“The Prodigal God”
By Jeff Chacon

• Introduction
• Title of lesson: “The Prodigal God”
• Much of this material taken from “The Prodigal God”, by Timothy Keller
• Based on the parable normally known as “The Prodigal Son”.
• Keller points out that:
• “prodigal” does not mean “wayward”
• “prodigal” means “recklessly spendthrift”, so it describes the younger son’s reckless sinning, but also the father’s reckless love and grace for both of his sons.
• Hence the name of the book, “The Prodigal God”.
• Luke 15:11-32 = “Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

   13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the 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 food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
   “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
   21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
   22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
   25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
   28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
   31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

• Vs. 11 = “Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons.”
• Context of parable = Jesus is addressing the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
• Vs. 1-3, 8, 11
• “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable…”

• (parable of lost sheep)
• “8 Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.”
• (parable of lost coin)
• “11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.”
• (parable of lost son)
• Pharisees to Jesus:
• “Why are you hanging out with all these lost people?”
• “They’re far from God, alienated from God.”
• Remember: “Pharisees” means “separated ones”.
• They were right about being separate from sin (holiness)
• But wrong about being separate from “sinners” (self-righteousness)
• In response, Jesus gives three parables – all about lostness:
• Vs. 3-7 = parable of the lost sheep
• Vs. 8-10 = parable of the lost coin
• Vs. 11-32 = parable of the lost sons
• Q: What’s Jesus’ point?
• One: God cares about lost people and goes after them!
• That’s why I eat with the “sinners” – I’m trying to save them.
• Two: You’re just as lost as they are – but you don’t realize it.
• And the Father is trying to save you too.
• Three: The Father loves and is trying to save all of you – worldly and religious sinners alike.
• And his love for all of you is “prodigal” (“recklessly spendthrift” – it knows no bounds).
• Transition =) Both sections of this parable are important, but since we normally focus on the younger brother, let’s focus this time on the older brother…
• Vs. 25-27 = “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’”
• Q: How should the older brother have responded to this news?
• A: Just like the father!
• Happy!
• Celebrate!
• And this is how the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law should have been responding to all these “sinners” flocking to Jesus!
• Happy
• Celebrate
• Instead, they’re “muttering”…
• Verse 2 = “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
• They’re:
• Grumpy
• Irritated
• Upset
• Q: Why?
• Transition =) This next paragraph is packed with insight about the “elder brother” in this story (which corresponds to the Pharisees, and many of us as well).  So, let’s try to unpack it.
• Vs. 28-30 = “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
• Three questions:
• Q: Why is the older brother so angry?
• Q: What does this teach us about the nature of sin and lostness?
• Q: How does all this apply to us?
• One: Why is the older brother so angry?
• Vs. 12-13 = “The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

     13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”

• Jewish culture:
• No banks
• So, your money was very tied to your property and possessions.
• So, the younger son is asking his father to:
• Liquidate his assets
• And give him his share – which he then squanders in wild living.
• Vs. 12b = “So he divided his property between them” = (literally) “And he divided the living to them”.
• Word for “living” = “bios”, from which we get the word “biology”.
• Means “life, that is, (literally) the present state of existence; by implication the means of livelihood…”
• To divide his property between them was tearing the father’s life (“bios”) apart:
• Economically (his livelihood)
• Emotionally (personal rejection)
• But that’s not what angers the older son.
• The “first-born male” would get 2/3 of inheritance (in exchange for being the primary caregiver for the others – i.e. a good older brother).
• So, for the Father to welcome the younger brother home – not as a hired hand (like the son had suggested) – but as a son (as the signet ring and robe communicate), was to further divide the older son’s inheritance!
• Vs. 30 = “But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
• Older son saying:
• “That’s my inheritance!”
• “He’s cutting further into my money!”
• “And he doesn’t deserve it!”
• M.P. = So there’s a deep sense of anger and bitterness over the unfairness of it all!
• Two: Q: What does this teach us about the nature of sin and lostness?
• Q: Why are both sons lost?
• A: Because both sons want the things of the father more than the father himself!
• The younger son: “Give me my share of the estate; I’m out of here!” (refer: vs. 12)
• The older son: “I’ve been slaving for you, but you’re giving all my inheritance away! Now I refuse to come home!” (refer: vs. 29-30)
• If the older brother loved the father, (and his brother), he’d be happy and celebrating!
• But his anger reveals his heart:
• He cares as little about the father as his brother does!
• They both want the father’s things more than the father himself!
• And that is the very definition of sin and lostness!
• Romans 1:21-25 = “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

• All sin is ultimately idolatry!
• Vs. 25 – Q: What “created things” do we worship and serve?
• Pleasure (vs. 24 = sex; food, etc.)
• Power (position, control, career, success)
• Passions (diversions, sports, hobbies, etc.)
• Q: What “little affairs of the heart” do you indulge in?
• M.P. = Worshipping and serving created things more than the Creator is idolatry – the essence of sin!
• The father in the parable sees this, and verbalizes what God is saying to all of us today:
• Vs. 31 = “My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”
• “…you are always with me…”
• To be with God is:
• What we should want the most!
• What we have as disciples!
• What should satisfy us most deeply!
• Psalm 73:23-28 = “Yet I am always with you;

   you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
   and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
   And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength of my heart
   and my portion forever.
 27 Those who are far from you will perish;
   you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
   I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
   I will tell of all your deeds.”

