Prodigal Son Sermon – Tim Giovanelli

I’m really loving our Kingdom Parable series which we’ll continue today. 

• You might be hearing these stories for the 100th time or the first time, but whatever that might be,  lets try to position ourselves in the story. 
• Because although centuries old, the parables are timeless, relevant today as much as they were back then if we understand the context and engage as if it were written to us. 
• They take us into the spiritual realities of human nature, and the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. 
• And we find ourselves in these stories. Because really humanity hasn’t changed much over time, we are really just like them, except with iphones and airconditioning. 
• Been said “The problem of the human heart is still the problem of the human heart.”
  

Today we’ll look at the Parable of the Lost Son. Let’s read: Luke 15:11-32

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.’”

Jesus tells this parable as a response to the Pharisees that are judging him for hanging out with tax collectors, prostitutes AKA sinners. 

• Luke 15:1-3 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 
• So Jesus tells not just one but three parables as his response. The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. It’s like he really, really wants to tell them something! 
• That our Father in Heaven has a heart for the lost!
• And Jesus is saying, my mission as I represent the Father is to seek and save the lost!
• Friends, that is you and I…

So, lets divide this parable into 3 parts like a play. 

• Act I: “The Runaway Child”
• Act II: ““Fathers Love”
• Act III: “The Self-righteous Child” 

Before we jump in, a little context to the story:

• The story is told from Jerusalem, where a lot of the religious leaders and Pharisees reside. During this time it was a contested city, politically and religiously. 
• And the Roman empire was in control and ruling harshly, yet the Jewish people had some autonomy even though oppressed. 
• And there’s a lot of religious, cultural, and class segregation; there are those considered in, and those considered out.

So we might then say that the younger brother represents sinners (or those considered out). 

• He doesn’t honour or live righteously according to the law, and ends up outside of the Fathers house as an exile, living in a foreign country.
• The older brother is probably “considered in”… as representative of the Jewish people who kept the law, the ones with whom Jesus so often seems to be in conflict with. 
• Ones who seem to miss Jesus and his coming Kingdom. So the ins and outs… 
• And finally, the Father represents our Heavenly Father whose heart we find in Jesus – forgiving, loving and merciful.  
• Remember Jesus says in John “I only do what I see my Father doing”

Act I: ‘The Runaway child’

This is the immoral, unwise, “debaucherously spending his inheritance” younger brother. 

• Put your hand up if you identify with this guy? I’m kidding you don’t have to put your hand up.  
• This younger son is so set on living his own way, and isn’t this spirit of independence the recurring theme across the bible and life? 
• We can yearn for this independence from God, thinking I know a better way…really a better way of living than in God’s will 
• We live in a culture of independence today that says you “you do you”, you build your own life, your own rules, be your own boss, be your own god. 
• What is so alluring to the younger brother is that since leaving he can do whatever he wants… “freedom” right? But not everything is good for you. 

1 Corinthians 10:23 says, ‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say – but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’ – but not everything is constructive.  

• Independence from God, leads us to dead ends, dissatisfaction and a self-reliance that can only last so long. 
• So that is the prodigal son… he squandered his wealth in wild living… it was looking good for a while… but it doesn’t last…
• And I see this in all of us… we are all only a few bad decisions away from ship wrecking our lives…
• It could be an affair, or a get rich scheme, or opening a door to something that leads to an addiction…
• But we find ourselves a long way from home… a long way from what God would have for us!

So his independence when all the money is wasted on wild living, leads the son to a job feeding pigs and even wanting their food! 

• It is at this point he realises that he NEEDS to be with his father, because even the servants get better treatment than this! 
• So verse 17 “he came to his senses”
• In hope, and ready to repent and say sorry, he returns to his father…

This brings us to The second Act: ‘The Father’s love

What do we expect will happen on his return? Will he be shunned and sent away? Will he be told he can stay but work as servant on the property?

• No… the Father runs!
• In the modern telling we watched the white sheets are out!
• And when they are reunited, the son is celebrated! The Father declares “my son who was lost is now found, he was dead and now he is alive.”  

You see the lost sheep – is found by their Shepherd, the lost coin is found by their owner…

• And the lost son who has lost all his inheritance by choosing to live a life of debauchery is found
• He gains it all back through repentance and wanting to be in relationship with his Father
• This father runs to his lost son to embrace him before he even says sorry for his reckless behaviour. 
• Likewise God is awaiting the return of many sons and daughters with eager anticipation to welcome them into His kingdom. 

And in the Father’s house, you have access to the whole kingdom of God, it belongs to you as a child of God. 

