WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.000 Good morning everyone. Good morning. Our reading today is being taken from Luke 15 verses 11 to 32. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:26.000 ! Jesus continued, there was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:41.000 So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:52.000 After he'd spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:01:01.000 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:09.000 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:20.000 Then he came to his senses. He said, How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:29.000 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:37.000 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:49.000 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:02:01.000 He ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:11.000 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Quick, bring the best robe and put on him. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:30.000 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:38.000 Meanwhile, the elder son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:46.000 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:57.000 And your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:05.000 The elder brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:16.000 But he answered his father, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:22.000 Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:32.000 But when this son of yours who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:40.000 My son, the father said, You are always with me and everything I have is yours. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:47.000 But we have to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:51.000 He was lost and is found. Amen. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:04:04.000 That's great. Thank you, Sharon, for reading for us. Let's pray as we come to God's word. Let's pray. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:11.000 Heavenly Father, we come and we want to humble ourselves before you and acknowledge our need of you. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:19.000 As we've been thinking with the children, we don't want to hold on to our sins so that we might not take hold of Christ. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:25.000 And so this morning we say that we're sorry and we long for more of Jesus. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:34.000 So we pray that you might open our eyes and our hearts this morning, that you might do your work in our hearts for your glory and for our good. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:39.000 Through your word, by your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Amen. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:52.000 There's a big clue in the very beginning of the reading that has just been read for us that this parable of Jesus is not about one lost son. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:05:09.000 Look at verse 11. There was a man who had two sons, two sons, which means really that this parable is not about one lost son as the paragraph heading has it in your NIV, but rather two, two. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:15.000 Not just one way to be lost and hopeless, but two ways to be lost and hopeless. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:21.000 And I want you to see that with me together this morning as we look at both the younger brother and the older brother and then the father. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:26.000 So let's think through the characters in the story. And we're going to start with the younger brother. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Now, starting with the younger brother, his lostness, I think, is supposed to be obvious to us. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:42.000 In verse 12, if you look down at it, he asks his father to give him his share of the estate, which, if you think about it, is a very rude thing to ask your father for. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:54.000 What is he saying? If you say to your father, who is still alive, Dad, what I really want is what's coming to me when you die. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:01.000 What you are saying to your dad is you would be better for me if you were dead. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:07.000 I would prefer it if you were dead, because then I'd get my inheritance and I'd be rich. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:17.000 And despite the rudeness of it at the end of verse 12, the father graciously divides the property between the two sons and the younger brother takes his share and leaves. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:23.000 Now, we're not given much detail about what the younger brother does with his newfound wealth. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:29.000 We're given it one ominous line which says that he squandered it on wild living. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:40.000 What's involved in that is left mostly, I think, to our imaginations because the point is in verse 14 that the money is run out very quickly. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000 It's all gone. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:46.000 And the same time, a famine hits the land, so there's no food and no money. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.000 And the younger brother has no friends and he ends up hiring himself out to feed pigs. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:07:01.000 And the situation is so desperate that in verse 16, if you look down at that, he's longing to eat the pig food himself because no one gave him anything. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.000 He had nothing. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:10.000 I think what you're supposed to see if you're reading the story, you're supposed to see this is rock bottom for a young Jewish boy. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.000 It doesn't get any worse than this for a young Jewish boy. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Pigs are unclean animals to Jews and the Old Testament law forbade them from eating them and keeping them thereby. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:30.000 And, you know, even if you are allowed to eat pork, right, still eating pig food is not something that any of us would want to do in any culture. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.000 And yet here he is. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 This is where wishing his father dead has got him. