Father, we thank you for Jesus.
We thank you, Father, that he left the glory of heaven
to set aside his glory and majesty and divine prerogatives
to humble himself and take into himself our human nature.
We give you thanks and praise that he came
and was born amongst us through the Virgin Mary
for his life on earth, his simple life.
We thank you, Father, for his miracles,
for his mighty teaching.
We thank you, Father, most of all,
that he died upon the cross for us,
that the cross is the power that comes from you for salvation.
We thank you, Father, that Jesus tasted all there is
to taste of death, and he did that for us.
And we thank you, Father, that he rose triumphant
over sin and death and all hostile spiritual powers
in his mighty resurrection.
Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit
would gently but deeply fall upon us this morning.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit
would both humble us,
and at the same time, Father,
help us to come to ourselves
so that we might turn to Jesus
ever more fully and completely.
All this we ask in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
You're going to need your Bibles
because we're going to look actually this morning.
I'm not going to have a whole pile of points.
I have three pictures and a Bible.
So, Andrew, if you could put the first picture up,
that would be great,
the first work of art.
If you could put it up, that would be great.
We're going to be looking at Luke 15.
So, if you have your Bibles,
it would be really great.
We're going to slowly read Luke 15 this morning.
And if you don't have your Bibles with you,
there's always a few Bibles up here at the front,
and you're welcome to come and take them.
This is a...
I hope you can see it all right.
It's an interesting picture.
It shows it's a triptych.
It shows a sheep,
and then it shows the sheep.
You can sort of see a snake there at the bottom.
You can see the vulture.
You can see the sheep is caught in thorns.
And then you see a picture of a shepherd
carrying the sheep back.
And we're going to read the parable
that influenced and inspired that.
But just I want to mention something first
about the picture.
The woman who drew that,
there's a famous literary critic,
an artistic critic in England
during the 19th century,
and he believed that women couldn't paint.
And he met this young woman
and saw some of her paintings,
and he said that this woman changed his mind
on whether a woman could paint.
But shortly after that encounter,
she came to faith in Jesus,
and she continued to paint and draw.
But then she felt that God was calling her
to go to an unreached people group,
to lost sheep,
and to tell them about Jesus.
So she made several attempts
to get on with the mission agency,
and she always failed the physical.
She was from money,
and she had two other women friends
who were also of money.
So the three of them decided
that they were just going to go to Algeria.
They didn't speak French.
They didn't speak Arab.
They don't know a single person there.
They just decided they would go to Algeria
and start to share the gospel.
And that's where she spent the rest of her life.
And this picture here
and others were just part of the little notes
that she did.
She didn't do anything to get published
or become famous.
But she continued to paint occasionally
and draw occasionally,
and these are all sort of,
this was found in her notes after her death,
because she spent the rest of her life in Algeria.
So what causes people to do such things like this,
turn their back on artistic fame
and on money and comfort,
and go to a place like Algeria in 18,
I think it was 1878,
not knowing the languages,
and just determined to learn the languages
and meet the people and tell them about Jesus?
Well, these three parables,
so we're going to look at these three linked parables,
this helps us to understand
and maybe be caught by something similar,
not that God is necessarily calling us
to forsake everything
and go and do something like that,
although he may call some to do such things,
but to at least get a sense of what it is
that can come into a human heart
that could so change them.
So Luke 15,
they're sort of all famous parables.
We don't always sort of understand
or remember that they all flow one into another.
They're in fact all very specifically linked,
and it's Luke 15, verse 1,
it starts like this.
Now the tax collectors,
and in Jesus' times,
tax collectors were basically
helping the occupying power
keep the Jewish people in their place,
and they were all, as a rule,
deeply corrupt.
They were thieves.
Now the tax collectors and sinners,
and this word in Jesus' time
meant that they were,
they'd probably been,
they were people who were in and out of jail,
they were people who were thieves,
they were probably prostitutes,
or just like a whole group of people
who sort of like the underclass of society
that did a whole pile of things
connected to vices.
And so the tax collectors and sinners
were all drawing near to hear Jesus.
