My Take on the Prodigal Son

I had an assignment for one of my classes. I had to write a paper, but the paper had to be in a sermon format.

This is what I came up with.

The sermon format is the reason for the different style. Check it out, I hope you can take something away from it and I'd like to know what you think about it.

As a note, two writers, Keller and Bock really influenced my thinking on this topic.

Student Ministry Sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons.12 And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them.13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.15 So he went and hired himself out tot one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."'20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.21 And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'t 22 But the father said to his servants,t 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.

25 "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.27 And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.'28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,29 but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'31 And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" -Luke 15:11-32 (ESV)

Today, we are going to explore the story known as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.” It is a parable told by Jesus in the book of Luke. It is a famous passage, many of you have probably heard the name “Prodigal Son” before but it is more accurate to go along with some versions of the Bible that call this the “Parable of the Two Sons” because this story has many facets. Let’s look at the first part of the story, read through verses 11 to 16.

Now like most young people we see today that come into a lot of money very quickly, the youngest son blew his wealth. This translation says he squandered his wealth on “reckless living.” If you look into some other translations you can infer that the young man spent his money on women, partying, and every form of excess you can imagine. He set out to enjoy every worldly indulgence he could think of and lived it up for a time.

Eventually he uses up all of his money, and the story says that there was a famine so people were in dire straights. It was hard to find work and food. In a way it is similar to today. The economy is doing poorly, so a lot of people are having a hard time finding work. It just makes for a lot of people scraping by.

I like to picture this young man growing up wealthy in his father’s home, not having to work for much and generally living a life of luxury. Now he is working as a farmhand tending and feeding the pigs!

Things are bad for the youngest son. He is living in the dirty pig sty, knee deep in the pigs’ waste. He is in need. He is hungry. In fact, he is so hungry, Jesus says he starts looking longingly at the slop that he is giving to the pigs.

Hold on. Do you know what pigs eat? Have you ever been on a farm and seen what farmers feed their pigs? Pigs are known to eat anything. I mean anything. Farmers regularly feed their pigs all the scraps that the people and other animals on the farm wouldn’t eat. They throw it in a big tub and mix it all up and make this foul smelling slop of leftover scraps. That was appetizing to this guy.

Let’s keep going, look with me at the next few verses. Read verses 17 to 24.

The young man knows he is in squalor, and remembers his fathers house. He looks at his life and knows that his father’s servants live better than he is living now. He has no hope to be treated as his father’s son again. He doesn’t think there is anyway that his father would accept him into the home and make him heir of the estate again, he just wants a job. He hopes that he can crawl on his hands and knees, beg his father for forgiveness, and work for him. He knows he hurt his father, dishonored him, and insulted him. The son is just hoping that his father is compassionate enough to let him go work in the field.

So the man swallows his pride and heads back to his father’s house, with his speech prepared on how he will ask for forgiveness. But something astounding happens. The father sees him coming while he was still far away. The father was looking and waiting for his son. Quickly, the father runs out to his son. He embraces his son and the son tells his father that he’s not worthy of this warm welcome. The father responds by calling his servants to immediately adorn the son with a robe, ring, and shoes. This signifies that the father is reinstating the son as his heir, bringing him back into the home. The father is giving the son back his full status as son. The father doesn’t make the son pay. He doesn’t make the son beg. The father immediately accepts him and rejoices. He throws a party to celebrate the son’s return.

At this point it is important to clarify who the people in this story are. Jesus is telling this story and makes it clear that the father is God and the youngest son represents all of us sinners in the world. This story explains some huge points about God’s relationship toward those that turn away from Him.

I’ve done this in my life. I have told God that I didn’t want Him around, just give me what’s mine and let me live my life. I’ve said, “I don’t need you, God.” There are many stories of us running away in our own way. Squandering all the blessings that God has given us on our selfish desires. How many of your friends don’t want anything to do with God and try to find joy in partying, drugs, sex?

It is so natural for us to do this. We want God to give us what we think we deserve, and we chase after everything we think will make us happy. We fulfill every desire in us, just consuming what feels good. Its called hedonism, we just keep chasing after pleasure not withholding from anything.

You and I, we end up just like the prodigal son. We use up all we have in the pursuit of pleasure and end up broke, sad, empty, lonely, and miserable. When I see this, I just think of rock stars. Do you ever watch those shows on VH1 about big time rock stars? The ones about how after they’ve become rich and famous, their lives spiral out of control. Why is that so common? Why does that seem to happen to so many people that look like they have everything that should make them happy?