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.000 It's got him to the pigsty. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.000 He's hungry. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:40.000 He's desperate. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.000 He's miserable. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.000 He's lost. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.000 And he's all alone. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000 Now, you and I, we read that story. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.000 You know, don't you, that lostness can still look like that, can't it? 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:53.000 You know, the kid who cuts loose, who lives recklessly and ends up in a mess. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.000 We know that story all too well. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:03.000 They might not end up in a pigsty, but they might end up with a prison sentence or in a rehab clinic or in a homeless shelter. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:08.000 But there's supposed to be more to this story, I think, than just foolish living. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Because as Jesus tells the story, we're supposed to notice that the father in the story is a representative of God. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:21.000 And the lostness of the younger brother is ours spiritually, even while it might not be ours physically. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:31.000 So sinful rebellion, in effect, is saying to God with the younger brother, as he says to his father, he's saying to God, you know what, God? 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.000 You would be better for me if you were dead. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:43.000 God, I would like the blessings that you offer, the riches that you offer, but I don't really want you. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:50.000 Can you remove yourself and still give me those blessings, please? 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.000 Give me the good of your creation, but leave me alone to enjoy it in self-indulgence. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.000 God, I don't want to hear about your rules. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.000 I don't want to hear about your expectations. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.000 I don't want to hear about the debt I owe. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:03.000 I just want to take your stuff and I want to run. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.000 Now, perhaps if you're honest this morning, you can see that in your own heart. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:15.000 If you're like me and you are actually a younger sibling, then typically this is what we are like, right? 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:20.000 You know, our older siblings, they choose the safe option, the quiet life, the respectable career. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.000 We choose excitement and rebellion, the big city and the bright lights. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.000 Rules are there to be broken. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.000 On my first day at secondary school, as I was sat outside the headteacher's office, 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:36.000 my older sister walked past me and said, typical. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:41.000 And this is where our hearts are drawn, isn't it? 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:45.000 To rebellion against authority and against God here. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.000 And Jesus warns us that it leads to a pigsty, physically and spiritually. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:54.000 And maybe you know that only too well this morning. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:01.000 Perhaps that's where you are in a mess of your own making, estranged from God and lost. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:04.000 Perhaps this morning you too are rock bottom. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.000 Nowhere to go. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 But what about the other son? 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.000 What about the older brother? 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:10.000 Think about the older brother. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.000 This is where I think we need to lock in and think about his lostness, 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.000 because I don't think it's quite as obvious. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.000 For the younger brother, his lostness is written all over the walls of the pigsty. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.000 But for the older brother, his lostness is just as real. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.000 It's just more difficult to see. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:30.000 So notice in verse 12, he also receives his share of the estate from his father. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.000 He too got the money. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:32.000 He got the share. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 But he didn't leave and squander it on wild living and prostitutes. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 He accuses that he accuses his brother of doing. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Instead, he stays close to his father and works hard. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 That seems like a good thing to do, doesn't it? 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:50.000 But we're meant to notice that amidst his hard work, there is something deeply wrong with this older brother. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:59.000 Because despite his close proximity to the father, what becomes clear is that he has no greater affection for his father than his younger brother does. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:00.000 Notice how he speaks. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Look down at verse 29. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:06.000 Notice that he says that he has been slaving for his father. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:12.000 All these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:17.000 And then he accuses his father of being stingy with him. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 So he's, I'm a hired hand to you. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.000 I'm a slave. