Let's pray. Father, we are grateful that this book that we hold in our hands is your book. It contains all the words that you planned, intended and desired for your people to read and to hear. It is perfect and without error. And even though it was written so many years ago by so many different servants whom you called to that work, we recognize and understand that it is still your living word through which, as your spirits enables, your people hear your voice and respond to you. We ask this morning that you would send that very same spirit to open our hearts, to open our minds, to give us understanding and to change us so that we will be all the more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we hear your word and your spirit works, Father, give to your servant clarity of thought and speech, help him as he opens your word to your people for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. This morning we are continuing our current series of sermons. You asked for it, otherwise known as Ask the Pastor. And Pastor Landau kicked off last week with his message and can you believe it, I'm forgetting what his theme was. Hold on, I have it written down. It was on fathers and husbands as spiritual leaders. I did listen to it, actually, but we weren't here, so there goes my memory. Anyhow, this morning we are moving on, and today we're looking at the parable of the prodigal son, and we'll be looking at a number of other themes that you handed in to us and that we have chosen to put together for this series of sermons. So, this morning, as we look at Luke 15, where the story of the prodigal son is told, it's important to remember that Jesus tells that story in response to what we read in the first two verses, and I'm going to read those two as we begin the sermon. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him, and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. It was under the watchful eye of the Pharisees that the tax collectors and the prostitutes were flocking to Jesus. They heard his message. They understood their need and they realized that this Jesus, this one called the Christ, was the only one who had the answers to their problems, who could give to them the aid they needed so desperately. And they understood their situation. That's why the tax collectors and the sinners were flocking to hear Jesus and what he was teaching and what he was saying. But to the Pharisees and the scribes in the first century, for anyone to welcome tax collectors, to welcome these despised money mongers, who use the authority of law to steal and to pilfer the finances of their own people. To the Pharisees, anyone who would welcome such hated men into his presence was himself to be despised. Adding insult to injury. Jesus also welcomed Luke 15 to sinners a euphemism for prostitutes. Didn't Jesus understand the depravity of these men and women? Jesus, tax collectors, prostitutes. How can you gather them or allow them to come near you? The foulest of the foul, the most hated of the hated. That was the response of these Pharisees. They grumbled. This man receives sinners and he eats with them. These unholy ones not only hang out with Jesus, He eats with them. Do you get it? That's what they're saying. How can this be possible? That He invites them to sit at table to dine with Him. This most intimate event. This place of deepest hospitality and fellowship. Jesus, how can you possibly want, even for a moment, people like that to come near you, let alone to sit at the table and eat with you. Fully aware of the scribes and the Pharisees grumbling, Jesus responds to them with three stories, with three parables in order to hammer home the truth about God's incredible mercy and grace and compassion. He first tells the story, the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd who has these hundred and one of them goes missing. And so he leaves the ninety nine behind to go and find that one. And when he finds that he carries it home, rejoicing and celebrating. And Jesus tells us that in heaven, when one sinner repents, there's joy. And then he tells us the parable of the lost coin, this lady who loses this valuable of hers and how when she finds it, she invites all her friends and neighbors to celebrate. I found my lost coin and Jesus says how much more the angels rejoice in heaven when one sinner repents and comes back to the Lord. Well, Jesus concludes his response here to the Pharisees with the extended tale of two sons. The parable, as we often refer to it, of the prodigal son. More accurately, rather than even a tale of two sons, it ought to be called the tale of a father and his older son. I want you to keep that in mind and you'll see why I say that as we look at this passage further together. Now, Jesus begins the story first by highlighting the younger son's atrocious request. Imagine this for a moment. If you, let's say you're 20 years old, 22 years old, a young person, would you go to your parents and demand your share of the inheritance today? Would you do it? What kind of message would you be communicating to your parents? Your deep love for them? How would dad and mom react? How would you react if you were in the place of the parents How would you feel? Would you be proud of your child and excited because he's a shrewd businessman and he's there to get that money from you now or your daughter and say, oh, wow, what a skilled and insightful businesswoman. I'm delighted that he or she wants inheritance today. I don't think it's far fetched to say that parents might react with a mixture of anger on the one hand and great sadness on the other. Don't you agree with that? Think about it. You wouldn't be rejoicing. I wouldn't be rejoicing if my child made that kind of request. We'd be saddened to think that what our children think of us is simply as those who can give them some amount of wealth so they can go and do whatever they want. We would be hurt and sadness. So, you can only imagine what the father of this prodigal son would have been thinking and feeling and sensing. And yet, the story of the prodigal doesn't end with simply this atrocious request. Listen to verses twelve and thirteen, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. It's amazing in the story as it is that the father complies with the request and he divides the property. And Jesus goes on. Verse thirteen. Now, many days later, the younger son gathered all he had. and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. Not only did this young man make a request that would give great grief and sorrow to his father, he went on to dishonor his father and his entire family as he took his inheritance