Its because this selfish pleasure is not enough. Addiction can pounce on you and get a hold of you quick. You can end up like the prodigal son, scarred from doing nothing but serving yourself, and worse off than before.

The youngest son reaches rock bottom and remembers his father. It takes courage what he did. It takes courage for us to do the same. But when you are in that place, when you are sitting in the pig pen like the son, you realize you don’t have any other choice.

The youngest son returns to his father to beg for forgiveness. When we turn to God and ask for forgiveness, He treats us the same way that the father in this parable does. He runs to us! He embraces us! He accepts us before we can even say a word.

I love that phrase in verse 20, “while he was a long way off.” God will accept you even if you are a long way off. You don’t have to have your life in order. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be clean. You don’t have to be living right before you come to Him. Come to Him as you are and He will accept you.

God rejoices when we return to Him. He celebrates in heaven, and He immediately restores us as His children. Romans 8 says that when we turn to the Lord, He makes us coheirs with Christ. We are His children like Christ is His son. It is an amazing and hopeful promise. When we repent, God says we are alive again in Christ, no longer dead in sin. No longer lost in the world, we are found in Him.

What’s interesting is there is still another part to this parable. It deals with the older son. Let’s finish up this parable. Read with me verses 25 to 32.

The older brother hears the commotion while he is out working in the field. When he finds out there is a celebration for his brother’s return he gets mad. He refuses to join the party. The father comes out to him and asks his son what’s wrong. The son responds by saying that he is angry at the father. The son says that he has worked hard for his father and has been perfect but the father doesn’t ever celebrate him and give him the party he desires. The father is surprised and says “all that is mine is yours.” The father then invites the son to celebrate with the family.

Why is this part in here? Why didn’t Jesus leave this part out? He could have had this great story about forgiveness and now he soured it with this jealous older brother. Well the reason is interesting. If you look back in Luke, you see that Jesus was not telling this story to sinners or common people that were thought of as unholy. Jesus was talking to the church people of the time. He was talking to the Pharisees. These guys were super holy, they lived the law to perfection, their job was to be holy.

They are the older brother in this story, the religious people. And guess what, if you are here in church today, you might be the older brother in this story. I know this hits me hard. I’ve always been a pretty good kid, grown up in the church and did the right things. Jesus knows people like me and warns us of what can happen.

It is easy for us religious people to follow the commandments like the older brother and expect things in return. We go to church, we do what we’re supposed to do, we sing the right songs, we say the right things, and we get self righteous. We think we’re so good that we deserve our father’s inheritance. We think we deserve the grace that God has given us. And when we pray to Him, asking for our “young goat,” and He doesn’t give them to us, we get angry. Sometimes we look across the row and see the Lord giving that thing we want to a “sinner!” We get even more mad. The Lord should give that to us! We deserve it!

Jesus is reminding us we don’t deserve anything. No one deserves anything from the Father. We are all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. Nobody is good enough, follows the law well enough, lives a good enough life to earn anything from God. When we think we do, we let that self righteous seep into our lives. Soon, we think we don’t need a savior either.

That in itself is sin. This parable is reminding us that we are all sinners. For some of us our sin is expressed in our selfish lifestyles, our empty pleasure seeking. For others, our sin is expressed in our self righteousness and our legalism. But the beauty of this story is that God wants us both to come to the party. God will accept all of us if we turn to Him. He will throw a robe around our shoulders and welcome us back into His presence. He is a God of forgiveness, mercy, grace, and compassion

It's Not My Fault

I was hanging out with some guys today and we were talking about the importance of accepting responsibility for your actions. That's what a REAL man does. One of the points was that we need to own up to our mistakes and simply say "I'm sorry" and "I was wrong."

One of the guys talked about how he was learning to say "I'm sorry" more. He even said that he was apologizing at times when he didn't think he was wrong.

This got me thinking. I think this is a huge life lesson that he mentioned when we were hanging out. How many times in our life do we refuse to accept responsiblity for mistakes? How many times in our life do we refuse to apologize to people because we think that they are wrong? We say, "I don't need to apologize, he needs to apologize."

There's a couple of important things to remember here. I know that many times in my life I look back on a past argument or spat where I thought I was in the right, and then I realize I still helped create the mess. Sure, maybe you didn't make the mistake that made you two come to blows, but I bet you didn't react perfectly, or say the perfect things. Normally there is something you contributed to the problem that you could own up to.

