One thing you may or may not know about pastors is that we are ALWAYS on the look out for good sermon illustrations. We maintain this CONSTANT search because we know how valuable…how precious…a REALLY good story is when it comes to making a sermon understandable. I counted this week and discovered that in my own library I have twelve different dog-eared books of sermon illustration collections that I have gathered over the years. I also own a computer program called Biblical Illustrator, that contains over 3,000 illustrations carefully catalogued according to topic. I even subscribe to Preaching Today….a computer Internet service that has over 6,000 illustrations arranged by topic or Biblical text. I constantly scan periodicals and listen to the nightly news in the hopes of finding illustrations. I will gladly pay $20 for a book even if it only has one good illustration within its pages. I go to all this expense and trouble because a really GOOD story is like a “WINDOW” to the truth I want to convey in my messages.
Its like a “picture” of the point I’m trying to make. You know better than I do that sermons can be very dry without stories from life to open the mind of the target audience. Hopefully the words I’ve spoken up until this point have helped you to SEE that even an illustration about illustrations can be illustrative of important truth.
Now, as THE Master Teacher, Jesus of course knew how powerful good stories are and He used them frequently in His teaching ministry. Today we refer to His “sermon illustrations” as “Parables” and throughout the upcoming summer months I want us to take our sermon time to examine several of these stories — these PARABLES OF JESUS. Today we will study one of Jesus’ most popular stories: THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON. And, as we do, lets see what truth we can “see” by looking through it’s “windows.” This parable is found in Luke 15 and it comes after two other parables-the story of the shepherd who lost one of his one hundred sheep AND the story of the widow woman who lost one coin. Now, you might wonder why Jesus told three stories in a row that deal with the same issue-“lostness”- and the answer to that “wondering” is found in the context of this teaching. You see, in Jesus’ day there was a polarization between religious folks and the people who weren’t religious. Our Lord very quickly became known for His compassion for the irreligious people. They were attracted to Him like ants to a picnic. And Jesus obviously enjoyed their eagerness to feast on His messages for He went to their parties, and ate in their homes. In fact, according to the “religious” people of the time, Jesus spent far too much time with these whom they labeled as the worst kind of people. In verses 1 and 2 of this chapter it says that when the Pharisees saw Jesus in the center of a crowd of sinful, irreligious people they muttered critically, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” So, it was in response to their ridicule that Jesus told these three parables — three sermon illustrations ABOUT lostness.
And it is at this point that we find our first WINDOW TO TRUTH. You see, the main message Jesus was trying to get through the thick skulls of the overly pious Pharisees was that lost people (sinful people) matter to God. They are precious to Him. And when they repent and return to Him, He rejoices, as did the shepherd who found his sheep, the widow who found her coin and the father who found His son. And, lest we become too judgmental of the Pharisees, we should remember that we too often grumble and mumble about sinners. In fact, in our haste to point out the sins of others, many of us have created a similar polarization these days between Christians and non-Christians,a real “us-them” mentality. Joseph Stowell writes, “[Christians] are perceived to be long on madness and short on mercy, to be more committed to our consternation than we are to compassion.” If you doubt this, read the newspapers for if you do, you will notice that born again believers are often pictured as the enemy…much as the Pharisees were in Jesus’ day. Instead of being seen as dispensers of grace we are pictured as the critics — the people who hate both sin AND sinner, and many times we deserve this label. One thing this parable should teach us is that Christ has called us not to avoid…but to love and minister to the sinful people of the world. We need to look at sinners like God does-not with criticism but compassion-not as the enemy but as the wounded. Remember, Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save that which was lost.” And before He ascended to heaven, He said to all Christians, “As the Father sent me, so send I you.” The tragic truth is that many Christians seem to be more on a search-and-destroy mission than a seek-and-save mission.
