Parables of Lost Things - Luke 15:25-31
1.
Luke 15 is one of the great chapters
in the Bible, containing three of the most well known stories told by Jesus—the
story of the lost sheep in vv.3-7, the story of the lost coin in vv.8-10, and
the story of the lost sons in vv.11-32. In
this study we are going to focus on just the last part of the third story in
this great chapter.
2.
The key to understanding Luke 15 is
found in the first two verses of this chapter.
In those verses we are introduced to two distinctly different groups of
people.
·
In verse 1 we meet “the
tax-gatherers and the sinners” who were flocking to Jesus because of
His message of mercy and grace.
·
In verse 2 we meet “the
Pharisees and the scribes” who criticized Jesus for associating with
people they considered to be immoral, unworthy, unclean, and of no value.
3.
In the wonderful story at the end of
Luke 15 of the father who had two sons, both of whom were lost to him, we see
both groups—“the tax-gatherers and the sinners” and “the Pharisees and the scribes”—portrayed. There is word for both of those groups in
this great story.
·
The younger son, the one who left home,
represents “the tax-gatherers and sinners” introduced in verse 1. Those people had obviously strayed away from
God. They had fallen into sins of the
flesh which were apparent for all to see.
The son who left home and returned to be received by his father is a
reminder that God does not reject such people when they turn to Him.
·
The older son, the who stayed home,
represents “the Pharisees and the scribes” introduced in verse 2. These self-righteous religious people failed to
understand that there is another type of sin in addition to sins of the
flesh. While “the Pharisees and the scribes” may have carefully avoided the outward
sins of the flesh, they were infected with sins of the spirit. The older brother in this story reminds us
that in the eyes of God, sins of the spirit are as reprehensible to God as sins
of the flesh. I want to direct your
attention to the part of this story that deals with the older brother. (text – Luke 15:25-32)
T.S. – If you were
asked to make a list of the worst sins a person could commit, what would be on
your list? Of course, the worst sin of
all is the sin, the only sin for which there is no forgiveness, is rejecting
God’s self-revelation in Christ. But
other than that, what would you list as the worst sins? If you are like most people, you list would
include things like murder, stealing, sexual immorality, lying, cheating. If those are the kinds of things you would
list, you can be sure that Jesus would disagree. While never condoning sins of the flesh,
Jesus recognized that sins of the spirit are just as, if not more,
reprehensible in the eyes of God. From
the example of the older brother in this story, I want to point out to you some
sins of the spirit about which we need constantly to be on guard. These sins of the spirit are expressed in our
attitude about self, God, and others.
I. We need to be on guard against pride
which is demonstrated primarily in our attitude toward ourselves.
1. Many
theologians view pride as the root of all other human sin. And there is evidence in the Bible that God
sees it that way too. For example, in Proverbs
6 is a list of seven things said to be an abomination to God. The very first thing on the list is word
which essentially means pride.
2. Root meaning of word "pride"
is to lift up or exalt oneself. Pride
was motivation for very first sin. Adam
and Eve disobeyed God because wanted exalt selves to level of God. The serpent promised them if ate of forbidden
fruit, they would be like God. And every
person since Adam and Eve has struggled with temptation of exalting self, of
lifting self up over others.
3. That is what the older brother in this
story did. He obviously viewed himself
as being far superior to his younger brother.
After all, he had not made the kind of mistakes his younger brother
made. He had not demanded his share of
the family inheritance, left home, and wasted his money in immoral living. And
he was angry that his brother, who had done all those things, was welcomed home
with party.
4. The words of the older brother in
vv.29‑30 reek with attitude of pride.
Notice the repeated use of personal pronouns in his statement. Five times in one sentence the older brother
says “I”
“me” or “my.” Listen to his
words: "...for so many years
I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet
you have never given me a kid, that I
might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you
killed the fattened calf for him..."
4. Can't you just hear the attitude of
pride/superiority in his words? While he
gladly points out the sin of his brother, there is no mention whatsoever of his
own sin. No mention—
·
That
he was totally insensitive to the feelings of his father concerning the return
of lost son
·
That
he had been harboring anger and bitterness and resentment in his heart toward
his younger brother
His pride had blinded him to his
faults and magnified the faults of others, even to the point that he found
fault with his father for welcoming home his lost son.
5. And
that is one thing pride does to us. It invariably
causes us to magnify the faults of others and to minimize our own faults. That’s the point of that ridiculously
exaggerated illustration Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount about the person
trying to remove speck of dust from another person’s eye but not noticing the
large beam sticking out of his own eye. Pride
puffs us up. It makes us self-centered. It causes us to be blind to our own faults and
shortcomings. And we must constantly be
on guard against it.
