This Father’s Day I wanted to turn our attention to the gospel of Luke chapter 15, verses 11-32, the parable of the prodigal Father. Turn there in your Scriptures, if you would…
The parable is told in the context of other parables that give us a hint of what is coming.
In chpt 15:1 Luke tells us Jesus is talking to “tax collectors” and “sinners” that were gathering around Him. And there were Pharisees and teachers of the law, muttering about Him as they often did – they were not there to listen to Jesus, but rather to condemn Him.
In Luke 4ff, Jesus told them a parable about the lost sheep, which of course is not about the lost sheep at all, but about the shepherd. Jesus knew He was talking to lost sheep, and He was talking about the love of their Father, the Great Shepherd. Then, Luke 8ff, Jesus tells them about the lost coin, which of course was not about the lost coin, but about the woman who turned the house upside down to find it. Jesus knew He was talking to lost coins, and He was telling them about the love of their Father.
Next is the parable of the Lost Son, which really has little to do with what? the “lost son”, but has everything to do with the, what? the love of the Father.
So this Father’s Day, let’s read looking for what Jesus teaches us, a bunch of formerly lost sheep, and some formerly lost coins, about our Father’s love…
A familiar parable that has come to be called the parable of the “Prodigal Son”, but again I would maintain the parable is not as much about the son, or sons, as the Father, the “Prodigal Father”.
We may assume that the word “prodigal” means bad, or lazy, or some such thing, but it does not… straight out of Websters, “Prodigal” defn; recklessly extravagant”. Sure the younger son was a prodigal, but so was the Father, recklessly extravagant.
The parable is about the Father’s “forgiveness”, reckless extravagant forgiveness.
But there are two other characters in this play, supporting characters, that allow the main character to do what He does. The younger son and the older son.
Tim Keller in his book, The Prodigal God, says that all people can be found in one of these two sons – and the wickedness of our hearts is made evident through them. All people want to control God, it goes back all the way to the garden of Eden, and this sin nature in all of us evidences itself in one of two ways.
1) We want to tell God what we’re going to do and not do! Jesus was speaking to the tax collectors and sinners who had no regard for the things or commandments of God.
Like the younger son, many will take everything God grants them, money, jobs, relationships, grace, health, houses, boats, cars, children, the very air they breathe and scream back at Him with a clenched fist, “MINE! It’s mine and you can’t have it, and you can’t tell me what to do with it! It’s mine it’s for me and my glory, you can’t have any of it.” And we squander it all on wild selfish living, and wind up eating with the pigs.
This is how one type of person “controls God”, by declaring his independence from Him, “I don’t need God, I am my own man!” even though he is completely dependent upon God for his next breath.
2) A second kind of person is like the older son, he too wants to control God. Jesus didn’t want to completely leave out the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who were sitting in… This person does this by outward obedience and conformity. We answer our father, vs 29 “Look you old geezer… All these years I’ve been slaving for you (slaving?) yet you never gave me anything (except food, a home, love, clothes, car, etc…). You OWE ME you old such and such!”
The Pharisees would have been shocked, mortified by the fathers behavior toward the first son – He had taken the father’s money, it was shocking enough that he would even ask for it, basically saying, “Father I wish you were dead, but b/c you’re not, give me my inheritance NOW!” And stealing the family’s honor, by living that way.
The younger son knew this when he returned, “take me as one of your slaves” (meaning, I want to repay the money I owe this family), “I am not worthy of being called your son” (meaning, I am a disgrace, not you!).
But look what the Father does, the point of the parable… the recklessly extravagant” forgiveness of the Father.
The Father saw him a long way off (probably looking for him for many days), and pulls out a gun…. no no no. Filled with anger and resentment… no no no, filled with compassion for his son, which means he was moved by the love he had on the inside, Com – Passion. He hikes up his garment (like a girl or a young boy) and runs to his son. Reckless, reckless.
He throws his arms around him, literally, he falls on his sons neck, and what, strangles him? no no no, he kisses him.
At this point the tax collectors and sinners must have been weeping, they knew their role in the story. And the Pharisees, they must have been seething with anger, and gnashing their teeth. Oh in the INJUSTICE of it ALL!
Wait the injustice gets worse….
What do you think the father thought when he saw his son coming? Oh wonderful he’s back to _______________________? Right! Ask for more money! He ran out of money, he’s back for more! Do you really think the father had any reason to think that his son was coming to repent and beg forgiveness?
The father doesn’t give him the chance to say anything! He runs to him and basically tackles him with a big sloppy wet kiss. (when heaven met earth with a sloppy wet kiss…)
Are you getting this? If you are, or ever have been this type one personality, with your chubby little fist balled up in the face of God, are you getting this? Do you see the gross injustice in this? The reckless extravagant forgiveness from the Prodigal Father?
Bring the best robe, and put the family ring on his finger, sandals on his feet. Clothe him in an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is not his own, but that comes from the Father through the Son. Let’s bring the fattened calf, prepared for this day, and kill it.
That’s the crazy, reckless, extravagant grace the forgiveness we have received. There is no rhyme or reason to the forgiveness of God. It is an insane love. Read the book of Hosea sometime if you want more than a parable, there’s a whole book, there are 66 books written about our Prodigal Father.
We haven’t even gotten to the second son – you know, the “good son” – the Pharisee, the teacher of the law – the son with a heart so blackened by sin, it is irredeemable. Iredeemable. He says, “God how can you do this to me? After all I’ve done for you? Haven’t I done my devotions? Haven’t I read my Bible? Don’t I give 20% to the church (like the Pharisees)? Didn’t I visit the poor and the shut ins?”
How many times have I had those very thoughts about my Father?
And Jesus will say what? Matt 7:23 “ Get away from me you evil doers, I never knew you.”
“Well Pastor Bob, what’s a righteous dude like me to do?” Check your heart. If you don’t, God will. And then turn, just turn to the cross, and throw yourself at His feet, His forgiveness is reckless and extravagant.
He has come to you and to me, God incarnate, the God of the universe with His robe hiked up, running to you and to me, with a sloppy wet kiss.
Our Father offers this reckless forgiveness to the younger sons who return, and the older ones who stand in His house every Sunday.
“The older (self-righteous) brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him… My son, the father said to him, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”
This father’s day, I invite you to consider our Father’s love. It is reckless and extravagant, beyond all measure or reason.
And so we are here to receive that love, to receive that forgiveness, and to enter in to the celebration that is only dimly lit, stained by our sin here on earth, but a celebration that will continue for all eternity.
That’s what SonLife is here to do, to declare His praises, to declare God’s forgiveness, the redemption of Christ, and the release of the captives, the year of Jubilee.
