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Luke 15:11-32

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Luke 15. For the second week in a row, now, we’re departing from our study in Exodus. After all, it’s Father’s Day. So, I want us to go to the Gospel of Luke. It was 123 years ago, today, when Father’s Day was celebrated for the first time in our country. Depending on your research, it either started at a YMCA in Spokane, WA by Sonora Smart Dodd in an effort to compliment Mother’s Day or it was commemorated in a Sunday sermon given by Robert Thomas Webb, at the recommendation of one of his church members, Grace Golden Clayton, in Fairfield, WV at what is now the Central United Methodist Church. In either case, the intent of the day is to honor fathers, celebrate fatherhood, parental bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.

Somebody once said that, “[A] father is a person who carries pictures where his money used to be.” I’d like to modify that a little bit, and say that a father is a person who carries pictures where his money used to be, because his kids used his money to buy a Mother’s Day gift last month. As I was researching Father’s Day, I ran across a little piece titled A Dad’s Guide to Changing Baby Diapers, by Jimmy Piersall. Some of you might remember Jimmy Piersall, but for those that weren’t around in the 1950’s or didn’t tune into Major League Baseball, he played for the Boston Red Sox, and later for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels.

Now, keep in mind that this little piece was written about the time that disposable diapers were being introduced to the market. So, Jimmy’s piece deals with the original reusable diaper. Here’s a professional baseball player giving dads instructions on how to change diapers.

“First, spread the diaper in the position of the diamond when you’re at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher’s mound. Put first base and third base together. Bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you’ve got to call the game and start all over again.” (Isn’t that great.)

In Luke 15, we have what’s probably the best-known and best-loved of all of Jesus’ parables. It’s the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Both Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson said it was the best short story ever written. Now, it’s called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But many preachers and Bible teachers don’t like that title because that’s not the emphasis of the story. It’s really more about the gracious nature of the father. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to rename what is traditionally been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son to the Parable of the Merciful Father. That’s the emphasis here. Let’s read; shall we.

11 And He said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 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. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “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! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 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.’ 22 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. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 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.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

“Our God in heaven, we’re so thankful that we can approach You as our heavenly Father. There’s an intimacy and a walk that we can have with You that only those who have a relationship with Jesus can ever fully know. We pray that others would come into that relationship. We pray that we might understand the attributes of fatherhood that You exhibit, so that we, as parents on earth, might exhibit them to those around us. Strengthen the ties of every family here today, and help us to change in areas where we need to change. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

If you’ve ever studied this chapter of Luke’s gospel, then you know there are three parables that Jesus shares and all three parables essentially tell the same principle: God is willing to seek and save the lost. It’s a trilogy. And the reason that Jesus offers these parables (the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son) is because of the accusation of the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2, “[they] grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” That’s what sets up these parables – more grumbling.

Now, before I give you the first of my five fatherly characteristics, I want you to notice one more thing about this trilogy of parables. Beginning in verse 3 we have the parable of the lost sheep. There are 100 sheep and one is lost. That leaves how many? (Ninety-nine, good.) So, we have a 1% loss. In the second story we have ten coins; one is lost and nine are left. That represents a 10% loss. But this third story shows the most significant loss. There are two sons, one is lost. That’s 50%. The most profound. So, as we progress in these parables we see the significance of lostness increase. That, too, helps us to see how much God wants to seek and save those that are lost.

This morning, I want to give you five characteristics of a father we can all come home to. And this is no ordinary father. Jesus specifically tells this parable to illustrate to the scribes and Pharisees just how loving and forgiving our heavenly Father truly is.

He Was Flexible

Here, we’re dealing with a father and two sons. Perhaps there were other children, or perhaps not. But we definitely know there were two sons. Why do I point this out? Well, according to Jewish laws of inheritance (Numbers 27:1-11), whenever you had multiple sons, the oldest son got a double portion. So, two-thirds went to the oldest son and one-third went to the youngest son. But here’s the kicker; when was the inheritance normally given? When the dad died, right. Hence, inheritance. You don’t get it while you’re alive. You get it when dad dies.

