Lent: World, Religion, or Gospel

Amen.

Well, good morning.

We are in week four of the season of Lent.

In the season of Lent, we go through what's called the lectionary.

The lectionary gives us different Bible readings for each Sunday.

So we are looking at different Jesus stories each Sunday, working our way through these 40 days leading up to Good Friday and Easter.

So we have a familiar story this morning, the prodigal son's story.

It's about a loving papa and his two children.

So let's read it, break it down, and make sense of it for our lives.

Luke 15, 12 through 14.

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.

Not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country.

There he squandered his property in reckless living.

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

So this young son, out of foolishness, sin, selfishness, arrogance, he asked for his inheritance early.

Point number one is this we have belonging with God, yet we are prone to wander from God.

We all have belonging with God already in Jesus, and yet we are prone to wander from that very belonging that we have.

I mean, that's what people, but I'm like, you went to Alabama.

You know, so it's like, really?

Is Alabama really like is the can it be that great?

So sure enough, we drive in, I'm in my black car with my red and black license plate tag, and we drive in, here's the the the the road in.

It is it is immaculate.

It is so lovely, it is beautiful, it it just is.

The lawns, the build, the buildings are impressive.

They are the football money is at work.

Everything is clean, everything is tidy, it is amazing.

So we go on a tour.

Garland, the senior guy, who is our tour guide, and he's showing us around and landscaping's dialed in.

I start to look for a mistake.

I'm like, I will find a mistake.

You can't find a mistake, it's unbelievable.

The people are nice.

People were nice.

And Garland's telling us amazing things about this university.

I mean, like, slowly I'm being wooed to the evil side.

Like, this is what's going on.

And then we're at the the we're at the center of campus, some clock tower that means something to Alabama people.

I don't care.

I'm not listening, I'm just looking around this clock tower.

I don't know, it looks like a clock tower like every other campus of SEC school.

But it means so much to Alabama people.

And then we hear 40 of us with garland, we hear, smack, we turn around.

A squirrel had fallen from a tree.

Even in Alabama, this happens.

It fell.

Splat right on the sidewalk.

And we're all 40 of us, all 40 of us turned.

It was so loud, this little squirrel.

We turn and we all look at it, waiting.

You know, it's just gonna hop up and just kind of run off.

No, he's dead.

He's dead.

We all look back at Garland.

Garland's like, that is never happened.

I'm like, it's a it's a sign.

I don't know.

And then I we realize we are standing on this sidewalk of all the captains of the football team through the decades.

It has their like handprint, footprint, and their name.

And I see names like Mac Jones and Bryce Young and Jalen Milrow and Tua, men who have ruined my Saturdays.

I don't want to tell you what I wanted to do to this sidewalk.

Things I wanted.

I started having flashbacks to 2017 National Championship, and I was in like convulsions and Garland's you okay?

And I'm like, I'm a Georgia fan, it's an emotional journey, I'm having a hard time, I'm processing, there's a lot going on here.

And it really is lovely.

It is unbelievably lovely and impressive and perfect.

Right?

My children do come before college football.

You can journal that.

Just journal it, pray about it.

I don't know if you want to go there, that might be a bit much.

Children in front of college football.

You can think about it.

It could be quite a transformation for you, for children to be in front of college football.

But it is true, it is true.

And if I can be silly, if I could be silly and just use this as a metaphor, I was far from home.

Like I didn't feel at home.

Like it's beautiful, it's impressive, it's unbelievable.

It's not like my home.

I don't feel safe and like comfy and loved.

Maybe you've been far from home.

Far from love, far from safety.

You're in a distant country.

In our text, this boy is far from anything that he knows or comfort or safety or love.

And then when he's there, he's rebelling, he's just blowing all this money.

Just blowing it.

He begins to starve.

And then he's driven by his hunger so much he needs a job, and he gets a job working, feeding pigs, and a pig was an unclean animal to a Jew, so now he has shamefully wasted all his inheritance, and now he has a job and he is shamefully working.

So he's at the end of himself taking shameful work, but still, he still doesn't go home.

And we all know that feeling because we we all do it.

Like the moment we should turn around and we're like, no, I'll figure this out.

Like, no, I'll control this.

Like, I got it.

I got it.

I got it.

I don't need to repent yet.

I don't need to let go or surrender yet.

I will have this figured out on my own.

Verse 15.

So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs.

And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

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, I will arise, go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven, and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Treat me as one of your hired servants.

Point number two is this God's office is at the end of our rope.

