Created For Significance pt 4a
Created For Significance • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewThe parable of the "Prodigal Son" has caught the attention of millions of people over the years... It is the story of a wayward son, a loving father, and an unforgiving older brother... But... Who is who in this story? Who is really lost? Who is the "Prodigal"? What does this story have to do with critical, complaining Pharisees??? Better yet, What does this story have to do with us?!? This story holds the greatest revelation of who God is, and how He feels about us in the entire Biblical narrative. Plunging it'a depths will carry us into a greater revelation of what it means to be "Children of God"!
Notes
Transcript
What are you worth to God?
What are you worth to God?
That is the question we are considering today…
Last week we talked about how Jesus responded to His critics by telling three parables - “Rapid Fire Style”!
We talked about how those parables reveal that God is intently searching for two types of people:
The Lost
Those who understand, and are willing to join Him in His search!
I hope you’ve been truly considering the question: “Which are you?”
You see… That’s the struggle, most people — in fact, most Christians — have! We have trouble telling which we are!
— We don’t want to admit to ourselves that it’s possible to be lost, but never actually leave home…
— We don’t want to admit that we can go to church every Sunday… we can study the Bible and memorize scripture… we can give our tithes, call ourselves Christians, and sing worship songs… even preach sermons… but still be completely lost…
But… That is exactly what Jesus is telling the people who heard these parables.
There are two things Jesus is trying to reveal to them — and to us — in these parables:
Who God is.
Who we really are.
Let’s take a closer look at the third parable.
Turn to Luke 15:11-31.
What parable is this?
“The Prodigal Son”
What does the word “prodigal” mean?
Prodigal means “recklessly wasteful, extravagent” (American Heritage dictionary)
So, the story is about a son who convinces his father to give him his inheritance early, and then squanders it on “fast living”… Right?
Are you sure? … Is that what the story is really about?
“The word may also [mean] a kind of [reckless generosity] in giving to one who might misuse it.” (Ken Heer)
Could this story actually be about the father?
11 Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.
(Get your elementary English hat on!)
Who is the subject of this sentence? The Father.
What is the object of the sentence? His sons… are the object.
Do you see what Jesus did there?
1 shepherd lost 1 sheep… 1 woman lost 1 coin… now… 1 Father losing 1 son…
Jesus has moved from people the Pharisees absolutely would not relate to… Who they would never even consider relating to… to focusing on a Father, who they have failed to relate to!
The story is about the “Prodigal Father”!
It’s about a Father who is extravagantly wasteful with His love for His children!
If we are going to fully appreciate this story, then we have to look at the story as a whole!
If you’ve got your Bible… or phone app… , follow along…
11 Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.
16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’
28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’
31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
(Don’t close your Bibles!)
This story is arguably one of the most important in the Bible! It tells us more about God than we can find anywhere else in scripture… It is a story that reveals Who our Heavenly Father is! (and how He sees us…)
Let me ask you: How does God feel about you?
We often quickly answer that question, don’t we? We are quick to say “Well, He loves me!”
But… How well do we truly understand that?
My hope is that we will leave here today with a greater and deeper understanding of His Love for us…
That is what Jesus is trying to help these Pharisees understand! God’s Love for people… He’s told them about a shepherd that had 100 sheep and lost one… about a woman with 10 coins that lost one… and now, a Father with 2 sons who lost one…
But… Which one is lost?!?
Father, as we open these scriptures today, as we look deeper into Jesus’s words, help us to see how deep Your love really is.... And, help us to understand who is really the “lost son”… and what that means to us… Father, reveal to us who we really are, deep down inside… Speak to our hearts, and shows where we are in this story… Amen.
Let’s break this story down…
This parable holds five scenes: (we are not going to be able to cover them all today)
Scene one — the family homestead… the son demands his father divide the estate.
Scene two — the younger son runs away…
Scene three — the son’s return, the father’s reaction…
Scene four — The older son in the field…
Scene five — the older son’s return… ???
If we are going to understand this story, then we have to understand the rich 1st century Jewish culture… So… I’m going to try to put this in full digital video (5k if you will), with Dolby surround sound!