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.000 And you never gave me even a young goat to celebrate with. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:31.000 Now, regardless of whether that's true or not, and I suspect it's not, what really makes this older brother angry is not just his stinginess towards him, 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:34.000 but it is his generosity towards the younger brother. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:37.000 That makes the older brother furious. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.000 So angry that he refuses to go into the party. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:45.000 Now, at this point in the story, you might have some sympathy for the older brother. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 Now, why shouldn't he be mad? 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.000 You know, he's worked all those years for his father. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:56.000 The younger brother has just gone off, squandered all the money, lived a wild life, and has now come back and there's a party for him. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.000 And I've been working really hard, and I've never had a party. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.000 That doesn't seem fair. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:16.000 But actually, the assumption that the older brother is making is that he doesn't ever need his father's grace and kindness. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.000 You know, he thinks, doesn't he, that actually people should get what they earn. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.000 You know, if you work hard, then you get to live well. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.000 If you run away, then you get judgment. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 And he assumes that he doesn't need his father's grace and kindness. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:35.000 He assumes that everything he needs from his father, he is capable of earning it from his father, and his father should give it to him. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:43.000 Pastor Tim Keller, who wrote a book on this parable, points out that the older brother's refusal to join the party was no small matter. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:47.000 It was a significant slight on his father's character. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:55.000 From the way the story is written, we are meant to see that the party for the found younger brother is really a very large celebration. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:00.000 The best robe is brought out, the family jewelry is used, the fattened calf is killed. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.000 This is likely the largest celebration that the father has ever conducted. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.000 And the whole community would have been included. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.000 And so it was obvious to everybody that the older brother was not there and not involved in the party. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:17.000 It's obvious that he disapproved of his father's kindness. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:23.000 So while his brother has stayed and worked, he is not found in the pigsty but in the field. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.000 Still he has no respect for his father. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.000 And he too slights the father's character. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:33.000 You know, his brother wished his father dead so he could get his money. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:38.000 The older brother wished his father gave him more money on the grounds of what he did. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.000 See, listen, both brothers, didn't they, they wanted a life free from the father's restraints. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:48.000 One of them thought the best way was to run away and the other thought the best way was to buy it. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:59.000 It's interesting, isn't it, that this idea becomes even clearer when you see the context of the parable. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:08.000 So if you look down at chapter 15, verse 1, you'll notice in chapter 15, verse 1, that Luke tells you Jesus is telling this parable to tax collectors and Pharisees. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.000 The Pharisees are listening to Jesus and watching him hang out with tax collectors, as Ray pointed out to us earlier. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.000 And in the story, the tax collectors are clearly the younger brothers, aren't they? 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:21.000 They're the ones who have just run away from God. 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:25.000 They've abandoned God and they're collecting money for the Roman rulers. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:30.000 And the older brothers, well, they're the Pharisees, aren't they? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:36.000 The tax collectors might be in the pigsty of their own greed, but the Pharisees are lost in their religious obedience. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 They assume that God owes them because they've been good. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:45.000 And Jesus' point to these Pharisees is, no, you're just as lost as a tax collector. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.000 Lost not in immorality, but lost in religion. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.000 Offended by the mercy of God, even though that's what you need. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:58.000 Let's just try and slow down a minute and think about these two kinds of lostness. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.000 The lostness of the younger brother is obvious, isn't it? 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000 Wicked, wild, out for himself. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:06.000 And like I've said, perhaps that's you this morning. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.000 Perhaps it's a surprise to you that you're in church this morning. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.000 It's quite out of character. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.000 Well, you're very welcome here. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.000 It's good that you're with us. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.000 But perhaps you're not like that this morning. 