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled.
And in the original language,
it sort of,
they didn't just grumble once.
The grumbling was long.
It went on for a while.
In fact,
they were in danger of becoming a grumble.
You know,
some of us,
that's the danger with every grumble.
It can start as a grumble,
and before we know it,
we have become a grumble.
We're only a grumble.
And they grumble and said,
this man receives sinners and eats with them.
And so Jesus 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 note that again here.
Isn't it really interesting?
Not only does he go,
I mean,
that's this wonderful triptych, eh?
It shows the sheep getting lost.
What happens when it's lost?
It shows the shepherd.
But it's,
I have found my sheep that was lost.
And verse seven,
just so I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who needs no repentance.
Now,
this is a pretty cool story.
It's a pretty neat picture.
And,
but,
you know,
here's the thing that really struck me.
On,
I wish I could tell you that I'm so smart
and so perceptive
that it struck me
the first time I read the text,
but it didn't
because I'm not that smart
and I'm not that perceptive.
If we were going to tell people
a story about repentance,
would we use this story
about what it means to repent?
Listen again to how the story,
how Jesus summarizes the story.
Just so I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven
over the one,
over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who need no repentance.
But if you think about it in the story,
that sheep does nothing.
That sheep does absolutely nothing.
This isn't a parable about the sheep
doing a particular ritual,
feeling a particular thing,
feeling guilty.
It's not a story about a sheep saying,
oh, here I am caught all up in these brambles
and the little sheep falls down on its knees
and goes,
shepherd, come and find me.
The sheep does nothing.
Every single thing in the story
is all about the shepherd
with nothing left out.
The shepherd notices that the sheep is gone.
The shepherd goes looking for the sheep.
The shepherd finds the sheep.
The shepherd picks up the sheep.
The shepherd brings home the sheep.
And then Jesus says,
this is a story about repentance.
Isn't that really puzzling?
Like, this is a,
this,
if we just are honest for a second,
this actually doesn't make very much sense
to us.
Because we would think that a story about repentance
would be more about
somebody falling on their knees
or maybe somebody falling,
crying or calling out to God.
That's what we would think repentance is about.
But Jesus says this is a repentance story
and it doesn't seem as if the sheep does any repenting.
The sheep is completely and utterly helpless and passive.
Well, maybe Jesus is going to correct it
with the next parable.
But actually, in the next parable,
Jesus makes it worse
because he uses an inanimate object
as the heart of the parable.
If you could put up the next painting.
This is also by a 19th century painter.
And this actually is also one
that has a conversion story connected to it.
This fellow was the,
the illustrator,
the painter of this
was very, very successful in France.
And he's,
his big specialty was painting rich ladies
who were all dolled up.
And in fact,
now Hollywood and others
use his paintings
to try to get a bit of a picture
about what people
in the late 1800s,
how they dressed,
especially rich women.
And he had a very, very fine
and it was celebrated
and then he met Jesus.
And after he met Jesus,
after a bit of a struggle,
all he did after that
was his only goal
was to paint stories
that illustrated
and brought the Bible home.
I'm not saying
that was the right decision,
but that's what God
put on his heart.
That after making his living,
painting rich people,
that he would paint the Bible
to help us to understand
and see what the Bible
was talking about.
So here, remember,
we said that the last,
the first thing,
it's a very, very odd
repentance story.
Like, where's the repentance?
This sheep does nothing.
Well, how does Jesus fix this problem?
He tells this parable.
Or, see, Jesus links it.
Or, verse 8,
what woman,
having 10 silver coins,
or drachma,
and that means
it's the equivalent
to one day's wage
for an average working person.
Okay, that's how much
the coin is worth.
So what woman,
having 10 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.
How does Jesus
summarize the parable?
Just so I tell you,
there is joy
before the angels of God
over one sinner
who repents.
And look,
there's a couple of things
that are really interesting here.
There is joy
before the angels of God.
So in the first one,
the angels throw a party.
Who's the one
jumping up and down in joy
in front of the angels?
It's God.