• You have the ultimate unconditional love that He pours out time and time again, he gives you your daily bread, he forgives you your sins. In Him you are found.
• In the real life prodigal story of Jesus and Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke 19:10 Jesus explains “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I love a good Christian testimony… especially ones that reflect the prodigal son and the lavish love of God.

• We’ve already watched one modern telling which gets me right in the feels every time!!
• One surprising one is rock star Alice Cooper who shot fame with his single “Schools Out for Summer” in the 1970’s. 
• Well he nearly died of alcoholism when he was 33 years old. He said “I was drinking with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and trying to keep up with Keith Moon and they all died at 27.”
• When he was 33, Alice woke up vomiting blood and was taken to hospital. His condition was a result of alcoholism wreaking havoc on his internal organs. 
• Doctors told him that he would die if he did not stop drinking. He said, “Everything that could go wrong was shutting down inside of me.” 

This was very serious. He had been given the ultimatum to change or die young, but there was a silver lining. 

• His condition was one of the many things that led him on a pathway back to Christ. 
• He stopped partying, changed direction in life, and eventually returned fully to his Christian faith. 
• He said; “My wife and I are both Christians. My father was a pastor, my grandfather was an evangelist. I grew up in the church, went as far away as I could from it, almost died, and then came back …”
• Nowadays Alice Cooper finds time for Bible study every day and goes to church every Sunday.   
• He said “I always refer to myself as the real Prodigal Son, because I went out and the Lord let me do everything – maybe didn’t let me, but allowed it – and then just started reeling me back in. You know, ‘you’ve seen enough. Let’s bring you back to where you belong.’ ”

Materialism and the trappings of success lured him for a season, but just as the Prodigal Son in the parable of Jesus came to his senses and returned to his father, so did Alice Cooper. 

• He said, “When you get out there and realise you’ve had every car, every house, and all that, you realise that’s not the answer. There’s a big nothing out there at the end of that. So, materialism doesn’t mean anything.  A lot of people say that there’s a big God-sized hole in your heart, and when that’s filled, you’re really satisfied, and that’s where I am right now.”

Isn’t that true for us, Christ loved us even when we were sinners, he died for us in the hope and joy set before him to reconcile us to God.

• He saw what we would become without him living so called free and independent…
• And if we returned to him in repentance, in acknowledging our great need for him, in letting him shepherd us, Father us, and teach us how to truly live. 
• We are forgiven and become the children of God!

Well finally we come to Act III: ‘The Self-righteous Child’

We can look at this brother and think this is a bit unfair… 

• But really if we look harder, we can see that he has an entitled attitude: 
• In fact, he says to his father in verse 29 “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends…” 
• He’s upset because he doesn’t understand that the greatest gift is actually being in a right relationship with the Father. 
• The trap of the older brother that we might find ourselves in is feeling like we are owed something if we do all the ethically good things… 

Can I just make a quick point here…

• If you have grown up in the church, and never really wandered away from God, just rejoice!
• Sometimes we think we are only a Christian if we have had the big prodigal experience..
• And of course it is amazing if you have had your life radically turned around by God.
• But it is just as equally amazing if you have lived in the goodness of God all your life.
• Yes you still need to be a forgiven sinner… but oh to be spared some of the pain and heartbreak of the prodigals life!

But the point of the older brother here is really that he misses the Kingdom, because he misses his Father’s merciful and forgiving heart!

• He misses the point and privilege of what it means to follow Christ. Restored relationship with God!
• This attitude of entitlement and self-righteousness, is dangerous, because it’s saying God, I’m doing all this for you expecting something in return. 
• Sometimes we can overlook the privilege it is to be in the Fathers house and remain in His loving care and know the fulfilment of living for the King. 

So the older brother doesn’t even acknowledge that he’s in the same family as the younger brother when he returns home. 

• He no longer identifies as being in that family, as he says, “this son of yours!”   
• If God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of grace and mercy… this son has no grace or mercy for his brother.
• And in doing so, he excludes himself from God’s kingdom through this self-righteous behaviour. 
• Luke 15:7 “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
  

Well, let’s bring this in to land…

• In one sense both brothers are lost, one at first lost through his wild and reckless living. And the second lost with a hardened heart towards grace and mercy.  
• Yet, Jesus’ kingdom community is wide open to anybody who wants to be forgiven and reconciled to God, 
• But we must come to our senses and see our need for grace and mercy

I wonder if the Apostle Paul had this story from Jesus in mind when he wrote in Titus 3:5-7 

• Afterall Paul who didn’t come to faith until after Jesus death and resurrection would have still heard this story retold by Peter and James and others…
• And of course it was in one sense his story of receiving grace and mercy.
• He writes, (READ SLOWLY)

“He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”