But here we have a son leveling the highest degree of dishonor against his father. To say, “I want my inheritance now,” was tantamount to saying, “Dad, I want you dead. I wish you were dead.” That’s what he’s saying. “I wish you were dead. I want you out of my life. I don’t want to be a part of this town. I don’t want to be a part of this family. I don’t want to be a part of you. Give me my inheritance now.”

We have to understand that in a culture imbued by and soaked in the Ten Commandments, one of which is, “Honor your father and your mother,” (Exodus 20:12) this was at the top of the list of disgraceful. And typically, if a son was this rebellious, then he was met by a couple of things. First, he was met by a public slap in the face by his father. Second, public scorn. Third, a funeral service because he’s considered dead now. He’s put out of the community. He’s put out of the family. (Mind you, there was never a funeral service, as such, in the parable but the father does say, “My son who was dead is alive again.” In other words, he’s come back home.) So, this is a high degree of dishonor.

Here’s what I want you to notice. Even though this son dishonors his father, the father honors the choice of his son. He divides his inheritance. He didn’t have to do it, but he did. Why did he do it? Well, number one, there was no law technically forbidding a father from doing it; but number two, and this is really the point of the entire story, you have a father giving the sinner freedom and honoring the choice of the son.

Now dads (and moms), you know how this works. You know that there comes a point in your child’s life, as they grow, where they reach a certain age. Suddenly, they know so much more than you ever hoped to know and they let you know it. You’re just ignorant. You just don’t have a clue. Suddenly, overnight you grew dumber and they grew enlightened. You’re standing in the way. You’re the barrier to their fun. You’re the barrier to their freedom. It’s called the teenage years. What’s a parent to do?

The great theologian Mark Twain said, “When a boy turns 13, put him in a barrel and feed him through a knot hole. When he turns 16, plug up the hole.” By the way, that’s not good advice nor is it what this father does. No, what this father does is he’s flexible. He honor’s the choice of his son. He doesn’t slap his son. He doesn’t publicly scorn his son. He doesn’t hold a funeral for his son. With love and acceptance, he’s flexible and he honors his son’s choice – something his son will never forget. Here’s a father who’s flexible.

He Was Reliable

Look back at Verse 17, “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!’” That little sentence shows that this father was diligent in business. This father must have been wealthy, if even the day laborers not only have enough to eat but “more than enough bread.” This father had land. He had animals. He had buildings. He hires day laborers. He hires musicians later on, and perhaps dancers too. He brings in a fatted calf. He gives a gold ring. He gives new clothes and new shoes. Clearly, he was a man of substance.

So, here’s a kid who gets a third of that estate, cashes out, and goes to another place. He has this wad of money. It drains and dries up very, very quickly and now he’s bankrupt, humiliated, and depressed. And as so often happens in situations like this, this young man’s thoughts immediately go back to a warm home provided for by a hardworking father.

It’s not only a story of a disrespectful son, but of a successful father. Here’s a son who doesn’t care at all about the fact that his dad had the kind of work ethic to provide for him an inheritance to begin with. But there’s an important point to be made out of that verse. To you dads who are hardworking and diligent in business like this one, I want to say to you, “thank you.” On behalf of heaven, “thank you,” if for no other reason that you work hard and you are navigating in this very difficult present economy a way to provide for your family.

I’ve quoted from Saint Augustine on many occasions. One of his most famous works is called Confessions, and this is one of the things he writes about his dad, “No one had anything but praise for my father who, despite his slender resources, was ready to provide his son with all that was needed to enable him to travel so far for the purpose of study. Many of our townsmen far richer than my father went to no such trouble for their children’s sake.” Saint Augustine thanking his father for working hard.

I do want to add a note of caution, however. While you are working hard to provide for your family, make sure that you learn how to balance the hard work with the time spent with family, the time spent with children. We can become over committed and so preoccupied with our position or our status or our work and we know how to get busy and we can neglect to nurture. So, he was reliable.