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.000 And perhaps it bugs you the idea that God does forgive undeserving people. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:23.000 Perhaps you're lost in an older brother way. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.000 Perhaps you're lost in religion. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:35.000 Perhaps you assume this morning that your own moral effort, your own goodness, your own desire to come to church, to read a Bible, to know a few church songs, to believe in God, 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:38.000 means that you're not as bad as those younger brothers out there. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.000 So you don't need God's mercy. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.000 You need God to give you what you earn. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.000 And so you look down at others. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.000 And you're angry that God might forgive the undeserving. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.000 Now, of course, this morning, it's a great question to ask. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.000 This is a great place to ask this question. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.000 It's a great place to ask the question, am I an older brother? 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.000 You know this is the right place to ask it, don't you? 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:06.000 Because churches, mosques and temples are places where older brothers come to hang out. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.000 This is their idea of a good time. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:14.000 People who are confident in their own religious abilities, that they don't see a problem that they can't fix. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.000 There's not a moral problem that they can't undo by their own obedience. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 That they can say a few more prayers than the next person. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.000 They can go on a few more pilgrimages. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.000 They can be a bit more serious than the average. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:31.000 And God, the universe, Allah or Lord Vishnu or whatever will owe them good health, happy marriage, a nice house, long life, 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.000 a peaceful death surrounded by people who love them with hymns playing in the background. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 There is, I think, a secular version to that religion as well. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 You know, perhaps this morning you don't believe in God. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.000 You're maybe agnostic. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:49.000 But you still think, don't you, that life is mostly about your own efforts. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:57.000 You know, your moral efforts to be a good person, to work harder than the rest, to put in the study, the overtime, the networking, to make life work. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.000 If you do those things, life will go well for you. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:07.000 But the story calls that view of life, whether you're religious or irreligious, it calls it lostness. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:08.000 Why? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.000 Well, because with the older brother it makes this fatal assumption. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:19.000 It assumes that life depends not on God's mercy, but on our effort. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:22.000 Look at verse 31. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.000 My son, the father says, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.000 Do you see what the father is saying to the older son? 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Listen, you're mistaken. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:46.000 If you think, older brother, that your existence depends on your morality, that you have never received grace or you don't need to receive grace from me. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:53.000 If you think that all that you have had is what you have earned, you have misunderstood the nature of our relationship. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:18:02.000 I've been reading a really interesting book over the summer called Your Only Human by a guy called Kelly Capic. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.000 He's a university professor in the United States. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:11.000 And in one of the chapters, he tells of an exercise he gives to students as they head home for the summer holidays. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:30.000 The assumption behind his exercise is that at some point in the university holidays, and I know there are some of you here who are on your university holidays, so you can tell me at the end whether this is true, that at some point in your holidays you will get fed up with your family that you have come back to see. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.000 At some point, at some point, your parents will annoy you. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.000 They will cramp your style. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:37.000 You will think that they are stupid. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:42.000 You will think they dress terribly and they're embarrassing and they are boring. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.000 And Capic tells his students, listen, I've got an exercise for you. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:54.000 When you get home and when you begin to feel like that, what I want you to do is, he says this, it's a bit weird, but listen to it. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.000 He says this, I want you to go and look at your belly button. 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:06.000 And he wants you to ask, what is it that you learn from your belly button? 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:10.000 Now, he is a university professor, so he puts it in more university language. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.000 He says, I want you to discuss the ontological significance of your belly button. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:16.000 But it's the same question, right? 