The Gracious Father (Part 2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400 Half last week. Will cover the second half this evening, Lord Willing, 2 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:08.349 but we'll go ahead and read the whole parable again so that it is fresh 3 00:00:09.509 --> 00:00:15.630 in our hearing. So, Luke Fifteen, beginning in verse eleven, this 4 00:00:15.869 --> 00:00:21.539 is the word of the Lord and he said there was a man who had 5 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:26.940 two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give 6 00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:31.460 me the share of property that is coming to me, and he divided his 7 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:37.450 property between them. Not many days later the younger son gathered all he had 8 00:00:38.009 --> 00:00:43.329 and took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property and 9 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:48.609 reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine a rose 10 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:53.600 in that country and he began to be in need. So we went and 11 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:58.000 hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him 12 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:03.039 into the fields to feed pigs, and he was longing to be fed with 13 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:08.069 the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But 14 00:01:08.150 --> 00:01:11.989 when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired 15 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:19.140 servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? I 16 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:23.900 will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, father, 17 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:29.859 I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to 18 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:34.530 be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And 19 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:40.090 he arose and came to his father, but while he was still a long 20 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:45.010 way off, as father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him 21 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:48.159 and kissed him, and the son said to him, father, I have 22 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:53.000 sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your 23 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.519 son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe 24 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.790 and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes 25 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:05.870 on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let 26 00:02:05.909 --> 00:02:10.710 us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again. 27 00:02:12.349 --> 00:02:17.340 He was lost and is found, and they began to celebrate. Now 28 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:22.659 his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to 29 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:25.580 the House, he heard music in dancing, and he called one of the 30 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:30.610 servants and asked what these things meant, and he said to him, your 31 00:02:30.729 --> 00:02:36.849 brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received 32 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:40.729 him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in 33 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:46.319 his father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father. Look, 34 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:53.319 these many years I have served you and I have never disobeyed your command. 35 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:58.080 Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my 36 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:04.270 friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property 37 00:03:04.349 --> 00:03:09.870 with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him and he said to him, 38 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:15.180 son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. 39 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:21.020 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this. Your brother was 40 00:03:21.139 --> 00:03:27.060 dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. You may be 41 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:50.000 seated. Is there any virtue in greed? Is there anything redeeming about an 42 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:58.590 intense desire for something that you don't have, or an intense desire to work 43 00:03:58.710 --> 00:04:03.590 for something that you don't have enough of? Is there any virtue in that? 44 00:04:03.830 --> 00:04:11.259 Is there anything good about greed? Well, in one thousand nine hundred 45 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:15.699 and eighty seven, Oliver Stone put out a film called Wall Street. I'm 46 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.420 not sure if you are familiar, but if you are, you'll remember Michael 47 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:23.220 Douglas played a role in that film, which won an academy award, and 48 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:27.490 one of the reasons by a want an academy awards. Some say it's because 49 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:33.810 of this famous speech in the movie titled Greed Is Good, and Michael Douglas, 50 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:40.240 who plays Gordon Gecko, says this. Greed, for lack of a 51 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:48.560 better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works, greed clarifies, 52 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:57.949 cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed and all 53 00:04:58.029 --> 00:05:02.149 of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love knowledge, 54 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:12.019 has marked the upward surge of mankind. Now, in a way, Gordon 55 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:16.860 Gecko here, played by Michael Douglas, perhaps crassly so, paints a picture 56 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:21.129 of the capitalistic, free market spirit that we have in our country, doesn't 57 