Sermon: Conversation of the Father with the Elder Son
Bible Passage: Luke 15:25-32
1. The one who stayed away from the Father did not find what he thought he would find
a. Freedom vs slavery
b. Success vs failure
c. Prosperity vs poverty
d. Friends vs enemies
2. While the younger son stayed away from the Father, the older son chose to stay with the Father
a. The son who stayed with the Father did not have a real relationship with the Father
i. Verse 29: “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you”
ii. Verse 29: “I never disobeyed your orders
iii. Verse 29: “Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends”
iv. Although the older son had been with the Father for so many years, he did not have a passionate/exciting relationship with Him
b. The older son sought a merit-based relationship but could not win the Father with his hard work
c. He substituted hard work in the place of a philial (Father-son) relationship
i. Verse 25: “the older son was in the field”
ii. Verse 29: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders
d. The older son misunderstood the Father and his relationship with Him
i. Verse 31: “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours” (the older son had a slave mindset!)
ii. Verse 28: “the father went out and pleaded with him” (just as He went out to meet the prodigal, the Father went out to meet the older son)
e. The older son did not take time to understand his father’s heart
i. The Father did not relate with His sons based on their merits or their goodness
ii. The Father loved both the sons impartially
iii. The Father is compassionate (σπλάγχνον absense of grudge)
iv. The Father is gracious
• Unmerited favor toward a person when he deserves the opposite
• Willingness to reach down with affection those who can never deserve it
• Grace is one’s willingness to forgive the guilt and to deliver them from the punishment they deserve
• Therefore, grace can be in the form of forgiveness, regeneration, or complete restoration
• Grace is given without an ulterior motive
v. The Father is the initiator of restoration from estrangement
• Ran (15:20)—Father’s initiative
• Hugged (15:20 “he fell on his neck”)
• Kissed (15:20 to show acceptance)
• Gives new robe, ring, shoes (15:22)
• Fattened calf, eating, and celebration (15:24)
• Accepts a failed member of the family by not criticizing the person—accepts the one who rejected him
• The Father does not rejoice over the failure of the offender
f. The Father desires the older son to be like Him instead of being meritorious/legalistic
i. The Father desires His older son sees and does things like Him
ii. The Father desires His older son stops being judgmental and meritorious when it comes to his younger brother
iii. The older son’s service and obedience to the Father must be a product of his relationship with the Father rather than the service and obedience a means to relate with the Father
iv. That is, relationship with the Father must be the source of the service and obedience
g. He thought he was close to the Father, but, in fact, he was too far from the Father, lived in alienation to the Father
h. Although the older son claimed to be part of the family he failed to be the Father’s son
3. Legalism proper and legalism popular
a. Legalism proper: Luke 15:1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”
i. Pharisees and Scribes emphasized that they relate to God by the observation of Mosaic Law
ii. They emphasized strict adherence to the Mosaic Law
• Tithe
• Sabbath
• Set prayers and celebrations of festivals
iii. Legalism emphasizes more on behavior than relationship
iv. Legalism is all about the letter of the Law than the spirit of the Law
b. Legalism popular is the emphasis for certain behaviors that is adapted from the local cultures and reaction to certain cultural practices
c. The Father emphasizes restoration of a prodigal son more than legalization of right and wrong
4. Principles
a. God the Father does not relate with His children on the basis of how good or bad they are, but He relates with them on the basis of who He is
b. A believer starts and continues his relationship with God because of God’s grace
c. Work is never equal to relationship
d. Work follows from the relationship but never the means
e. A believer falls in line with the Father’s standard; he should never ask God to fall in line with his standard
f. Just as the Father is gracious, believers of Jesus need to be gracious in all their dealings; they should never be judgmental towards fellow believers, i.e., their spiritual siblings
g. In a church family, believers must concur with God in the restoration of repentant believers, and must not develop a judgmental attitude towards them
Take Away:
Be your Father’s child by knowing your Father and His heart