The Prodigal Brother
October 14, 2001
Last week we started our series on the Father Heart of God, focusing on what we’ve called Fatherless Living.
- And what we said was that each and every one of us has been created, at our very core, with a fundamental need for the Father’s love.
- Fatherless living is our attempt to live this life trying to satisfy that inner longing with something other than the kind of unconditional love our Heavenly Father longs to lavish on us.
Jesus painted an amazing picture of this when He told the story of the Prodigal Son, found in Luke 15:11-32.
- The first part of the story deals with the younger son who left his Father’s house for a distant country where he squandered all his inheritance on prostitutes and booze.
- But, while broke and hungry, he “came to his senses”, as vs 17 says, and he realized that he had lived this life trying to satisfy his need for his Father’s love.
o That love was always there… but he simply wasn’t aware of the treasures he had in His Father’s house.
o With all the flood of emotions he was experiencing, he ultimately realized his homesickness for the Father’s love.
o And so, he began his journey back the Father’s House… back into the love, intimacy, and safety of the Father’s arms.
- Yet, the centerpiece of that story is the reunion of the Father with his son.
o If you remember, the son prepared a speech for that reunion, declaring that he was a sinner… not worthy to be his son.
o But before the son could get those words out of his mouth, the Father embraced him and couldn’t let go… and when he did, it was to prepare a party for his son who, as verse 32 says, was dead, but is now alive… who was lost, but now is found.
o And so, the prodigal son entered his Father’s house, having the very innermost part of his being filled once and for all with the love and peace that he had been searching for.
But this morning, I want to focus on the elder son. From the glance we receive of him in the beginning of the story, unlike the younger son, he appears to be responsible, faithful, and committed to his Father.
- but as the story unfolds, we see him to be as much of a prodigal as his younger
brother… just as empty and just as in need of the Father’s love.
- Let’s read this passage from Luke 15:25-31
"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. 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.’"
Standing just outside the entrance of the party, was the older son.
- All he needed to do, was walk just a few feet through the door of his Father’s house,
and enjoy the feast the Father had prepared.
- Yet he chose to stand on the outside of all the love the Father had for him… angry
and hurt.
- You know, I’m sure many of us would act a lot like the elder brother… demanding
an explanation, expecting an apology, and wanting some kind of restitution for all
that was lost and squandered.
o In fact, I believe that if the Father had been hard on the younger son, making him a servant rather than restoring him to sonship… if the younger son was made to suffer a little bit… then the older brother would have been able to welcome him back
o But that’s not what happened. Instead, the father wouldn’t even listen to His younger son’s talk about becoming one of the servant… He could only do what He had always wanted to do… that is to lavish His on His children.
- And for this, the elder son became angry at His father.
- Even though he would have expected it for himself, he simply could not accept his
father’s act of unconditional forgiveness and love toward his brother.
This seems to be the fundamental issue in his life… that is, his inability to accept and receive for himself the Father’s love and unmerited favor.
- For whatever reason, he came to believe that love was something he needed to earn…
- He needed to work for his Father’s love… and when you work hard for love, you eventually b/c weary, frustrated, and angry…
- Rather than letting His love fill the core of his being, he tried to fill it himself with his own good works… hoping that this would satisfy his inner longings and earn his Father’s love.
- But we know that religious striving, which is what he had fallen into, doesn’t bring you anything but more emptiness.
- In fact, after a while, you start resenting the things you are doing… and find yourself even emptier… angry and bitter like the elder son.
o We also b/c critical of those who don’t work as hard as we do
o And we b/c jealous of those who had the emotional experiences of love we know we need but continue to look in the wrong places for.
So, in the midst of this beautiful “welcome back” party for his son, having heard that his other son refused to come in, the Father comes outside to PLEAD with his son to come in… to partake of the feast (which represents his lavish love, mercy, and forgiveness).
- can you believe this picture Jesus is giving us of the Heavenly Father? How our abba Father is petitioning us to come back into His love and rest…
o I think of the passage from Isaiah, “come, let us reason together says the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them whiter than snow.”
o “You don’t have to earn my love… I loved you when you were lost… and will always love you.”