He Was Approachable

When the son comes to his senses – standing there in the pig pen (Jewish irony, for sure) – he begins to rehearse this scene over and over in his head. He plays this little soliloquy in his mind of what could be said. He has no one turn to; no one to talk to. He’s on skid row. The party is over, and who is the first person that comes to his mind? His dad.

He’s going to rehearse this little imaginary conversation with his dad, which tells you a lot about his father. He knows his father is going to be fair. He knows his father is going to be generous. He knows his father is going to be approachable. And so, he plans to go back. Never once does this son think his dad is going to refuse him. Never once does this son think his dad is going to turn him away. He knows his father.

Do you want your kids to know that there’s a God in heaven that they can approach at any time? Wouldn’t you love to raise children that are bold to enter the throne room of God to receive grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16); to ask, to seek, to knock (Matthew 7:7), to quickly repent of their sin, and be forgiven by a loving father? We’d love that, wouldn’t we? That’s approachability.

In order to teach our children or grandchildren that they can approach God that way, they have to be able to approach us the same way. We demonstrate God’s approachability by modeling it ourselves. And the reason that I say that is because a child’s first impression of God is typically what he/she sees in their father? Remember Jesus’ instruction on how to pray: “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Jesus taught us to approach the Father. We have a heavenly Father that’s approachable and the son in this story knew his dad was approachable. So, the question is how approachable are you?

Jobs can get hard. The week can go sour. We might be irritable. Things aren’t working out for us economically. And then, there are children at home wanting, craving, needing attention. How do we deal with that? It’s tough. I know. And more times than not, we probably don’t get it right. But thankfully, we have a heavenly Father that will hear our heartfelt cry for forgiveness, and give us the patience and strength and joy to be able to be approachable. The father in this story was approachable, and so is our God.

He Was Gentle

This is the best part of the story. This is how we know Jesus was a brilliant storyteller. And why wouldn’t He be – after all, He’s God in the flesh. But I want you to see how the scribes and Pharisees would’ve heard this. Remember, it’s the scribes and Pharisees that were grumbling against Jesus in the first place and it’s what gave rise to the story.

See, for a father to act like this after he was dishonored by his son . . . well, it just didn’t happen. The son dishonors his father by demanding an early inheritance. The son runs away, squanders and loses everything with reckless living. And now the son comes back home with another outrageous request – “I want back in.” It just didn’t happen. And even if it did, the typical return would mean:

1. being verbally scorned and rebuked by the community, as before,
2. the child was required to bow before the father and kiss his feet, and
3. the child would work, and there would be an evaluation time that the community would offer their opinion as to whether he had earned his way back into being a part of the community.

There wasn’t any grace. There wasn’t any sympathy. There wasn’t any compassion. Only work. You earn it. You get that respect back by hard work. That’s the secret beauty of the story. It’s why Jesus is the master storyteller. Because He tells it in a way that slaps the Pharisees in the face.

See the word “compassion” in verse 20 “his father saw him and felt compassion…”. It’s the strongest possible word for compassion (splagchnizomai, in the Greek). It literally means entrails: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys. The idea is that this kind of emotion is felt deep down in the gut. And the neat thing about the word is that it’s only used 12 times in the New Testament, and every single time that it’s used the person that’s displaying this emotion is Jesus. Not the disciples. Not the crowds. Not the scribes or Pharisees. Jesus. It’s just His nature to be compassionate. So, here’s the father, with deep emotion toward his son. No hesitation. No castigation. No inquisition. No, “I told you so. You should’ve listened to me.” None of that – only a deep sense of compassion. And that gives way to celebration.

But there are other signs of this father’s gentle spirit that I want you to see. Notice that he was looking for his son. He was regularly scanning the horizon for any sign of his son. Daily. Perhaps hourly, he was looking down the driveway. How do we know this, because verse 20 says “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…” The son was still a long way off.