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:29.209 he again, maybe crassly so, but this is a picture of the American 58 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:34.959 spirit, and I don't don't necessarily say this critically. There has been great 59 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:41.720 social benefit from those who have longed for something that they don't have and have 60 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:47.279 been willing to work hard to get it. We have seen great societal progress 61 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:51.870 because of this idea. Whether you want to call it greed or not, 62 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:59.990 this is kind of built into our system. Well, as lively as a 63 00:06:00.069 --> 00:06:03.620 discussion as we could have this evening about economics in the civil sphere, that's 64 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:10.259 not my aim. I want to consider economics in the Kingdom of God as 65 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:15.100 we continue to move through the parables of Jesus, where he is speaking about 66 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:23.370 the economics of the Kingdom of God and how one acquires position within God's kingdom. 67 00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:30.490 Then I want to consider these ideas as we look at the parable of 68 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:38.800 the Prodigal son, specifically the second half and this other producal you could say, 69 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:44.319 and the older brother will continue calling the parable of the prodigal son the 70 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:47.189 parable of the gracious father. I do think that that might be a more 71 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:54.829 fitting title for the parable and will do so this evening, thinking of it 72 00:06:54.949 --> 00:06:58.269 in two different categories. And again, I by no means mean to be 73 00:06:58.430 --> 00:07:03.740 provocative, but are two categories for this evening are free market legalism and divine 74 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:10.220 welfare. Again, the ideas not to be overly provocative but to consider some 75 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:15.699 things in terms that we are familiar with, and so bear with us this 76 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:19.649 evening is as we consider the parable. I want to consider two other things 77 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:25.089 as we walk through this text and I want to kind of give them to 78 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:30.120 you up front so that you can be thinking about them specifically about what legalism 79 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:38.519 brings. One it is it separates us from God, and I want to 80 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.480 see that in the text. So they want. It separates us from God, 81 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:46.430 but also it separates us from the family that God has called us to, 82 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:51.029 and those are the two things that I want to consider as we walk 83 00:07:51.230 --> 00:07:57.709 through our text for this evening. So let's jump right in. Point one. 84 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:03.139 Free Market legalism. Now, the older son was in the field, 85 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:09.579 our section begins with and right off the bat this is a fairly pregnant phrase. 86 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.250 There's a lot of meaning here. This older son, though, seemingly 87 00:08:13.490 --> 00:08:18.170 closer to home than his brother, at least before he came walking down the 88 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:24.050 driveway smelling of pigs. He seems to be close to home, doesn't he? 89 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:28.120 But this says that he is in the field, not in his home, 90 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:35.039 but hard at work. Interestingly, the younger brother had also found himself 91 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:41.320 in a field. Out of desperation, he hired himself out to be the 92 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:46.070 slave of a pig farmer. Well, now this older brother, certainly in 93 00:08:46.190 --> 00:08:54.230 a more dignified servitude, also finds himself and a field, this time placed 94 00:08:54.309 --> 00:09:01.019 there out of his own sense of duty, and he hears music and dancing, 95 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:05.100 the last thing a good legalist wants to hear. Right, a party 96 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:13.049 going on in the distance, and he certainly despises these things, being the 97 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.450 legalist that he is. I saw a quote this week that was referring to 98 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:22.250 certain folks within the reform community saying that they were marked by a grave concern 99 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:26.799 that somebody somewhere was having a good time. And I hope that's not true 100 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:33.080 about the reform community, but perhaps that's true about this older son. He 101 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:39.750 is concerned about music and dancing. Well, if we think about it, 102 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:43.470 this concern and the fact that he has heard this music and dancing from a 103 00:09:43.629 --> 00:09:50.990 distance in and of itself is a sign of his estrangement. No doubt the 104 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:58.460 entire household is aware of this party, I mean the the father has hired 105 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:03.179 a band or someone to create music. They they didn't have a Jewbox. 