, he's he's burned his bad CDs. He hasn't watched his r rated movies, you know. He gave up the Simpsons, you know, all these things. He's he's he's the perfect child.
Joel Brooks:
What is he supposed to repent of? He needs to repent of the very thing that a lot of us in this room need to repent of. And that's our motivation for all the good works we do. John Gerstner, and I have this in front of your worship guide. He once said that the main thing between you and God is not so much your sin, but your damnable good works.
Joel Brooks:
And I think a lot of us in here have damnable good works that we like to cling to and hold to and show God, and say, Hey, God, you owe me something. Instead of just throwing it down and say, You know what? I am no different than my brother. I have just as much self centeredness, just as much sin, and I need just as much mercy. All of us need grace.
Joel Brooks:
Last week, I told you that this story, it actually redefines what we call lostness. What it means to be lost. To be lost is to not have our father's presence. That's what being lost is. Is to not have the presence of our heavenly father.
Joel Brooks:
And so both sons were lost at one point. And actually, not having our father's presence is also what the bible calls hell. Is the absence of our heavenly father's presence. Is when we're actually given everything we want except for God's presence. That's hell.
Joel Brooks:
Prodigal son got everything he wanted. He went out there and he just squandered all away, and he didn't have the presence of his father. And hell is exactly what Jesus endured on the cross. You know, in recent years, so much has been made of the physical torment of Jesus, which was excruciating. Movies of it, you know, they draw that all out.
Joel Brooks:
And we've looked at this before, and we're gonna look at it more as we, we approach Good Friday. But when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and he's sweating drops of blood because he is just dreading what is about to happen to him. It has nothing to do with nails going through his hands or nails going through his feet. He's not dreading the, the mocking or the spitting. He, you know, when his, when he is crucified and his hands are stretched out, he doesn't say My hands, my hands.
Joel Brooks:
He doesn't say, My feet, my feet. When he cries out is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why has your presence left me? That's the source of his agony and pain. It's the only time in scripture Jesus ever calls, he ever prays, and he calls God, God and not father, is on the cross.
Joel Brooks:
Every other time, he's always my father, my father. But here at this moment, it's my God, my God, why have you left me? Because at that point, he no longer feels his father's presence. He no longer feels the sonship. He has given up the joy of sonship during this moment.
Joel Brooks:
He is experiencing hell so that we might receive sonship. He's taking on the absence of his father's presence so we might have his father's presence. He's taking on what the the older brother deserved. He's taking on what the younger brother deserved so that they could come in and have a party with the father. That's what the cross means to us.
Joel Brooks:
And that's this new world view. It's not religious, it's not irreligious. It's simply trusting in Jesus as our righteousness. We don't come to him with any damnable good works. We look at Jesus and we say, Him, He endured what I deserve.
Joel Brooks:
So I just humbly repent and I cling to my father's embrace. That is gospel and that is not religion. Jesus, when he's telling this story, he intentionally leaves a story open ended. You don't know the elder brother's response. You don't know if he repents or if he comes away.
Joel Brooks:
And this is once again him pleading with the very Pharisees and scribes who are about to kill him. And he's pleading with us saying, what will you do? What will you do? Will you trust in me completely for your salvation? Pray with me.
Joel Brooks:
Jesus, right now, we cling only to your mercy, not any good work. Or just living in the South, in the buckle of the Bible Belt. We certainly have a lot of elder brothers. I'm certain in this room, there's a lot of people with dry prayers, who only come to you when they need something. We have joyless Christians, judgmental Christians, Christians who feel morally superior.
Joel Brooks:
Forgive us. I pray right now, Spirit of God, You'd open up our hearts to hear Your voice. Help us all to realize we're in the same boat. We all are radically self centered and sinners. And I pray that we would allow You to embrace us, and to hold us, and to trust in You alone.