[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Father's Day, Sunday, the 18h of June, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Our YouTube streaming channel is:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
When the Pharisees and scribes complained that Jesus associated with tax collectors and sinners, He used the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin to explain how important it is for even one sinner to repent. Then He told them the parable of the prodigal son as a further example.
This is also sometimes referred to as the parable of the lost son, for the young man had certainly gone astray. But the New English Translation has a different name for this story, one much more meaningful to us today, and one I feel better reflects the message to us. The NET titles this passage, “The Parable of the Compassionate Father”. For while the son and the wasteful lifestyle he first pursued and then repented from forms the basis of the story, the father is the real hero, showing compassion for his son, forgiving him and welcoming him home.
So let’s see how all this transpired, according to the Apostle Luke’s research and interviews of those who heard it told that day. Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel account, verses 11 through 32, and I’ll be reading from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible…
11 Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. 14 Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. 21 Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, 24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again — he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.25 “Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. 27 The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’ 28 But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. 32 It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’”
--Luke 15:11-32 (NET)
Let us pray… Almighty God, You sent Your Son Jesus to offer us salvation, and He held out open arms to all people, inviting us in. Thank You, Father, for being so gracious and compassionate toward us. And thank You for forgiving and forgetting our sin through Your Christ Jesus. Too many people, though, questioned Him while He still walked among us. They refused to accept Him for what He was. This was especially true among the religious leaders of the day, who swayed others against Him, too. Sadly, all this is still true today, even among our religious and government leaders. Please, Father, help these people see the truth. Please have Your Holy Spirit work a little harder on them that their hearts might be softened. And please help us and give us the right words to say if we have the opportunity to talk to them. Please shield us, Father, from those who serve Satan by spreading his lies and making empty promises, and who attack the basic family unit itself. Remind us of our creation and Your grand design. And Father, please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day. Please help all of us understand the importance and great impact of a father in his child’s life. Help us remain steadfast in our relationships with one another, that we might glorify You. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
I've used this little illustration before, and I'm sure I'll use it again because I love it so much, it touches me so deeply:
There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday at noon, 800 Paco’s turned out at that office, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Can’t you just see that picture? Hundreds of men crowded together in an already crowded capital city, blocking the street, looking all around, searching… longing to find the face of the one who still loves them, who is willing to forgive them for their rebellious ways. Can you see the anticipation, the desperation, on their faces as their gaze flashes from one person to the next. And they all seek the same man – their father.
Family, there are so many people in this world today who are lost. Many are searching for that one person who loves them no matter what, who will forgive anything they’ve done. But they don’t know where to look. They don’t even know who to look for.
We believers don’t have to look. We’ve already found Him. We have the very best Father, who loves us, who forgives us of our disobedience toward Him. And all because we accepted His one true Son as our Lord. We need to show others the way to our Father in heaven, before it is too late for them.
Let’s look a little more closely at our scripture passage, trying to see the scene as those people gathered around Jesus that day would have envisioned it. Now we first need to realize that our Lord’s audience would have been mostly, if not all, Jews. There may have been a few Gentiles scattered around - we don’t know - but it was mainly the Pharisees and scribes and the disciples and others who followed Jesus at that time.
After the younger son blew through his early inheritance, he was forced to work very common labor just to afford something to eat. To a Jew, being sent into the fields to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were seen as unclean by them. So the Jews listening to the story could relate to just how far this wayward son had fallen.
Eventually the prodigal came to his senses, swallowed his pride, tucked his tail between his legs, and headed home. When he humbly utters the words, "Father, I have sinned", he shows a penitent attitude, shows that he was indeed lost but is looking for his way back home.
I can’t help but wonder how many people, how many men, would have responded to the boy something like this: “You danged fool idiot! I tried to warn you. But noooooo, you knew so much more than me. And here you come, with your hat in hand, looking for another free lunch. Boy, will you ever learn!??!” Seems to me that I got a few well-deserved lectures like that in my younger days.
But that isn’t what happened here, is it. The father ran out to meet the boy with open arms, not only welcoming him back home but ordering his household staff to prepare a feast to celebrate his return. From the father’s perspective, his son had been lost but now was found, had been dead but was alive again.
