The Father's Love: Lessons from the Prodigal Son

Father God, I thank you so much for today. I thank you for these fathers that

are represented here today, Lord.

And I pray your special blessing upon them, upon their families, God.

And I just thank you, Lord, for the legacy of a godly father.

And I pray that you would bless each family represented today with that.

In Jesus' mighty name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Well, again, it's good to see y'all in God's house today.

And as you know, we're in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Great job by Felicity reading that for us. and as

we come today in this this passage we

see the parable of the prodigal son right i actually

heard this before i was reminded of it felicity when you were reading

the passage there you know feign in that

in that passage there you're saying feign want whatever it was

but have you ever heard the prodigal son in the key of f

you ever heard of that the prodigal son in the key of

f that's your assignment this afternoon i want you to look it

up go out you know your favorite friend google right

and look for the prodigal son in the key of f

and you'll probably see that they're represented but

the prodigal son is probably easily one of jesus's

most memorable stories along with a good

samaritan but did you ever wonder just for a moment where jesus got his ideas

for his stories and were they totally spontaneous or did he just make them up

on the spot by something he saw you know or maybe that that thought that was

sparked and here's a good opportunity for me to share this?

Or could it be that the parable of the prodigal son here was sparked by an actual event?

Maybe he had witnessed at some

point or knew if something happened in the community that he grew up in.

We don't know, but it's important for us to realize today that this story was

shared by Jesus. This parable was shared by him for a reason.

And so we're going to start out today looking at life on the farm.

Ready? Life on the farm. We got two signs, right?

I want y'all to realize today, both of these signs that were read about earlier,

they had a misconception of their father.

And I hope you see that in the passage. I think it's plain for us to see that.

They both didn't quite understand who their father was, right?

They perceived him, and I'll show you this as we go on, but they both perceived

him as a slave driver, always demanding more work of them, never satisfied.

I want you to just be honest, just for a moment. Does that describe your image of God today?

Or has it ever been that way in the past? that have you ever had the view that

God is harsh, an angry taskmaster who maybe is never quite satisfied with you?

You never quite measure up. You always fall short of God's standards for purity,

for righteousness, for morality, faithfulness, love toward others, all that.

And the younger son, as we see in this passage, he actually decides that he has had enough.

He's had enough. What does he demand there in that passage?

His inheritance. You know, in Deuteronomy chapter 21, the law of the inheritance

Deuteronomy 21 · chapter mention

is presented, and two-thirds of it goes to the eldest son,

one-third to the younger, but neither of them could touch it until after the father's death.

So I want y'all to see this in the passage, that the boy here,

the younger son, was in effect saying, I can't wait for you to drop dead. I want my money now.

That's what he was saying. I mean, that's just being straight up.

And we get the first hint, I believe, of the father's true character that Jesus

presents in this story when the father actually gives the son what he asked for.

Jesus wants us to know, church, that God is gracious like that.

And the gift of such freedom, it can be an awesome responsibility. It is, right?

As human parents, think about this for a moment. you know

what dads we could intimidate we

can dominate we can manipulate our children in

an effort to control their behavior and the

temptation is strong for many dads to do that maybe based on how their dad might

have been it could be for a number of factors but that's not love and it's not

the way our heavenly father treats us is it and it's not the way that the Lord

describes this parable here to us.

But we see those two sons both had a misconception of their dad.

And now we go into the far country. The younger son has gotten his inheritance.

He got exactly what he wanted.

And by the way, let me just say this. Far country does not mean a great distance.

I just want y'all to get that. You say far country. No, he's not talking about distance here.

In fact, those who were far off here meant the Gentiles, far removed from the covenant of Israel.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 13 actually says, you who were once far away have

Ephesians 2:13

been brought near by the blood of Christ.

We know he couldn't have been too far away. Because why? Because as we see in

this passage, the older brother hears of everything that goes on there.

So, you know, one younger son is saying in effect here, the younger son,

he's just simply saying, hey, I not only want away from this farm,

I want away from your values.

I want away from your religion, from your God. I don't care what kind of shame,

what kind of embarrassment it brings you in this town or in the synagogue.