While that is true, the point that really got me thinking is about those times where you absolutely did not cause the problem. You are in a fight with someone and 100 out of 100 strangers would not blame you for the fight. If any outsider looked into the situation they would say you are right and he or she is wrong. The only problem with this is none of that matters. Not if the person you are arguing with thinks you are wrong.

When you are in this situation you are faced with a difficult choice. You can either grit your teeth and apologize to the person for hurting them, even though it was there fault. Or you can sit on your pride and refuse to reconcile.

Really, it is a choice between your own pride or this relationship.

Oh man, so often I choose my pride.

It doesn't make sense to me. So many times I wish I had swallowed my pride, apologized to a person, even though I didn't think I did anything wrong, and salvage that relationship.

It's just hard to do.

So my question to you, is who do you need to apologize to? Even if you think they are to blame, are you willing to swallow your pride, accept that blame, and salvage that relationship?

The Right Way

I have to admit, I am a little concerned with this new trend going around in the Christian book community. Some of the hot new books being sold are calling us to remember God as a righteous judge. They claim that the church has focused too much on God's love, but ignored his justice. And there is some superiority around these "real" Christians, that have read the books, and know God's full character.

While I agree that Health and Wealth sermons are not biblical. I agree that Jesus does not call us to a life of comfort. I agree that Jesus calls us to surrender everything to Him. I do not agree with diminishing the importance of love in God's character just to prove a point.

Believe me. I get it. It is easy to attack the mega churches out there. They are a mile wide and an inch deep. They are doing it all wrong. Where's the growth? These are all valid points.

But at least they are doing something. No church is perfect. I've been in both scenarios, the mega church, seeker friendly, looking for people who don't know about God. And I've been to small churches, with spiritual people, moved by the Holy Spirit, and focused on growing deeper in the Word. If you are waiting for me to jump on one, I'm not going to.

Both are great. But neither are perfect.

They both serve a unique purpose. Both types of church provide something to people in different stages of their walk with God.

It is also popular for well intentioned ministers and deep thinkers to attack those in the church who provide a "salvation prayer." A "magical prayer" that gets people in to heaven.

Yes! We all agree that trusting Christ is more than a prayer. It is surrendering your life. But isn't praying to God, and telling him that you are putting your faith in him, part of the whole believe in your heart, confess with your mouth passage in the Bible? At least a prayer is a start. It may not be the perfect tiny package of Christianity all in one small prayer, but it is leading people down a road to Christ.

I don't want to come across as favoring one side or the other. Nothing makes me angrier than watching a pastor of a huge church on TV preach and seemingly shrink away from mentioning the existence of sin or sacrifice. And I get mad when I see small churches that haven't grown for years, sitting in their pews, tithing, but not getting their hands dirty, doing the work of God in the world.

I'm sorry if this angered you. But in some ways, I hope it got you thinking. There is no one right way to do church. Quit thinking your way is superior. You do church your way because that is how you feel comfortable, or that is how God called you to do it. That is great! But that doesn't mean it is the way everyone is supposed to do church. Christ is for everyone. But there are different churches for different people.

Let's try and find the middle road between the Health and Wealth Gospel, and Hell Fire and Brimstone Preaching.

God is love. God is righteous. But let's not diminish one to exalt the other.

The Way I See It

This may not be theologically perfect, there may be holes in my logic. But this is just the simple way I understand the story of redemption, the way I understand our relationship with God and his son Jesus Christ.

God made Adam and Eve in His own image, and they lived with God in the Garden of Eden.

Then, in an act of rebellion against God, they ate the forbidden fruit and Sin entered the world.

This sin has become known as “human nature.” It is original sin. Meaning we are all born into sin, simply because we are human. Furthermore, we sin on a daily basis due to our flawed human ways.

But God still loves us. He wants to be with us. He created us.

However, God is also completely holy, which means he is without sin. And God is just, meaning that all of our sins must be paid for. And the price of sin is death.

In the Old Testament, the way that people asked God for forgiveness was through sacrifices of livestock or grain.

We as a people needed an acceptable sacrifice, to reconcile with God.

God knew that no person was perfect and holy enough to be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world, so He sent His own Son to Earth.

Jesus Christ walked the Earth, fully human and fully God, and lived a perfect and blameless life.