II. We need to be on guard against living a grim life of
“joylessness” which is demonstrated primarily in our attitude toward God.
1.
However else we may describe the older
son in story, we certainly cannot describe him as living a joyful life. His statement in verse 29, “...for
so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of
yours...” indicates to me that he did the right things with the wrong
motive. He served and obeyed, not so
much because he loved the father, but because it was expected of him. It was the thing he was supposed to do, and
so he gritted his teeth and did it.
2.
Here was a man who had the privilege
of living every day in the presence of his father, and yet he found no joy in
that. His life was characterized by they
joyless existence of dull monotony.
3.
Helmut Thielicke, the German
theologian, wrote a wonderful sermon based on the life of the older son in this
story. Here is one thing he said in that
sermon: “...the worst thing that can
happen to our Christianity is to let it become a thing taken for granted, which
we wear around every day, just as the older brother wore, and wore out, his
existence in the father’s house as he would wear an old, tattered shirt. The marvel of God’s gracious act upon our
life never really dawns upon us unless we render thanks to him every day. Only the man who gives thanks retains the
wonder of God’s fatherly love in his thoughts.
But one who has this wonder in his thoughts keeps the very spring and
freshness of his Christianity. He holds
on daily and nightly, to a living joy in his Lord and Saviour. He knows that all this is not mere ideas and
habits, but life, and fullness, and joy.”
[The Waiting Father, p.35]
4.
We must never forget that God calls us
to life and fullness and joy, and not merely grim existence. We should have about us a sense of wonder and
excitement because we live every moment in the very presence of our Heavenly
Father.
5.
Earlier this week Carol and I took our youngest grandchild, Heath,
Christmas shopping. He is 4 years old
and his enthusiasm for life is amazing.
Every time he sees us his first statement is, “Mimi & Pa, I have missed you so much!” And he always says that as if he has not
seen us in years.
6.
And that is how God wants us to live
each day in relation to Him. We should
exclaim every day, “Father, I’ve missed you so much.
It is a joy to live in your presence.” We need constantly to guard ourselves against
a grim life of joylessness.
III. We need to be on guard against a critical spirit which is
demonstrated primarily in our attitude toward others.
1. Having an attitude of pride in
relation to ourselves and grim joylessness in relation to God, inevitably leads
to negative, bitter, critical spirit toward others. That is apparently what happened to the older
brother. You can be sure this wasn't the
first time he had criticized the younger brother. More than likely that was pattern of his
life. As matter fact, some Bible
scholars contend that it may have been negative carping of older brother that
caused younger son to leave home in first place. Maybe the younger son just became fed up with
the constant critical attitude of his older brother. The day finally came when he said, "That's
it! I've had it! I won't stay another moment in this house!" and he
took his inheritance and left.
2. Have you ever been around person who
is impossible to please? That is certainly
not pleasant place to be.
--they never see the positive, only
the negative...
--they never see the opportunity, only
the problems...
--to them the clouds never have a
silver lining...
--to them the glass is always half
empty, never half full...
They are always...
--expecting the worst...
--constantly predicting doom and
gloom...
--unhappy about something or
someone...
--negative and critical...
1. Exactly how Pharisees, to whom story was
originally directed, were. All they could
do was grumble and complain that Jesus was associating with sinful people. They refused allow themselves see any good in
what He was doing.
2. Want you know that kind of spirit is
poison for in life of an individual and poison in life of a family, and poison
in the life of a church. Nothing will
destroy the witness of a Christian, the harmony of a home, or the fellowship of
a church faster than for people be characterized by negativism and
criticism. We need to be on guard
against that kind of spirit.
CONCLUSION
1. The way Jesus chose to end this story
is intriguing. He does not tell us how
the older son responded to the pleadings of the father. Did he make an attitude adjustment and go
into the house, make peace with his brother, and join the celebration? Or did he stay outside, a pouting, bitter,
tragic figure?
2. It's almost as if Jesus leaves the
story for us to finish for ourselves.
And in doing that, He may well have been saying to us, "The
choice is yours. You can live a limited
restricted life dominated by an attitude of—
·
Pride toward yourself
·
Grim, joylessness toward God
·
Criticism toward others
Or you can reject the path of
pride, joylessness, and criticism and choose to find rich, full, abundant life
in relationship with the Father.
3. And as we make that choice, we would
do well to remember that sins of the spirit (as seen in life of the older
brother) are just as reprehensible to God as sins of the flesh (as seen in life
of younger brother).
