Pastor Dan
Eddy
Luke 15: 1-3,
11-32
“Will you
accept me/Me?”
3-14-10
P: The Holy Gospel according to the St. Luke,
the 15th Chapter:
C: Glory to
you, O Lord.
The parable of the Prodigal Son. This is the text for this morning’s
sermon.
1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering
around to hear him [Jesus]. 2But the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them."
3Then
Jesus told them this parable…
11..."There
was a man who had two sons. 12The 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. 14After
he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and
he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to
a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He
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 men have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and
go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and
against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son;
make me like one of your hired men.' 20So 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. 23Bring the
fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For
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. 26So 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. 29But 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. 30But
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. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this
brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
P: This is
the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
I.
Introduction….Unbelievable
story!!!!
If the Prodigal Son parable I just read were turned
into a movie, it would be panned by the critics and probably never win or even
be nominated for an Academy Award. If it were a Soap Opera or day-time drama,
the audience would view it as over-the-top or unrealistic. And that’s saying a
lot for a Soap.
Here are the unbelievable elements of this story. In
the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, fathers rarely, if ever, liquidated their
estates and then gave the money to their younger sons before the fathers died.
Young Jewish boys didn’t work jobs around the ceremonially unclean pigs. Sons,
who had taken money from their fathers’ estates and squandered it, didn’t
return to beg for mercy and thus face public shame.
And the father is the
most ridiculous character of them all. Running to greet his son? Would you do
that after your son disrespected you by taking your money and basically saying
you were dead to him? Besides running was undignified for a patriarchal figure
in the Jewish culture of that day. (Raise alb) Hiking up his tunic…how
embarrassing. And then for the father to welcome his son back under these
conditions…with no penance to pay back for all the wrongs he had done. Doesn’t
the father have any pride? Humiliating…especially when he greeted him fervently
kissing him…inconvincible. And then to restore him as his son, not a slave,
throwing a party for him…what a fool.
The only believable part
of this whole story is the older son’s response to the father: getting ticked
off because he’s out slaving in the field…trying to make up for the lost part
of the estate and he hears the black sheep of the family has come back and the
father’s throwing an expensive party. A young goat, cheaper meat was fine with
him…but dear old dad’s is roasting a side of Grade A beef…for this Prodigal
Son…come on.
I think many of us can identify with the older
brother’s anger. He’s paid his dues. He’s earned his right, and yet it seems he
doesn’t get treated with respect.
But Jesus was out to
make a point here. He exaggerated many elements of this most wise parable to
hone in on what the real issue is. Forgiveness and acceptance. Not
acceptance of one’s sinful actions, but accepting one who has been
forgiven.
The one forgiven by God says to you, “Will you
accept me?” Before you answer, let’s figure out what character you are in
this parable.
II.
Who
are you in the parable?
Are you the younger son? The immoral…the Ted
Bundies, the Tiger Woods, the people you know in life who hurt others. The ones
who frequently gossip; the sexually immoral; the embezzlers. The ones who live
for themselves without regard for people around them. The ones who want others
to clean up their messes.
Or are you the older son? The ones who appear to be
doing the right thing…a dedicated spouse, parent or child. The ones who appears
on the outside to follow most of God’s Commandments…most of the time. But as a
result, you are expecting rewards for being good, and you’ve been offended by
the “younger brothers” in your life, who seem to be big on begging for
forgiveness and low on good works and good decision making.
The bigger question is who is Jesus targeting with
this parable? Look at the first two verses:
1”Now the tax
collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
Hostility
existed between the ritually observant religious people and the non-observant.
Religious people criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and other
ritually impure people.
Now no doubt there’s a
little bit of each son within every one of us. But remember the goal of the
parable is accepting the one who is repentant and has been forgiven by God.
You see without the Father’s forgiveness…all of us…the moral and the immoral
are lost in our sins and will perish as a result of them.
In
his book, The Prodigal God, Reverend
Timothy Keller stated it this way: “Neither son loved the father for himself.
They were both using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than
loving, enjoying and serving him for his own sake.” How would you feel if
you knew you were being loved for what you have, not for who you are?
III. Jesus is our Prodigal God
God
doesn’t love you for what you have done, even if it’s good. He loves you in
spite of what you’ve done, because the bad is worse than you think, and the
good is not quite that great. God the Father loves for who are you, because His
Son Christ Jesus is in your hearts. He loves you for what His Son has done for
you from the cross.
Keller
adds, “For the younger son, it’s not the
repentance that causes the father’s love, but rather the reverse. The father’s
lavish affection makes the son’s expression of remorse far easier.”
You
see when we don’t forgive others like our Lord and Savior has forgiven us, then
we are basically putting our righteousness, our morality, our hard work in life
above God, and treating our heavenly Father like the older son was treating his
father. Notice he didn’t call his sibling “his
brother” but said “your son.”
Notice the parable is known as the Prodigal Son NOT the Prodigal Brother.
Have
you ever wondered what the word prodigal means? Recklessly extravagant. Having spent everything.
