Bible Passage: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Pastor: Michael Willitz
Sermon Date: March 27, 2022

Bulletin March 27, 2022

Luke 15:1–3, 11–32

¹All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³He told them this parable:

¹¹Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all that he had and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted his wealth with reckless living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵He went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He would have liked to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, and I am dying from hunger! ¹⁸I will get up, go to my father, and tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

²⁰“He got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, hugged his son, and kissed him. ²¹The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick, bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate, ²⁴because this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.

²⁵“His older son was in the field. As he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. ²⁷The servant told him, ‘Your brother is here! Your father killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸The older brother was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.

²⁹He answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I’ve been serving you, and I never disobeyed your command, but you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours arrived after wasting your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

³¹“The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. ³²But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’”

Join the Joyful Feast

1. An invitation to prodigals
2. An invitation to Pharisees

Dear fellow redeemed in Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save the lost,

They had caught him. They had cornered him. They had found him entangled in what they thought was a scandal. There was Jesus, the famed prophet from Galilee, and He was fraternizing with sinners. He was associating with tax collectors. Not only did He allow them to gather around Him and share the same air He was breathing, He allowed them to recline around a table with Him and eat the same food He was eating. Had He lost his mind? Had He forgotten who these people were? Had He forgotten who He was? Had He forgotten that other people might see Him?

I imagine if those Pharisees and scribes were surprised by the behavior of Jesus, the sinners and the tax collectors were probably surprised too. Was this too good to be true? Did He really mean to be eating with them? Yet this was not a slip-up on the part of the Savior. This was not a lapse in Jesus’ judgment. Jesus was fully aware that He was feasting with penitent sinners, and He wanted all people to know that there is more room available at His table. For all prodigals and for all Pharisees the Savior extends the same invitation: He wants all of us to Join the Joyful Feast.

So He tells a parable about a lavish feast and about the generous father who throws it. Now at the beginning of the parable, the situation is not one of joyful feasting. We are introduced to the younger son, and there is a problem with this son. For whatever reason, he isn’t satisfied with life in the house of his father. So he makes a request, a terribly hurtful request. He says, “Father, give me my share of the estate,” [12]. In other words, “Dad, the best thing you can do for me is die and leave me my share of your stuff. But I don’t want to wait for that to happen, and I don’t intend to be here, so give me my share of the inheritance now.”

How thankless, how loveless, how reckless is this young man? And can you see the disaster coming? The Fourth Commandment says “Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” So what is going to happen to this young man who despises his father? As the parable goes on, and we find out that it does not go well with him. Sure, a life of sinful indulgence might seem to be exciting and fun at first, much like a drunken binge might seem to be exciting and fun at first. But both inevitably lead to a lot of pain and a great big mess.

So, the younger son in the parable finally has to face the music. The grass looked green and plentiful on the other side of the fence until a famine arrived and turned that grass into dust. With his money squandered and his belly empty, he hires himself out to a man who raises pigs. He recognizes that he has hit rock bottom when he finds himself coveting the feed that the pigs are eating.

The son comes to his senses, and he hatches a plan. In his father’s house, even the lowest servants had it far better than he does. Maybe, just maybe, his father would let him be a servant. At this point, it’s not going to hurt to ask. Going through the shame of travelling back to his father can’t be any worse than starving to death in a pig sty far from home.

Now, maybe at this point in the parable, the Pharisees are nodding their heads in approval. “Yes, this is a good plan. Maybe after a few years on probation with good behavior, this wicked son can begin making up for some of the evil he has done.” Imagine the shock on their faces when Jesus tells them the reception that the prodigal receives. Imagine the delight on the faces of tax collectors and sinners, when Jesus describes the feast provided by a gracious and generous father.

As soon as the son appears on the horizon, the father’s heart is already churning with mercy. No word has been spoken, the son hasn’t even arrived, but the father is already planning his forgiveness and restoration. All the usual dignity and decorum are out the window. This son must be hugged, he must be kissed by his father, and this must happen without any further delay. The father hikes up his robe, and he sprints to his son. He sends his servants to fetch the finest robe, and a ring, and sandals. What these gifts indicate is that the young man’s plan will not be entertained for a moment. The father will not have him back as a servant. He is taking him back as a son.