I want you to pretend that you know absolutely nothing about the Jewish culture, or this story… Set aside everything you have ever been told… and let’s look at this story scene-by-scene…
Scene One… The Youngest Son
In scene one, verse 12, The youngest son demands that the father divide his estate and give him his inheritance…
And he does!!!!
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a big deal in our culture… We might even think “What a cool dad!”
Or, we might think that this was a dad who didn’t put boundaries on his kids… He just gave them whatever they wanted… You know, He spoiled them!
And you might be right on both accounts, but… You’d miss the point!
What Jesus is actually describing here is scandalous!!! It is absolutely horrible!!!!
Every person listening would have felt that way!
NO ONE in the Middle East would make such a request of their father… To do so, was tantamount to wishing your father dead!!!
Ken Bailey lived in the Middle East for quite some time, speaking about this passage, he writes:
“For over fifteen years I have been asking people of all walks of life from Morocco to India and from Turkey to the Sudan about the implications of the son’s request… The answer has always been emphatically the same… the conversation is as follows:
‘Has anyone ever made such a request in your village?’
‘Never!’
‘Could anyone ever make such a request?’
‘Impossible!’
‘If anyone did, what would happen?’
‘His father would beat him, of course!’
‘Why?’
‘This request means he wants his father to die!’”
Ibrahim Sa’id writes: “The shepherd in his search for the sheep, and the woman in her search for the coin, do not do anything out of the ordinary beyond what anyone in their place would do. But, the actions the father takes in the third story are unique, marvelous, divine actions, which have not been done by any father in the past.”
“Divide your inheritance, so that I can have my share of the estate” was the demand!
And to everyone’s astonishment, the father does!
13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
Most people think that he took off as soon as he got his money… that he was just so eager to be gone and to “live it up” … that he just couldn’t wait to get away from his father who was holding him back… “cramping his style”!
But… That’s not what happened… That doesn’t seem to be his motivation at all… Jesus says he left “A few days later”… or… “Not long after that”… That means it took a minute before he left…
WHY???
Because… He had to liquidate his assets… He had to find a buyer for his portion of the his portion of the family farm… his portion of the family jewels… his portion of the family livestock…
Think about that for a minute… Who were the people he had to try to sell it all to?
— The other people in the village —
Can you imagine?
Jesus is telling them this story… Guess what the people are thinking about?
They’re thinking about this brash, arrogant, selfish young man… he’s handed the ultimate insult to his father, and now… he’s going door to door… trying to convince the people who know and possibly love his father to buy a piece of his property…
They knew the insult he had just handed his father… How he’d shamed him… How he’d wished him dead… And now, he had the audacity to ask them to buy the property and possessions that had been in his father’s family for generations!
How do you think they responded to him?
Can you imagine what he was facing?
“At every turn, he is greeted with amazement, horror, anger and rejection.” The family estate is a major part of a Middle Easterner’s personal identity.”
I want you to see something here… Look at:
16 “Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
9 “ ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.
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.
These people would have known what The Law said… They would have known what The Law required in response to such an insult and disrespect from the son… Yet the father hadn’t taken his rightful actions…
Yet… they could! They didn’t have to accept him!
Can you imagine why he feels more and more pressure to get out of town?!?
There is no doubt that by now, the villagers are openly antagonistic towards him… There’s open talk… He’s heard it.
“He should be punished… Shunned… Publicly shamed… or worse… They should uphold the Law, and everyone knows what that punishment is!”
It’s no wonder that as soon as the transactions are completed… as soon as he has the money in hand… he flees!
Scene Two…A Faraway Land.
The son is in a faraway country, and he finds himself descending into his own personal hell...”
13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
He wasted all his money, and… the citizens of this “faraway country” know it!
And they are completely unimpressed with him now that he has no money…
Isn’t it funny how when you have money… when you can benefit people in some way… that you are very very popular, but… as soon as that ends, they’re gone?!?
You see… He couldn’t give them anything… He had no money… so they had no use for him, and they wanted him gone!
He needed to just go home… He’s worthless!