And so he left and as we

look in that passage we see that he squandered his

wealth in wild living wild living

right some translations say riotous living right i mean he just went all out

and he he he did all the stuff he could possibly imagine i mean he he went all

out and experimented with everything he could and but jesus here the master

storyteller just what he does in this passage.

He actually brings a famine into the story.

And the young man, guess what? He becomes hungry, doesn't he?

He becomes hungry. And so he hires himself out, if you remember, to a local farmer.

But remember where he is. Just take a moment to reflect on this.

He is in a Gentile town, and the farmers don't raise the same animals here.

And he sends the A humiliated young man to the fields to do what?

Yeah. And to slop the hogs. And that is the ultimate degradation,

the bottom of the barrel for this young Jewish man.

He walks into the pig pen with the swine brushing up against him,

feeling that the pig muck, if you will, oozing up between his toes.

Right. Oh, gross. I don't like, right.

You know, thinking about all that, but he has all that around him.

Yet the scripture tells us that this younger son, the famine came.

He ran out of money. In other words, He was starving. He was hungry.

In fact, he was so hungry that the pig slop actually started to look good to him.

Now, I don't think anybody here has ever been that hungry. Am I wrong?

Anybody here been that hungry? I don't think so. I don't think so.

But Jesus is saying this guy was so, there was such a famine.

He ran out of all the money. He'd wasted it all. He was starving.

The pig slop started to look good to him. And basically this farmer is saying

to this young man. The pigs are more valuable than you are.

Hog feeders are a dime a dozen, but don't let the pigs go hungry.

And so the Bible tells us here that that younger son, what finally happened in his life?

He came to his senses, right?

He came to his senses and he remembered his father's hired hands,

not household servants, but day laborers.

There's no great sentimentality there. It's just a practical sense, right?

He was just thinking they live better than he was living.

And he actually decides, he

comes up with this plan. He decides to hire himself out to his own father.

And he writes a little speech. He memorizes it. And he sets out for home,

probably rehearsing the speech all the way there.

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 servants.

That was his plan, church. But I want y'all to see there was a glad reunion,

a glad reunion, as we see in this next slide.

The father actually, church, sees him while he was still, Scripture says, a long way off.

That's another hint about the father heart of God, isn't it?

And he runs out. He runs out to meet this younger son.

And I want y'all to know in that day, in that culture, that was very undignified

for a proper Jewish head of household to do that.

And he buries his face in the stench of the pig muck and he smothers his younger

son with kisses all over.

I mean, he was looking for his return. And the son actually starts to just go

into his well-rehearsed speech, right? But who interrupts him?

The father, right? The father interrupts him.

He doesn't even let him finish that well-rehearsed speech. He doesn't want the

boy to pronounce his own curse.

Instead, what does he do? According to this passage, he calls for a servant

to bring three things from the house. They're very significant.

Here's number one, what is the first thing he brings him?

The robe, right? Probably the father's own.

Why out here so far from the house do this? I probably would have said,

you stink, buddy. Right.

Let's go up to the house, hose you off at least, and then get some proper clothes

on you, you know, before that robe got on him, right?

But his father, I don't want you to miss this today.

His father is saying, in effect, no one else needs to see you the way that I've just seen you.

That's between you and I, and no one else will ever know.

The robe, I want you all to get that today, represents the gift of dignity from the Father to his Son.

You know what? Jesus gives you and I his own spotless robe of righteousness

in exchange for our filthy sin-stained garments. Aren't you grateful, church?

Aren't you grateful, Eastwood? That's what we get from our Father,

his own robe of righteousness.

And then I talked about rings. he gives

him a ring for his finger doesn't he not just

jewelry but a signet ring i want y'all to get

that he was giving the son authority to

transact business again in the family name in other word giving him his debit

card back or whatever right he was getting it back he back it back there and

that ring actually does represent that gift of authority so he's giving him

dignity he's giving him authority.

And if you're a follower of Jesus Christ this morning, you have been given the authority of who?

Of his own name, right? Of Christ's own name. And Jesus actually told us,

church, to ask anything of the Father in his name, and it would be done for us.

So he's given him the robe, he's given him the ring, and then what else?

