Sermon - Trinity III - Luke 15:11-32

I’ve heard people complain about God before saying that He’s just a mean, wrathful, angry, hateful God because He takes sin so seriously. And while it is true that God does takes sin seriously in such a way that should cause us a bit of fear and trembling, it’s not true that He’s just a mean, angry God. “He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.” Our heavenly Father is gracious and is filled with steadfast love for us, His children, showing us compassion and welcoming us home when we return from our reckless lives in humble repentance.

In fact the reason God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, into the world wasn’t to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him and His sacrificial death for us. Christ came into the world to redeem sinners, Christ has come to dwell with us sinners so as to rescue us from our sin and depravity.

The Pharisees and scribes accused Jesus saying “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” That accusation is absolutely true. Christ receives sinners and eats with them. So in response to this accusation Jesus confirms it to be true and tells three ridiculous parables, the third being the parable of the prodigal son. 

Initially this parable seems to be realistic and perhaps you can even think of a similar scenario you’ve seen played out in real life. A man has two sons, one is responsible and the other a bit wild. The rebellious son demands of the father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.” Then of course the reckless son leaves home, abandons the family business by selling off his half of the land, and squanders the money on drugs and prostitutes. 

But typically when the drugged up, disease ridden, broken son returns home, the family has already disowned him. If he’s permitted home, he maybe gets to sleep in the basement or the backyard, but he’s certainly not part of the family anymore. The family business is off-limits to him because he’s already proven how untrustworthy he can be. But more than likely he’s not even welcomed home, and his family tells him that if they even so much as see him they will be calling the police.

That’s what you would expect from this parable, but instead we see the opposite! When the prodigal son returns home, “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him… And 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

How ridiculous! This vile wretched son abandons his family and loses the family’s land with disgusting behavior, and the Father welcomes him home and treats him like a king! In response to this insanity, the older son who is a bit more level headed seems to bring us back to reality, saying to 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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’”

When you hear the parable, you probably feel about the same as the older responsible son. Here your younger brother loses half of the farm, leaving you with a dying business, and leaving all of the hard work to you. So you work your butt off just to keep the family farm afloat while your brother is off galavanting in sin. Now, he returns home and gets treated better than you feel like you get treated. What gives!? 

The problem with thinking like that is we’re not as innocent as we might like to think. “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We have not faithfully served our heavenly Father as we ought. We have not obeyed His every command without disobedience. Every one of us has lived a prodigal, reckless life. If you consider yourself as perfect, then remember that it’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. We’re sick, we need Jesus and His salvation. 

At the end of the parable, the difference between the two sons is that the older son hasn’t recognized his sin, and therefore he hasn’t repented. While the younger son sees his sin quite clearly, his sin is ever before his eyes and its weight is unbearable, thus he walks away from his reckless, sinful life and returns to his father with a contrite and repentant heart. The difference between the two is that one is repentant and the other is not.

This parable is not for those “other people”, those people who don’t come to church and are such “horrible sinners”, those people who “really need to hear this sermon.” This sermon applies to you, sitting here in the pew today. Are you repentant? Is your sin ever before your eyes? Do you know the weight of sin upon your heart? Do you recognize the devil who prowls about you like a roaring lion seeking to devour you? Do you resist him, firm in your faith?

If not, then “humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.” Spend some time in serious examination, consider your own sin and your own need for the Savior. Instead of reading the news or Facebook or watching television, read the ten commandments, reflect on how you’ve broken them in your lives. When you mow the lawn this afternoon, meditate on God’s Word. God’s law is good, perfect, and holy. You’ve broken God’s perfect will. It’s okay to feel shame and guilt over that. You should because that’s called contrition and it leads you to repentance.

So that when you do feel guilt and shame, when you do feel the tremendous weight of sin’s burden on your conscience, you would turn away from sin and repent. Like the prodigal child you are, speak from your heart saying “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” Plead with Him to cast all your sins into the depths of the sea.

Don’t be afraid to cast all of your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. He is diligently awaiting your return, so that the moment you turn around He is prepared to run to you and embrace you. While you’re still a long way off, even while your sins encompass you and you’re dead and adrift in their tumultuous sea, He sees you and feels compassion for you. He’s at the ready prepared to run to you and embrace you and kiss you so as to bring you home.

But even here your repentance, your turning away from sin, is not of your doing. “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” God the Father isn’t just waiting, but He’s out there looking for you! If He was just waiting for you, He’d be waiting for eternity. Because in our trespasses we were dead! Dead people don’t come alive themselves, they can’t do anything, they’re dead. In our trespasses we were lost! Lost people don’t find themselves, especially lost people who are also dead! God found us and He brought us back to life. Even repentance is the work of our loving, compassionate God. 

Your repentance is therefore a fruit of faith, a fruit of the Holy Spirit who works in you. So when we repent before God, we do so in great humility, but also in great joy knowing that the words which spring forth from our lips are given us by the Holy Spirit. When in repentance we turn away from our sin, leaving behind our life of debauchery, we may do so with our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith and repentance.

When our sins are forgiven by our heavenly Father, He welcomes us home with such loving kindness. He treats us better than we deserve, and gives us more than we ever asked for. He treats us like royalty, placing upon us the robe of His righteousness, adorning us with the jewelry of His holiness, and fitting us with shoes upon our feet so that we may continue to walk in His household of faith. As the penultimate show of His steadfast love for us, He kills not a young goat, not even a fattened calf, but our heavenly Father sacrifices His own beloved Son so that we may eat the fat of His perfection and be adopted back into His family. 

So the Father loves you and me, His prodigal, reckless children. He loves us in a way that is beyond all comprehension, He loves us even when we deserve it the least. If we’ve been reckless in sinning, than He more recklessly loves us with all rational abandon and celebrates with a feast here in our presence today which shall continue on into eternity. “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance?”

In concluding today, I’d like to turn to page 254 of your hymnals, where we confess again our sins both to one another and before God almighty, so that we might once again hear God’s steadfast love spoken through us and to us.