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.000 It's just fancy language. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:20.000 What do you learn from your belly button? 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.000 Now, the answer is obvious, isn't it? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:29.000 What you learn is that your body itself is telling you you did not make yourself. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.000 That's what it's saying. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:38.000 Your body is telling you that the story of your life is not and cannot be the story of your own effort and energy. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:44.000 My story, your story, is a story about being given a life that we didn't earn. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.000 My body, your body says you had parents. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.000 Your parents had parents who had parents. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.000 Your parents, you wore a nappy that needed to be changed. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:55.000 You needed to be fed. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.000 And that in a profound sense, humanity is fragile and grace dependent every moment. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:08.000 Not only in our relationships with one another, but even more profoundly in our relationship with God Himself. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:13.660 You see, this is the blindness of religion or of a kind of agnostic self-help. 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:21.400 It cannot see, it will not see, that the God who made us gave us everything by his grace. 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:27.920 Our life, our abilities, our health, the place we live, our family, our friends, our money. 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:29.599 None of it came from us. 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:31.160 We were given it. 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:40.220 And so the idea that we can take what we have been given as a gift and we can use it to earn credits is craziness, isn't it? 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:50.000 It's the spiritual equivalent of buying yourself a meal on my credit card and then asking me to pay you back for the meal that you bought on my credit. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:21:04.539 The God who made us, who formed us, who gave us our bodies, who knows all about us, the idea that he would be spiritually purchased by your desire to wear a particular kind of outfit is craziness, isn't it? 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:11.359 The idea that God would be in your debt, the God who numbers all of your days and gave you all of your time, 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:20.099 the idea that you could purchase from him credit by attending church with some of your time is nuts, isn't it? 00:21:21.699 --> 00:21:23.399 And Jesus doesn't call it nuts. 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:25.000 He says it's lostness. 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:27.139 It's the lostness of an older brother. 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:29.439 So that's the two brothers. 00:21:29.899 --> 00:21:31.839 But the other character in the story is the father. 00:21:32.439 --> 00:21:38.740 And what I want you to see as we think about the father is that because of what the father is like, there is good news for lost brothers. 00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:43.680 If you look down at verse 17, you'll notice the younger brother comes to his senses. 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:49.740 It's not so much, I don't think, in verse 17 that he realizes that his father is merciful and generous. 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:56.140 Rather, he realizes, doesn't he, that the pigsty is far worse conditions than any of his father's hired servants. 00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:57.900 So he writes a speech. 00:21:58.740 --> 00:21:59.460 Verse 18, 00:21:59.620 --> 00:22:01.819 Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.539 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:06.759 Make me like one of your hired servants. 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:13.200 Now, if that's all that was written, you might assume that the younger brother saved himself by becoming an older brother. 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:15.099 Sounds like an older brother kind of statement, doesn't it? 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.859 Make me one of your hired servants. 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:17.599 I'm a slave. 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:18.879 I will always obey your orders. 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:21.400 But that's not what happens, is it? 00:22:21.420 --> 00:22:22.319 Look at verse 20. 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:26.680 And you'll notice that while the son is still a long way off, the father sees him. 00:22:27.339 --> 00:22:28.740 Why does the father see him? 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.400 Well, the point is because the father has been looking for him. 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:34.519 And as he sees him, he is, verse 20, filled with compassion. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:36.940 The father's heart goes out to the son. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:40.440 And he runs to him, throws his arms around him, and kisses him. 00:22:41.540 --> 00:22:43.300 Now, the shock of this, I think, passes us by. 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:51.740 But scholars tell you that for a grown man in the ancient Near East to kind of hoik up his robe and expose his legs and run towards a rebellious son, 00:22:51.820 --> 00:22:53.800 that was not only unheard of, it was shameful. 00:22:55.040 --> 00:22:56.820 The boy should have been put on trial. 00:22:56.819 --> 00:23:04.919 The boy should have been shamed himself, but instead, it's as if the father takes on the shame of the younger son and runs after him, 00:23:05.619 --> 00:23:09.859 intercepting him before anyone can get to him, embracing him and bringing him home. 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:11.960 And then notice what happens. 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:13.019 This is the key to this. 00:23:13.399 --> 00:23:17.779 Notice that his rehearsed speech, the younger brother doesn't get to give it. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:19.759 He's cut off partway through. 