You know here in America we call tow trucks, “wreckers.” But in England these kind of trucks all have one big word stenciled on them: “RECOVERY” Same vehicle, same mission-but a totally different perspective. We say, “There goes a wrecker.” and the English say, “Here comes recovery.” I share this to illustrate the truth that a lot of people in the Body of Christ move like a wrecker, forgetting that Christ came on a recovery mission. THAT’S why Jesus was in the midst of sinners and this is why He calls us to be in their midst as well.
Now, as I said, this morning I want us to focus our study on the last story in this trilogy of parables, the story of the Prodigal Son. So, take your Bibles and turn to Luke 15 and follow along as I read this story in verses 11-24:
11 – “There was a man who had two sons.
12 – The Younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 – Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
14 – After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 – So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
16 – He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 – When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 – I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 – I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
20 – So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 – The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 – But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 – Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
24 – For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’
Now anytime you hang with sinners-as Jesus did-you run the risk of looking like you are soft on sin… And the beginning of this story shows that Jesus certainly was not because He pointed out three ways the prodigal son offended his father — three ways he sinned.
1. First of all the prodigal asked for his inheritance EARLY.
Now, as the younger son, he would be entitled to one third of his father’s estate upon his death.
But in the Palestinian culture you didn’t make that kind of request BEFORE your father died, because it would be similar to wishing your parents were already dead. It was the deepest offense a child could impose on a parent and the Pharisees understood that. It would be like saying, “Dad, could you take a loan out NOW on the life insurance we will collect when you keel over and go ahead and give me my share?” We aren’t told why the younger son made this rude request. Perhaps he felt like the low man on the totem pole in his household. Maybe he had a passion to make a name for himself. Maybe the older brother was hassling him. Maybe he was just bored. But for whatever reason, he wanted what was coming to him. He thought it would be to his advantage to take his inheritance early and leave.
And at this point we can look through ANOTHER window to truth. For, this part of the story serves to remind us that whenever we think we need more than God or more than what He has provided for us we are in trouble. The very essence of sin is drawing pleasure from anything other than God or His provision. Remember, this was the gist of the message Satan conveyed to Eve in the Garden of Eden. he told Eve-and this is a paraphrase, “To continue to be completely loyal to God will result in your life being less than it could be, in fact less than it should be. What God has permitted is not only manipulatively restrictive, it just plain isn’t enough. Your life could be richer, more satisfying, and more complete if you were not bound by loyalty to Him or His rules.” We always are headed in the wrong direction when we think that things will be better for us away from God — that life is somehow more fulfilling away from His presence. Well, for whatever reason, his father granted the request and gave his son what he wanted. Perhaps he knew his boy well enough to realize that the only way he was going to learn in life was the HARD WAY. And God is like that father in that He gives us the freedom to accept or reject Him, to follow His guidance or to make our own way in life.
2. The second offense against the father that Jesus pointed out in His story was when He told of the son, “gathering all that he had.”
In other words the son not only received his portion of the estate (the land and livestock that was coming to him). He sold it. He turned it into cash. You see, unlike today, the father’s estate was not measured in stock portfolios, bonds, money market funds, and cash. Instead, wealth was measured in livestock and land. And in the Palestinian culture, you didn’t sell land that belonged to your family. Land was a valuable family heritage. It was part of the family identity. To liquidate it was a huge insult to the entire clan. But the son did this.
3. And then his final offense was that he squandered his inheritance in loose living.
In this day and age the land and flocks were part of the family’s social security system. Aged parents made it through the end of their lives by living off the estate. So when the rebellious son sold part of the estate, he was cutting off his father’s resources. He took something that his father would need later in life and according to verse 13, “WASTED it in RIOTOUS living.” The word “riotous” here means “loud” or “wild.” It suggests a life of wild parties, loud music, and bright lights. And, the word “wasted” means “to blow away.” It was the same word that was used to describe the winnowing process used on grain. You should remember from our study of Gideon’s life that once the grain was harvested from the fields it was placed on a stone or wooden threshing floor. Animals were then led ’round and ’round over the grain, and the pressure of their hooves trampled the grain and pressed the kernels from the husks. Then on a windy day, the farmer, using a wooden paddle much like a shovel, would toss the grain up into the air. The wind would blow the lighter husks away, and the heavier grain would fall back onto the floor. By repeating this process hundreds of times the husks were soon all blown away and nothing but pure grain was left on the floor. This was called “Winnowing” because the wind was used to blow away the husks. AND that’s what the young man did with his family inheritance. He literally “Blew” it all on wild living. Now some of us might say, “Well boys will be boys! And you know, boys do tend to sow their wild oats.” But you know when we SOW wild oats that is all we REAP!