In the first one,
it's angels doing,
whoo,
here it's God doing it.
In front,
the angels are watching.
And once again,
look at that.
It's over,
in verse,
look at that in verse 10 again.
Just so I tell you,
there is joy
before the angels of God
over one sinner
who repents.
Jesus says,
this is a story
about repentance.
Yet,
it's a coin.
But what's that coin doing
to be found?
That coin's not calling out
to the lady.
Come on, lady,
please find me.
I'm way here in the corner.
I feel really lonely.
I feel broken.
I feel depressed.
I need you, lady.
Like,
the coin's not doing
anything like that.
The coin's a coin.
It's just sitting there.
The lady does everything.
Like,
even more than the sheep.
At least you could say
with the shepherd
that maybe he'd help
to find the sheep
because it's going,
bah,
two terrible sheep.
Bah.
And that helps the shepherd
to find the sheep.
But that coin does nothing.
In fact,
in this picture,
it's not even glinting.
It's just off
in a dark corner.
And yet,
Jesus says,
this is a repentance story.
So here's the first thing
that's going to rock our world.
Okay?
Um,
you see,
one of the problems
that I have in this church
is that I believe
that I'm the center
and everything else
has to revolve around me.
It's a problem
in my family as well.
If the family
would just get on the page
that I'm the center
and everything revolves around me,
everything would go far easier.
See,
the problem is
everybody in my family
thinks the same thing.
And the other problem
is that everybody
in the church
thinks the same thing.
You know,
if the pastor
would just do everything
exactly the way
I want it to be done,
things would go a lot smoother.
You know,
if the Sunday school,
if the singers,
if everybody's just...
See,
that's the problem.
We're so deeply entrenched
in thinking
that we're the center
so that even
when we think
of repentance,
we think it's all about us.
That's why
there's lots of people
in Canada
who asked Jesus
into their life
27 times
and have been baptized
five times
because the first time
they didn't have
the fine emotional feelings
they had to have
or their baptism
wasn't the profound
religious experience
they thought it should be.
And so,
therefore,
their repentance
is all ultimately,
ironically,
about me.
Now,
isn't that absurd?
If repentance
is about coming to God
and it's all about me,
like there's something
deeply out of whack
about that.
But the fact of the matter is
is that we can be
out of the whack
about ourselves
most of the time
and think it's normal
and not even be shocked.
You see,
the very,
very first thing
that these first two parables do
is they want us
trying to communicate
several things.
First,
to rock our world,
to knock us off balance,
to understand
that one moment,
this is all about repentance,
but I do nothing.
I do nothing.
The first thing
is to understand,
the Bible's trying
to understand it
is that Jesus
left heaven.
He set aside
his glory
and divine prerogatives.
He set aside
his appearance
as God,
his majesty.
He still remains
fully God.
He brings into himself
our human nature.
He's born
of a young woman
in a remote part
of the Roman Empire
at a time
that the Jewish people
were under occupation.
He lives a normal
working class life.
He has three years
of teaching.
He has very few possessions.
He teaches.
He does all of this thing,
but it's all a story.
Jesus knows we're lost.
Jesus knows
that we were made for God.
Jesus knows
that we don't know
that we're lost.
Jesus goes seeking for us.
Jesus is the one
who provides
everything that is needed
for us to go home
to where we truly belong.
And Jesus is the one
who finds us.
And our repentance
is just us
entering into something
that Jesus does.
In a sense,
the emotions
we might or might not
feel in repentance
is the emotion
we get
when the coin
feels the hand
of the lady
on it.
It's
the sheep
being found,
but it's all
from first to last
the work of Jesus.
And we,
in a sense,
are brought
into that story,
brought into
what he does,
and repentance
is just that
being brought
into it.
It's something
that Jesus
does it all.
You can imagine
how terrifying
this would be
to the Pharisees
and Sadducees.
Good grief.
Does that mean
we don't have
to do anything?
Does that mean
we can live
completely and utterly
immoral,
dissolute lives?