106 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:11.490 The fatted path has been killed, the barbecue is going, people are already 107 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:16.690 dancing and the only person that doesn't seem to be aware of the celebration is 108 00:10:16.809 --> 00:10:22.600 his very brother, this older son, who is at work out in the 109 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:33.799 field. He is certainly astranged from the family. I think these details are 110 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:39.429 important. If we'll recall from the introduction to this parable as we talked about 111 00:10:39.789 --> 00:10:45.350 last week, the contexts is that that Jesus is talking to who? Pharisees 112 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:48.590 and scribes, right, and they're they're angry that Jesus is hanging out with 113 00:10:48.789 --> 00:10:56.139 sinners and tax collectors. Well, those are the people in society that would 114 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:00.659 seem close to God, right. And yet what we find is that they 115 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:07.649 are actually far, far off from the father and they have no idea about 116 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:13.929 God's program to come and to seek and to save those who are lost. 117 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:20.200 It is those scribes and Pharisees who, those seem to be close to home, 118 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:28.320 are themselves estranged from the celebration. They are far off from the family 119 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:35.909 of God. I think this is a reminder for us to consider that there 120 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:41.830 is no such thing as Loner Christians. It is impossible to be far off 121 00:11:41.830 --> 00:11:48.220 from the family of God and be close to God. To be called to 122 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:52.259 Christ is to be called to a family, it's it's to be called to 123 00:11:52.379 --> 00:12:00.019 his church. And one of the issues that we find with legalism is as 124 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.970 certainly the legalism that we find in the Pharisees is not only does it provide 125 00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:09.370 them with an improper theology of how to be right with God, but it 126 00:12:11.049 --> 00:12:18.279 totally separates them from God's community, those who God is calling to be part 127 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:26.120 of this divine salvation that he is bringing through his son. legalism is isolating, 128 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.230 because when we have the idea that we are better at law keeping, 129 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:37.070 which is precisely the idea that the Pharisees had, seems to be as well 130 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:43.590 move on the idea that this older son has. We will always judge others, 131 00:12:43.629 --> 00:12:50.460 won't we? We distance ourselves from others in our very law keeping, 132 00:12:52.139 --> 00:12:56.299 or at least our perception of law keeping. And the case of this brother, 133 00:12:58.009 --> 00:13:03.250 though, again I'm not against law keeping, but again we're talking about 134 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:11.129 the economy of the Kingdom and meriting something before God and oftentimes I think we 135 00:13:11.169 --> 00:13:16.000 can get in the rat race right in church about trying to position in ourselves 136 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.639 to look like better lawkeepers in the next guy, and it's not a great 137 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:26.519 way to build community, is it. It will always separate us, as 138 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:31.549 it has with this older brother. So the father comes out, this loving 139 00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:37.870 father that we met last week, and he entreats his son, he compels 140 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:43.980 his son to come to the party, he urges him. But what is 141 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:52.779 the son's response? Look, he says not even calling his father father. 142 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:58.210 He totally skips the title, unlike his younger brother. He says, these 143 00:13:58.330 --> 00:14:05.330 many years, I have served you and I never disobeyed your commands, yet 144 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:11.399 you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 145 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.639 First of all, does he really believe this that he has kept all of 146 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.149 his father's commandments, as he really all that great? Well, what I 147 00:14:24.269 --> 00:14:28.110 think is going on here is precisely what we had just spoke of, that 148 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:35.830 instead of looking at his father's commands and keeping his and considering his own law 149 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:39.179 keeping in light of God's perfection and light of God's holiness, who does he 150 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:46.220 compare himself to? Well, that brother who's horrible at lowkeypink. I mean 151 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:52.220 that's exactly what goes on here. He says, I've never disobeyed your commands, 152 00:14:52.299 --> 00:15:01.049 while that son of yours devoured your property with prostitutes. Sure, compared 153 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:05.690 to the lawlessness of the younger brother, he looks pretty good. Well, 154 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:11.039 has brought brother Skip town with his dad's cash. This dutiful son has been 155 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:18.519 working since his youth, laboring in the family fields, obeying the commands of 156 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:28.350 his father. A dead giveaway of a legalistic spirit, as when we compare 157 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:35.580 our behavior to the behavior of others. It's a dead giveaway, and it's 158 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:41.259 what we do when we want to look good. We don't compare ourselves to 159 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:43.980 God's perfect righteousness, as we should, as we are called to do. 160 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:48.539 We compare ourselves to the really bad centers, or at least the ones who 161 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:54.450 send differently than we do, the addicts, the murders, the adulterers. 162 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.850 I mean, looking at a drunk makes us feel a lot better about our 163 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:04.279 gluttoness tendencies, doesn't it? Considering a murderer takes the staying off of our 164 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:10.279 hatred for others. How we speak about others, how we speak to others. 