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:20.740 Look down at verse 21. 00:23:21.179 --> 00:23:23.139 The son said to him, here's his rehearsed speech. 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:25.419 Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:27.460 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:23:27.860 --> 00:23:30.500 But, notice, the father cuts it in. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.460 The father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:36.560 Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:38.480 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. 00:23:38.580 --> 00:23:39.820 Let's have a feast and celebrate. 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:42.080 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:43.240 He was lost and is found. 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:47.360 The son isn't able, is he, to get his speech out. 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:51.660 He cannot make a promise of obedience before the father interrupts him with his grace. 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:56.340 And notice how the father describes what's happening in verse 24. 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:57.580 He describes the story. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.840 This is not a lost son coming to his senses and promising obedience. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:03.740 This is a lost son being found. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.100 This is a dead son being made alive. 00:24:06.560 --> 00:24:08.700 This is an unworthy son receiving mercy. 00:24:09.060 --> 00:24:10.880 And that's what the celebration is about. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:16.180 It's a remarkable picture, isn't it, that Jesus is painting of God here. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.480 God, says Jesus, is not distant. 00:24:20.060 --> 00:24:20.980 He's not cold. 00:24:21.340 --> 00:24:23.080 He's not disinterested in lost people. 00:24:23.540 --> 00:24:28.060 Rather, God the father is on the lookout for lost sons and daughters. 00:24:28.740 --> 00:24:32.540 And he is willing to take on the shame of their sin. 00:24:33.080 --> 00:24:34.860 He is willing to run towards them. 00:24:35.180 --> 00:24:36.840 He's willing to welcome them home. 00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:44.699 Listen, welcome them home, not on the promise of their obedience, but on the grounds of his grace and his mercy. 00:24:46.439 --> 00:24:53.019 And more than just that, Jesus says that when sinners return to God like that, there is a great celebration, joy in heaven. 00:24:54.939 --> 00:25:02.699 Let me say this morning, if you're a younger brother, you need to know, don't you, that there is a gracious father who loves you. 00:25:02.700 --> 00:25:09.680 And whatever the pigsty that you're in this morning, whatever mess you're in, wherever that has taken you, whatever it is that you have done, 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:17.360 what you need to hear this morning from this story is that the Lord reaches out to you to find you and to bring you home. 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:22.160 Not on the promise of your obedience, but on the promise of his grace and his mercy. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:27.960 But notice how the father treats the older brother as well. 00:25:29.040 --> 00:25:32.900 Notice that he reaches out to the lost older brother. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:34.160 Look at the end of verse 28. 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:41.900 You'll see that just like the father looked out for the younger brother, waited and watched, now he leaves the party for his older brother too. 00:25:42.800 --> 00:25:50.700 This time he doesn't hoik up his robe and run, but he leaves the celebration really for the shame and the misery of the older brother on the outside. 00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:54.600 He pleads with this older brother to come in. 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:59.080 Just like with the younger brother, the father offers him grace and kindness. 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.740 Come and join the party. 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:02.019 Come and celebrate. 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:04.319 Come, eat, drink, dance. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:07.259 And then the story ends, doesn't it? 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:09.039 We don't know what happens to the older brother. 00:26:09.120 --> 00:26:10.180 That's the hanging question. 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:15.480 Because really the parable is taught by Jesus because he's reaching out to lost older brothers and saying, 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:18.080 Listen, will you come? 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:20.380 Will you come home? 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:22.279 Will you join the party? 00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:26.039 So maybe that's you this morning. 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:27.440 Maybe you're an older brother. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:31.799 Lost in your own good works and your own religion. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:34.680 This is a word of the Lord for you, isn't it? 00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:41.819 The father is inviting you to leave the lostness of your religion and good works and join the party of his grace. 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:45.100 Listen, stop pretending that you made it on your own. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:47.920 Stop pretending that your work's not his grace. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.039 It's what your life is about. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:54.379 It's an invitation, isn't it, from Jesus to you to turn from trusting yourself and turn to him. 00:26:55.980 --> 00:26:57.299 Don't stay out of the party. 00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:03.059 But just notice exactly what this repentance will be like for older brothers. 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:10.539 Repentance for the older brother is not just saying sorry for the wrong things he's done. 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:15.000 Religious people are always sad about the wrong things they've done. 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:17.579 And that's how religion works, yeah? 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:23.139 Religion makes you feel guilty and then tells you what to do about your guilty feelings. 