The Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son, 4/24/16

Sermon April 24 – the prodigal son          Lk 15:11-32

The context – vs the Pharisees

The Pharisees statement – tax collectors and sinners

Lost sheep, lost coin, lost son

They are cast as the elder son, the sinners as the prodigal

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³ “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. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ “When 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! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ 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; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Series on parables

Prodigal son

Timely even in Jesus day

Even in Jesus day, people had trouble w their kids

The fact that Jesus told this story tells me that Jesus cared about this

He had no children, but he got it

People worried about their kids

People still worry about their kids

Don’t let your worry about your kids ruin your life

Side bar, he ignores the law……. Jesus was unscriptural [not a biblical literalist]

There is a new way, a new sheriff in town – focus on the law is gone, now we focus on grace

¹⁸ If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰ They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹ Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.  Deut 21:18

Retitle the story – the parable of the lost sons.  Both are lost.

Some of us have had the prodigal but we have all been the prodigal

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory romans 3:23

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way; Isaiah 53:6

The sons request means—he wants his father to die.

This is horrible……… you cant die soon enough for me… I want it now

And so we are all pulled by the voice of the world—where he found no consolation; only an empty longing for home;

We long for return - Henry Nouwen

To be united with our parents to be connected

Me and Dad – I didn’t even know what I did…………..

There is so much sadness in this story.

So much needless suffering.  Most of it self inflicted.

Whatever he had lost, be it his money, his friends, his reputation, his self-respect, his inner joy and peace—one or all—he still remained his father’s child.

When we cant see the grace- HOW SAD

But we have trouble returning because of the older brother

We have low self esteem

And someone is going to judge us

Older brother

Last week we talked about the unmerciful servant and how he focused on what someone owed him, instead of what the king had done for him.  Jesus wanted peter to think not about what was done to him, but instead to think about what was done for him by God

If you catch yourself being plagued by jealousy, anger, touchiness, sullenness, or a subtle self-righteousness.  If you catch yourself complaining and being riddled with resentment, you might just be dealing with older brother syndrome.

The sad proximity of virtue or sainthood and self-righteousness

Self-righteousness so easily becomes attached to our virtue and we are no longer virtuous

  the resentful “saint” is lost but it is so hard to see because it is so closely wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous.

Returning home from a lustful escapade seems so much easier than returning home from a cold anger that has rooted itself in the deepest corners of his being. 

 resentment is not something that can be easily distinguished and dealt with rationally.

Then there is the Father!  Thank God!  This story just took a turn for the better!

Many Xians would have the prodigal kneel and beg for forgiveness

Extravagant.  Wasteful!

·        Here is the God I want to believe in:

·        a Father who, from the beginning of creation, has stretched out his arms in merciful blessing,

·        never forcing himself on anyone, but always waiting,

·        never letting his arms drown in despair,

·        but always hoping that his children will return so that he can speak words of love to them and let his tired arms rest on the shoulders. 

·        His only desire is to love us.

Here lies hidden the great call to conversion:  to learn to look not with the eyes of my own low self-esteem, but with the eyes of God’s love.  As long as I keep looking at God as a landowner, as a father who wants to get the most out of me for the least cost, I cannot but become jealous, bitter, and resentful toward my fellow workers

or my brothers and sisters.

Party – a party was thrown

I realize that I am not used to the image of God throwing a big party.  It seems to contradict the solemnity and seriousness I have always attached to God. 

We can eat out any time that we want.

No big deal for us, huge for people that live in food scarce times

But when I think about the ways in which Jesus describes God’s Kingdom, a joyful banquet is often at its center.

We long for return, so do it

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, Come home, come home, ye who are weary

But the good news here is not just that we come home.

Jesus sets and example for the Pharisees and the sinners present…….

We are invited to Become the father

Celebration Service

Celebration Service



I was glad they said to me, let us go to the house of he Lord

The rich young ruler
Tell story
It was about his heart

Abraham & Issac
Tell story
It was about his heart

Woods Chapel
Tell story
It was about their heart
I celebrate your heart

I celebrate the God who calls
Much work has been done by God always plays the principle role in the drama rescue
I celebrate his love
i celebrate his mercy
i celebrate his forgiveness
I celebrate his grace

All that you have done in last 25 years

I celebrate the people
Young children will learn the stories of the Bible
Youth will have a safe lace to hear the claims of the Gospel
Adults will bring their children to learn, find something good for them
Marriages will have the opportunity to be saved
Those who do not believe that church had anything to offer them will find that they do have a place where they fit in
The lost will be found
The broken will be healed
People will find hope, community, purpose in Jesus Christ

Tomorrow for the first time, these people will sit in this room and seek God
I celebrate what you will do to reach them
I celebrate what God will do to reach them

Let God be glorified
I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord

I invite you now to sing along and celebrate, the house that mercy build.