• “…and everything I have is yours.”
• God wants us to go to him – not idols – for our wants and needs!
• Psalm 81:9-10, 16 = “You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. …you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
• Sin (idolatry) is an illegitimate attempt to meet our legitimate wants and needs! (explain)
• Sin (idolatry) makes us our own Savior and Lord – instead of Jesus! (explain)
• Three: Q: How does all this apply to us?
• Author Timothy Keller points out that this parable Illustrates:
• Two different approaches to finding happiness (both idolatry):
• “Pleasure-seeking” (younger son)
• (Keller calls it “the way of discovery”)
• “Merit-earning” (older son)
• (Keller calls it “moralistic religion”)
• And the radical third alternative that Jesus is giving us:
• “Grace-living”
• (Keller calls it “gospel Christians”)
• Two questions we all must ask ourselves:
• One: Q: Which of these two are you “by nature”?
• “pleasure-seeker” (younger brother type)?
• “merit-earner” (older brother type)?
• Two: Q: Have you made the jump to “grace-living”?
• Your self-esteem is based on grace and the gospel.
• (“I’m a sinner, saved by grace.”)
• You seek happiness by:
• Being with the father.
• Relying on the father to supply your wants and needs.
• Not putting the things of the father above him.
• (which is idolatry, and the essence of sin)
• Q: It’s easier to see if you’re a “pleasure-seeker”, but how do you know if you’re a “merit-earner”?
• Jesus gives us five signs of “elder brother syndrome” (the “merit- earner’s approach to finding happiness”) in this passage:
• One: Anger
• Vs. 28 = “The older brother became angry…”
• When life doesn’t go as you want, you become angry and resentful.
• Elder brothers believe that if they live a good life, then they merit blessings from God – he owes it to them!
• So, when either:
• Bad things happen to good people
• or Good things happen to bad people
• They feel cheated!
• Someone’s breaking the rules!
• Life isn’t supposed to work like this!
• And they go around angry – usually not even knowing why…
• Compare to “Grace living” (or gospel Christians):
• They deeply understand that they only deserve punishment and hell.
• So, when life goes poorly, they don’t resent it, they accept it as:
• God’s discipline (Hebrews 12)
• or God’s testing (Job).
• Either way, they let God be God – and don’t try to control their environment, or manipulate God, like “merit-earners” do.
• Two: Superiority (notice the comparison and the disdain)
• Vs. 29-30 = “But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’”
• Since elder brothers base their self-esteem on being:
• Hard-working
• Moral
• And successful
• They naturally look down on anyone who doesn’t measure up to them.
• They tend to be very competitive people, who either:
• build themselves up
• or tear others down

       in order to feel superior.

• Compare to “Grace-living” (or gospel Christians):
• Base their self-esteem on God’s grace through the cross.
• Q: So, what basis is there for feelings of superiority?
• We’re all sinners at the foot of the cross!
• We’re all equal!
• We’re all sinners loved by God!
• There’s no need to be competitive with each other…
• Three: Joyless, fear-based compliance
• Vs. 29a = “But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders…”
• Here’s how elder brothers tend to view Christianity:
• Slaving
• and Rule-keeping
• They live “good lives” out of fear, not out of joy and love!
• Compare to “Grace-living” (or gospel Christians):
• Quote Titus 2:11-14 = “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (preach!)
• Four: Driven by Success
• Vs. 29a = “…Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you…”
• Hard-working
• A doer
• Note: if you’re an “elder brother type”, don’t be discouraged: so was the Apostle Paul – a former Pharisee, who became one of the greatest Christians ever!
• He is a great example of going from:
• Success driven
• to Grace driven
• Philippians 3:4b-9 = “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (preach!)

• Five: Insecure about God’s love
• Vs. 29b = “Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.”
• I.e. “You never threw me a party!”
• As long as you are trying to earn God’s love, you will never be secure that you have done enough.
• Four signs of this lack of assurance (or insecurity):
• One: Every time something goes wrong in your life, you wonder if it’s because you aren’t living right or doing enough for God.
• Two: Criticism from others doesn’t just hurt your feelings, it devastates you – because you don’t have God’s unconditional love in your heart, so you desperately need the approval of others.
• Three: You feel irresolvable guilt.  Your conscience torments you even after you have repented of sin, since you can’t be sure you’ve beat yourself up enough for God to accept you again.
• Four: a dry prayer life.  You may be consistent in prayer, but there is more asking than wonder, awe and delight, since you cannot be intimate with a task-master, only a lover and friend.
• Compare to “Grace-living” (or gospel Christians):
• Quote 1 John 4:16 = “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”
• Close
• One: God loves all of us – worldly and religious sinners alike!
• Two: And his love for all of us is “prodigal” (“recklessly spendthrift” – it knows no bounds!)
• Three: Let’s recognize our tendency to be either:
• Pleasure-seekers (like the younger son)
• Or Merit-earners (like the older son)
• Four: Let’s strive to be “grace-living”, gospel Christians:
• Whose self-esteem is based on the grace of God
• And who love the father for himself, and not just for his things.
• God bless you all!