Jesus,
you are telling
something which is
deeply troubling
and worrying
and will only lead
to a completely
terrible thing.
Jesus,
the stories
aren't going to deal
with that.
Jesus just stays
on his own track,
and that's the
first thing
that we have
to see about
this story.
It's all done
by Jesus.
And then Jesus
tells the third
parable,
because obviously
there's some
other complexities
to this image.
If you could put up
the third and final
picture,
and it's just
the very,
very,
very famous
picture by Rembrandt.
17th century,
the return
of the prodigal.
Beautiful picture.
Beautiful,
beautiful painting.
Quiet colors,
tenderness.
And this is inspired
by the third parable
that Jesus tells.
Verse 11.
And he said,
there was a man
who had two sons.
Let's sort of pause
there for a second.
There's some things
in the original language
which we can't get
in English.
I suppose if we wanted
to try to play around
with the Bible,
you'd maybe be able
to do it,
but it would still
confuse people.
It would look very,
very odd.
But in the original
language,
there was a way
that a particular
word or phrase
could be made
emphatic
so that people
who are reading it
would understand
that,
whoa,
okay,
this is like,
it would be as if,
you know,
it would be as if
you're reading this
on the page
and as the cursor
touches it,
it blows up
so that you realize
it's emphatic
or it's bolded
or that there's
arrows towards it.
And in this story,
the way it begins,
there was a man
and man,
the father,
is emphatic.
See,
in fact,
some ways,
you see,
Rembrandt catches
that just a little bit,
not as much as he should
because,
you see,
really,
your eyes are naturally
drawn to the face
of the father
in that picture,
aren't you?
In some ways,
in a very deep way,
Rembrandt got it.
that this is actually,
even though it's called
often the parable
of the prodigal son,
it's actually the story
of the father.
The father is the key actor
in the story,
the dad,
not the two boys.
And so here's,
so here,
now that there was a man
who had two sons
and the younger said
to the father,
father,
give me the share
of property
that is coming to me.
And he divided
his property
among them.
Just sort of pause
there for a second.
In the original language,
the word property
is actually the life.
Give me the share
of the life
that is coming to me.
So what he's actually
asking is
that the son
wishes that his father
was dead
so that he could
collect his inheritance.
inheritance.
That's,
that's what the son
is asking.
The son is really
saying to the dad,
dad,
I wish you were dead
so I could have
the inheritance,
that share of your life
which is due me.
And this is a,
you know,
it's,
once again,
it's a very,
very apparently
unspiritual idea.
But one of the things
that the Bible
is trying to communicate
to us all the time
is that
a deep part
of every human being
wishes God dead.
A deep part
of every human being
is wishing God dead
and that we could
have his stuff.
And many of us
go to work
Monday to Friday
with a boss
that acts that out.
I'm God.
Many of us maybe
are in marriages
or have friends
like that.
But the Bible
is going to try
to communicate
to us
that every single
one of us
at some level
desires God dead.
God is dead.
I want his stuff.
I want his job.
Who better than me?
No, you can't say
that to yourself.
I'm saying that, okay?
I'm going to be one God.
So the young son
wants the father dead.
Verse 12 again.
And the younger of them
said to his father,
Father,
give me the share
of property,
the inheritance
that is coming to me.
And this is
just a parable.
It's really funny
reading academic commentaries.
They get in long discussions
about completely irrelevant
parts of the story.
Jesus isn't asking
you to start to analyze
all the different intricacies
of how this would go about.
It's a story.
Get to the point, okay?
So anyway,
I had to keep reading
the commentaries.
Good grief,
you missed the point.
Anyway,
not many days later,
the younger son
gathered,
verse 13,
all that he had
and took a journey
into a far country.
And there he squandered
his property
in reckless living,
in riotous living.
In other words,
he did a lot of
very, very naughty things
and completely blew
all the wad of money.
In verse 14,
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 field
to feed pigs.
And he was longing
to be fed
with the pods
that the pigs ate
and no one
gave him anything.
And in the original language,
no one
is emphatic.
It's bolded.
