Tag: prodigal

Prodigal Series Day 9: Older Son, A Surprise

While this parable is commonly known as “The Prodigal Son” (I even call it this throughout the series), I’d like us to start to think of it a bit differently.  You see, that name isn’t quite right. It’s misleading to single out only one of the sons as the sole focus of the story. Even Jesus doesn’t call it the parable of the prodigal son, but begins the story by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” (Luke 15:11, emphasis mine)

In the younger brother character, Jesus depicts a variation of sin that anyone would recognize. He was openly disrespectful to his father and squandered his inheritance.  No one would venture to say, “He’s a totally upstanding human being.  Really solid guy.  Totally dependable. He’s welcome to date my daughter.” No.  People would agree in unison that the younger brother was living sinfully.  The listeners would have considered this person to be cut off from God. We revisit the younger son only to highlight a stark contrast to the older brother character.

The latter is seemingly loyal to his father. He has the self-discipline that is so desperately lacking in his younger brother.

So, here we have two sons: one “bad” by conventional standards, and one “good.” Nonetheless, both are alienated from their father.  How so? That’s exactly what we are going to unpack this week.   

Each brother represents a different way to be alienated from God and a different way to seek acceptance into the Kingdom.  The narrative is as much about the elder brother as the younger, and as much about the father as the sons….which is why I’ve decided to break these teachings up by character each week.  Moreover, what Jesus says about the older brother is one of the most important messages given to us in the Bible.

Remember last week how we said that Jesus was talking to the sinners and the Pharisees when he told this story?

As it turns out, this parable was actually meant for the Pharisees. Although both groups can certainly benefit from the message, it is directed to the Pharisees.  The sinners didn’t ask why Jesus was eating with them.  The Pharisees asked, and Jesus responded with the stories documented in Luke 15.  The three parables are in response to their attitude, which the Pharisees would steadfastly maintain was right with God.  We will see how this was not the case and how Jesus powerfully pleaded with them to change their hearts so they could enter the Kingdom.

Let’s revisit a parallel we learned last week. The sinners are synonymous with the younger brother. But, as we just mentioned, Jesus was talking to the sinners AND the Pharisees.

Two brothers.

Two audiences.

If the sinners were the younger brother, what does that make the older brother?

That’s right.  The older brother is synonymous with the Pharisees!  That means how he sinned and how he reacted, which we will observe more closely this week, albeit differently than his younger brother, were similar to how the Pharisees sinned and reacted. 

Make no mistake: just like the sinners realizing that the younger brother was really them imposed into the tale, the Pharisees would have also noticed.  The Pharisees would have also pieced together that they were the older brothers, and they would not have appreciated what Jesus had to say about them either.  A sinner being welcomed without restitution?! Nonsense!  A clearly obedient and righteous man not getting what he earned?!  Preposterous!

Jesus is saying that both the irreligious and the religious (sinners and Pharisees) are spiritually lost, but Jesus was also ushering in a new way to live.  One that offered eternal life to the repentant…One that offered a reason to press pause for anyone who thought they were above sin.

This parable of the two lost sons is a total gamechanger in every way. I’m here for it! How about you?

Same time, same place tomorrow? See you then…and bring a warm beverage of choice 😊

Music Playlist

Did you know I created a worship playlist just for this series?!

Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!

Here’s a playlist created just for this series! Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home.

Prodigal Series Day 8: Older Son, A Conviction

I’m excited to start another week of learning, reflecting and growing with you all!  If you are just jumping into the series now, we have been diving into the Prodigal Son.  Last week, we focused on the younger brother as well as some really important context.  This week, we are switching gears. We are going to examine the older brother figure and find out what he has to tell us about Jesus, the Kingdom of God and how to enter it.

While this story reveals the destructive self-centeredness of the younger brother, it also condemns the elder brother…which is something I never picked up on until recently, no matter how many times I heard this story.   

Here’s a gentle word of caution: hearing how the “obedient” older brother was also in the wrong may be convicting for some. It may sting. But that’s OK!  I lovingly urge you to press into that and not run from it.  Whenever we are convicted there is room for so much growth!

On the first day of this series I mentioned how a pastor once told me that nothing positive ever came from my mouth.  That hurt. A lot.  But do you know what?  Although the words stung, and the delivery wasn’t the best, this particular pastor was almost never wrong when it came to calling people out. There was always some truth to what he had to say. After the sting wore off I asked God to reveal what I could learn from that comment.  While it wasn’t true that nothing good ever came from my mouth, it turned out that there was definitely room for improvement.  I could certainly speak life over people more often.  My words could have more kingdom value. 