When He died on the cross, He had done nothing that demanded judgement. God took all the punishment for the sins that we as humans have committed and poured out His righteous wrath on His blameless Son.

In that way, our sins were paid for.

Christ rose again, and ascended to heaven.

He paid the price for our sins as humans.

Because our sins were paid for, God in His infinite Holiness and Righteousness is able to live with us once again.

If we put our faith in what Christ did on the cross. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Christ died for our sins, paid our price so that we could be with God, after our lives have ended, and we are being judged for our sin, God won’t see our faults and imperfections.

Instead, when He looks at us, He will see Jesus, and His perfect sacrifice.

So, because of Christ’s death on the cross, we can spend eternity with God.

Seasons of Life

My mom always hated that saying: "Seasons of Life." She always thought that life didn't have seasons, it was just life. The older I get the more I understand that saying.

Being home for the summer, I'm beginning to realize that I'm moving on to a new "season." People that I used to be very close to have moved away, or we've simply grown apart. I used to be naive in thinking that I would always keep in touch with my close friends from high school, or all of my close friends at church, or the mentors or teachers that I knew.

I still try. But its a losing battle. People go on with their lives with or without you. There are no malicious reasons for the ending of those relationships, just life. We've drifted away.

Its pretty sad. I've learned that some of the people I thought I would always be close to, I haven't kept in touch with. Sure, we might meet up for lunch over summer once or twice, go back to school and that will be it. The cool thing is, I'm beginning to accept it.

My perspective has changed. Instead of mourning over the past, I'm embracing the present. I'm enjoying the good times I'm having now, with the people in my life, and knowing that it won't last forever. I remember hearing someone say once that the temporal nature of things, is what makes them beautiful. I'm finally understanding that.

These moments now will become memories. Sure, that sounds like a Kenny Chesney song, but there's some truth to it. I appreciate the people close to me right now. I remember my past friendships and good times I had very fondly. And I am accepting that we'll never get those times back again.

But you know what? There's no gap in my memories. At one time I was doing the things I am remembering now, and while those were happening, I had fond memories of a previous time.

I guess the point is to enjoy what is happening right now in your life. Don't get so caught up in what happened, or what is yet to happen. Enjoy your loved ones now. The people in your life who are here with you right now. People will always move, get involved in other things, drift away. Don't fight it. You can't stop it. It is bigger than you. Enjoy the people you are with now, and accept that they won't be here forever. Don't be sad. If they never left, these times would never be remembered.

In Weakness, There is Strength

Whenever I bump into someone on the street, or try to get a waiter’s attention at a restaurant, I normally start with “sorry.”

It’s a small word, but it causes a lot of controversy. Numerous times in my life I have had complete strangers tell me I shouldn’t say sorry, because people will think I did something wrong, people will blame me for things, and it is a sign of weakness.

What?

All because I said, “Sorry to interrupt, could I get a glass of water?”
To me, it’s the same thing as “excuse me” or “pardon.” But I choose to say "sorry."

There are people who live their life never saying sorry. They are consumed with being right, being without blame, and oozing strength.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with those things, they are dangerous ways to act. They can lead to inflated sense of self, and conceal low self-esteems and bruised egos.

Usually, the people who can’t say sorry are the weakest.

We all have weaknesses, and we have all heard the saying nobody’s perfect. However, for some reason, a lot of us are afraid to show other people that we’re not perfect. We cover up our shortcomings and hide our insecurities, hoping everyone will think we are strong, we are perfect.

Everyone knows you are not perfect. Weakness is not something to be ashamed of. In fact, the Bible talks a lot about the weak.

“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” -Ezekiel 34:16 (NLT)

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.” -1 Corinthians 4:10

The Bible doesn’t talk about weakness as a bad thing; instead, the Bible states that there is something to gain in weakness. It is something everyone experiences.

When we are weak, Christ is strong. It is in our weakness that we can recognize Christ’s strength. Moreover, because of our weakness will Christ strengthen us.

We shouldn’t hide our weakness and insecurities with clothes, or cars, or muscle milk. We should unveil our weakness, so that Christ will strengthen us. Then we can actually do something. Instead of being weak, and talking about how strong we are, we should show our weakness, garner the true strength of Christ, and use that strength to help people.

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” –Romans 15:1-2 (NLT)

“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.” -1 Corinthians 9:22

As I said, we are all weak. So what do we do when Christ strengthens us? We don’t flaunt our strength to make us feel good and feed our egos; we use that strength to build up our neighbors. We use our newfound strength to help the people around us.

