Sermon Video: The Prodigal Son's brother - Luke 15:11-32

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the third parable in a row told by Jesus in response to the muttering of the Pharisees and teachers of the law who had observed his friendly social interaction with the tax collectors and assorted "sinners".  Each of the three emphasizes God's concern for the Lost, God's willingness to seek and save the Lost, and the joy that erupts in heaven when God succeeds in saving one lost soul.  The younger son in this third parable is indeed prodigal, that is he is wasteful through loose living of his resources, in this case his portion of his father's estate, at which point he hits rock bottom and reconsiders his choices in life.  The younger son begins the process of repentance, turning from his sinful choices and seeking forgiveness for them, even formulating a plan where he will ask his father for a lesser role than being his son, hoping instead to become simply an employee of his father.  Such a resolution is unacceptable to the father, who upon seeing his son return, rushes out to meet him in a loving embrace and immediately restores his son's rights as a son in a tremendous act of grace.  Likewise, God meets the lost sinner where he is, rushing out to meet us and offering total and free forgiveness as well as cleansing us and making us whole.  This parable is a heart-warming story, a tremendous lesson in love, grace, and forgiveness, as well as a warning about the danger of "freedom" apart from God; but it doesn't end there.  The second son, the older brother, is the true target of the parable as he sits sulking in his bitterness and anger when he learns of his father's generosity to his undeserving brother.  It takes the father's intervention, along with harsh and unfair words from the older brother aimed at his father, before the point gets across that the younger brother had been dead, and is now alive, he had been lost, and is now found.
Why do Christians, people who have been forgiven themselves, become judgmental and self-righteous?  They certainly should not, such attitudes are always and everywhere unacceptable within the Church; as former defendants before God whose sentences were commuted by the intervention of Jesus, our response to grace shown to others ought to be a shout of hallelujah, if it is a mumble of self-righteous indignation, shame on us.  Why does it happen?  Two reasons: (1) Those who don't remember their own forgiveness may resent when it is given to others, which would come from a false sense that one's list of sins was somehow small or petty, not really a big deal.  (2)  And those who don't value the Lost as God values them, seeing them in his image, as our very brothers and sisters, are likely to care less about their salvation.  The Prodigal Son may have left home, and hit bottom before finding forgiveness, but it is those of us who stayed behind, who remained with our Father, who may need to learn compassion.

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