By pressing into that comment, which I believe was said in love and not animosity, I was able to go to God and ask Him to deliver me from my actions which contributed to such negative impressions.  I prayed that He would give me a new voice, a voice to tell others about Him.  That was about 8 years ago.  I’m so grateful I didn’t ignore the sting.  You will be, too, if you take your convictions to the Father in prayer.

OK, thanks for letting me touch on that for a minute.  I think we are better grounded to move on together. Agreed?!

This week we will pick up where we left off. 

The younger brother left, which was a huge insult. He asked for his inheritance which was insult over injury.  He was seeking a life outside of his father’s home. We learned that the distant country he travelled to is really synonymous with anywhere we are living where God is not our priority.  We learned that we always have a choice to return to Him. Our Father will always accept us, BUT we have to choose to return back to Him through repentance AND accept his forgiveness.  Anything else would be selling ourselves short and not letting God be God.  Verse 21gave us a biblical blueprint for repentance: we apologize to the one we offended and to God….and since God is the primary offendee, He’s the one who can primarily restore us. 

Jesus is redefining everything we thought we knew about connecting to God. He is redefining sin, what it me­­­ans to be lost, and what it means to be saved.

That’s last week in a nutshell!

We now have all we need to start exploring the older brother.  I promise, you’ve never thought of him like this before!

Looking forward to picking up from here with you tomorrow morning!

Helen

Accompanying Playlist

Did you know I created a worship playlist just for this series?!

Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!

Previous posts from the Prodigal Series

Miss one? I got you covered! All teachings from this series are found here.

Prodigal Series Day 7: Younger Son, As Jesus?

Our first week is already coming to an end! Can you believe it?!  Take some time to reflect on everything we’ve covered.  What’s something new you learned? Or perhaps a standing perception took on a new shape since we’ve started our time together.  That’s great! The Word of God is living so there’s always something else the Spirit can reveal from its verses. 

Speaking of revelation, let me share something with you that totally blew my mind.  Its one of those things that once you see it, you won’t be able to unsee it. 

Remember back to the beginning of the week.  I taught that parables tell us something about Jesus.  Well, this one is no different.  The last parallel we are going to talk about this week is about none other than Jesus Himself. Here it is:

Jesus became the prodigal son for our sake.  If I were delivering this as a sermon, I would probably reiterate that for emphasis. 

For our purposes, let’s just read over that line again: Jesus himself became the prodigal son for our sake. 

Here’s how:

  • Jesus left the House of his heavenly Father  
  • He went to a foreign, sinful country (although He never sinned)
  • He gave away all that he had
  • He returned back to the home of His father  

All of this Jesus did, not as a rebellious son, as we saw here with the younger brother, but as the obedient son, sent out to bring home the lost children of God.  

If you want to have your minds boggled, reflect on this: as Jesus is telling the parable, He is actually living out the story He is sharing! He is the younger son in all the ways just mentioned while He is teaching about it!

I pray that you are seeing that there is more to this story (and for all of scripture, for that matter) than what meets the eye.  Please join me again next week, starting tomorrow, when we take a closer look at the older brother. 

In the meantime, let’s close out this week in prayer.

Father God,

Thank you for each and every person reading this today today.  Thank you for meeting each and every one of us exactly where we are at.  I pray that each of us can get one step closer to you this week.  For those who are in a far country right now….I pray that thy choose you.  For those who have chosen you, I pray that they ask for forgiveness if they haven’t already, or for those who need to accept- may they accept you with open arms.  Thank you for your mercy and for all the distant countries you have already delivered us from.  Please keep everyone safe in the palm of your hand until we come together again. 

In Jesus’ Holy & Precious Name,

Amen

Accompanying Playlist

Did you know I created a worship playlist just for this series?!

Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!

Previous posts from the Prodigal Series

Miss one? I got you covered! All teachings from this series are found here.

Prodigal Series Day 1: Younger Son, A testimony

Y’all, the Lord has put this series on my heart to write for months already!  The content was originally shared July 2022 as a 3-part sermon series at my home church.  The focus: the parable of the prodigal son.  The effect: perspective shifts, convictions and a new appreciation for a very, very old story. 