The second thing you’ll notice is that he ran toward his son. It’s the Greek word trechó, and it means he sprinted. It was a term used to describe athletes in the Greek games. He did the 100-yard dash. Here’s a question; why did he run? Why not wait to see if the son runs to him? Why not continue working and let the son find him doing what the son should’ve been doing. After all, the father had to pick up some of the leftover work ever since his son left. Why not let him see you picking up the loose ends? Here’s why I think the dad runs to his son, because he wanted to get to his son before his son could get to town. If his son ventured into town, then it would mean public rebuke and public scorn, but dad wanted to save his son from all of that. Isn’t it great to know that we have a heavenly Father that has run to the cross in order to save us from public shame.

And another sign that Jesus is the master storyteller is that the father is the one to embrace his son and kiss him. Remember, if this had truly happened, then the son would be expected to fall at his father’s feet and kiss him. But when Jesus tells the story it’s the other way around. It’s backwards from what the Pharisees expected. Finally, the father listened. No speech. No rebuke. He just let his son say what he felt like he needed to say and then, as if the father has been ignoring everything is this rehearsed speech, his father says, “Bring the ring, bring the robe, bring the calf, let’s have a party.”

Here’s the application. You may not approve of what your son or daughter is doing. That’s fair. You have that right. After all, you’re the parent. You can voice that. You might not like who they’re dating. Dads of girls, you may not approve of the guy’s earrings and long hair. Dads of guys, you may not approve of her tattoos or the seeming lack of clothing, but that’s your child. And if they come back home (in any capacity), then that’s a very strategic moment. Don’t waste it with some long overdue speech. Be gentle.

I know that advice runs counter to our sensitivities and the world’s opinion, but remember who told this story. And there’s a reason this dad responds this way. Jesus is showing us, through this fictitious earthly father, exactly what our heavenly Father is like. Be gentle.

He Was Impartial

Remember, there are two sons. We finally get a picture of the oldest son in verses 25-32, and he’s complaining. He’s grumbling. He’s being a loon. And yet there’s no impartiality in this father, but that’s exactly what he’s being accused of by his oldest son. Dad loved his younger son. He’s willing to forgive his younger son. But the dad also loved the older son and was giving the rest of the estate to his oldest son. “[A]ll that is mine is yours.” Remember, two thirds. The youngest has taken his third and squandered it. The rest of it, which is all of it, is yours. “Son, you are always with me…” He didn’t play favorites. In fact, the father came out of the house to plead with his older son to come in. Just like he had gone out to meet his younger son, dad goes out to meet the older son. He loves them equally. He wants both of them to feel loved. He wants both to feel special. He wants both to feel accepted. This is a dad you can come home to. This is the kind of dad the world needs more of. This is the kind of dad churches need more of.

Let me close with what William Buel Franklin wrote about the definition of a dad. “If he’s wealthy and prominent and you stand in awe of him, call him ‘Father.’ If he sits in his shirt sleeves and suspenders at a ball game and a picnic, call him ‘Pop.’ If he wheels the baby carriage and carries bundles meekly, call him ‘PApa’ (with the accent on the first syllable). If he belongs to a literary circle and writes cultured papers, call him ‘PaPA’ (with the accent on the last syllable). If, however, he makes a pal of you when you’re good, and too wise to let you pull the wool over his loving eyes when you are not; if, moreover, you’re quite sure no other fellow you know has quite so fine a father, you may call him ‘Dad.’”

“God in heaven, it’s so great that we have the opportunity to call You our Father. It would never be possible unless Your Son went to the cross and shed His blood that our sins might be forgiven, that we could have a relationship with You that is close and intimate. And so, we’re grateful for the gospel that we’ve heard – a gospel, a Good News message that transforms sinners into children of the King.

Lord, we pray that our appreciation of You on this Father’s Day would grow, and that our understanding of You would deepen. God, would we truly see You as a father we can come home to – and infinitely more so when sin abounds, grace overflows, where there is repentance, You are willing to forgive and to restore.

Father, I pray especially for dads and families today – for men who are fathers – that we might become, in some small measure, a reflection of this father. Lord, some of us don’t have dads to honor. We simply have a memory. And for some here, the memory is not a sweet one. Would You further the healing in that area, Lord? And would You let them know that You’re different. Indeed, You’re perfect.

We love You, Lord, and I offer this prayer in the name and power of Jesus Christ. Amen.”