165 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:18.750 Putting the spotlight on adulters allows our own lust and covetousness to hide in 166 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:26.389 the shadows. This is how a llegalistic spirit operates. It never compares itself 167 00:16:26.549 --> 00:16:30.750 to the holiness of God, but the law keeping, or lack thereof, 168 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:37.340 of those around us. Well, I want to consider something else that's interesting 169 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:42.539 here. What is it that this son wants out of his law keeping? 170 00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:48.730 Well, it seemed that he does not long to celebrate with his father and 171 00:16:48.809 --> 00:16:52.049 family, does it? If you want to do that, he could go 172 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:57.009 to the party. Well, what it indicates here is that he wants to 173 00:16:57.090 --> 00:17:03.679 get a piece of his dad's wealth to celebrate with his friends again. He's 174 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:11.160 not overly interested in being part of the family. It would seem here that 175 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.269 this hard working legalist is really after the same thing his worthless little brother is. 176 00:17:18.390 --> 00:17:26.589 He's just chasing his father's wealth and a far more dignified way, and 177 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:30.539 a lot of ways he's chasing it in the American way, something that we're 178 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:33.940 steeped in, something that I think we have to be aware of when we're 179 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:45.490 considering who we are before God, hard work, delayed gratification, meritocracy, 180 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:51.569 the idea that we can merit our position in life by hard work and ingenuity. 181 00:17:52.849 --> 00:17:55.930 That's what this guy is living for right I mean in a lot of 182 00:17:56.170 --> 00:18:03.359 ways, depending on how we measure commendability, his behavior is commendable a hard 183 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:08.599 worker. Before we continue, and when I want to jump over to the 184 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:15.349 book of Romans for just a moment and and consider Romans chapter ten, because 185 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.349 I think it does give us some help here in considering and theological terms what 186 00:18:19.509 --> 00:18:26.589 seems to be going on. The Romans tend beginning in and verse one, 187 00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:33.579 Paul is considering this idea about how how it is that the Jews have not 188 00:18:33.859 --> 00:18:38.180 reached righteousness before the God, before God, all while gentle gentiles who have 189 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:45.009 squandered God's law are declared righteous. How can this be? Will in this 190 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:48.529 section Paul is answering this question and he says in Verse One of Chapter Ten. 191 00:18:48.690 --> 00:18:52.569 They, the Jews, have a zeal for God, but not according 192 00:18:52.609 --> 00:19:00.039 to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and what seeking to 193 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:07.319 establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness, for Christ is 194 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.869 the pull a nation or the end of the law, so that there may 195 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:18.430 be righteousness for everyone who believes. Paul, as we know from reading his 196 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:22.869 letters, does not to cry hard work, does he? And then I'm 197 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:27.019 not trying to decry hard work either. But when it comes to the Kingdom 198 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:34.579 of God, Paul explains the Jews acted ignorantly by seeking to establish their own 199 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:42.730 right standing before God. They missed the entire point of God's law, that 200 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:48.970 it would point people to Jesus, that Jesus is the end of the law, 201 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:55.000 that Jesus is the CULM nation of the law, and by faith, 202 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:02.880 and faith alone, and him, righteousness is then given as a gift to 203 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:06.559 all who believe, to all who confess the name of Jesus, as Paul 204 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:11.789 will go on to say. Well, considering the older brother. Look, 205 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:15.950 these many years I have served you and I have never disobeyed your command, 206 00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:23.380 zealous for the law. Yet you know, you never so much as gave 207 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:30.460 me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. The son is 208 00:20:30.700 --> 00:20:41.369 working his tail off for an inheritance that is already his. He himself is 209 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:48.049 like his younger brother, squandering the good gifts of the father, not by 210 00:20:48.210 --> 00:20:56.680 spending them on prostitutes, but pretending like he must merit them instead of simply 211 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:02.480 receiving them. See that the brothers aren't that far off, are they? 212 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:07.789 In a lot of ways. In the case of the older brother, his 213 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:14.230 greed looks like hard work, it looks like, as Gordon Gecko said, 214 00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:18.740 the evolutionary spirit, it looks like the upward serge of mankind, hard work, 215 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.819 make yourself, pull your up, yourself up by your your bootstraps and 216 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:30.140 do something working in order to make a name for yourself. And though these 217 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:37.250 