Looking through THIS window of the story reminds us that when we disobey God we always come back worse than when we left-scarred by sin with the memory of wasted years. You always pay a PRICE for sowing wild oats as the prodigal soon discovered. Verse 14 says that he quickly spent everything-the BILL for all his “wild living” was his entire inheritance.
This should remind us that sin is an EXPENSIVE business! It is never an investment. When we sin, we always SPEND relationships, health, time,things we never get back again. Verse 14 also says that after he had wasted all his money, there arose a severe famine in the land, and he fell into abject poverty. When this happened this lost son lost two things. First he no doubt lost his “Far Country-fair weather” friends. This, reminds me of Proverbs 14:20 where it says, “The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.” And he also lost his self-respect. As a last resort he took a job which would be equivalent to cleaning cesspools today.
For, the prodigal ended up working for a Gentile, feeding pigs-a task that was forbidden to a Jew because the law plainly said, “Cursed is he who feeds swine.” But the son sank even lower still. He got so hungry that he longed to eat the pigs’ food and, as you know, pigs will eat just about anything! Some of us have been there. We have felt the degradation of sin and sought for something to satisfy us. The problem is the longer we sin…the longer we stay in the “far country”…the longer we rebel against God….the emptier and hungrier we feel. This should help us see that when the Lord is our shepherd, we do not want. But when we forsake Him we always want. His way is always best — always the most satisfying. Now, up until this point the Pharisees probably liked this story Jesus was telling. They were no doubt forming an “AMEN corner” thinking, “Right on Jesus! Exactly! These people hanging around You are sinners.
They’ve offended God just like the prodigal did his father. They’re degraded. They deserve their punishment! Preach that sermon! Turn or burn! Forsake or bake! We love this kind of stuff!” But Jesus didn’t stop there…as He continued to teach, He said that the prodigal decided to go home again. And I imagine the “AMEN corner” began to quiet down at this point of the story.
Here Jesus used His story to open another window to truth for us for, just as the boy took steps AWAY from his dad there were steps BACK to him. And, this helps us to see that when we take steps away from God, there are steps back to Him as well-the same steps in fact..
1. And the first step is the step of RECOGNITION.
Look at verse 17. It says that the prodigal awoke to his condition and “came to himself.” He finally began to recognize things as they really were. He realized that he had been acting like someone who didn’t have “both oars in the water.” And you know, ALL sin is really a form of insanity. Anyone would be crazy to give up a relationship with God for the pleasures of this world. We would be foolish to give what we cannot LOSE to gain what we cannot KEEP! But, many times in life we become deluded or demented enough to forget this. We come to believe that sin is good — that disobeying God will lead us to experience some joy we are missing. That is what had happened to the prodigal. He apparently thought that things would be better away from His father’s influence — that the joys of the FAR COUNTRY would be greater than the pleasure to be found in His father’s presence. When his money began to run out he no doubt told himself that his hard times were only temporary and that his “ship” would soon come in. He imagined he still had friends. Even when he had to take a job with a detested pig farmer, at first he probably thought he was only doing it a short term basis…to keep body and soul together until his bad fortune changed. Maybe he told himself not to worry…that he would make it big in pigs…you know be the Bob Evans or Jimmy Dean of the Far Country. It was only when he got to the point of starvation and recognized that no one, not even his former friends, would give him anything…it was only then that he “came to his senses” and acknowledged that he would be better in his father’s house as a hired servant. Sometimes, like the prodigal, WE have to learn the hard way that God’s way is best. King David wrote of his gratitude for this…the school of hard knocks…in Psalm 119:67,71 . He said to God: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now [after I have encountered tough times] I obey Your word…It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.” So, the first step back to God for all prodigals is recognition — a realization that you are indeed going the wrong way in life….that you need to turn back to God.