Furthermore, the father is intent on throwing a grand celebration. Nothing will be held back now. The fatted calf, the one whom the father has been saving, will be slaughtered, and an incomparable feast will be offered. There could be no greater cause for celebration than this: what is most precious of all has been restored to the father. His son who was dead is alive again! His son who was lost is found!

To all straying prodigals, the message is clear: there is nothing to be gained by running away any longer. However far you have gone and however long it has been, the God of heaven and earth does not delight in the death of the wicked. He delights in repentance. He delights when those who are wicked turn from their wickedness and live. Maybe you have wondered if it’s safe to approach this God. Maybe you have wondered how you could possibly confess what you’ve done. Maybe you have felt like the teenage girl looking down at the pregnancy test and asking, “How am I going to tell my dad? Is it safe to go home at a time like this?” Or maybe you have felt like the teenage boy looking over wrecked car from the side of the road and asking, “How am I going to tell my dad? Is it safe to go home in circumstances like this?” Dear friends, it is safe to come home to your Heavenly Father.

Consider the tax collectors feasting with Jesus! Consider the prodigal son feasting with his father! Your Heavenly Father sees His children approaching while they are still at a distance. He hears their sighs. He knows their grief, and His heart churns with mercy for them. Before the confession is even out of their mouths, He is already planning their forgiveness and their restoration. He won’t accept a negotiation in which you try to settle the score. No, He already declared His terms when He said, “Come now, and let us reason together, . . . Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they will be like wool,” [18].

Now, how can a holy God bestow such generosity on sinners? How can He pardons them and freely give them His love and His favor? Your God made a sacrifice. He sacrificed not merely a fatted calf. He sacrificed His only-begotten Son on the cross. All your sin and rebellion has been washed away in Jesus blood. All your tattered, stained clothing has been covered in the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. By faith in Jesus, you have the ring on your finger and the sandals on your feet, marking you not as a servant, but as a son of God the Father. In Jesus, you are welcomed to a feast of salvation, a glorious feast with the Savior that is never going to end.

But the parable goes on after the father throws the feast. It turns out there’s another son, isn’t there? There’s an older son who is also invited to Join the Joyful Feast. And while this son has not fled to a far-away country like his brother, perhaps his heart has traveled farther from the father than he realizes.

The older brother is out in the field when he hears the commotion. He heads home, and then he has to face the music. His younger brother is inside the house, wearing a robe, a ring and sandals. His younger brother who abandoned home is now feasting on the fattened calf.

Now, of course, the feast is all there for the older son too, but he does not go inside. Instead, he stands outside fuming. When his father comes out to summon him in, he argues with his father. He says, “Look, these many years I’ve been serving you, and I never disobeyed your command, but you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrated with my friends,” [29]. So the father never gave him even a young goat? But at the beginning of the parable, the father divided his estate between both of his sons. In a Jewish family, the older son would receive a whole two-thirds of the inheritance. Has he forgotten the father’s generosity to him? And why does he want to share a goat with his buddies, but he refuses to eat the fattened calf with his family?

The younger son had a spiritual problem at the beginning of the parable, but the older son is displaying a spiritual problem now, close to the end. He refuses to acknowledge the younger son as his brother. Instead, he refers to him as “this son of yours”. But what is perhaps even more shocking is that throughout the entire parable, the older son never once refers to the father as “father”.

Nonetheless, the unappreciated father shows great patience to this son. He pleads with him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found,” [31].

To all disgusted Pharisees, the message is clear: it is the joy of our God to lavish His grace on unworthy sinners. Those who have a problem with forgiveness have a problem with God. Yet the God who rejoices in saving prodigals is the God who rejoices saving Pharisees too. Does it offend you and trouble you that the Savior would eat with sinners? Well, there’s no better time to repent of self-righteousness than now. There is a feast of salvation that has been spread for you. The Savior has been sacrificed. Forgiveness is freely offered in His name. There is room at His table beside the tax collectors and sinners. Other Pharisees have found a place there already. The Apostle Paul is a prominent example. In his first letter to Timothy, he writes these weighty words, “‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ of whom I am the worst,” [1:15].

Jesus’ parable is open-ended. We never find out whether the older son goes inside to the feast or not. So Jesus was leaving the door open to the Pharisees and the scribes. Would they rejoice in God’s forgiveness? Would they eat of the feast too? The invitation is open to all, to prodigals and to Pharisees alike: whoever you are, Jesus calls you home to Join the Joyful Feast.

Amen.

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