Bringing Home The Prodigals (Luke 15: 11-32)

We all know a Prodigal. A son or a daughter. A friend, a loved one. Someone who used to walk with the Lord but who has now gone off the rails. Or perhaps they grew-up through church and Sunday school, but have now turned their back on the whole thing. We all know one.  They test our faith, and all too often, they break our hearts. What hope have we? More to the point, what hope have they?

In these three parables, Jesus shows us God’s heart towards people who are lost. More than that, in the last parable, perhaps the most brilliant piece of story-telling ever told, Jesus shows us God’s heart towards the Prodigal.

Indeed, in this passage I want to see and learn three things:

• God’s heart towards the Prodigal,
• God’s work in the heart of the Prodigal, and
• Our Heart, and How it Sometimes Hinders the Prodigals from Coming Home.

In the first two parables, Jesus teaches about His Father’s heart.  Whether it’s the Shepherd looking for the missing sheep, or the Wife searching for her lost coin, we are told (v7 & 10) that there is much rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents.  Put in simple terms: Lost people matter to God, and He rejoices when they turn back to Him.  So be in no doubt, as Paul says to Timothy, God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”.

In particular, in this third parable, we see how God views the Prodigal. Note what we are told;

1. His Father is watching for him (v20). That, it seems to me, is the key implication of  “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him”.

2. His Father is full of compassion for him (v20).

3. His Father forgives him. Such is the fullness of this forgiveness that the sons misconduct is not even mentioned! The Father doesn’t say piously “oh my son, you have sinned so greatly, but I forgive you.” No, he doesn’t even mention it. There is no “where have you been…what have you done?” Indeed, when the son tries to appease the Father with his carefully rehearsed speech, the Father cuts him short! (v21f)  He won’t hear it!

4. His Father accepts him home. And what an acceptance it is—he embraces him (v20), and kisses him.  More than that, he ran to his son. In the ancient world, the father of the household was a dignified and honoured man. He didn’t run anywhere, especially not towards a supposedly disgraced and wayward son. But this Father did.

5. His Father restores the son’s honour. We’re told that the Father orders there to be a ring put on his finger, a robe on his back, and slippers on his feet. All signs of honour and dignity and respect.

6. His Father celebrates. V23

This is God’s heart towards the Prodigal, towards your prodigal.

 

Secondly, we see how God works in the heart of the Prodigal. It is oh so simple, and yet it is so much a work that only God can do. While the son was alone, hungry, penniless and far from home, we read “he came to his senses” (v17).  He realized what a good deal he had back at his Father’s place, and he decides to head home. And that is what we need to pray, and claim in faith, that God will do His work and bring that son or daughter or friend “to their senses”.

 

Lastly, and this is what I want us to focus on, I want us to see how the attitude of our hearts can sometimes be a barrier.

Not everyone was happy at the wayward son’s return. We are told that the elder brother “became angry” (v28) and “refused to go in”.  Notice his words to his Father “this son of yours…”(v30)  Actually, these three parables all find their focus in the Elder Brother. That’s actually what they are all about.  Note what we are told right at the beginning of all this “Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Then Jesus told them this parable…”

So, who is the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost Son?  It’s all these Tax Collectors and sinners that keep coming to Jesus.  And who is the older brother?  It’s the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law.  The ones who should be joining-in the celebration with God, but refuse to.

And all too often, we can be like that older brother. We can have that same “older brother attitude” that says to Prodigals, ‘you’re not welcome’.  

What are some of the marks on an Elder Brother Heart?

1. He wasn’t thankful for what he had.  You didn’t give me anything!! V39. and what does the Father say “Everything I have is yours.” You see, the younger son had squandered his inheritance—it was all gone. Everything the Father had belonged to the elder brother, but he didn’t realize it and didn’t appreciate it. First thing, to avoid an older brother attitude be thankful for all that God has given you.  Develop an attitude of gratitude.
2. He didn’t appreciate his relationship with the Father.  “All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders” v29.  ‘Slaving for you’? And the Father’s response “My Son, you are always with me.”  Do we appreciate what a privilege it is to be the Father’s child?  What a privilege it is to know that we are loved, forgiven and accepted?  What a privilege it is to know that we carry the precious Holy Spirit in us and with us at all times, and can talk to the Father directly at any time and in any place?  Do we realize that these are not privileges that non-Christians have? DO we realize how blessed we are.  Isn’t it enough, if God did nothing else for us, ever, that He has forgiven us, taken us as His own, and promised that we will be with Him forever?  It’s a privilege to worship; it’s a privilege to pray.
3. He didn’t have His Father’s heart.  “…This son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' (v30). And the Father’s reply “This brother of yours”.  And “we had to celebrate and be glad”…we had to. If you only knew my heart, how much I love you both, how much I have yearned to see my boy again.  He may have always been with his Father, and everything the Father had may have been his, but one thing the elder brother didn’t have was his Father’s heart.  “this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  And our Father is one who wants to see lost people found and dead Prodigals return home and be alive again.  It’s no wonder that Care for The Family’s Rob Parsons says that if we want the Prodigals to come home we had better pray that they meet the Father before the Elder Brother!