So the story
is trying to say
that this young guy
there in the rags,
he blows everything
and now he has to go
and hire himself
out to a pagan
and the pagan
gives him a job
feeding the pigs.
He still doesn't
get enough to eat.
The famines come.
He's completely
and utterly alone.
Now, here's a little bit
of a pause.
I like reading
movie reviews.
I like watching movies.
And there's one
movie reviewer
that I read
fairly regularly
who will remain nameless.
But this particular
movie reviewer,
I know that
if they don't like
a movie,
it might mean
I like it.
If they really
like a movie,
I probably won't
like it.
Because this movie
reviewer,
the type of movies
that they like,
I'm trying to make sure
you can't figure out
who it is.
You know,
if it ends
with everybody
depressed
and committing
suicide
and lives ruined,
it gets lots
of stars.
Generally speaking,
I don't want to
watch a movie
that's all about
complete and utter
failure
and depression.
There's enough
depressing things
in the world,
I don't want to
usually spend
two hours
watching a movie
that wants to
make me depressed.
But if we were
watching one of
those types
of movies,
it would end
right here.
Young guy
starts off
rich,
privileged,
the party guy,
the fraternities,
he wishes
the dad dead,
he wastes his money,
the famine comes,
he's completely
and utterly
desolate,
and then the
credits roll.
And this movie
reviewer will give
it five stars.
Maybe you like
movies like that,
that's fine,
we can all like
different types
of movies.
But the parable
could end there,
and some people
think it would be
a better story
if it ended there,
but the parable
doesn't end there.
The parable
is going to go
to another part,
and here's what
happens in verse 17.
But when the
young guy
came to himself,
you might not
have noticed
when I was,
I mentioned this
a little bit
in my prayers.
One of the
interesting things
about this story
is that coming
to ourselves
and coming
to Jesus
aren't
contradictions,
but fit
together.
You see,
it's part of
this biblical
idea that
just as on
one part,
there's part
of every single
human being,
it doesn't matter
if you're
Pope Francis,
it doesn't matter
if you're Billy Graham,
it doesn't matter
if you're George
Sinclair,
it doesn't matter
if you're Mother Teresa,
it doesn't matter
if you're Joe Blow
or Susie Smith,
that there's part
of every single
human being
that is in rebellion
against God
and wants God dead.
But the other part
of the biblical truth
is a deeper,
older truth
that God really
did make us
for himself,
that he made us
to fit into
this created order.
And so at a
very,
very deeper level
that when we
start to come
back to God,
we're also
actually coming
into our right
mind.
What we were
made for,
what really
fits us.
Verse 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.
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.
Just sort of
notice two things
in that text.
It's a whole
other series.
It's a whole
ethics lecture.
But one of the
things which
distinguishes the
Christian understanding
of the world from
non-Christian
understanding of the
world is that
every wrong act,
if I steal money
from this congregation,
I've not only
harmed you,
but I've wronged
God.
That every wrong
act is not only
something wrong
against a person
or an animal
or the created
order,
but it's always
as well a
wronging of God.
That's why the
young son says,
father,
I've sinned
against heaven,
in other words,
you,
and you.
I've sinned
against you,
dad,
and I've sinned
against God.
And then he's
going to go back
to his father.
He's not going
to make any
excuses.
And in fact,
in the original
language,
there's three levels
of servants
slash slaves.
And the word
which is used
here is the
lowest of the
three.
But he's going
to go back
to his father
and he's going
to say,
father,
here's what
we see,
right?
Part of that.
Just take me
back as the
lowest servant
you possibly
have.
Verse 20.
So he arose
and came
to his father.
But while
the young man
was still
a long way
off,
his father
saw him
and felt
compassion
and ran
and embraced
him
and kissed
him.
That's
obviously
going to happen
just after
this picture
right here.
in the
original
language,
the father
seen
is emphatic.
In other
words,
Jesus is
telling the
original
hearers,
one moment,
remember this,
this is not a
story about
the younger
son,
this is a
story about
the father.
That's
emphatic.
