Monday, October 19, 2009

Lost and Found, Part 34 of 78

TEXT: "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." ' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry" (Luke 15:17-24).

IDEA: Repentance is the willingness to give up pride and accept grace.

PURPOSE: To convince listeners that repentance is not a work to gain God’s love, but it is a response to His unconditional love.

One of the fundamental questions in the case study of the prodigal son is why the father took him back. Look at the reception the boy received, recorded in Luke 15:17-24.

I. What possible reasons are there for the father to give his son this lavish welcome?

One possible reason is that the son matured in the far country.
The young man might have said, “Father, I’ve grown more mature since I have been away from home. I've grown up. I’ve suffered a lot for leaving home, and in that pain I’ve atoned for all my sins. I accepted the risk of life. Even though things didn’t turn out very well, I’ve played the man. I have a claim on your acceptance. You must take me in; I’ve run out of money. But I’m no longer a boy. I’ve matured.”

Is there any truth in this?

Another possible response is that he felt remorse for what he did.
He had tried a spin on the wheel of fortune and lost all the chips. He ends up in a devastating famine, feeding pigs and getting their leftovers. He is starving to death, and he realizes that anything would be better than this. He hates the consequences of what he has done.

He composes a little speech to give to his father to get his father to take him back: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:18-19).

As a “hired servant,” he can still be independent, and he might be able to earn enough money to pay his father back for what was lost in the far country.

Is remorse necessarily wrong?
Has the boy broken a law or a relationship?
Can a relationship be restored with money?

II. The boy starts home. Look at the response of the father to his returning son:

While the young man is still “a long way off,” the father runs to meet him and takes the shame of the encounter on himself.

Why does he see him “a long way off’? The father was looking for his son as much as the shepherd and the woman searched for the sheep and the coin they had lost.

He “smothers him with kisses” (kataphileo). This is the sign of reconciliation and forgiveness:

The religious leaders would say, “Don’t kiss him. He is covered with pig dung. He is unclean.”

The father says, “Let me get my arms around him; let me kiss him again and again.” The father isn’t kissing the filth; he is kissing the boy.

The response of the son is significant: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.”

We know that he didn’t say all he planned to say: “Make me one of your hired servants” is missing. Why did he cut it short?

Was it self-interest? “This is going better than I had expected. Why not take everything I can get. I’ll keep my mouth shut!”

Was he interrupted by the father? He could finish his speech later after the father gives orders to the servants.

Clearly he has changed his mind. Repentance turns out to be the willingness to give up his pride to earn his father’s love and instead simply to accept his father’s grace.