The shoes, right? For his feet. You know, only slaves had no shoes and the father

is saying you're no slave what

you're my son he's also saying i trust i trust you not to run away again,

The shoes, y'all, represent the gift of identity. So the father has given what?

Dignity, authority, and identity to his son. You know, verse 23,

look at that really quick again.

It says, bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let's have a feast. Let's celebrate.

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and he is found.

So they began to celebrate.

The father was throwing a party for this lost son who had come home.

But then we have the older brother, don't we?

The older brother, as we see in this next slide. You know what?

Jesus actually, if you read this passage earlier, before verse 11,

you'll know Jesus is writing the Pharisees, the self-righteous,

religionist Pharisees into this story.

The Pharisees are the older brother, okay?

He's out in the field where he always is, and he hears the sound of what?

Music dancing and he asked a servant hey what's

going on back home right and he

says your brother's home and your father's throwing a party

if you hurry and get cleaned up get a shower you

can be there just in time to sit at his feet but guess

what the older brother was the older brother happy and excited jumping up and

down that his younger brother had come home no in fact it says in scripture

that the older brother is filled with rage and he refuses to go in the house.

So what does the father do?

He goes out and pleads with him.

Years, church, of pent-up anger, resentment come pouring out.

All these years I've slaved for you, the older brother said,

but you never threw a party for me.

And now this wasted son of yours, he doesn't even call him his brother,

right? Doesn't didn't even call him by his name even.

He won't even acknowledge that he's his brother.

He comes slinking back after squandering our money on prostitutes and wild living.

And you do this for him?

But I want y'all to know something today. The father's answer here in this parable

is powerful. It's powerful.

You can just imagine here. So that's it. You've been waiting for a bonus in your paycheck.

Son, you could have had a party every night if you wanted it. This all belongs to you.

You've been trying to earn what love has already provided, is what he tells him, in effect.

He's been trying to earn what love's already provided for you.

You can't earn it, can you?

You can't earn it. It is God's gift of grace.

So as we conclude this morning, I want you to know so that Jesus taught us all

to call on God our Father.

He himself used an even more intimate term, by the way, when he prayed,

Abba, which means dear father or even papa.

But it can be difficult, I think, you know, probably for some people to think

of God that way, especially if you didn't grow up with a loving father in a

childhood home or something like that, you might not have that view.

And Dakota, if you'll show this next slide here, I want y'all to see this, that look at this.

He said that in verse 20, I want y'all to be reminded of this,

that, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.

You know, I think a lot of people, and that's some of us included here this

morning, we develop misconceptions, just like these two sons did,

of what God is really like.

And just like the two sons in the story, because they can't make the connection

that God is like a loving father.

That image was never shown to them.

But what if we reverse the analogy here for just a moment?

Instead of saying God is like a loving father, as we see on this next slide,

we say a loving father is like God, especially the way that Jesus portrayed

him in the story of the prodigal son of him.

That's the father's love. A father here who actually gives his children appropriate

opportunities, don't miss this, to make their own choices rather than dominating

and controlling their behavior.

A father who never gives up hope that their wayward children will come home.

A father who welcomes them with open arms when they do, without judgment or

criticism, but only love.

A father who always offers his children the gifts of dignity,

authority, and identity.

Even to children, this is so important, Eastwood, who don't always deserve it.

Dads today, fathers, are you like a loving father?

A loving father is like God. Are you like God?

Is that the way? Do you see in this story here, are you like the father represented

here in the story of the prodigal son?

You know, I mentioned earlier that all the fathers here, all the dads,

we have a tremendous responsibility.

And y'all, in this day and age, let me just say this. We don't need wimps as

leaders of our homes. We need men of God who are going to stand upon the truth

of God's word and not back down.

We need men that are going to love their kids with the love the father showed his sons here.

We need those kind of men. And I pray today that you're, by the grace of God,

letting God work through you to be that kind of man.

The good news, y'all, is yes, we will fall short, but God is gracious and he's merciful.

And he works through us. Even though scripture talks about how we desire to

give good gifts to our children, even as fallen people, how much more is God

going to give to us the good gifts, right?

And so I want us to remember dads today, take your calling, take your position seriously.