Mercy-Grace-Forgiveness Matthew 18 1-16-05

Sermon 1-16-05 Mercy-Grace-forgiveness Mt 18
Introin the culture that Jesus was born into, mercy was a character flaw; the ideal was justice. "This was the moral climate in which Christianity taught that mercy is one of the primary virtues -- that a merciful God requires humans to be merciful.
Justice is getting what we deserve.Mercy is not getting what we deserve.Grace is getting better than we deserve.

Forgiveness is often a process…..Grace is ongoing
Mercy is a point in time, a choice we make that begins the process of granting forgiveness and extending grace

My first ticket: I expected mercy and was wrong
We do not receive mercy in court….we receive justice. We are not used to mercy.
In life….We don’t expect to be granted it.
Consequently we end up carrying enormous burdens……why is so and so, so unhappy? Why are they so mad all the time? They are carrying the guilt of every sin + of others sisns that they wont forgive

Body
1. Scripture: what God does
God has set the example of granting mercy…lavishly

Scripture: what we do:
fail
While peter is asking about forgiving others [show mercy] and is considering how he has been done wrong, Jesus responds by talking about the forgiveness that you have received. Jesus turns it around…to what degree have you been forgiven. If you have received mercy then let it go

This provides Some things to think about:
We can be burdened or we can let go
When you let go it begins a cleansing process…if you don’t let go you are holding onto a cow chip. How sad it was for the unmerciful servant to carry around a cow chip

The role of mercy and forgiveness in marriage…many cow chips in marriage
When your pride gets in the way
When your expectations get in the way
When your insecurities get in the way

The glory of relationships is not the fun times or the times we really connected. The crowning joy of a lasting relationship is the ability that we have to deliver mercy to another. To pardon their sins, to help them know that they are still loved. It rises above going on a honeymoon or a vacation, or any number of life’s joys. To give mercy to another is to give a gift, which cannot be valued:

Jesus hints….We can change:
Mercy may mean only that you decide to let it go….they don’t have to come over for dinner. You begin to believe that God can love them, that they are special to him, and that maybe with Gods help, I could learn to see you the way that God sees you.

It doesn’t mean that you don’t still feel anger or frustration…..it just means that you have made a conscious choice to let go. To focus on God instead of the event or the person….and that’s not a bad thing
in granting mercy you break the cycle of revenge and hatred.

Mercy sees, not the enormity of the deed, but the enormity of the need to be forgiven. We should never say…that is too much to be forgiven…rather we should say, that sin needs more than ever to be forgiven.

When a child comes in from play with a dirty face, we don’t say….you are too dirty to be washed…we say…you need more than anything to be washed

Someone’s story….I was very judgmental….I saw people do things and I said….how could they….I would never…..then later in life, in a particular time of my life, I found my self do ing some of those very things. I began to understand my own humanity, my own broken ness, my own need for forgiveness. I am very glad for the forgiveness offered and I find it much easier now to understand and forgive the struggles of others.

The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me.
By granting mercy We can find Joy:
A picture of our need for forgiveness should not take us to despair, for it ends not in condemnation but in mercy, grace and joy…….and in our expanded ability to forgive others……

If we reflect on a time when we did something wrong and another person forgave us, we can see how good it felt and we can remember the release. We forgive, not just for ourselves, but as a gift. It is something we can give to another.

Why is granting mercy such a gift? Why is it the pinnacle of love? We are saying…I will go on loving the life in you, the soul in you even when I abhor what you have done or what you stand for. I will attempt to see you as my equal, you life has equal value to my own, even tho I despise what you did.

You cannot kill the evil in the world, but by extending mercy, you can transform moments dominated by evil to moments dominated by love

God’s mercy to us is huge
It is absurd to spurn/ignore/forget such grace
How can you understand and accept Gods mercy and still not grant it to others

Conclusion
When Allied troops liberated the Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1945, they stumbled onto the indescribable horror of he Nazi Moloch-machine in which 92,000 women and children had died. But they also came across signs of unquenchable faith. The following words were found written on a piece of wrapping paper near the body of a dead child:O Lord,Remember not only the men and women of goodwill,But also those of ill will.But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us,Remember the fruits we brought thanks to this suffering,Our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility,The courage, the generosity,The greatness of heart which has grown out of all this.And when they come to judgment,Let all the fruits that we have borne, Be their forgiveness. Amen

Maybe you have never really yet understood that you are loved and forgivne that in Christ, God has delivered his mercy to you.

Maybe there is someone that God is asking you to forgive….it doesn’t make sense, you may not want to, but God is asking you

Maybe you have been weighed down with the burden of another’s actions, and your inability to grant mercy and forgive…it is time to let go