And so
what's
emphasized
is not
so much
the journey
of the
son back,
but that
the father
sees the
son long
before the
son sees
the father.
And long
before the
son realizes
that the
father is
there,
the father
does something
which an
ancient Jewish
father would
not have
done,
he runs.
And he
runs to
the son
and throws
himself upon
the son.
And if we
were watching
a typical
Hollywood movie,
that's how
the movie
would end,
right?
I mean,
if the
movie can't
end with
everybody
clapping,
or if the
movie can't
end with
the guy
and the
girl kissing,
then the
movie will
end with
some type
of reconciliation
like that.
That's the
type of movie
that Disney
likes.
That's the
type of movie
that's very,
very popular
in our
culture.
It ends
with the
father and
the son
reconciled,
hugging,
and all that
other messy
stuff is not
necessarily
discussed,
and the
credits roll
and some
nice piece
of music
that hopefully
will end up
being very
popular goes
in the
credits,
and we all
get up and
walk out of
the theater,
and we've
now watched
a Disney
film.
But Jesus
doesn't end
the parable
where Disney
would end
the parable.
Jesus is
going to go
after the
heart,
not the
emotions,
but the
center of
who we
are.
He's going
to figure
out a little
bit more
fully what's
going on
with the
son,
and that
continues in
verse 21.
The son
has his
sinner's
prayer all
prepared.
I don't
know if
you're from
an evangelical
type of
background,
but one
of the
reasons that
sometimes people
feel they
have to keep
asking Jesus
into their
life to
save them
or be
baptized is
because he
didn't quite
get the
words of
the sinner's
prayer right.
As if
sinner's
prayer is
like one
of those
long
passwords you
get from
a bank
that has
15 different
characters,
and if you
don't get
every single
character right,
the web
page doesn't
let you
log in.
And a lot
of people
think that
the sinner's
prayer is
like a
long,
complicated
log
in
ID and
password,
and you've
got to get
it all
right,
or God
will just
go,
good grief,
I'm going
to shut
this page
down,
they can't
get the
stupid
web address
right.
And that's
how a lot
of Christians
somehow
think.
So the
son has
his sinner's
prayer ready,
and he
starts into
it in
verse 21,
and the
son said
to him,
I guess
that's what's
going on
right now,
the son's
kneeling,
and says,
Father,
I have
sinned
against
heaven
and before
you,
and I
am no
longer
worthy to
be called
your son.
And you
know what's
really,
really neat
is that he
gets two-thirds
through the way
of the prayer,
and the
father interrupts
him.
Father
stops him.
Word for
word,
two-thirds
of it is
word for
word what
was just
he prepared
his sinner's
prayer,
and the
father
interrupts
him.
You see,
God is
not waiting
for you
and me
to get
a sinner's
prayer
right,
like it's
some password
to log
into a
web page.
Why?
Because it's
not really
a story
about the
younger son,
it's a
story about
the father.
Why?
Because remember,
the sheep
did nothing,
neither did
the coin,
it's all
the shepherd,
it's all
the woman,
and here
the father
is the
center of
the action,
and it's
all because
of what
Jesus has
done for
us on
the cross
that we
can be
reconciled
to him,
and it's
all because
he has
sought us
that we
can be
found.
The father
has to come
and realize
that he's
part of
this drama
that's all
about Jesus
coming and
seeking us
in the
father's
heart for
us,
and that's
the overwhelming
heart,
the overwhelming
action,
and we get
included,
we get
found,
and so it's
showing here
a little bit
of the inner
dynamic,
but we only
start to go
a little bit
of the way
through it,
and the father
doesn't even
say,
well,
actually,
son,
you should
have said
this.
It just
starts,
and the
father says,
and the
father says,
bring,
verse 22,
bring quickly
the best
robe,
the best
robe would
have been
his.
He clothes
his son
with his
robe.