and he converts it to cash. Because most likely, the dad wasn't writing a check or handing chunks of gold over to him. He was writing over to him the property they owned. And so this one takes that and he converts it to cash and he moves to another country. In those actions, he's demonstrating his rejection and disrespect for his father and his family and his roots. Let that sink in, too. It's already a tough enough request that he's made of the father. What do you think the father would be feeling and thinking? And then he goes to that far country where he squanders his inheritance. He wastes every last shekel and denarius. He has no respect for Franklin's adage, a penny saved is a penny earned. For him, eat, drink, be merry. That's this boy's motto. He indulges in every pleasure, in every lust, in every vice, to his heart's content. Until, finally, he ends up penniless, destitute, homeless, and hungry. For the Pharisees who are listening to this, The young man's disgrace climaxes with the fact that now that he's already dishonored his family and he's lost everything that he has. Now he goes and he gets a job with a pig farmer and he longs to eat the pig's food. Verses 14 to 16. And no one gave him anything to eat. Pigs were unclean animals to be avoided at all costs. God had forbidden his people in that era from eating pigs, and so no self-respecting Israelite would even go near them, let alone work for a farmer who, or we call it a herder or a rancher, whatever the right phrase is for working with pigs, who grows them and to be the one who feeds them. What a dishonor to the father that his son compounds all the disrespect by working as a pig feeder. But his boy is starving. He doesn't make enough money to have even a decent meal and to have shelter. We're told that there's no one in the far country that has compassion on him. He's left all alone. They won't even help him out with a simple meal. This young man is at the lowest of the lowest possible points of one's life. In the midst of his grief, Jesus goes on in telling the story that the young man comes to his senses. He begins to realize what it is that he has done and where it is that he has fallen. And he remembers. He remembers his father, who he knows is one who treats even the lowest class of his workers with respect and kindness. Look, 1517, when he 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. These hired servants were day laborers. They didn't have a long-term contract. These weren't the household servants that had a certain bond with the family and were, in a way, an extended part of the family. These were the guys who hung out at the corner and looked for work and you went down and you said, OK, hey, I've got work for you today. Come and help in my fields and take care of this or that or the other. These were the lowest level of servant. Yet this young man understands that his father cares even for those lowliest of servants. So they're not hungry. He makes sure they're cared for. So the young man determines that he's going to go to his father. He's going to confess his sin and his offense, and he's going to ask not to be a son again. but merely to be treated like one of those day laborers, to be among the lowest of the lowest servants, knowing that even there, at least, he won't go hungry. Well, here's where the extraordinary compassion of the father comes into full focus. As the son is on the road home, having determined to go back to his father and to plead for mercy, as the son is on that road home, A long way off, Jesus tells us, verse 20, His father saw Him and felt compassion and ran and embraced Him and kissed Him. Imagine that. Here is the son that has offended Him, that has in a way spat in His face, that has said, I want nothing to do with you. Give me my inheritance. I'm out of here to live my own life. And yet the father has the eye to see as his son is far down the road and to recognize him. And not to fold his hands and wait and say it looks like maybe he's coming here. But instead, this father. This father felt compassion. The Greek word that we translate as felt compassion is a word that's a derivative of a term that means guts, intestines. In Armenian, one of the terms of endearment is to call your loved one, my liver, not my lover, my liver. It's a way of saying that my heart is yours. I so deeply care about you. You wouldn't say that to just anyone. And that's the kind of terminology that's used here. That's the way Jesus describes and Luke records for us this father's compassion as he saw his son who had dishonored him. He felt it in his guts. He couldn't wait to embrace them, and so He forgives already the grievous offense caused and given by his younger son. And he shows that by doing away with all cultural customs and expectations. He runs to embrace him, to hug him and to kiss him and to welcome him back. Think about it. This kid was feeding pigs. He had no money, no food. What he would have looked like and smelled like. But his father doesn't care. He has compassion. He has extraordinary mercy. And so he embraces him and he welcomes him back. And as the son begins his rehearsed confession, he'd been saying, OK, here's what I'm going to say to dad when I see him. Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, and I'm not worthy to be your son. The father doesn't let him finish his planned words to say, let me be like one of your lowly servants. He doesn't get to ask him that because the father already has. Summoned the servants. To bring the robe and the ring and the shoes for his son. You see, he's not going to bring him back. merely as a day laborer working in his home. He's going to welcome him back as his very son. That's what's marked by the ring and the robe and the shoes. And then he tells the servants that's not enough. Bring the fattened calf and let the celebration begin. For this, my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And Jesus says, and they began to celebrate. This father forgave his son every sin, every offense committed against him, and he welcomed him back as his very son. Brothers and sisters, this is a picture of God's grace to you in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the kind of grace God gives to those who come to him. Whatever your sin, whatever your unrighteousness, confess it and repent like this young man and then know and be assured that God comes running out to welcome you home. For God so loved the world, John 3, 16, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. This is extraordinary compassion. This is amazing grace. Are you like the prodigal son? Have you wandered and squandered your inheritance? But Jesus says