In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in response to a complaint. The religious leaders grumble because He welcomes sinners and eats with them. Jesus uses pictures of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son to make His point.
The first two parables tell of a God who rejoices when the lost are found. Then Jesus introduces the story we often call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. When we see who Jesus is talking to, we realise that the real focus is not on the younger brother’s recklessness, but the father’s heart, and the older brother’s self-righteous anger.
The younger son demands his inheritance, leaves home, and wastes everything in sinful living. He is brought to nothing. Eventually, he comes to his senses and returns home, rehearsing a speech of repentance.
While the son is still far away, the father sees him, runs, embraces him, and kisses him. The father answers the son’s confession not with words, but with the best robe, a ring, and shoes. A feast is prepared. Music begins. “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Heaven celebrates repentant sinners.
If you are in Christ, that is your story. There was a day when you were far off, and a day when the Father rejoiced over your return.
But Jesus does not end the story there.
The older brother comes in from the field and hears the music. When he hears what has happened, he is angry and refuses to go in. His father comes out and tenderly pleads with him to join the feast and share his joy. Instead, he lashes out at the father: “These many years I have served you.” He distances himself from his brother: “this son of yours.” Outwardly obedient, inwardly resentful, he cannot rejoice in grace.
The father gives a gentle rebuke as a reminder. “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate.”
Jesus ends here, allowing these words to settle on the Scribes and the Pharisees.
It is possible to be morally upright, doctrinally sound, faithfully serving, and yet miss the Father’s heart. Love for the father delights in the Father’s joy. Self-righteousness does not look like rebellion. It looks like comparison, quiet calculation, and a reluctance to celebrate mercy shown to others.
The gospel confronts both brothers. It humbles the reckless and the religious. It tells the sinner, “You can come home.” It tells the self-righteous, “You need grace as much as anyone.”
A healthy church shares the Father’s heart, beating with the same rhythm. It yearns for the most undeserving sinners to return, and when they do, it throbs with joy as the Father rejoices with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
17. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (ESV2011)
Father, make our hearts beat with yours. Let your joy fuel our evangelism. Let your delight shape our worship.
Listen to the full sermon HERE.