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For those of you who dont know me, I am Jason, one of the
deacons here at the church. For the last few months, we have
been taking a close look at the story of Jesus through the eyes of
Luke. As you have heard us say repeatedly, Luke was a smart guy
who set out to write a careful account of Jesus life, death, and
resurrection and we have looked at a lot of what he had to say.
Today is our last day in this series on Luke and we are going to
talk about one of his best known storiesthe parable of the
prodigal son. This is one of the passages that is really fun to teach
about. Typically, when we hear this story, we hear about the
returning lost son or the lavish love of God, but today our focus is
going to be more on the older brother, who is probably the one
who we dont think about as much. Actually, today we will talk
about more than just the elder brother, but we will reintroduce
these others as well as we take somewhat of a broader view.
PRAYER
If you have your Bibles, you may want to grab them and turn
with me to Luke 15. Over the course of the morning, we will be
covering the whole chapter.
When you read stories in the Bible, they are always in the
storyline of the whole Bible. When Jesus spoke, his words were
always set in the context of Gods larger plan. The same thing is
true of these three parables or stories in Luke 15. I believe Jesus
shared them when and how he did for very specific purposes.
So first, we have to see who his audience was. The first two
verses tell us that Jesus was hanging out with sinners. Again. It
seems he was always hanging out with the outcasts, the people
church folks didnt approve of. Verse two tells us that the
Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling about Jesus receiving
and eating with these people. (Heres a spoilertodays topic is
responding to the elder brother, the Pharisees are the elder
brothers)
As a reminder, or if you dont know who the Pharisees were,
they were kind of the religious elite of the day. They were strongly
with his brother, or with his father. Jesus left that to the
imaginations of his hearers. I think the reason he left it to their
imaginations was that these parables were directed to the
Pharisees who we read had been grumbling at the beginning of
this story. He wanted to put it into their heads that they would
have to decide, do I come into the celebration with my loving
father, or do I stay outside with my self-righteousness.
This is one of those glorious stories that we could spend
months, even years, pondering. As I said earlier, Jesus was a
master with his words. In this series of stories, he carefully built
his case as to why he was consorting with the sinners. He started
by creating a way for them to see the benefit of seeking the lost,
then he switched to a story about an actual lost person, and
finally left it to them to make the decision for themselves. It is no
wonder that this remains one of the most popular stories in the
Bible.
So weve taken a look at what Jesus is saying in Luke 15.
Now where do we go with it? Let me suggest a few observations.
Before I get to those however, studying the Pharisees is a slippery
slope. I have often said I would like to write a book about
journeying from Pharisaism to freedom in Christ. I say that
because the Pharisees were not just an isolated sect of Hebrews
during Roman times. I suspect the majority, if not all of us, if we
truly search our hearts will see that we are all susceptible to being
elder brothers. We all can wonder how God can show grace to
someone that we dont think is deserving. We can all come to God
with a certain demandingness saying with the elder brother,
Look these many years have I served you So this is not just an
interesting historical lesson, this is for each of us.
Earlier, I suggested that the first two stories were joined by
common themes. First, something of value was lost. Second, that
valuable thing was sought and found which led to significant
rejoicing. Third, the rejoicing takes place in community. And this is
a picture of heaven. The third story has these themes as well.
How joyless! When you live under the constant fear of the
other shoe dropping you are going to be reluctant to celebrate. All
you can hope is that you hold it together long enough to make it
to heaven. Where is the joy in that? We have a savior who came
to seek and save the lost lost because we absolutely could not do
it on our own. Thats a cause for joy.
Finally, in the first two stories, the finder celebrated together
with his friends and neighbors. In this last story, the elder brother
refused to go in and celebrate. In his self-centeredness, in his selfrighteousness, he was willing to miss the party of a lifetime.
One of the truths of understanding the Trinity, is that God is
an eternal celebration of three personsfather, son, and spiritin
one. God is a holy party. Our God is a deeply relational God and I
think one of the most important things Jesus was driving home
with this story was that the Father is deeply relational and that he
longs to celebrate together with all who would come to him.
Perhaps one of the most important reasons God celebrates over
finding just one who was lost is because of restored relationship.
So the final message to our inner elder brothers is that we
need to ask are we fostering relationships with people? Are we
seeking to love others with an other centeredness or are we
seeking to only prop ourselves up and look out for our own needs.
In John 13:34, Jesus tells his disciples, a new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you,
so you are to love one another. God sent his son to earth to
reconcile relationships, with himself and with one another. When
he came to seek and save the lost, he came to bring straying
sheep back into the fold, to celebrate with his younger brother, to
restore relationship.
So whether you are a younger brother or an elder brother,
God is seeking after your heart. He sent his son to seek and save
those who are lost, both rebels and Pharisees. Jesus tells us that
there will be much joy in heaven over just one sinner who
repents, who decides to risk it and enter Gods party. Hes inviting
you. Will you come?