2. And the second step is CONFESSION.
The son had sinned and now, having come to his senses, in verses 18 & 19, he acknowledged his sin and said: “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” Notice that he didn’t excuse his behavior as understandable “youthful wild oats,” He didn’t blame others as Adam had blamed Eve or Eve the serpent. No, he confessed his sin AS his sin, because he had come to see himself and his offenses clearly. Further, he confessed that it was sin against heaven as well as against his father and that gave sin an even greater seriousness. You know we often stumble in THIS step back to God, for too often we start out confessing our sin and end up excusing it. A few years ago THE TORONTO SUN ran an article in which they printed a list of some of the unbelievable excuses people turn in when they fill out car insurance accident claim forms. Listen to a few of them:
- “In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a light pole.”
- “I turned to look at my mother-in-law and then lost control of my car.”
- “The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.”
I doubt that many insurance companies took these excuses very seriously and God doesn’t take our excuses for sin very seriously either. The word “confess” means “to call it the same thing.” In other words, when we sin, we don’t need to make excuses, or blame somebody else, or try to wiggle out of it. We need to say, “God this was sin. You call it sin. I confess it as sin…and that’s all there is to it. Please forgive me.” Confession isn’t the same thing as being sorry we were caught. It is being sorry we sinned. To confess means to own up to the fact that our behavior wasn’t just the result of bad parenting, poor genes, jealous siblings, or a chemical imbalance from too many Twinkies. Confession means saying that a choice was made…and it does not need to be excused, explained or even understood. After his sin with Bathsheeba, King David admitted to God, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You and You only have I sinned.” (Psalm 51:4 ) We should note that the son showed that he saw his actions as sinful because he planned to go home and ask to be a hired servant and a hired servant was not only less than a son but less than a slave. A slave at least had security. But a hired servant could be dismissed from his position. So the son asked not for the best but for the least in his father’s house. But, when the prodigal got home, he even abandoned THIS request. In verse 21 he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He didn’t ask to be made as one of the hired servants. He just confessed and threw himself on his father’s mercy. And THIS is true confession….no deals…no negotiations….no strings attached.
3. This leads us to the third step that all returning prodigals must make: REPENTANCE.
Verse 20 says that having seen himself as he was and having confessed his sin as sin, the prodigal “got up and went to his father.” He repented. He turned from his sinful choices and headed home. You see, thinking alone did not save him, accurate though his thinking was. Confession alone did not save him, though he had much to confess. He needed to turn around and return to his father. And that is what he did. To return to God, we too have to take this final step…we must turn and make a complete break with what has been. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses AND FORSAKES THEM will find compassion.” You see, forsaking sin always follows a genuine confession of sin. Well, he headed home….and as he turned up the last road the prodigal was probably surprised because his Father came running down the road to meet him. Verse 20 says, “…while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” This would indicate that the father regularly looked for his son’s return…every day he probably went for long walks on his estate keeping his eyes on every road that led to the family home. My Grandfather Adams had a farm in Mississippi and the drive way was about a mile long, covered with gravel. You could hear someone coming for a long time. So whenever we pulled into the front yard each summer he and grandmom would be standing there waiting for us. They’d come running down and open the car doors and grab grandkids in their arms, welcoming us home. This is the picture we have here: a loving father looking for his son to come back and when he did, running out to meet him. In this story, the father symbolizes God and in all of Scripture this is the only time we see God hurrying at anything — hurrying to welcome a repentant sinner back into His presence. This “window” in the story reminds me of James 4:8 where it says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you….He will run to be near to you!”