Then the son says to his Father, “I’ve worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never given me even a little goat… the other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast?!”
Several things strike me from what the son said here.
- First… the Father has given him so much more than just a little goat… He has given him years of love and provision.
o The elder son’s statement is like owning a bank but getting upset that no one offered you one of the lollipops on the counter.
- then he complains about his brother having gone off, wasting his money on prostitutes. In way, I wonder if he is envious.
o Are we like that… do we envy the world? Do we think about all the fun everyone is having out there… sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll?
§ While the older son knew his brother was out “having fun”, he didn’t yet learn that he had been so hungry that he longed for the slop the pigs were eating.
§ B/c he was out in the fields, he didn’t see the clothes his brother had come back wearing… he didn’t see how thin/sickly he had gotten.
§ Fact is, XX amount of people are clinically depressed. XX amount of people kill themselves each year. ARE THEY HAPPY? OR are they looking for the same thing both the younger and older brother were looking for… the Father’s love?
Another thing that struck me is that he is complaining about all his brother had lost. But the fact is, he hadn’t lost anything. He himself still has his share of the Father’s inheritance.
- At first you might think that he was upset b/c of how his younger brother had hurt his father. Yet that kind of sensitivity toward his Father seems absent everywhere else in this story.
- Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that he resented his brother for having found what he has been looking for.
- Have you ever felt that way toward someone?
- If you find yourself resenting those who seem to have what you want spiritually, if you feel empty while the person next to you seems to be enjoying intimacy with the Father… simply take your eyes off them and ask Jesus to help you receive more of His love in your life.
The third thing he said, which got my attention is this… “I’ve worked for you like a slave”.
- But that was one of the problems… he saw himself as a slave rather than a son. This only shows that he had been serving the Father thru a relationship of duty and rules rather than a PERSONAL relationship of love and commitment.
- The younger son wanted to tell his father that he’d b/c a servant… but his Father wouldn’t hear of it… in the same way, the Father never wanted the older son to be a servant… rather He wanted a friendship.
- So many Christians get to the same place… where out of a search to fill this emptiness inside us… we try to earn the Father’s love… and slowly but surely we move from sonship to being like the hired hands.
o You see some are like the younger son who didn’t know what he needed to fill the core of his being… so they go out looking for it.
o The older son knew he needed the Father’s love but thought he had to earn it... so he wasn’t able to receive it.
- Either way, we end up going from being a son/daughter to becoming a servant. Either way, we are living outside of the Father’s love.
o Like the older son, some of you aren’t able to receive the Father’s love b/c you’re still waiting to earn it.
o You are trying to earn God’s love rather than simply finding your rest in His already abiding love.
§ Truth is, you are the object of His affection.
§ Truth is, our Heavenly Father is begging you to return back to his house. Remember, the older son never left the Father’s house physically… but he did emotionally. In the same way, believers continue to go to church, small groups, whatever, yet put themselves spiritually/emotionally outside the Father’s love and acceptance.
Then he says to his Father, “I never disobeyed your command”.
- Fact is, he was, in a way, disobeying his Father by not coming into the house to welcome his brother home.
- He was willing to follow his Father’s rules…. But not his Father’s wishes.
o That’s what we do… we try to live the Christian life by following what we perceive to be a set of rules… without ever getting to the heart of our faith, which is loving Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul… and being the recipient of His love each moment of every day.
- You see, trying to earn the Father’s love will always led to religious striving… and religious striving will always lead to a self-righteous, holier-than-thou faith.
- Religious striving will move you to fulfill the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law… not the heart of the law.
o The son was fulfilling every duty given to him by virtue of his place in his father’s house. He was, on the outside, loyal, committed, and faithful.
o But, he missed the heart of it all… that is, to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
o All his Father ever wanted from either of His sons was their love and relationship.
o Yet the son, stood just beyond the entrance to the Father’s house… frustrated over what a demanding Father he had.
