The Never-Stopping Love of God (Luke 15)

Resource by Eric Weiner

I am the middle child of 3. I have an older brother and a younger sister.

When my younger sister was 3 years old, she had this pink security blanket she would carry around wherever she went. She could not go anywhere without this blanket. She gets upset; give her the blanket. She needs to sleep; give her the blanket.

I think this is past the statute of limitations. One day my sister made me angry. So, without her knowing, I took that pink blanket and put it in the trash bin outside our home.

I thought, “I’m going to teach her a lesson. She’s going to get upset, and she’s gonna want her blanket but won’t be able to find it.” The only problem was that none of that happened. At least not immediately. That’s the thing about kids. They get in fights one moment and act like nothing happened the next. It all just blew over.

Well, later that afternoon, my sister wants her blanket but she can’t find it anywhere. So she goes crying to our parents and they start looking all over the house for it. They can’t find it anywhere. So, they ask me and my brother if we’d seen it. So, we start looking for it.

And then it hits me. I had totally forgotten what I had done. I thought, “I’m about to be a hero. I’m gonna get the blanket and save the day.” So, while no one is looking, I sneak outside to the trash bin, and when I open it up it’s empty. Trash collection had already happened. And I just have this – “what have I done” kind of moment. This thing is sacred. My sister can’t sleep without that blanket. What am I going to tell my parents?

So of course I did what any loving older brother would do. I went back inside and told my parents, “I can’t find the blanket anywhere. I think it’s lost.” Needless to say, our next family trip was to the store to buy multiple pink blankets.

In Luke 15, Jesus shares three stories about something of great value that’s been lost and what we’ll do to find it. The lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son.

By sharing these stories, Jesus wants us to understand the very heart of God. And I believe understanding God’s heart will change your life.

In God’s heart of hearts he says, “I will do whatever it takes to save sinners,” and if we really love him, so will we.

We’re going to spend the bulk of our time this morning on the prodigal son. But before we do that, let me offer two caveats:

The word prodigal is not commonly used in English today let alone for an international community like ours. It’s really only used in reference to this story. And because of that, many people assume that prodigal just means runaway. But prodigal actually means reckless. It’s the heart disposition of the younger brother.

Contrary to the parable’s title, the main character in the whole story is the Father. He appears no less than 12x in the story. While the younger brother is reckless in lifestyle choices, at least from the perspective of the older brother, the Father is seen as reckless in grace.

Now, I wouldn’t call God’s grace toward sinners reckless because that implies that he’s wasteful and irresponsible, which God is not. But God is so over-the-top generous with his grace and love that it breaks paradigms for what we otherwise thought appropriate. But it’s not just the younger brother that needs grace. We’re gonna see how God’s grace is for all of us.

[11] – Jesus says, “There was a man who had two sons…”

Let’s look at the lostness of the younger son.

[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.

1. Sin separates us from God and others.

When given the option between trusting God or trusting ourselves, the natural lean in our heart is toward self because we all functionally crave independence from God.

You see that attitude in the younger son. This is a problem at the level of core beliefs. Sin in essence leads you to believe that freedom is found outside God’s wise instruction. The son doesn’t want to be under his father’s care. He thinks real freedom and joy lie beyond the walls of his father’s estate.

But, just watch how sin creates separation for the son relationally, physically, and spiritually.

For him to ask for his inheritance is not a typical practice in Jewish culture. In OT law, the elder brother was promised a double portion of the inheritance. In this case, the younger brother is due a third of his father’s estate. But neither brother gets their inheritance until after their father has died.

What the younger brother is saying then, is, “Dad, I wish you were already dead. I want nothing more to do with you.” See, the father and his family have become an obstacle to joy rather than a provision for it.

[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.

That’s why he’s called a prodigal. He’s reckless. But every father knows, the greater concern is not that he’s reckless with your wealth. The greater concern is that he’s reckless with his life. That he takes something meant for eternity and treats it like there’s no tomorrow.

The son runs off to the far country because he wants nothing to do with his father just like sinners want nothing to do with their God. That’s why the son wants his inheritance now. He wants the gifts of God divorced from life with God.

And that same inclination is in us. So, let’s make the same offer to you: How would your life change right now if you traded life with God to gain all the desires of your flesh? If God said, everything you want, here! You can have it! You just won’t get me.

Would your life be richer? Would your marriage be stronger? Would you feel more satisfied with the person you’re dating? Would life feel more purposeful? Would you feel more secure? More stable? More sure of your direction in life?

The younger son got everything he ever wanted minus his father, and discovered really quickly that he had nothing at all.

[14] – And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

A famine means food is scarce. Jobs are scarce. He’s already in a foreign land where he’s not afforded the same opportunities. In his father’s house, he’s secure. But in the far country, he has to subject himself to whatever he can find.

[15] – So he went and hired himself out to 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.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, he hits a new low. It’s not just that he has to hang out with filthy pigs, but it’s what the pigs represent. In Hebrew culture, pigs were ceremonially unclean. In Leviticus 11, the Lord says, “The pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you” (Lev. 11:7).