Now, the father’s behavior at this point would have shocked the Pharisees-I imagine their mouths were hanging open-for a kiss in Palestinian culture is a sign for full acceptance and friendship. And the father didn’t stop with a kiss and a hug. He called for a robe, a ring, and sandals. That robe stands for honor; the ring stands for authority-for if a man gave to another his signet ring it was the same as giving him the power of attorney. The shoes stand for a son as opposed to a slave, for children of the family were shod and slaves were not. Remember, the slave’s dream in the Negro spiritual was of the time when “all God’s chillun got shoes,” for shoes were the sign of freedom. Now, if it had been my son, I would have said, “Let’s go home. Wait till your mother sees you! She’s going to be so happy! And by the way I’m glad to welcome you back but you’re on probation for six months.” But not this father! He simply welcomed him and issued no punishment. Someone asked Abraham Lincoln toward the end of the Civil War, “How are you going to treat the rebellious Southerners when the war is over?” He replied, “I will treat them as though they have never been away.” That’s what the father did. That’s what God does. You know only two on the farm were sad to see the prodigal return: the elder brother and the fatted calf. And the Pharisees would have empathized with the elder brother. They would have felt that he should not have been welcomed home…that he deserved punishment instead. But that is the main truth that this story illustrates. It is as Philip Yancey says, “God is like a love-sick Father….” who cares more about us than our sin. He longs to welcome us home and restore us to full sonship. When we recognize our sin, confess it, forsake it and return to our Heavenly Father, He “restores the joy of our salvation.” (Psalm 51:12 ) and “redeems us so that we can receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:5 )
You may remember that during the imprisonment of fifty-two American hostages in Iran, it became popular to wear or display yellow ribbons as expressions of our joy in welcoming the released hostages back home. The use of the yellow ribbon grew out of the following true story: A group of college students were en route from New York to Florida for a weekend. As their bus passed through New Jersey a man dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit sat down in front of them. He never moved his dusky face or said much. He just chewed the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into a personal cocoon of silence. As they traveled together the young people introduced themselves to him and began to learn his story. He had been in a New York jail for the past four years, and now he was going home. For the past three and one-half years he had had no contact with his wife or children.
At the beginning of his imprisonment he had written his wife, telling her only that he was going to be away for a long time; and that if she couldn’t stand it, she could merely forget him and marry someone else. He would understand. Now, for all he knew she might have done that. One of the young people replied, “And are you going home now not knowing?” “That’s right,” he said. Then he told them that the week before, when he was sure that his parole was coming through, he wrote his wife again. There was a big oak tree on their place near the highway, and he wrote her that if she’d take him back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree. Then he would get off and come home. If she didn’t want him, she should forget it-put no handkerchief on the tree, and he’d pass on through. By this time the bus was twenty miles from his home, and all six of the young people were caught up in anticipation. They took over the window seats on the right side of the bus, waiting for the view of that oak tree. The bus acquired a dark, hushed mood, full of the silence of absence and lost years. The man stopped looking, fortifying himself against still another disappointment. The bus drew nearer his home-ten miles and then five. Then, suddenly, all the young people were up out of their seats, screaming, shouting, and crying, doing small dances of exultation. All except the man. He sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs-twenty of them, thirty of them…maybe hundreds. The tree stood like a banner of welcome blowing in the wind! As the young people shouted, the former con rose from his seat, and sidled to the front of the bus. He was going home again.
The good news this story of Jesus illustrates is that you and I can go home again. We were created for fellowship with God. Sin….our sin….broke that fellowship and separated us from our Heavenly Father. But, in spite of our rebellion, God still loves us and through the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross, He made provision for our forgiveness and our return. We can go home again. We can return to the open, waiting arms of our Heavenly Father.
Now as you have looked through the windows of this story, what truths have you seen? Perhaps you’ve seen that you are like the prodigal. You have rebelled against God and you see your need to return. Maybe this story has shown you your need to be less like the Pharisees and reach out in compassion to the lost of the world. You may feel led to join this church…in it’s ministry. If you have a decision that you wish to make public, I would invite you to walk the aisle and share that decision with me as we stand and sing. I’ll we standing here at the front…waiting.