I mean,
good grief,
you can just
imagine when
St. Paul
heard this
later on,
and now you
can understand
a little bit
about the
book of
Galatians,
and the
book of
Romans,
and the
book of
Philippians,
and the
book of
Colossians,
and you
can understand
Thessalonians,
and you can
understand this,
that you can
understand other
Christians,
Hebrews,
and John,
and they all
talk about
being clothed
with the
righteousness
of Christ,
that we do
not,
in a sense,
come before
God with
our own
good deeds,
our own
discipleship,
our own
exemplary
conduct,
that we only
come before
the father.
He does
not weigh
our merits,
but pardons
our offenses.
He clothes
us with
his righteousness,
and this
story of
the father
and the
two sons,
and this
image that
the son,
who's completely
and utterly
destitute,
who can't
even finish
the sinner's
prayer,
that before
he finishes
the sinner's
prayer,
the father
clothes him
with his
robe,
the best
robe,
and so he
will stand
before the
father,
clothed with
the father's
robe.
in the
father's
embrace.
That's what
Jesus does
for us on
the cross.
And our
repentance,
our
repentance,
our
repentance,
it's really
just God
doing all
this stuff
for us.
You know
when I say
the mission
statement of
this church
is making
disciples gripped
by the gospel
living for
his glory.
What a
difference it
makes to be
gripped by a
story like
this.
To be
gripped by a
story like
this will
change how
we live.
It doesn't
mean we
live a
certain way
so that the
father will
put his
robe upon
us, but
to understand
that he
sees us,
he finds
us, he
clothes us,
as that
story grips
us, we
are changed
in how we
act.
But it
goes on,
so verse
22 again,
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.
Remember
the earlier
stories of
the shepherd
and the
celebrations
all the way
through it
and they
celebrate.
Now you
know,
remember I
said to
you, my
movie reviewer
who likes
dark, depressing
movies and
they would
stop movies
at one point
and Walt
Disney would
say, no, no,
no, no, you
don't stop
movies then.
You keep
going, oh,
and the
hugs.
You stop
the movie
there.
Soundtrack,
theme song,
inspiring music
and then, you
know, us
evangelicals
will say, no,
no, no, you
don't stop
the story then.
You keep
going and you
stop the story
with the
sinner's prayer
clothed and
the robe
and then we
would want to
stop the
story there
but Jesus
doesn't stop
the story
there because
Jesus is going
after our
heart.
And so Jesus
continues the
story because
there's another
brother.
Now, his
older son was
in the field
and as he
came and drew
near, that's
verse 25,
near to the
house he heard
music and
dancing.
one 19th
century commentator
had a long
aside on
whether or
not this
Bible passage
justified
Christians
dancing.
He tried to
show that it
didn't.
I'm neutral
on the
subject.
Although if
you ever saw
me dance,
you'd say
Christians
shouldn't
dance.
This is how
I dance.
I just jump
up and down,
probably not in
rhythm.
But anyway,
we won't go
any further
with that.
And he
called one
of the
servants and
asked what
these things
meant.
This is the
older brother.
And the
servant said
to the
older brother,
your brother
has come
and your
father has
killed the
fattened
calf because
he has
received him
back safe
and sound.
But the
older brother
was angry
and refused
to go in.
His father
came out
and entreated,
implored the
older son.
But the
older son
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.
What is it,
the heart of
the older
son?
For it's
all I,
all me.
You know
what?
he understands
that all
the years
he was
serving his
father and
with the
father,
it was
like being
an unpaid
slave.
He
portrays
his time
with the
father as
if he
is
feeding
pigs and
is hungry.
he's the
religious
one.
And all
his
servitude,
all his
serving and
being with
God has
done.
He comes to
the church
services,
goes to the
Bible study
groups,
helps out,
and all he
feels is good
grief.
just one
menial task
after another,
I feel like
I'm serving
pigs and
not getting
enough to
eat.
His body
is close
to God,
but his
heart is
completely
and utterly
far from
him,
and he's
filled with
self-righteousness.
The
father
entreats
him,
verse 31,
son,
you are
always with
me,
and all
that's
mine is
yours.
The father's
not going
to say
whether or
not any
of that
is true,
just the
way he
would have
yelled it
at the
father,
and what
he revealed
his heart
reveals that
none of
what he
said is
true.