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:30.340 So religious people, they pray about their sin, they weep about their sin, they perform sacrifices for their sin. 00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:38.300 But if this story is true, what religious people need to be sorry for is not only the wrong deeds that they have done, 00:27:38.560 --> 00:27:42.420 they also need to repent for the good deeds that they have done. 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:49.259 Because repentance means owning the fact that those good deeds have been done for selfish purposes. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:51.600 Do you see that? 00:27:51.800 --> 00:27:56.860 If I do good things for the purpose of purchasing my salvation, 00:27:57.140 --> 00:28:00.320 I have done them for my own good and my own benefit, 00:28:00.320 --> 00:28:03.060 and they have themselves become evil. 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:07.460 And so we need to say, don't we, with the younger brother, 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:10.480 Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:11.700 I own it. It was me. 00:28:12.460 --> 00:28:13.940 It was my fault. I did it. 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:16.159 I did it for myself and for my own self-interest. 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:19.639 You know, I might not have been wild living like my brother, 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:21.259 but I was no better in my heart. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.079 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:26.859 I've looked, God, 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.919 and I've concluded that I have nothing to give you. 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:32.440 I have nothing to bring to you that you should owe me. 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:34.159 I'm not worthy. 00:28:35.159 --> 00:28:36.919 I repent of my church attendance. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.000 I repent of trusting in my good deeds. 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:42.559 I repent of trusting in my Christian heritage. 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:45.899 I repent of trusting the fact that one day I was baptized, 00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:48.399 or one day I took the Lord's Supper. 00:28:48.779 --> 00:28:50.859 Lord, none of those things can I offer to you. 00:28:51.019 --> 00:28:52.799 None of those merit your salvation. 00:28:53.659 --> 00:28:55.319 Sorry, Lord, that I trusted in them. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:01.179 If you've been coming to the Drop-In Community Group on a Wednesday night, 00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:04.259 we've been running through these parables of Jesus. 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.400 One of the things that we've noticed is that parables kind of work like jokes. 00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:08.620 Yeah? 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:10.820 So jokes have a punchline and a point. 00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:13.340 They're trying to make one point and make it clearly and well. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:14.519 And that's it here, right? 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:19.920 Jesus calls younger brothers and older brothers to repent and come back to a gracious father. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.240 That's the point of the story. 00:29:22.339 --> 00:29:24.500 But I want, just as we finish, for you to think with me, 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:28.019 what does Jesus think will make people repent? 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:32.700 How does he call younger brothers and older brothers to repent? 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:36.779 What will do this miracle in their hearts, right? 00:29:36.940 --> 00:29:39.420 What will make the dead sons alive again? 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:41.360 What will find the lost? 00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:43.200 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:45.779 Because Jesus doesn't just stand up and say to everybody, 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.400 you just need to repent. 00:29:49.620 --> 00:29:51.779 He does something really interesting in the story. 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:54.019 The assumption of Jesus is that it is, 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.559 as you see the graciousness of the Father, 00:29:58.120 --> 00:29:59.539 you will be drawn to him. 00:29:59.539 --> 00:30:04.720 This is why, you know you can't force anyone to be a Christian. 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:06.059 You know that, don't you? 00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:08.460 You can force someone to become a Muslim. 00:30:08.859 --> 00:30:11.279 You can force someone to become a Catholic or an atheist even, 00:30:11.339 --> 00:30:12.940 because you just tell them what to do, 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:15.139 and you force them to do those activities. 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:16.559 And the job is done. 00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:20.299 But the Christian, the kind of Christian that Jesus is talking about here, 00:30:20.659 --> 00:30:23.799 comes by not an external change of behavior, 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:25.940 but an internal change of heart. 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:28.920 And you can't force that on anyone, can you? 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:31.119 Only God can do that. 00:30:31.879 --> 00:30:36.200 And he does that by showing you his grace and his goodness and his kindness. 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:41.299 It's as you see the beauty and glory and wonder of God, 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:45.159 that you, in a way, kind of, you fall in love with him 00:30:45.159 --> 00:30:49.119 and are drawn to him as you see what he's like. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.679 And that's what's going on in this story. 00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:55.299 Jesus is painting a picture for us of a loving father, 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.799 a father who loves lost sons, be they younger brothers or older brothers, 00:31:00.119 --> 00:31:01.619 and draws them to himself, 00:31:01.959 --> 00:31:05.519 a father who will kill the fattened calf for the wayward son, 00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:09.659 who will go outside the party to the older brother and draw him in. 00:31:09.660 --> 00:31:15.600 Now, of course, it's not just the parable that tells us of the gracious father. 