Take your Bibles with me this morning and turn to Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, we are going to look at one of the most famous chapters in the whole Bible today and really the heart of this Gospel of Luke.

We aren't going to start there. I actually want to start in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. After you find Luke chapter 15, I want you to put something there, hold your place, and turn back with me to Deuteronomy chapter 21.

Deuteronomy, of course, is part of the Old Testament Law. Deuteronomy means the second giving of the Law. This would have been well known to all of the people in Jesus' day. Have you found Deuteronomy yet? Let's read verses 18 to 21 together.

18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (KJV)

You might be thinking, Pastor, why did you read this passage? Are you trying to warn the kids or something? Maybe but there's something else going on here.

In Bible times one of the worst things that could happen to your family is for your family to be shamed by the actions of your son. If you had a son that grew up in a faithful family and he left that faithful family and chose to be a rebel and a glutton and a drunkard, the Bible says that that son deserves to be stoned. That might seem ridiculously harsh to us but that is the law of God.

Imagine, if you will, holding a little baby boy in your arms and loving that kid and teaching that kid everything that you know and pouring your whole heart into that child, giving him everything that you possibly could. And then watching as that boy becomes a teenager, and he spits in your face and he despises everything that you've given to him. He kicks at you every chance that he can and then he goes out and deliberately lives the life that is anathema to you. In the Old Testament, that child was to be counted worthy of being stoned. That was a capital offense.

And the reason why I'm reading this is because I think it provides really important context for the parable that we're going to look at today in Luke chapter 15.

Last week we looked at two parables from this chapter:

1. The parable of the lost coin

2. The parable of the lost sheep

I'd say if you were here last week, but only two of you were because of the snow, which is totally fine. But I need to do just a bit of review. So turn back to Luke chapter 15 with me.

Let's read the first three verses.

1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
Luke 15:1-3 (KJV)

The set up for this chapter is that Jesus was attracting and eating with publicans and sinners.

Publicans were tax collectors that had gotten together with the enemy, with the Roman government, to take as much money as they possibly could from the Jews. They went around with a bunch of rough enforcers and they were seen as the worst people in society.

• They were so bad that they weren't allowed to give testimony in court.

• They were so bad that the synagogues, the churches, would not take their money. (Let me tell you, you have to be really, really bad for a church not to take your money.)

And sinners were anybody whose lifestyle put them outside of the family of God. Drunkards, drug addicts, prostitutes, adulterers, fornicators; those were sinners.

And apparently Jesus attracted these sinners. Jesus loved these sinners. Jesus ate with these sinners and he received them to himself.

Now we know that he didn't receive them for them to stay sinners. For instance when Matthew, who was a publican, came to Jesus, he stopped being a publican. When sinners met Jesus and came into Jesus' orbit, they received his grace and forgiveness but he also changed them and they stopped being sinners. The fact that Jesus received in a way that attracted these sinners to himself was scandalous to the Pharisees and the scribes. The religious people of Jesus' day were absolutely scandalized by the fact that Jesus had anything to do with people who were publicans and sinners.

And so Jesus gives them three parables in this chapter to show the grace and heart of God.

1. The first parable was about a man that lost one of 99 sheep. He found that one sheep and he had a party because he found that one sheep.

2. The second parable was about a woman that lost one of the 10 coins that would have been in her headdress (this was like their wedding ring). She lost a part of her wedding ring and she goes and she finds this coin. She gets all of her friends together and she celebrates finding this coin.

And Jesus doesn't leave us to guess what the application of these parables is. He says this celebration is how God and the angels act when one sinner comes back to him. When one sinner repents and returns to God, it is a thing that heaven celebrates.

And that brings us to the parable that we're going to look at today, our text for today. Let's go ahead and read verse 11 to verse 19.

The first thing I want to talk about today is

1. The shameful son

Let’s read the text.

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

We all know this story. A man has two sons. In Bible times, those sons could expect an inheritance from their dad. The father’s wealth would be divided by the number of sons he had plus one. So if you had six sons, you would divide your wealth by 7. Each of your sons got a part and the oldest son got two parts. That is the way it worked.

This son goes to his father and says “I want my part now.” I want my inheritance now.

Listen, what this son is doing is basically saying to his family - I’m done with you. I want to live like you are already dead. I want what belongs to me and I’m out of here. Bye. See you never.

And the Father gives it to him. The Father, no doubt heartbroken, gives his son what was likely a vast sum of money and the son walks away - with no plans on coming back.