And
it’s really easy to see how that definition fits the younger son…all that money
recklessly spent on immoral, self-centered, narcissistic behavior. And when it
was all gone where did he turn? To the
one he knew loved him all along….the father. The father is in this parable
is Christ and He is the Prodigal God because Jesus was recklessly extravagant
to leave His Father in heaven and travel to this unclean land, called earth,
and spent everything with His death on the cross.
The
father in the parable had no concern about saving face or upholding family
honor; he only had compassion. He risked humiliation by running and taking the
initiative for forgiveness and restoration by embracing and kissing his son.
The father’s love is offered before the younger son’s confession. And he
welcomed him back as a son, not a slave. And he showed it with a robe, ring,
sandals, and a very expensive celebration.
This
morning God the Father through His Son by the Holy Spirit is running out to
meet you and restore you to Himself….to restore you as a son or daughter, not
as a slave.
At
your baptism, you were given Christ’s robe of righteousness; the ring that
marries you to salvation; and the royal sandals so you can walk in His
forgiveness.
The
banquet exhibited the price of the father’s reconciliation and the father’s
fellowship with repentant sinners.
If
you are repentant like the younger son, come to this very expensive, this
prodigal banquet this morning and feast on the our Lord and Savior’s bread of
life…His real body, and drink His true blood to know that everything is
forgiven, everything is alright with the Father. “Will you accept me, Jesus?”
“Yes, my sons and daughters
each and every time, because I have been recklessly extravagant in suffering
for you and spent everything, giving up My life, to make you My child.”
We
may have been lost by our sinful actions, resulting in perishing from God, but we
are found by Christ Jesus and are saved by His actions.
So
this morning to show you how much you are loved and valued by Jesus, I want you
to receive another cross piece: A shiny
gold coin. These days, gold is running at over $1100 for one tiny ounce. Almost
doubling in price in just the past five years.
I
mean really this gold coin doesn’t even begin represent how much you are worth
to God. You are not worth thousands, or millions, or billions, or trillions to
him…you are priceless. (Go to the Cross)
Because His Name is now your name. Because these weapons (three nails and spear) caused His death, these weapons now give you life. Because Jesus went to
the dark depths of death, He gives you the light of love and forgiveness, so we
can walk in the direction of righteousness…just like the younger brother
changed directions and came back home. You have been purchased with a price to
be His forever.
IV. Being
Prodigal Forgivers in Christ
So if our Lord and Savior is the Prodigal God
forgiving us, His prodigal sons and daughters, then Jesus wants you to be
prodigal when it comes to forgiving others who have hurt us like the “younger
brothers” we know in life.
I want you to think of someone in your life who has
hurt you; who is sorry for what they have done but you are not willing to
forgive them. I want you to think of those who have said horrible things about
you, the people who have stolen from you, the people who don’t respect you…or
how about the child molesters, the Wall Street embezzlers and I want you to
pretend they are standing in front of you willing to repentant, desiring God’s
forgiveness. Do you think of them as your brother or sister in Christ or are
they “His sons or daughters?”
Are
we, the elder brothers, deeply bitter at God because He doesn’t do things our
way to forgive only the people we want Him to forgive?
If
Tiger Woods had an affair with a family member of yours and he gave just you the apology he spoke a few
weeks ago, would you have forgiven him?
You see when it comes to
forgiveness; when it comes to repentant people, like the younger brother,
Jesus’ love is unconditional, even though all our sins have hurt Him. So, if
His love is unconditional then so is our forgiveness for those who confess
their sins.
So are we willing to
accept people into our congregation who have lived Prodigal Son lives, are
repentant, and received God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus?
I’m sure at one time we
acted like the younger brother to someone in our lives, wouldn’t you want them
to accept you? To forgive you for what you’ve done?
If
we don’t forgive like God in Christ Jesus has forgiven us, then we risk
becoming embittered like the older brother.
Note we never know the
response of the older son to the father’s request to come into the celebration.
Jesus probably left that part of the story so the Pharisees could answer for
themselves. To those who have hurt you,
if they ask “Will you accept me?” How will you answer?
The
more you meditate on the depths of your sin, the better you accept the depths
of God’s prodigal love given at your baptism. The more willing you are to
forgive others. Life is too short to hold grudges.
If
God saves those who trust in His power to forgive, then we love God by
forgiving others whom He loves.
We
can’t use our good deeds or hard work in the church as an excuse not to forgive
others we don’t like or who have hurt us. Forgive others even when it is
hardest to forgive them.
By
letting go of the sins others have committed against God and us, the effects of
the sin fallen world are lifted off of us. I recommend reading this short book, The Prodigal God. God’s Word in this
book helped me change some bitter feelings I had toward the “younger brothers” in my life
.
V.
Conclusion: “Will you accept Me?”
God
through Christ Jesus at the cross was recklessly extravagant and spent
everything to love you, save you, and make you His children. Jesus is saying, “Will you accept Me…by forgiving others?”
You
are priceless in His eyes. Now live as His Prodigal sons and daughters by
lavishly forgiving others, and living a prodigal life of true love, peace, and
contentment. Amen.