NOW… There is a polite way people in the Middle East get “free-loaders” to leave.... They don’t come right out and tell them to go home, instead, they give them a job they’ll refuse… A job they know they’ll avoid at all costs…
So… When this young man comes looking for a job, they offer him a job as a “pig herder”…
No self-respecting Jewish boy could accept that job! Pigs were unclean animals… And they had to be fed seven days a week, which meant he’d have to work on the Sabbath…
But to everyone’s surprise, He accepts the job!!!
It’s a terrible job… It’s dirty… It’s shameful… people treat you like horribly… AND… the pay… oh! the pay is horrible, he’s starving!!!!
It doesn’t take long for him to find himself at the bottom of that pit… wallowing in self-pity…
He begins to think honestly about himself… He does some “soul-searching”… There’s no life for him here in this foreign land, but… He knows what he’s done… He can’t go home… not only has he shamed his father, but he’s a total failure!!!
He has nothing to offer his father.
Why is that important?
— Jewish sons were expected to provide for their fathers in their old age, not live on their couch!
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
I love it! “When he came to himself...” When he came to his senses… He begins to think practically…
He can’t go back and ask to live in the family home… as a son, but… MAYBE he could go home and ask for a job!
Then maybe, just maybe… if he works hard and saves what he can… someday, maybe he will be able to earn enough to be of use to his father… Maybe he can earn his redemption!
I love it!
He has a plan: He’ll go home, He’ll admit he’s been a fool, and instead of asking to return as a son… He’ll ask for a job! He’ll ask to be a “hired hand”… an employee… a servant… a slave…
Honestly, the plan has merit… except for one thing…
Even if his father excepts those terms, he still has to face those villagers… He knows how they feel about him… about what he did…
Any one of us who have left home under — even remotely similar terms — knows how difficult it is to return home, unless you have been successful!
But… This guy had not only not succeeded, He’s a miserable failure!
But that’s not his biggest problem… His real problem is how the villagers felt about him when he left!
They hated him!
He had disgraced them all!
Not only that… But now… He had lost all his money to filthy Gentiles!
He has absolutely no solution for how to deal with the villagers when he gets home… All he can do is endure the mocking… endure the scorn… endure the shame that they will surely give as he makes his way to his father’s house.
Scene Three… the Return.
This is where the father comes in … Full Force!
The father knows two things:
The son, given his maturity level and character with which he left, is bound to fail! He knows that if the son ever does return, it will probably not be as a successful businessman, but more likely as a beggar.
He knows that the village will not treat the son well. Since he left, the townspeople have been openly vocal with him that he shouldn’t have given his son the inheritance… That his son is a rascal… shameful… and deserves what the Law prescribes — death.
He knows that if his son ever does return, the first person who sees him will quickly pass the word… a crowd will gather… they’ll mock him… they’ll shame him… they might even try to hurt him!
He knows that his son will have to endure the scorn of the crowd every step of the way!
LISTEN!!! THE FATHER KNOWS THIS!!!!
And what he does is nothing short of amazing!!!!
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
The father does five things here that would have been considered absolutely outrageous in his culture… (Listen!) They’re ALL designed to protect and restore this son that he loves so much… This son who turned away… Who rejected him… Who wished him dead…
He runs to him.
Word comes to him that his son has been seen on the outskirts of town, and the father runs to him.
Can you see the significance?
Instead of letting his son run the gauntlet… the father runs the gauntlet for him!
It’s outrageous! No self-respecting nobleman, with flowing robes, ever runs anywhere.
BUT… He lifts his robe, exposing his ankles, and runs down the road… through the village… in front of ALL the villagers… HE HUMILIATES HIMSELF!!!
Jewish scholar, Ben Sirach says: “A man’s manner of walking tells you what he is.”
Leslie Weatherhead states: “It is so very undignified in Eastern eyes for an elderly man to run.”
Aristotle said: “Great men never run in public.”
But this father did. And Jesus tells us why:
Luke 15:20 (NRSV)
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
He was filled with compassion for him.
That’s how the Father feels about His children.
He has compassion on us!!