The older son wasn’t quite so happy about all this. He had stayed behind to work the farm and help his father. He had asked for nothing extra, and nothing had been given, not even a barbequed goat for a little party with friends. All this fuss for his wasteful brother angered him and he confronted his father about it.
But again the father was extremely gracious, explaining how all his possessions, everything he had, also belonged to the older son. And he encouraged his son to rejoice with him at his brother’s return, for he was no longer lost.
Many see the prodigal son as the central character in this story, this parable. But I see him as the example. Through him we can see rashness and foolishness and a huge mistake made, followed by a humble, repentant attitude.
No, to me, the major figure of this parable is the father who forgives his son and welcomes him home. And this forgiving father represents God, our heavenly Father, and His compassionate response when we humbly come to Him, admitting we have sinned against Him and are not worthy to be His child. But there stands God, always ready with out-stretched arms to welcome the sinner who comes back to Him. The father shows total acceptance of bringing the prodigal back into the family, just as God fully receives the repentant sinner back into His family.
There’s one other character in the story. The older son can be seen as the Pharisees and scribes, complaining about the treatment the younger son, the sinner, receives, questioning the father's wisdom. He has to be reminded that the prodigal is his brother, and part of the family, who was lost but now is found.
So if the compassionate father is God, and the older son stands for the religious leaders of the day, have you figured out who the prodigal represents in this little tale? We are the prodigal, we who at some point disobeyed God, we who went off on our own, turning our backs on our heavenly Father, we who came back and were shown undeserved love and grace.
Not all fathers are good dads – some never even stayed with their children - and not all good Dads are fathers, still, I would venture to say that most of us here had good fathers. They took care of us, provided for our needs, taught us how to ride a bike and other important life lessons.
Those of us who are fathers know it’s not all that easy a job, and it carries a ton of responsibility if you try to do it right. But no matter how good we are at being a loving, providing father, we will never be as good as our Father God. He’s the best Dad ever! He took us on when we were nothing but brats. He adopted us when He didn’t have to. And He gives us everything we need, and then piles more on so that we can enjoy this life.
Listen to what the Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, has to say about a very generous Father as I read from the 1st chapter of his letter to the early church, verses 16 through 18…
16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. 18 By His sovereign plan He gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.
--James 1:16-18 (NET)
Every perfect gift comes from God. You know, we try hard to come up with just the right gift for someone, don’t we, no matter the occasion. Whatever we end up giving, though, is actually imperfect – it won’t last, it will eventually wear out or fall apart or go hopelessly out of style.
But God gives perfect gifts, just what we need when we need it, eternal gifts, including salvation. Just as God is perfect, with no variation in His manner or love, nor the slightest hint of change in His plan or His word. He gave us birth, not only into this life, but also into our new life, through the message of truth, the Gospel message.
Family, God is good… all the time. And all the time… God is good. Let us thank Him and praise Him and give Him all the glory. That’s all He wants from His beloved children on Father’s Day.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of our heavenly Father. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for our earthly fathers. You gave us the institution of the family unit so that we would have a good safe environment to grow up in. And good fathers model themselves after You, seeing to our needs, teaching us the ways of life, helping us grow into responsible adults. Sadly, not all families are safe, or whole. There are many fathers who refuse to be a part of their child’s life. Forgive them, please Father. Please help all fathers be more like You. And especially please help and uphold those mothers who also have to stand as fathers for their children. Please forgive us when we shirk our duties. Forgive us those times, Father, when we could do more, but don’t. And Father, please shield us from the elements of this world and our society that attack our faith and try to pull us away from You. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You taught us that when we accepted You as our Lord, God adopted us into His holy family. He calls us His own and wants us to call Him Father, to think of Him as our Daddy, that more personal, more endearing term. Thank You, Lord, for showing us just how much God loves us. Please help us be more obedient children. Help us grow and mature in our faith by following Your example and Your word. Shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empties promises. Guide us around the clever ploys and snares, all the temptations the devil uses to entrap us.
And Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You. Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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