Verse 17 says, When he came to his senses, the phrasing means, in all of his running from the Father, he wasn't being himself.

Him coming to his senses is him realizing who he actually is.

And he thinks, okay, I can go home.

I can go where I belong.

Maybe dad will take me back.

Maybe the father still loves me.

Maybe he'll accept me.

So he forms his little speech.

He's going to form this little speech.

Okay, when I get there, I'm going to tell my dad, I'm so sorry, I've sinned against you and against heaven.

You know, I'm not worthy of your son.

I'm not even asking for that.

I'll work my way back into the family.

Just make me one of your hired servants.

That's his game plan.

Here's what happens, verse 20.

And he arose and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

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.

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.

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.

They began to celebrate.

So point number three is this God lavishly loves us without requirement or payback.

It's a one-way love in Jesus.

In Jesus, you are fully forgiven.

In Jesus, you are fully righteous, and it has nothing to do with what you've done or will do.

It is one-way love.

The father's love waited, never forgot the child.

See, men in that culture didn't run, but we see this dad running.

His love compelled him.

It shows the joy of the father to receive the child.

Priest and author Robert Capin, he says this parable is a festival of death.

We see three deaths.

The first, the son has to die to himself to return.

The second, the father has to die to himself as to accept the son.

And then we have a death of a calf, which is the image of Christ, has to be sacrificed so the party can begin.

Now, maybe you're here, and when you think of prodigal, it gets incredibly personal.

Because you have a prodigal in your family, a loved one, a dear one.

Your child's out living in a distant country, your heart breaks for them.

You see them wandering, you see them hurting, you see them searching.

Theologian Russell Moore writes this in his article, Love Your Prodigal as yourself.

When dealing with those wandering away from the faith, we must recognize that sometimes they'll not start evaluating the deep questions of their lives until they find themselves in a situation where they don't know what to do.

We must be that sort of parents and grandparents and churches who have kept every open every possible connection so that our prodigals will know how to get back home.

And know we'll meet them at the road already planning a homecoming party.

That requires, though, a death to self.

The pain over a wayward child is real and ought to be present in a life driven by the Spirit.

Moore goes on to say that there will be a death, that death to self, there'll be a death, because there'll have to be a death of your family being seen as a certain way.

A death to the perfect family.

There'll be a death to the you being seen or you thinking you have it all together as a parent.

There'll be these deaths.

So you'll have to know where your real identity is.

Beyond being a mom or a dad, that you really are full and enough in Jesus.

And then there will be a call, and the call is to not be embarrassed by them.

This is how Moore says it.

Sometimes what it may take for a child to see the cross and the lives of his parents is to hear those parents say, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, you'll always be our child and we'll always be glad to say so.

We may not like what you're doing, but we're not ashamed of you.

Do you remember in the first Narnia story?

Edmund, Edmund's in Narnia with all his siblings.

Aslan's the symbol.

Aslan the line is the symbol of Jesus.

And Edmund turns on Aslan.

He turns from his siblings.

He aligns himself with that evil white witch who has promised him Turkish delight, this little snack.

And then, of course, he has the snack, and eventually he realizes his fault.

And he comes back to Aslan.

And Aslan forgives him, takes him back.

And this is what Aslan says when Aslan presents Edmund back to the siblings.

Aslan says, here is your brother.

And there's no need to talk to him about what has passed.

And the point is, we're all Edmund.

And the point is also that we all need the heart of Aslan for the prodigals in our lives, our families, friends, neighbors, and our church.

Back into our text, Luke 15, verse 25.

Luke 15:25

Now his older son was in the field, and he came and drew near to the house, and he heard music and dancing.

And he called one of the servants and asked, What these things meant.

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, refused to go in.

His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, Look, these many years I have served you.

I never disobeyed your commands, 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.

And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive.

He was lost and is found.

Point number four is this both the rebellious child and the self-righteous child need the father's one-way love.

We feel for the older brother, don't we?

All these years I've been here but slaving away.

You've never given me a party like this.

Look at all the work I've done.

And he's thinking this younger brother disrespected the father, disrespected the family, wasted money.

The very least the younger brother should have to do is work his way back in.

The older brother is proud of how good he is.

He's judgmental.

He's self-righteous.

He's self-consumed with his own record.

He makes himself feel better by comparison himself to others.

And he has no ability to extend compassion.

Now my journey hasn't much been the younger brother.

My journey has been mainly the older brother.

But it turns out that even if you've been a younger brother, we're amazingly good at becoming a Christian, getting involved in church, and then becoming an older brother.