00:31:15.860 --> 00:31:18.120 The rest of Jesus' ministry tells us that. 00:31:18.820 --> 00:31:21.380 So we know what's only hinted at in the parable, don't we? 00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:24.779 You know, God the father in the parable is sort of leaning on the fence, 00:31:24.900 --> 00:31:26.360 looking out for his lost sons. 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:31.300 But we know that God the father doesn't just kind of lean over the fence and look for them. 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:35.440 God the father sends his only son to look for lost sinners. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:41.299 God the father sends the son to put on human flesh, 00:31:41.299 --> 00:31:43.759 to come and look for people like you and me. 00:31:44.779 --> 00:31:50.180 And in the person of the son, the triune God doesn't just take on the shame of an older brother 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:54.519 or a younger brother by hooking up his robe and exposing his legs or by leaving the party. 00:31:54.940 --> 00:32:00.259 No, this triune God in the person of the son takes on flesh and dies on the cross, 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:03.059 taking the punishment that our sins deserve. 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:07.839 Not just the humiliation of leaving a party to speak to a moody brother, 00:32:08.339 --> 00:32:12.200 but the humiliation of a sham trial, being put outside, 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.480 not only the glories of heaven, but outside the city in the place of the scar. 00:32:17.639 --> 00:32:20.700 You know, in this story that the father absorbs the financial cost 00:32:20.700 --> 00:32:23.579 and the shame of welcoming his returning son. 00:32:24.519 --> 00:32:26.299 He gets out the best of his things, doesn't he? 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:29.279 The best robe, the best ring, the fattened calf. 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:32.180 And our triune God, father, son and spirit, 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:36.859 absorbs the moral cost and the justice of welcoming sinners home through the cross, 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:38.480 his death in our place, 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:42.819 so that you're not robed with the best robe in the wardrobe or a ring. 00:32:43.399 --> 00:32:46.279 You are robed with Christ's righteousness itself, 00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:51.639 celebrating not just for an evening with a calf, 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:54.460 but for all eternity, for a feast. 00:32:54.460 --> 00:32:58.900 And the point is that as we see that, 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:02.059 as you see that that's what God is like, 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.299 you will leave your sin and your lostness, 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:07.400 and you will turn back to the father. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:09.440 You will leave the pigsty, 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:12.240 you will drop the self-sufficient religious act, 00:33:12.340 --> 00:33:13.400 and say to the father, 00:33:13.600 --> 00:33:15.759 I have sinned against heaven and against you, 00:33:16.100 --> 00:33:18.340 I am no longer worthy to be called your child, 00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:20.440 but have mercy on me. 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:23.120 And if you're a Christian this morning, 00:33:23.740 --> 00:33:25.200 that's your story. 00:33:26.299 --> 00:33:28.519 And it's not just a story that you start with, 00:33:28.620 --> 00:33:33.880 it's a grace and a mercy that you depend on every single day. 00:33:34.360 --> 00:33:36.539 As we turn to the father and say, 00:33:36.820 --> 00:33:38.400 it's not because of me and what I've done, 00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:40.420 it's because of you and what you've done for me. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:41.680 I turn from my sin, 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:43.559 and I trust in you. 00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:44.820 Let me pray. 00:33:45.620 --> 00:33:46.259 As we close. 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:46.320 Let's close. 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:55.840 Let's just take a few moments in our own hearts to pray. 00:33:57.600 --> 00:33:59.779 Maybe there's a sin that you are holding onto 00:33:59.779 --> 00:34:01.559 that you need to let go of. 00:34:02.460 --> 00:34:04.400 Or perhaps for the very first time, 00:34:05.180 --> 00:34:08.159 turning back to the father who loves lost children. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:08.320 Amen. 00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:36.079 Heavenly Father, 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:38.679 we don't want to plead anything before you 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.599 except for your grace and your mercy. 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:44.659 We thank you that you are the father of this story, 00:34:45.260 --> 00:34:48.260 who welcomes lost children home. 00:34:48.260 --> 00:34:51.640 Thank you that you welcome us. 00:34:52.080 --> 00:34:55.880 Thank you that you didn't wait for us to come and turn to you, 00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:58.080 but you sent your son to find us. 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:00.840 Thank you that he calls out to us, 00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:01.720 even this morning, 00:35:02.420 --> 00:35:05.140 showing us your grace and your mercy and your kindness, 00:35:05.860 --> 00:35:07.460 that we might be drawn back to you. 00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:08.740 And so, 00:35:08.840 --> 00:35:08.940 Lord, 00:35:09.020 --> 00:35:10.380 we love you. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:11.900 We trust you. 00:35:12.500 --> 00:35:14.220 We want to live our lives for you, 00:35:14.219 --> 00:35:18.459 depending every day on your grace and your kindness to us. 00:35:18.819 --> 00:35:19.639 In Jesus' name. 00:35:20.179 --> 00:35:20.419 Amen. 00:35:20.419 --> 00:35:20.539 Amen. 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:23.539 Amen. 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:23.539