Realize it is something that God has given you. And the way that you treat your

kids should not only demand respect in the sense of just your lifestyle,

but also it should show to them the love, the grace, the mercy of God who actually

gives them some freedom to make some choices and to let God move in their heart. Amen.

Now, that's probably the toughest part. I'm just going to be honest with y'all. It really is.

Because remember I said earlier at the beginning of this message that so many times,

that we want to control the situation, you know, we see a problem,

we want to solve it immediately, right and you know what we saw at the first

of this the father actually gave his son what he asked for although he knew

that it was going to bring destruction that this this boy here was going to go through a living hell.

You know what? The father loved him enough to give him what he asked for so

that he can find his way back home.

That's grace, y'all. That's grace. You know, as dads, when we trust Christ,

when we trust the Lord to guide us in our families and with our kids,

you don't ever have to rule with an iron fist, right?

You don't have to do that. You just

rule with the grace and mercy and the authority that God has given you.

Yes, we want to protect our kids. We want to protect our children.

But y'all, there are some times I think that dads, sometimes it is easy to slip

into that authoritarian role where we say, and yes, it's appropriate in certain ages.

Of course, we have to, our younger kids, there has to be, you can't,

I'm not going to let them go burn themselves to death in the fire. Right.

But when it's appropriate, y'all, we have to let our kids make decisions and

we have to trust God to reach them.

And I think this story of the prodigal son is a great example of that,

of a true father's heart and the way he treats his kids and the way he loves his kids.

And I want y'all to know today, maybe you're sitting here today and maybe you're

a dad and maybe today, nothing else, if nothing else you've heard,

maybe today you're like, you know what?

I want to be the kind of dad that God the father is to me. I want to be that kind of dad.

I want to be sure that I'm walking in the ways of the Lord. And I want to make

sure that I'm leading my family in the ways of the Lord.

And I do it out of a humble heart. I do it out of a heart of compassion.

Now, this dad never gave up on his son, did he? I don't know everybody's situation

here. Some of you may have some wayward children. I don't know.

But I do know this, that this father in this story never gave up.

He was always looking, always waiting for his son to come home.

And that's a challenge to us, y'all.

Let's be trusting God to work out all those things that we have no control over.

And let's just be the dads that God has called us to be following God's word,

following what the scriptures tell us.

And y'all, I can't think of a better place to start than setting an example for our children. Amen.

Setting an example for our kids. And that's just being a part of what God has

brought us into here today, right?

We're here. We're all here today to worship the Lord. Amen. We're here at Eastwood

Baptist Church today to worship the Lord. And I think when our kids see that

example and they see it lived out on a daily basis, it makes a tremendous impact in their life.

And I challenge you, dads, today can be the start of a new journey for you if it's needed.

You can come home today. Maybe you've been running. Maybe you're the prodigal son.

Today you have an opportunity to come home. I'm going to ask you all to stand

if you would for a moment.

I'm going to ask us all to bow our heads, close our eyes. Nothing magical about

that. Just shut out distractions.

And as we stand this morning, I just want you to ask yourself today,

and it could be more than just our dads here today.

Have you had a wrong view of God?

Have you been living a life that just is evidence that you think God is a cruel taskmaster?

Have you come to the place in your life where you came home,

where you humbled yourself and you threw yourself at the feet of the mercy of God?

You know, God wants to do those things he did for this young son.

He wants to give you his robe of righteousness if you've never received it today.

Because your righteousness will not get you to heaven. The list of good things

you do are filthy rags, God says.

The only righteousness that will make peace with God is the righteousness of Christ.

And his robe of righteousness given to you, credited to your account, is what you need.

And then the ring, that signet ring, that authority that God gives you and the

identity in Christ of being a child of the King.

You let God's Spirit speak to your heart today. If you need to come to this

altar or pray today, maybe some of you need to talk to someone else in this building today.

If God leads you to talk to somebody and let them know, hey,

somebody may need to ask for forgiveness from somebody.

Somebody may just need to say, Lord, thank you for the example that you've given

me of a godly dad, a dad who follows the Father's heart of God.

Whatever God lays on your heart, I ask you to do that this morning. Just be obedient to Him.