in this message is don't hesitate and don't delay. Come to God, the father through Christ, his son, and receive his mercy, his extraordinary compassion. I was amazing. As this father's grace was. The older son. The elder brother arrives on the scene And he has the most bitter reaction. He hears music and dancing, there's tremendous energy and excitement, he can't miss it as he comes to the home. And so he calls a servant over, he wants to investigate what in the world is going on, what's all this music and dancing and shouting and celebrating I'm hearing. The servant comes and explains to him what's going on, and when he understands that this party is for his rebellious brother, immediately he refuses to have anything to do with it. Not a chance. He won't go in. He won't exercise his expected role as one of the family that hosts the party. See, the oldest son would be a kind of host any time you threw a party of this sort. And he refused, refuses. Instead, he's outraged, just like the scribes and the Pharisees. To the point that the father comes out himself, leaving his guests. He comes out to plead with his older son to join in this celebration. Son, please come in. Your brother's been found. This is a time for joy and excitement. The older son now dishonors his father by refusing. He responds to his dad without addressing this gracious man as father. He says to his father without the word father, look, look, These many years I have served you and I've never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. And what message does this brother convey? He thinks he's perfect. I've never disobeyed you, Dad. Because of his reliance on his own perfection with quotes around that word, because of his past obedience, supposedly, He's actually out of sync with his father's true character. He hasn't understood who this man is that is his father. He doesn't share his father's graciousness, mercy and compassion. And so this older brother shows his own sinfulness. He demonstrates that he himself, in all the accusations he might have against his brother, that he himself falls short of the glory of his father. He's just as much a sinner as the younger son. Unlike the younger brother, who is now very clearly and truly a son to the father. The robe is on him, the ring is on him, the shoes are on him, the calf has been slaughtered for him. This older son, unlike that younger, has removed himself from sonship. He has made himself to be a mere servant. Not only does he not address his dad as father, he describes himself using the language of a laborer. Listen to verse twenty nine, at least part of verse twenty nine again. Look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command as the outsider, the younger son, the rebellious one is welcomed in. This insider becomes an exile of his own accord. Yet even to him, even though he's portraying himself no longer as a son, but a mere servant, not going into the home and the celebration, but staying outside of it. Yet even to him, this one was such a bitter reaction. The father shows his extraordinary compassion. Verse 31, and he said to him, Son, you are always with me. All that I have is yours. Notice how the father addressed this older boy, this older son. He still calls him his son. And he takes the opportunity to instruct his son in the true way of sonship, teaching him about the truth and the propriety of deep mercy, grace and compassion of forgiveness. Listen again to the closing words of Jesus' parables. The father is speaking to this older son. 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. This little phrase, it is fitting, is better translated as it was necessary. It was required. We were constrained to celebrate. You see, this celebration was the righteous thing to do. It would have been wrong not to celebrate. He wants his older son to understand that. That to be truly a son reflecting the Father's glory, you need to understand the depth of the mercy and grace and forgiveness and compassion that you're to show to penitent sinners. Now, here's the question for you and me this morning. Who are you like? Remember what I said earlier, although I called this a tale of two sons, I said in reality, we could call it and perhaps ought to call it the tale of a father and his older son, because this is the heart of the message of this passage. Who are you like? Are you like the father or the older brother? Do you respond with extraordinary compassion and grace to those who sin against you? To those who might be around you that live awful lives and then repent. Do you rejoice and welcome them even though they've lived lives like the prodigal son? Or do you look down on them even if they have become fellow Christians? Do you complain to God that he's blessed them, even though you're still very much better? You didn't disobey. You didn't walk away like they did. Are you like the father or are you like the son? Do you snub your fellow Christians because of their past or because they don't have it all together today or because they don't have enough Bible knowledge or theological acumen? How do you view your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is your attitude like the Father, filled with compassion and mercy and grace? Or are you like the older son who grieves because his father blesses and celebrates the return of a lost and dead child? Jesus makes the Father's welcome Very clear. If you repent, whether you're the prodigal son or the older brother, God forgives and celebrates your return. But Jesus ends the parable in this way. He doesn't tell us how the older son responded. He leaves us to wonder, did he? Did he change? Did he become compassionate like his father or not? So he leaves you and me to consider this. How will you respond? Will you be like the father or like the older brother? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this word to us. This word in which you show us in the marvels of the story how incredible your grace is, even when we make atrocious requests of you, rebelling and running away and turning from you. You come running out to greet us and welcome us back when we turn from our sin and come to you through our Lord Jesus Christ in faith. Father, we recognize that often We also fit the category of the older brother as those who don't reflect your compassion and grace, but instead are filled with arrogance and haughtiness and looking down at others. O Lord, we plead with you that you would forgive us of our sinfulness with those attitudes and fill us with your grace and make us those who have extraordinary compassion, reaching out with the gospel of Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.