things certainly have merit, and this earthly kingdom, this type of free market 218 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:44.130 legalism is we're calling has no benefit. And the Kingdom of God at least 219 00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:48.359 in trying to merit our position before God. In fact, as will find 220 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:53.680 from the book of Romans, it turns out to be damning, and I 221 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.119 think we need to be careful of this, because we're steeped in this spirit, 222 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:02.390 aren't we? In some ways it's good, in some ways it's helpful, 223 00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:06.230 but but if we import this into our theology of you, of right 224 00:22:06.349 --> 00:22:12.190 standing before God, it can be very, very dangerous. In the economy 225 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:21.099 of the kingdom there is no free market legalism, there's only divine welfare, 226 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.619 and that'll be what we consider in the second part of this parable divine and 227 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:32.210 welfare verse. Thirty one. Let's look together and the father said to him 228 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:40.289 son. This word used for son here is a pretty intimate word, even 229 00:22:40.329 --> 00:22:44.170 though this older brother would not even refer to his dad as father. The 230 00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:52.200 father comes to him and says child, my child, you are always with 231 00:22:52.359 --> 00:23:00.430 me and all that is mine is yours. I mean, I think if 232 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:03.950 I was writing this, a rebuke would be fitting here, right. I 233 00:23:04.150 --> 00:23:10.509 think if it was me I would say, you ungrateful Jerk, you act 234 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:14.420 like a slave. When you'RE A son. You work your tail off to 235 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:21.140 earn what's already yours. What's wrong with you. But this father is not 236 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:30.609 like my father and it's not like how I do things. He calls him 237 00:23:30.650 --> 00:23:37.690 child and he comes to him with grace and kindness. He comes to us 238 00:23:38.529 --> 00:23:45.160 with grace and kindness. My children, you are always with me and all 239 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:55.359 that is mine is yours. You can't earn my affection or my wealth because 240 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:00.549 you are already an heir all these things, all that I have is already 241 00:24:00.150 --> 00:24:03.670 yours. What he says here is literally true. If we remember from last 242 00:24:03.710 --> 00:24:07.990 week, it says that he divided his wealth between the two sons. The 243 00:24:08.109 --> 00:24:12.380 younger son took what he what was coming to him, and now the whole 244 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:18.059 estate already has the older son's name on it. When he says all that 245 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:22.220 he has is yours, he means it. And yet this son is outworking 246 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:30.490 in the field. All that I have is yours, not because the son 247 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:34.849 deserves it, but purely based on the wealth and love of the father. 248 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:45.119 And so with us, as heirs to the kingdom from a God who is 249 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:52.869 pleased to give us the kingdom, not secured by our work, but purely 250 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:56.789 based on our adoption as sons and daughters of the most high God, from 251 00:24:56.789 --> 00:25:03.470 eternity past far before we can merit or demerit anything. Right it is ours 252 00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:11.140 to receive. The whole estate is already the brothers. But he slaves in 253 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:15.380 the field to try to merit ownership himself. He squanders the gift by not 254 00:25:17.140 --> 00:25:25.130 receiving it and he separates himself not only from his father but his entire family. 255 00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:29.329 He won't come to the feast. Stad says, come on in, 256 00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:33.089 it's a it's a great party, it is fitting to celebrate and be glad 257 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:38.759 for this. Your brother was dead. Your your brother, your blood, 258 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:45.599 was dead. He's now alive. He was lost and is found. And 259 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:56.710 then the parable ends. We don't find out how the older brother response. 260 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.339 We do find that most of the older brothers, in the gospel of Luke, 261 00:26:03.539 --> 00:26:08.220 referring to scribes and Pharisees, do not repent. In fact, they 262 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:15.220 have the father arrested, beaten, tried, whipped, crucified for his lavish 263 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:23.250 tendency towards runaway sons. But Luke leaves it open for us, doesn't he? 264 00:26:26.410 --> 00:26:30.809 He lets US consider. Without closing remark, we get the opportunity for 265 00:26:30.970 --> 00:26:38.599 a bit of self assessment. So let's consider. Are you a younger brother, 266 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:45.559 a younger daughter, a prodigal who has spit in God's face and squandered 267 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:52.869 his gifts by wasteful living? Are you an older brother, a legalist who 268 00:26:52.869 --> 00:27:00.700 has squandered God's gifts by not joyfully receiving them? Well, the sad truth 269 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:06.940 is, we're both. When we think about it, it seems like we 270 00:27:07.019 --> 00:27:12.859 can bounce back and forth between the two fairly quickly. We have all sinned 271 00:27:14.140 --> 00:27:18.730 grossly against God, we have turned and we have rejected his good gifts, 272 00:27:19.049 --> 00:27:25.970 both by squandering them and not receiving them. I think it's why this parable 273 00:27:26.089 --> 00:27:30.319 is so relatable. We can relate to both brothers. What we can't relate 274 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:37.599 to is a god, a father this gracious. He's a lot more difficult 275 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:45.230 to figure out. And yet it seems pretty simple, doesn't it? Well, 276 00:27:45.269 --> 00:27:48.869 the truth is is that, if we consider this closely, there is 277 00:27:48.230 --> 00:27:52.950 a good brother in the parable, and it's the one who's not mentioned, 278 00:27:55.910 --> 00:28:00.660 the one who actually kept the father's command, the one who actually merited the 279 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:10.259 father's good gifts. And even though he merited those good gifts, he selflessly 280 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:17.369 set aside all that was rightly his. He took on our lawless living. 