Luke 15:22-32

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Not only did the father reminded the older son that he treasure their relationship more than the work and that the son already had access to all of his resources but now he tells him:

• “It’s my party, so come join me!”

There are many who miss the main point of the passage, and what the father was really saying to the son in verse 32: “We had to celebrate this happy day.” The verb here is an imperative, what the father was saying is it’s not your younger brother’s party, it’s MY party. The Father was celebrating because his son was dead and was now alive, he was lost but is now found. The father was calling the pouting son to join the party not for his brother’s sake, but for the fathers sake. The party was not for the Prodigal son it was for the loving father. This is the point we so often miss in all the three of the parables of Luke 15, its about celebration over lost things being found. These three parables point to the wonderful work of the Trinity. The Shepherd found the lamb, which represents the work of Son of God. The woman found the coin, which represents the searching work of the Holy Spirit. The dad forgave his wayward son, representing the forgiving work of God the Father. All three of these parables end with a party, and what God is saying to His people is, come and join me in the celebration. To the pouting prodigal, God is saying it’s time to stop the pouting and start the party because there is joy in the presence of angels over one who repents. The older son pouted because his focus was on the faults of the prodigal son not the forgiveness of the Father. He had been serving his father faithfully for his whole life, but it was from a sense of duty not desire, out of obligation instead of out of love. His father wanted to celebrate with his older son, he was willing to share all that he had. But the older son thought of himself more as a servant than a son, because while he was obedient to his father, he didn’t have a loving relationship with him. The irony is that the sinful son asked to be a servant but was treated as a son, where the older son rejected relationship and acted like a servant. How sad that the son never enjoyed his father, but that is the reality for all pouting prodigals. They go so wrapped up in the rules that they miss the relationship. He like many of us missed the point, the father wasn’t rewarding the sinful son he was rejoicing over the results of repentance. God wasn’t celebrating sin he was celebrating salvation. What about you do you have a pouting perspective or one of praise? Unfortunately today there are many in the church who are passing up the greatest party on the planet because they have a pouting perspective instead of a praising perspective. We end up missing not only the mercy of God but the miracles of God. Instead of participating in the praise we end up perpetuate the pouting. The older son’s pouting led to a poisonous perspective, and like him we too can end up walking around scowling instead of smiling. We start ministering out of an angry attitude instead of ministering out of mercy. Instead of looking up to God in praise we look down on people in pride. A pouting perspective will never position you to praise it will only poison your life and cause you to focus on fairness instead of forgiveness. So how does the story end? This is probably the most dramatic part of the parable because it’s here that Jesus leaves us hanging. Does the older brother remain in his pity party, stomping off to nurse his bitterness and anger? Or does he change his tune, uncross his arms and allow his Father to put his arms around his shoulders as they go together into the house and celebrate God’s forgiveness as a family? Jesus left the parable open-ended not just on purpose but for a purpose, because it’s up to you how the story ends. Jesus leaves the door open for us to decide, so what will you do? The door is open and our loving Father invites you to come and leave your bitter, calloused and complaining spirit at the door so, that you can participate in the praise. What will you choose the poison of pouting or the praise of the party?

Luke 15:22-32

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

After seeing the characteristics of a pouting son, an angry spirit of grumbling, an inflated sense of goodness and a faulty understanding of grace we now come to:

2. Gods message to the prideful prodigal

This is the message most of us miss because we tend to see other people as Pharisees, and while we are focusing on their flaws we fail to see our own hypocritical heart. We don’t hear the heart of God because we believe that this part of the passage is for other people. The truth is that there are many Pharisees filling the pews, the question is am I one? It’s easy to think about other people being Pharisees, but what about me? We will never spot our self-righteous pride if we don’t ask and take the time to let God search us and show us our heart. Like David we need to pray the words of Psalm 139:23-24? “Search me, O God, and know my heart; See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” It’s a piercing prayer but one that purifies and protects the heart. One of the questions that we need to ask is which son am I, the prodigal son or the prideful son? Am I the rebel or the self-righteous? If you are an older brother, the Pharisee in the pew, then God has some powerful words He wants you to hear. You see in the parable, the father didn’t rush out and say to the older son, “Go to the party or you will lose your part of the inheritance.” Instead he passionately pleaded with his prideful heart. There are at least three things that God wants the Pharisee in the pew to know.

• I treasure our relationship more than your work.

In verse 31 the father told the older son, “You have always been with me.” In essence he was saying, “It not your work that I cherish, it’s you.” God treasures our time with him more than our toil for him. Being with him is what brought pleasure to the father. Just knowing that his son was with him at home is what gave him the greatest sense of enjoyment. The first message for the Pharisee in the pew is that God doesn’t want your hard work as much as He wants your heart. It’s not about your work it’s about your worship. This reminds us of the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, where Martha was furiously slaving away while Mary was sitting at the feet of the Savior. And just like the parable of the prodigal again we see sibling rivalry. Martha became angry at Mary, it’s the older sister syndrome. Yet Jesus reveals that Mary had chosen the one thing that will never be taken from her, a relationship with Him. Unfortunately today many Christians are serving so hard they have substituted work for worship. It’s not about your intensity for the king it’s about your intimacy with the king. The second message for the prideful prodigal is:

• You have access to all of my resources.

The father went on to say, “All that I have is yours.” What he was saying to the older son was you are my heir and if you wanted a billy goat feast, I would have been glad to give you one, but you never asked. The message to Christians today is that we are co-airs with Christ. All of God’s assets and resources are available to us right now. Often older brother Christians start looking around at other believers and become jealous because it seems others are receiving more blessings than they are. They think they have to earn those blessings, forgetting that it’s all part of God’s grace. They are like the man who wanted to leave Europe and travel America to pursue a chance of fulfilling his dream. He scrimped and saved until he had enough money to purchase a ticket on a ship sailing to America. On the voyage, he looked through the windows into the dining room and saw the sumptuous meals that were being enjoyed, and then he would return to his little room and eat the crackers and cheese he had brought. The crackers soon ran out and the cheese got moldy, and the passenger grew hungrier and hungrier. A day before arriving in America, he felt as if he would faint from hunger and so swallowing his pride he approached a steward to beg for some leftover food. He was willing to wash dishes or perform any work just for a few scraps of food. The steward asked for the man’s ticket and upon examining it exclaimed, “Sir, when you purchased your ticket all the food we have been serving was included in the price.” Here was a man who had been fasting when he could have been feasting. The same is true in the Christian life, when Jesus paid the price and purchased your ticket, he has provided you with everything you needed in to live a Godly life. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” Many of us are missing out simply because we haven’t claimed what is ours in Christ. All the power, all the peace, all the patience, all the love, all the joy and security that you need is available to you in Jesus. It’s not about your performance it’s about his provision. Yet many of us are missing out on all that the master has because we are letting pride and our pouting blind us to the blessing.  The older son resented his brother because he was focused on the riches not the relationship. He treasured getting more than God. Today we all need the reminder that our greatest treasure is our relationship with the father and that we don’t have to resent and treat our siblings as rivals because all of God’s resources are ours. What about you, do you treasure your time with God or are you caught up in the toil? Do you find yourself resenting instead of rejoicing, are you bitter over the blessings of others? Then repent and come back to the richness of a relationship with God.