Now we don’t know why the son acted this way. Maybe he thought the Father was too strict. Maybe he thought his life at home was too constricting. Maybe he looked wistfully at the sins of the gentiles and thought - that is the good life, what am I doing here?

Whatever the reason - the son leaves. He takes off. He goes to a far country. He goes to a Gentile land. He has money in his pocket. He has nice clothes on his back. He begins to get lots of friends (that’s easy to do when you are rich and can pay for everything.) And he quickly wastes his money on what the Bible calls “riotous living.” He lives for the party.

But it is over too soon. And sooner than he would have ever imagined, he starts to reap what he sows. The money runs out and a famine is in the land.

The friends go away. His nice clothes look like rags. He has no family, he has no friends, he doesn’t even have his culture, he is in desperate trouble.

He gets a job working for a pig farmer. There is nothing that would be lower for a jewish man than working for a pig farmer. But that is what he does. He has to feed the pigs.

So here is what this teaches us about sin. Sin always promises one thing and delivers another. Sin promises us freedom and it ends in slavery. It promises fame and ends in shame. It promises joy and ends in sadness. It promises life and ends in death.

As Romans 3:23 says The wages of sin is death.

So here you have this son and he’s starving. Literally starving in a foreign land. He’s feeding pigs (which is about the grossest job on earth) and he’s jealous of the pigs.

And then the Bible says “he comes to himself.” That means he was not himself. For all this time he has not been himself.

Warren Weirsbe said that there is something about sin that is a form of insanity, and it paralyzes the image of God inside of us and liberates the animal inside of us.

This son, through all of this, has kind of been out of his mind. We can see that, can't we? When we look around at people in the throes of sin, it is a delusion. They are living in a delusion. They are out of their mind. They can't see up from down. They can't see light from darkness. It's a form of insanity.

But he comes to himself. What he does is he repents. He changes his mind. He changes his mind about himself. He changes his mind about his situation. He realizes that he has been very foolish. He realizes that he has sinned against his father. He confesses that his father is a generous man and that service for his father would be better than freedom in this far country.

And so he determines to go home. He determines to go back to his father, to admit his sin, and to beg to be one of his father's slaves. And he doesn't just determine; he acts on it. He starts the long walk home, no doubt the whole time rehearsing this speech. "Father, I have sinned against you. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants."

That's the shameful son.

Let's go ahead and read verses 20 to 24 and we'll see the next part of this story….

2. The prodigal father

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

This parable has always been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But I think that's a mistake. You see the word prodigal means spending money or resources freely, recklessly, wastefully, extravagant.

And if the Son was a prodigal, surely the Father is a prodigal too. He is prodigal in his grace and in his forgiveness.

He's extravagant and reckless in the mercy that he shows to his son.

Think about this. The son is coming home, no doubt rehearsing this thing that he's going to say to his father but his father is looking for him. His father is waiting. Who knows how many days his father sat and stared in the direction he knew that his son went, waiting for the day that his son would come home? He sees his son a great way off. No doubt his son is in shambles. No doubt his son looks nothing like he looked before but the father can recognize him. He doesn't wait. The father runs towards the son.

Men, especially old men, in the East do not run. But this father runs and he embraces his son and he kisses his son, the son who has taken his money, the son who has spat in his face, the son who has shamed him! He forgives him. The son wants to be treated like a slave and he held none of it. He puts a ring on his son's finger to signify, "This is my son." He puts the best robe, no doubt his robe, on the son and he demands that a party be had for his son.

Now remember when I started this sermon I read a passage of scripture from the book of Deuteronomy. That is what should have happened to the son. As the son came back, the people should have thrown rocks at him. The people should have stoned him to death for the shame that he brought to his family. That is the expected response.

But this father would have shielded his son from those rocks. This father, instead of stoning his son, restores his son and loves his son.

From a certain standpoint the Father's actions are ridiculous. They are not fair. This boy deserved some kind of punishment. But the Father will have none of that. The only thing that he has for his Son is mercy and grace. The only feeling he wants is the feeling of restoration and joy that his wayward son has come home.

So we've talked about the shameful son and the prodigal father. Let's talk about…

3. The other shameful son

Let’s pick up reading in verse 25 and go through the rest of the chapter.

25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Luke 15:11-32 (KJV)

This, I think, is the part of the parable that Jesus was trying to get to. Remember he's talking to Pharisees. He's talking to the religious crowd that hates the fact that Jesus is welcoming publicans and sinners.