We are so much like him. I would say that religious striving is epidemic in the church… and it stems from our inability, at any level, to receive all the love God desires to pour out on us.
- the way I see it, the younger son represents the unchurched, looking for love in all the wrong places… and, in this case, ultimately finds what he was looking for in the Father. He made that journey being sick of home, to being homesick, to being home.
- The elder son represents those who already found what they are looking for… but can’t receive it b/c they can’t accept the fact that the Father’s love is unconditional and free.
o So, we in the church, look for ways to earn the Father’s love… and so we give and give and give just as the elder son did.
o Yet, we’ve seen that while he remains in the Father’s land, he is spiritually and emotionally in as far a distant land as his brother had been.
- The answer for both of these prodigals, and for anything looking either to the world or themselves to fill that place only the Father’s love can satisfy, is the come back to the Father’s house.
The last thing that catches my attention from this passage his how the son complains to his Father that he has never disobeyed Him, that he hadn’t gone off to wastes his portion of his father’s inheritance on prostitutes, that he has worked like a slave.
- Yet, in spite of all these things he’s done, the Father never threw him a party and invited his friends to eat a fattened calf.
- BUT look what the Father says to him… “My son, you’re always with me, and everything I have is yours.”
- In other words, the Father is saying, “that fattened calf was here for you and your friends any time you wanted it… everything we are using to celebrate the return of your brother has been available to you… but you never took it.”
- “I love you so very much, my son, yet you… you have chosen to live like a servant rather than a son… your brother wasted His inheritance… while you ignore yours.”
I believe the Father is saying the same thing to you and I right now.
- “You think your life in My Son Jesus is about doing and serving… but the life I have called you to in Jesus is a life of love and intimacy with Me, your Father.”
- “I have loved you from eternity… you are the object of my unending love.”
- “Who told you that you need to work without end? Who told that you need to serve to earn my love… that you need to give and give till you resent me?”
o the greatest commandment is to love me, not to serve me
o I called you to abide in me, not to simply to serve me
o I have called you my sons and daughters, not my servants
o I have sent My Son Jesus into this world to bear your sins, to hang on that despicable Cross, so that you may know forgiveness and have access to Me.
o
That banquet the Father threw for you when you came back to His house is still going on… yet some of you are standing on the outside of the door looking in.
- We make ourselves victims of our own attempts to fill the core of our being with something other than the Father’s love.
- Remember, service to the Father doesn’t not fill that longing… being the recipient of His endless love will.
- “This is and has been the Father’s work from the beginning—to bring us into the home of his heart. This is our destiny.” George MacDonald
Whether you identify with the younger son or the elder son, let this be the time that you purpose to make that journey back to the Father’s house…
- entering into the party, which brings joy, peace, love, and forgiveness.
- “My son, My daughter, you are always with Me… and everything I have is yours”
o do you believe that? “For God so loved the people of this world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and never really die”.
o His word says that He withholds no good thing to those who wait on Him.
o Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
- We need to stop being a work oriented people and start being what we were created to be… a worshipping community centered around the person of Jesus Christ.
- We need to begin enjoying the riches and blessings of our inheritance.
- We need to be a people who serves only b/c of the lavish love we have received… not because we are trying to earn His love.
But like the Prodigal Son’s Father, He will not force you to. He didn’t force the younger son to stay home and He didn’t force the elder son to come into the party…
- But he is ready to run out to you like the He did with the younger son, hugging and kissing.
o And He is ready to leave the party and beg you, like He did with the elder son to come back
o But in the end, it is your choice.
- While the younger son found what his heart had always been yearning for, the Father’s love, the story doesn’t answer for us the question of whether the older son ever came in our not…
o Jesus ends the parable here b/c this is the place where He leaves it up to you and me to decide how we will respond to the Father.
*Are you at the place where you feel you are not worthy to be His son or daughter?
*If you are starting to see that some of your “Christian service” has been to earn the Father’s love or anyone else’s love… then its time to come home.