The father deliberately runs through the village… He knows he’s creating a spectacle… He knows what he’s doing will attract a crowd… He knows they will talk… that the gossip will follow him the rest of his life… But He does it anyway…
NOW… Imagine this scene for a minute from the son’s perspective…
He knows the father lives in the middle of town… and that the town hates him.
He knows that there is no way he can get to his father without enduring the towns scorn…
But… He has to get to the father in order to become his servant…
So… He sets his jaw… and he walks the last few miles towards town… And sure enough, there’s the crowd, gathering on the outskirts.... Word is spreading… People are gathering… He is about to endure the worst moments of his entire life!
BUT… As he comes to the edge of town, expecting to see rocks, jeers, and angry faces… What does he see instead?!
Are those his father’s ankles?!? Surely not! But… Yes! Yes they are!!!
Can you imagine his shock?!?!
To his utter amazement, rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves… He gets a visible demonstration of the love of his father!
Are you seeing it?!
Words cannot express the love this scene conveys!
The Father runs to his son… BUT… He doesn’t stop there!
2. He kisses his son.
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
Can You Picture It?
They’re embracing, eye-to-eye, shoulder-to-shoulder…
The son pictured himself coming home and abasing himself… First, he’d kiss his father’s hand, then he’d kiss his father’s feet…
But the Father won’t let him!
He puts his arms around him… holds him tight… and kisses both cheeks!
The son can’t bend… He can’t stoop… ALL he can do is ACCEPT his love!
The Greek word used here to describe the Father is kataphilew, it means “to kiss again and again.”
Picture yourself in this scene… You have wronged God and you know it… You know you’re going to need to grovel, to admit wrong, to make all sorts of promises and really mean it!
So… you approach Him… You’ve got your speech all planned out… ONLY HE DOESN’T LET YOU SPEAK!
The minute you approach him… HE EMBRACES YOU!!!
How powerful is that?!?!?
Church… That’s what God does!!!
Let’s back up for a minute… look what the son says in verse 18-19:
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’
What’s missing from his speech when he meets his father?
— His request to be a servant.
Why is it missing?
— He’s overwhelmed by the father’s love.
His plan was to earn his way back into the father’s favor. He never intended to ask his father to accept him back as a son… How could he do that?!?
He’d wronged the Father in such a horrible way… He’d wounded Him deeply… He had rejected Him and wished Him dead…
But… When the father runs and kisses him, how could he NOT accept the father’s love?!
Church… Salvation is not earned by works, it is purely a gift of grace!
Guys… We do not have to do anything to earn God’s Love…
The minute… The very instant that we let go of the world and take a step towards Him… He is there!!!
That’s how much He Loves us! That’s how much YOU mean to Him!!!
John 3:16–17 (NRSV)
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who [puts their complete and total trust in — whoever “Fully Commits” to] him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Sometimes we need the reminder, don’t we?
You see… That’s the Gospel…
Are you weary? Are your burdens heavy?
Then come to Him…
God has given us an invitation to “Come”… To come to His table… To bring our worries, our concerns, our burdens… to Him…
It doesn’t matter how far we’ve drifted… It doesn’t matter how far we’ve fallen… Or, what we’ve done…
The Father’s Love is always right there… Waiting for us to turn to Him… So He run to us… So He can wrap us in His arms… So He can smother us with Kisses… And give us the peace that only HE can give!
Father, we come to you this morning… broken… burdened… lost… Lord, I know that there are some of us here today… Some of us listening online… who are lost… who are overwhelmed by the mistakes in their lives, and feel like they are out of options…
Father, we’re broken… We’re hurting… We’re losing hope because our burdens are so heavy! Father, I pray that you will lift them up… That you will give them strength… That you will embrace them with a love and peace that is beyond their ability to explain…
Lord, Some of us have heard your voice, but we don’t want to admit the truth… We don’t want to admit that we really are like the Pharisees… We’ve been selfish… We’ve only been willing to do things our way… Father, forgive us… Heal us… Restore us to You… as Your children… Help us to walk in your ways…
Father, as we continue in this series, will You bless us with a supernatural understanding of Your Word? Guide us, Keep us, Mold us… Lord give us eyes to see… Ears to hear… and hearts willing to obey… Amen.