Hanging with the pigs was functionally renouncing his faith in God. Not only has he removed himself from the land of his father, but he’s disqualified himself from the house of the Lord.

Sin separates us from God and others. We become relationally, physically, and spiritually removed. But, it’s not just that the younger brother’s cut off. Just look at the patterns of his heart. He wanted to be cut off. He chose to reject the father and he chose to pursue the reckless life. He was wrong in both directions and the rest of his life flowed from it.

The younger brother is a tangible picture of the reckless, sinful life. It’s a miracle that any one of us could come to the Lord, but the story of the Lost Son also teaches us that at some point you have to change your mind. At some point, you have to recognize that you’re wrong about yourself and God. Like the younger brother, you need to repent.

2. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in action.

Let me offer three components of repentance we see from the younger brother:

[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!

Repentance means coming to terms with yourself.

It says the younger brother came to himself. He’s starting to self-reflect. He is as far lost as you can be. He’s wrecked things with his father, his family, and his faith. He deserves to be treated like the rebel son he is.

But we know that God loves a humble and contrite heart. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

No matter how lost you are, no matter how removed you are from the house of the Lord, it’s never too late to come back home.

Last year, a friend of mine by the name of Lew Turner went to be with the Lord. If Lew were here today, he’d tell you himself he was a professing Christian, but he had become a proud, angry old man. But when Lew was diagnosed with stomach cancer, something in him changed. The conditions of his life led him to come to himself. Lew realized, it’s not the cancer that’s killing me, it’s the sin within me I need to root out.

Cancer may have ended his life, but he came to see cancer as a blessing from God that helped him really see himself before a God who is gracious and kind.

Repentance means considering the character of God.

If, in our repentance, we only consider ourselves, then we haven’t gone far enough in our repentance and risk distorting how we see ourselves.

I have encountered moments with my kids where they feel so sorrowful over something they’ve done that they cry out, “I can’t be your child anymore.”

It breaks my heart, and I fight like crazy to kill that lie. Some of us get so stuck on our sin that we can’t possibly fathom receiving our Heavenly Father’s approval.

But if a broken and imperfect father like me can spot and attack the lie, what lengths do you think your perfect Father will go to to reclaim his children?

What makes the younger brother hopeful in his repentance is a reflection on the character of his father. “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread?” Not in his wildest dreams is he thinking that he can be restored as a son. But better is one day under his father’s care than what he’s experiencing right now!

So he says, [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.

Repentance means moving to restore the relationship.

Repentance requires courage. You have to own what you’ve done before those you’ve wronged. How many of us will stay in the folly of sin or learn to be content with the ruin of sin because we couldn’t dare to face the person we’d wronged?

But notice in the son’s speech he recognizes the vertical and horizontal nature of his sin. He’s sinned against his father, but he’s also sinned against God. You can run from people, but you can’t escape the watchful eyes of God.

V. 20 says, “He arose and came to his father.” Repentance is a change in mind that leads to a change in action. If sin separates us from God and others, then true repentance will move us toward restored relationships with God and others.

And ultimately, it’s not that we throw ourselves at the mercy of man. When you come to yourself, when you experience genuine sorrow over your sin, when you take a hard look at God and choose to put your life in his hands, you are putting yourself at the mercy of a gracious and compassionate Father who relentlessly pursues you.

What do you think God’s disposition is toward runaway sinners? Jesus gives us three stories to help us understand this. What is God’s disposition toward you?

Jesus says it’s like a shepherd who’s lost one of his sheep. He leaves the 99 for the 1 and will do whatever it takes to scoop that lost sheep up and carry him home.
It’s like a woman who’s lost a tenth of all that she has. She’ll flip the house upside down until she finds what she’s lost.
God is enthroned above all the earth. But he’s like a Father who stands at the gates of his Heavenly City eager to welcome his sons and daughters with his embrace.

3. God gives grace to the undeserving.

Grace means, not only the forgiveness of God but the gifts of God. He clothes you. He crowns you. He celebrates you.

[v. 20 cont…] – 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.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘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.

Here you have a son whose final words to his father were, “You’re dead to me.” Who wasted away a third of his father’s wealth. Who abandoned his father, his family, his faith.

I wonder what that journey home would have been like. He’s probably running through all the scenarios in his head. How’s my father going to respond when I tell him I lost everything? What about the humiliation I’ve brought to our family? Man, I have no defense for what I’ve done. If I put myself in my father’s shoes, I wouldn’t take me back! But I have nowhere else to go. I’m lost.

But then as soon as he’s within eyesight of his father’s estate, he begins to make out, off in the distance, what looks like something running toward him.

I have seen many older, Middle Eastern men during my time here in Kuala Lumpur, but not once have I seen them move in a manner that I would describe as quick. But here you have a father sprinting to his son.

Look back at verse 20. What compelled the Father to run to his son was not the thoroughness of his son’s repentance but the depth of his love and grace.