They are the older brother. We are the ones that, at least in their eyes, have done no wrong and they see that God is welcoming these sinners back to Himself. They see that these sinners are coming back to God and they're mad about it.

The older brother in this story sees that there's a party going on and he asks about the party and his worst fears are realized. The party is because his brother has gone home. His father has killed the fatted calf. His father has had this party set up for this wayward son and the older son is angry. He's angry that his father would do this.

Now I want you to see that just as the younger son was shameful, the older son was shameful and sinful as well.

He is the sin of self-righteousness. He thinks very highly of himself in this story, doesn't he? He shows the sin of pride. He shows the sin of having no concern for his missing brother. He's got hate in his heart. He's very angry. He's not just angry at his brother but he's angry at his father for receiving his brother back.

And the parable closes with an invitation, the invitation from the father to this older son to join the party.

What this teaches us about our sin and God’s grace

Now I absolutely love this parable because I think this parable may be more than any other passage in Scripture shows us something amazing about our sin and about God's grace.

Let me quickly give you four things.

I think the first thing this teaches us is…

All of us are sinners.

Many of us are sinners, like the younger son, like the prodigal son, who have rejected God. We have openly rejected God's goodness for us, who look at the wonderful things God has given to us and the wonderful things God teaches us in his word and say, "That's not enough for me. I want the world. I want to live my own way. Give me what you can give me and I'm out of here."

But maybe that's not you. Maybe you're more like the older son. Maybe on the outside, everything is alright. You've been the righteous one. You've been the one that went to church. You've been the one that did your devotions. You've been the one that gave. You've been an upstanding guy. But in your heart, are you self-righteous? Are you proud? Are you someone that has no concern for others? Are you angry?

Whether we are sinners in action or we are sinners in attitude, we are all sinners. And we all need God's grace.

The second thing this story teaches us about God's grace is…

Grace is for those who don’t deserve it.

The younger son in the story is a despicable character. He is not a good guy. What he did is truly shameful. He was truly deserving of punishment.

Publicans were despicable characters. They were despised for a reason. Hated for a reason. They did not deserve grace.

And that's the thing about grace. If you deserve it, it's not grace. Grace is for those who don't deserve it. It is unmerited favor. If you think you deserve the goodness of God, the forgiveness of God, if you think you deserve it, you don't understand grace.

I want you to think right now about the worst person you know. The person that in your mind you just cannot stand and you would love to see something terrible happen to that person. And I want you to imagine that person repenting, turning to God, and God freely forgiving that person and even blessing that person.

That's grace. Grace is for those who don't deserve it.

Grace is for sinners. Grace is for scoundrels. Grace is for people that have hurt the innocent. Grace is for the proud. Grace is for the unlovely. Grace is for us.

Another thing this story teaches us is that…

God is lavish in his grace.

God is the prodigal. God is the one that spares no expense when it comes to showing His grace.

When we come to God as the runaway son, when we come to God as sinners, when we come to God willing to be servants of His again, He'll hear none of it. He puts the ring of acceptance on our finger. He puts the robe, the best robe that He can, the robe of Christ over our backs, and He has a party.

I hope that most of us today can say that we have experienced and we are experiencing the lavish grace of God. We do not deserve what we have. Do not deserve to be called the Son of God. We do not deserve to be a part of God's family. Do not deserve the eternal inheritance in heaven that we've been given that can't be taken away.

God is lavish in his grace.

There's one more thing I want you to see in this story, and that's this.

Anyone who changes his mind and comes home to God will receive God’s mercy and grace.

Maybe today you're away from God, maybe you are in that far country, and you're starting to come to yourself. You're starting to see the insanity of your sin. I want to tell you today, you can turn around, you can humble yourself, and you can come to God. When you do, He's not going to stone you. He's going to shower you with His mercy and His grace.

He's standing now, watching, waiting for you to come home. Will you do it? Will you come home to God?

If you've never trusted Christ, if you've never accepted the wonderful gift of salvation He bought you through the Cross, will you come home to God?

If you're a Christian who's away from the Lord, who's living in sin, will you come home to God?

If you're hardened in your self-righteousness, will you humble yourself and join the party and come home to God?

God is lavish in His grace and His mercy, and He will be for you too. If you repent, if you change your mind, if you come to yourself, He'll receive you. Let's stand together.