Now I know what you may be thinking: “What can I possibly learn from this parable that I don’t already know? It’s so basic: sinful son leaves home, returns, and is accepted back by the father.”  But is it really that simple?

I PROMISE that it isn’t.  By spending the next three weeks together in this story, as Jesus told it, you will learn things you didn’t previously know, and the Spirit will reveal biblical truths that were previously imperceptible. We will spend one week focusing on each of the main characters: the younger brother, the older brother and the father.  Sound good?!

Now, before we dive in, I want to share the redeeming tale of another prodigal.

This person was born into a typical Christian home and was exposed to God’s love from the time they were born.  They went on family retreats for vacations and sang in the choir.  They were a straight A student through 16 years of Catholic school, and proudly walked with their dad as he graduated from law school. 

However, for brevity’s sake, let’s fast forward to their teen years. This is when a decade-long string of poor decisions really started. This is also when they walked further and further away from the God of their childhood. At this time, they began drinking, first socially, but then every day.  By their late teens, a second life their father had been leading was exposed, and that was right around the time he was disbarred.  Simultaneously, their mom was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time.

Despite the world rapidly changing around them, they got a full academic scholarship to college…but the daily drinking continued…a modest inheritance from their grandfather was squandered, in full, before college’s first semester came to an end. Without money, drive, or a relationship with God at this point, they were suffocating by their own internal and external turmoil.

Poor decisions ensued. I think you get the idea. Before ultimately leaving college (and their full scholarship) to get a job for cash in a restaurant, they were diagnosed with major depressive disorder. They often thought that if they just disappeared no one would notice or care.  This person would end up with several other diagnoses as a young adult, including Anxiety and PTSD. 

By their early 20s, they shut out those who cared for them the most.  They didn’t want others to see how far they were falling. At one point, a pastor told this person that nothing of value ever came out of their mouth.    

They moved back home after leaving college, but their mother’s heart broke as she watched her child destroy their body and waste their mind.  The mother told them to change their lifestyle or move out.  The individual left, but not before their depression and the enemy took full hold of them and convinced them that ceasing to exist was the best for everyone.

God had different plans, but it took a few more years for this person to start to embrace what those plans could possibly be.

You see, several more years of selfishness and disregard culminated in unexpectedly expecting.

In that moment, the solid childhood foundation of knowing God’s love flooded back.  This person knew that if God intended the child to be born…the child would be…and God, Jehovah Jireh, would provide.  In that instant, priorities began to shift and a longing to know God better overtook this person’s heart and mind. 

This person suddenly couldn’t get enough of Him! The new little family moved out of state where they didn’t know a single person. Bit by bit, God replaced old parts of their life with Him. He placed godly women in this person’s life and provided examples of how someone could walk with Christ while navigating marriage and parenting. They began to engage with Christian mom groups and the local church. They went on mission trips and saw people hungry for the Word.  They wanted that, too.

Slowly but surely,  depression was replaced with joy, and indifference transformed into passion. Netflix was replaced with CS Lewis and psychological thrillers were replaced with Tim Keller and Kyle Idleman. 

There was an insatiable desire to learn everything they could about God. The more they learned, the more their heart changed. At some point, they started to feel led to share, both the information they had been acquiring and the life changing relationship they had been experiencing with God. After all…what good is knowledge and experience if either remains merely in one’s memory, especially if such an intimate relationship with God could actually change someone’s life?! 

This person stopped drinking.  They went back to college and finished with a 4.0.  After having two more children they went on to get their masters, again with a 4.0, and later began to get their doctorate, but pressed pause on that only because the Lord redirected their path…get this…toward seminary!

They still had their share of messy life to navigate, even after turning toward God, but they did so with a blessed assurance that God was in control and would provide.  And God did provide…each and every time. I know.

It was a long and windy road for this person, but it ultimately led to them being able to sit in this coffee house today and type these words to you.

It was me.

I once was lost, but I have also been found, and I am His.

I’m still very much a work in progress as I grow as a person and in my relationship with our God, but I can’t wait to see what he has in store!   I let Him change me and hope you’ll let Him, too.  His way is better. I promise!

Now that you’ve heard a bit more about how God has worked in my life, and my journey of finding my way back to Him, let’s meet back here, same time same place tomorrow, and we will learn about someone else who was lost and found.

All my love,

Helen

Accompanying Playlist

Did you know I created a worship playlist just for this series?!

Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!