When we puff out our chests and talk about how strong we are, we can’t connect with the weak. Paul said he became weak to win the weak. We should share our weakness; let people know that we have been there. That’s how you help people, you get on their level. You don’t rub it in their face that they’re weak and that you are strong. You share your similar story, you connect with them. You get down and help them up.

Our weakness helps us understand our problems, God’s strength, and other people. When we’ve hit rock bottom, we have to rely on the strength of God to bring us up. After that experience, we can turn and help others who are at rock bottom.

It’s like what Rocky said when describing why he loves Adrian, “I got gaps. She’s got gaps. We fill each other’s gaps.”

So just like Rocky and Adrian, God will fill our gaps.

Don’t be afraid to show your weaknesses. Let people know, that’s the only way they can help you. They have probably been there too. And when Christ strengthens you, you can turn around and help others who are right where you were.

So don’t be afraid of someone thinking you’re weak for saying “sorry.” That person is probably just afraid you will find out how weak they are.

Its really none of my business.

Do you ever watch an old scary movie? One you have seen before. You watch the character push open the old creaky door, walk down the dark hallway. Tip toe across the floor... and BAM! The killer jumps out.

The whole time you're watching this happen you are screaming at the TV "Don't go down there! What are you doing? The killer is around the corner!"

But the person in the TV can't hear your warning. Sometimes people in our lives are doing the same thing, walking down a dangerous path, but we decide to stay quiet.

A few weeks ago, I was at church and Andy Stanley preached about judging people. The first week of the series he talked to Christians and talked about how it was wrong to judge people outside the church because they didn't agree to the same code of laws that we did. We are supposed to love on those people. I talked about something similar a few weeks ago in "Sinners Like Us."

Anyways, the next lesson was on judging people close to us. Are we supposed to judge anyone? How do we approach people? He then brought up the point that when we see someone doing something wrong and it elicits a response from us, check our motives, figure out what's in us that is causing us to react to someone else's behavior that way.

Finally, he talked about judging people we are close to. If someone we love is going down the wrong path and making a stupid choice, and we know it is a dumb choice, and we are confident that we are upset for the right reasons, it is our job to step in.

Basically, many of us stand behind the statement, "I don't want to judge." Or "I'll just stay out of that, they didn't ask me for my opinion." I'll just "love" on that person and let them go their own way. THAT'S NOT LOVE!

Sometimes love isn't easy, it is not always the warm and fuzzy support, just encouraging people and let them go along as they please. Sometimes love calls us to get involved with people, help them, and step in when they are doing something stupid.

It is a lot easier for us to just stand back when we see a friend making a poor life choice, ruining a relationship, pushing away a family member, than to step in and get messy in their life.

"If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back." -Matthew 18:15 NLT

Did you catch that first part? Some translations don't include "against you." If another believer sins, we are supposed to confront them.

Believe me, no one likes confrontation, I regularly avoid it at all cost. I don't like drama, I don't like to rock the boat, I like to be liked. The truth is, that is not always the Godly thing to do.

There are times when a fellow believer, someone we know and love, someone we are close to, is making a mistake, and we have two choices, step in, or watch it happen and say "I don't want to judge, I'm not here to make their decisions."

We have to step in. I know its not a warm and fuzzy lesson, "Just love people." Yes, just love people, but sometimes loving people means we confront those we love when they are making a stupid mistake.

This is weighing on my heart because I know this happens in my life all the time. I see someone doing something stupid, going down a path I've been down. I remember how much it hurt me and how I wished someone would have stopped me, but I don't do anything and say to myself, "It's none of my business."

It is my business. If it is someone I love and they are making a huge mistake, if I don't step in, who will?

As followers of Christ, we need to help each other, help other believers, help our family, don't judge those outside your circle of relationship, outside your influence. Don't run up to people on the street doing drugs and yell at them, that is not what Jesus is saying.

But those people in your circle of friends. Those people close to you, that you truly love, that you respect, that you don't want to make the same mistake you did, that is who you step in and deal with.

If one of your closest friends is destroying his family, talk to him!

If someone in your family is making a terrible decision, get messy, get in their lives, try to stop them!

Stop letting people ruin their lives around you while you just "stick to your own business."

You have a responsibility to help the ones you love, its not always easy, but if you don't help them, who will?