Before his son can even finish his apology the father says get the robe. Get the ring. Get the sandals. Putting the best robe on him meant he would be clothed in his father’s garments. The ring was a symbol of authority and shoes were a sign of wealth; servants didn’t wear shoes in the house. Only sons did. He’s reaffirming his son’s identity.

[23] says bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

Details like these don’t initially resonate with me probably because of the cultural element. The majority of my interactions with livestock happen at the grocery store, and when I throw a party I’m not usually looking to purchase a whole animal.

A fattened calf is an expensive slab of meat. A high price to pay for a welcome home party. Meaning, the father intends to invite the whole community to come celebrate the occasion. This is a large scale event; bigger than the church retreat many of us went on a few weeks ago.

But we also need to remember that the younger brother already squandered his inheritance. He has nothing left to receive from his father’s estate, which makes this gesture all the more generous.

But if you remember, the parable began, “There was a man who had two sons…” So far we’ve only looked at the younger son. But what about the elder brother? We need to look carefully at his story because even though we have some younger brothers among us, a lot of us are way more prone to act like the older son.

[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.’ But he was angry and refused to go in.

I would venture to guess we all know exactly what’s going on in his head at this moment. He’s doing the moral calculations. This brother humiliates our family, runs his life into the ground, then crawls home and we’re just going to pretend like nothing happened? He’s made a mess of his life and a mockery of our family and we’re going to celebrate? Celebrate what?

He rejected us; we should reject him.

[Cont. in v. 28] – 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!’

The older brother is angry. He feels wronged. Not only does his father show no appreciation for his obedience, but then he throws an expensive party at the first sighting of the son who rejected him.

In verse 29, you hear his dream scenario. He wants to live it up with his friends like his younger brother did; just in a more socially appropriate way. He wants an exclusive celebration only for those who deserve it. But the story of the older brother shows us that you don’t have to go off to the far country to be distant from the Father.

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.’”

Son, what don’t you understand? The whole purpose of obedience is that you learn to love what I love.

I’ve told my kids before part of the reason we have rules in our home is to teach them to love others, but my hope is that one day they won’t need the rules anymore because they’ll have love written on their hearts.

If the older son really obeyed the Father’s commands, he would pursue what his Father values most. And this brings us to the purpose of the story. The stories of the lost sheep, coin, and son all have the same refrain.

[7] after the sheep’s been found – “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

[10] after the coin’s been found – Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

[24] after the son’s come home – For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Which gets repeated in [32] – It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Jesus is telling these stories in response to the complaints being made about him. At the beginning of Luke 15, the religious leaders are mad at Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors. To share the table means to welcome and affirm their way of life.

So Jesus puts the sinners and the scribes in the story to help them see what they’re missing about his ministry.

The sinners and tax collectors are the younger brother who renounces his family and faith for all the desirable things this world has to offer, but who’s coming back to God. The religious leaders is the older brother who’s stayed close to home but whose life doesn’t match the concerns of the Father.

Of course, the Father represents God, but the gospel also tells us that God intends to enter the story in our place.

See, the older brother in the story is doing exactly what the Pharisees were doing: refusing to associate with sinners. But Jesus does the opposite because he understands his Father’s mercy. He’s not only willing to go into the celebration; he’s willing to go to sinners where they are.

If the older brother in the story loved his father, if he really obeyed his commands, he should have said, “Father, I can’t sit back and do nothing while this brother of mine is lost. Whatever it takes; I have to go find him. I’ll go to hell and back if it means bringing my brother home.”

And that’s exactly what Jesus does. Jesus is the Elder Brother we all need. He’s the seeking Shepherd who leaves the 99 for the 1. He’s the only one who can say all that belongs to the Father is mine, and not only does he lay down his life for us, but he lets us share in his reward.

That’s why the church has a missional bent. If Jesus is willing to do whatever it takes to save sinners, then so should we.

Maybe you’re here this morning and like the younger brother, you’re outside the house of God. You’re off in the far country. You may even feel settled there. Life is going well. But you’re here, and so I want to challenge you with this: Find someone in the church that you can meet up with. Maybe it’s the friend or co-worker who invited you. Exchange numbers. Go grab coffee. Go eat lunch together. And at some point in your conversation, ask your friend, “What led you to repent and come to faith in Jesus?” Every Christian has a story like that to share. And if you’re the believing co-worker or friend, consider how you might answer them.

And for those who are in the father’s house, are you ready to welcome sinners? Those who have experienced God’s grace love the 99, serve with 99, eat with the 99, but they’ll do whatever it takes to reach the 1.

Every week, we invite you to come and worship God. To enter the doors of his house and to celebrate all that he’s done in Christ. But I want you to take a moment to think about someone you’re not content to enter the Father’s feast without. Take a moment to write their name down.

This week, why don’t you start actively praying for them? Be resolved to pursue them with the same passion your Father pursued you. Who lowered himself. Who laid down his life to reclaim what was lost until it was found.

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