281 00:28:18.130 --> 00:28:26.049 He took on our self righteousness and he bore them on a cross, bled 282 00:28:26.089 --> 00:28:33.759 and died that we might feast on something greater than a fattened calf, his 283 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:42.190 very body and blood given for the full remission of our sins broken and poured 284 00:28:42.230 --> 00:28:47.349 out on our behalf. And this feast that we partake of, that we 285 00:28:47.750 --> 00:28:51.589 partook of this morning, is is one that looks forward to an even a 286 00:28:52.069 --> 00:28:56.019 greater feast, the feast that these chapters in Luke that we've been looking at 287 00:28:56.099 --> 00:28:59.940 for the last few weeks of all been pointing forward to. This marriage, 288 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:03.660 feast of the lamb, a feast where God himself is the host and where 289 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:08.700 you are at the top of the guest list, not because you were classy 290 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:15.769 enough to make it in yourself, but because of the grace of the host. 291 00:29:18.930 --> 00:29:26.839 And won't that be an incredible celebration, a great and true family event 292 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:33.839 where we all come on equal playing field, on equal standing before God and 293 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:41.750 his presence, no more having to think about our standing, to worry about 294 00:29:41.750 --> 00:29:48.829 it, no longer having to think about our identity, no longer having to 295 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:55.180 doubt whether we're worthy to get in, no longer having to beat ourselves up 296 00:29:56.099 --> 00:30:02.339 over not following God's law, no no longer having to compete with others around 297 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:07.970 us for position before others in the father will be in, and won't that 298 00:30:08.170 --> 00:30:17.529 be glorious? But beloved. As we look forward to that, don't forget 299 00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:22.279 that God has given us a foretaste. He has given us a foretaste of 300 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:30.000 that day, a celebration with a group of people, yourself included, who 301 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:33.759 no longer has to think about standing before God, at least on their own 302 00:30:33.799 --> 00:30:41.390 merits, who no longer has to make a name for them self, a 303 00:30:41.509 --> 00:30:45.109 group of people who no longer have to worry about whether we're going to get 304 00:30:45.109 --> 00:30:52.779 in or not, who no longer have to work to the bone for God's 305 00:30:52.859 --> 00:31:00.619 love. This is that group. This is that foretaste, this little church 306 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:08.170 and this faraway town where God is present here, giving us a picture of 307 00:31:08.490 --> 00:31:17.769 that great feast, and it's a wonderful guest list. Look around, no 308 00:31:17.970 --> 00:31:22.279 really look around, but to the person next to you, the person behind 309 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:32.240 you. This is the guest list, all people invited for the very same 310 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:40.630 reason that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that 311 00:31:40.750 --> 00:31:45.269 whoever, I believe in him, would not perish but have eternal life. 312 00:31:45.710 --> 00:31:52.140 What a party, but a celebration. Jesus came into the world to save 313 00:31:52.220 --> 00:32:00.500 lawless reprobates and legalistic tight wads, and that's good news for all of us. 314 00:32:00.490 --> 00:32:05.529 Anyone who would turn to him and admit I am no longer worthy to 315 00:32:05.609 --> 00:32:09.009 be called your son, no longer worthy to be called a daughter, I 316 00:32:09.130 --> 00:32:16.680 have squandered your gifts through wasteful living and through worrisome labor. And he comes 317 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:24.519 with divine welfare. And it is only an unders standing this that we are 318 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:31.509 truly able to live this life as Christians, understanding that we're all here for 319 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:36.349 the same reason, because God is gracious and he has shown us that grace 320 00:32:36.470 --> 00:32:40.750 through his son, Jesus Christ. Then that's where hospitality comes from. That's 321 00:32:40.750 --> 00:32:45.299 where all the one another's in the new testament come out of, not because 322 00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:50.220 we're trying to step on one another to earn our way in, but because 323 00:32:50.259 --> 00:32:53.500 we're already in, because the kingdom already has our name stamped on it, 324 00:32:53.619 --> 00:33:00.329 because our name is now united with Christ's, the King of this kingdom, 325 00:33:04.170 --> 00:33:09.690 and we are here on equal standing with sinners of all types, planted firmly 326 00:33:10.049 --> 00:33:14.480 in the merits of Christ himself, who has come to seek and to save 327 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:20.039 that which is lost, for, as Paul will say, everyone who believes 328 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:25.279 in him will not be put to shame. And so we labor alongside each 329 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:31.230 other, not as those estranged out in the field, but those laboring is 330 00:33:31.309 --> 00:33:37.950 part of a kingdom that is already ours, together alongside each other. And 331 00:33:38.109 --> 00:33:45.779 we do this because all he has is ours and because we are his his 332 00:33:45.980 --> 00:33:51.819 children, his beloved. Let's pray together.