It was
fitting to
celebrate,
son,
you're always
from,
verse 32,
it was
fitting to
celebrate
and be
glad,
for this
your brother
was dead
and is
alive.
He was
lost and
is found.
Here's how
I just want
to close
with two
very simple
things.
The first
thing is
this,
because we
are fallen
creatures
in rebellion
against God,
we want
to divide
the world
between older
sons and
younger
brothers.
But let
me tell
you this,
the division
between older
sons and
younger
brothers goes
right through
each single
one of us.
The distinction
between older
brothers and
younger sons
goes right
down the
center of
who you
and I
are.
There's
not a
single person
here,
and I
include
myself,
who does
not have
some part
of the
older
brother in
them.
And every
single one
of us,
whether we
recognize it
or not,
are a
younger son.
And we
need to
understand to
live like a
younger son,
not in terms
of what got
him in
trouble,
but that we
need to come
to the
father.
And the
other thing
is, you
know, this
whole text
says that if
you've come
to the
father like
a younger
son, if
you recognize
that you're
that lost
sheep, if
you're that
lost coin,
that Jesus
has done
what it
has taken
to bring
you back
to himself,
then how
can you
and I
not seek
the lost?
How can
you and I
not pray
for it?
How can
you and I
not hope
that the
father rid
us of
every aspect
of elder
brother,
older
brotherness
in our
lives,
and hope
and long,
hope and
long for
the lost
to be found,
the dead
to be made
alive?
Please
stand.
I'm going
to mess
with your
heads, I'm
not going
to give
you a
sinner's
prayer,
but I'm
going to
tell you
that some
of us
may be
the
Holy
Spirit
pressing
upon you
that you
need to
try to
do
some
type
of
business
with
God.
Some
of you
might
just
say,
Father,
I confess
that even
though I
have given
my life
to you,
I have
so much
of the
older
brother
in me,
and Father,
maybe for
the first
time,
or maybe
just the
courage to
say,
Father,
I hate
it.
I hate
it.
I don't
want to
have that
older
brother be
the dominant
voice in
my life.
And maybe
for some
of us,
we're saying,
you know,
I need to
be that
younger son
and come
to the
father.
And you
know what,
maybe all
you have
to do,
because God's
not looking
for perfect
prayer,
is all you
have to do
in your
heart and
soul and
point at
that picture
and say
to God,
God,
I want
that to
be me.
I want
that to
be me.
And because
it's all
about Jesus
finding the
sheep,
and Jesus
finding the
coin,
and Jesus
seeing us
when we're
a long
way off,
that'll
work just
fine.
Let's
bow our
heads in
prayer.
Father,
you know
how much
of the
older brother
is in
each of
us.
You know
how much
of the
older brother
is in
us as a
congregation.
Father,
we repent
of it.
We ask
Father that
you would
deliver us
from this.
We ask
Father that
your Holy
Spirit would
come into
our lives
and quieten
that,
still that,
heal that,
rebuke that,
help us to
put it to
death.
Father,
thank you
that Jesus
came to
seek and
save the
lost.
Jesus came
so that the
dead will
be made
alive,
that the
lost will
be found.
Thank you
Father for
Jesus,
for what he
did for us
on the
cross.
Father,
we are all
younger brothers
as well,
and we come
to Jesus
yet again.
We come
to you
Father yet
again.
We thank
you Father
that you
will in
no ways
cast out
any who
come to
you through
Jesus.
We thank
you Father
that you
will clothe
us with
your finest
robe as we
stand before
you.
No longer
destitute,
but embraced
by you and
clothed with
your finery,
not because of
our merits,
but because of
what Jesus
has done.
Father,
we ask
that you
would make
us disciples
gripped by
the gospel,
gripped by
these gospel
stories,
make us
disciples gripped
by the gospel,
living for
your glory,
seeking for
the lost,
praying for
the lost,
and putting
to death
the older
brother in
our hearts.
And all
this we ask
in the name
of Jesus,
your son,
and our
savior.
Amen.