This older brother has an incredibly insecure heart.

He feels like he has to prove himself to his family.

It's easy to live that way as a Christian.

To accept Jesus as your forgiveness, but then get on the treadmill, and you will show everybody and show God that you deserve to be in the party.

And to that self-righteous child, the father says, Child, you've always been with me.

We've always been in relationship.

The story shows us the difference between world, religion, and gospel.

We can break it down this way: the world is the way of rebellion.

It's the younger brother.

I will be at peace and enough by being or doing what I want for maximum pleasure.

I'll be my own boss.

I got it.

I'll handle it.

No surrender.

All control by me.

The way of religion, the way of moralism, the elder brother.

I will be at peace and enough by my performance and by being good enough.

The gospel's the third way.

The way of grace, the loving Father, I will be at peace and enough as I am in relationship with God through Jesus.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, I think it means three things.

The first is we're always welcomed by the Heavenly Father.

We're always welcomed home.

We're always welcomed, whether you're the younger brother or the older brother.

Number two, the life of faith is a party of grace.

It is a party.

The Father is wanting to throw a party for you.

It won't always be easy, but the life of faith is a party of grace.

Jesus' work for us, not our work for him.

Our work for him is not to earn our way with the Father.

It just reflects what Jesus has already given to us.

The calf, the calf creates the party.

And the calf is the symbol of Jesus.

That Jesus dies so that there is a party of grace for us to have.

We actually have a feast.

We have a party.

And third, the more alive we come to the love of God, the more we grow to honor Him with our lives.

We do want to honor Him.

We want healthy obedience.

But that comes out of a deeper and deeper knowing and realizing how loved we are.

The parable doesn't call us to a shame motivation religion.

It doesn't call us to simple behavioral change.

It presents to us relationship.

Relationship with the Father.

To be welcomed, to be loved, to be accepted.

You're in the family.

Now, what does it mean to be a child?

Last year, a new children's book released, Charlie and the Preschool Prodigal.

The story is about these two brothers.

You got Charlie, who follows the rules.

He's tidy, he's neat, and then you have Eddie, who's a mess, always causing a problem.

So eventually Eddie, he's had enough.

He's had enough of his older brother, always telling him what to do.

His dad's giving him all these rules.

And so Eddie runs away, runs to his neighbor's yard, builds a little fort under the bush.

His dad's out looking for him, calling for him.

Eddie, Eddie, come home.

Come home.

It's getting late, come home.

But he's under that bush, he's having a blast.

Because nobody's telling him what to do.

He gets to make his own rules.

And for a while, he is having a blast.

Until it doesn't work anymore.

Because the mosquitoes come.

They start biting them.

And then it gets worse, and a wasp comes.

And when the wasp comes, eventually he heads straight home, runs straight home, and as he runs home, his dad begins to run toward him.

The dad hugs him, and then the dad calls for Charlie, the older brother.

Charlie, Eddie's home.

Let's go get ice cream.

Let's all go get ice cream together.

Let's have ice cream.

But Charlie doesn't come out of his room.

So the dad goes up to the older brother, invites him to ice cream.

The dad says to this self-righteous, judgmental brother has no ability to extend compassion to somebody else.

Here's what the dad says, Do you know who else is important to me?

You are, Charlie.

I love you and always will, even though you didn't come when I called either.

And then the story just ends, just like Luke 15 just ends.

We don't know how the older brother reacts.

Because the emphasis is not on the child's behavior.

The emphasis at the point of the parable is on the father's love.

That is sufficient.

That is enough.

Welcoming.

The author of this little children's book at the end of the book gives a one paragraph, kind of summary.

It's the best summary that I've read of the prodigal son story in a while.

I close with it.

But the route to real joy is found in our Father's love, which we receive because Christ earned it.

Wild children and tidy children, grown-ups who run away and get lost, and grown-ups who wear themselves out trying to be right all the time.

All need God's grace and can have a seat waiting for them at the feast.

So maybe you're here, maybe you're a young brother, maybe you're an older brother, maybe you're wild and messy, or maybe you are clean and neat.

We all need the Father's love in Jesus.

And you are welcome.

Maybe you have a question about that.

There'll be a pastor down front afterward, love to talk to you and pray with you.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you wait for us in all of our rebellion and in our self-righteousness.

The truth is, we are all a little bit of the younger brother and a little bit of the older brother.

Help us to come into the party of grace by surrendering and receiving that you are enough for us.

And may our lives honor you in Christ's name.

Amen.