Stories from Above: The Older Son | Luke 15:11-32

The prodigal son story doesn’t end with the younger brother coming home. The real tension shows up when the “responsible” sibling hears the music, sees mercy poured out, and decides he’d rather stay outside than celebrate grace.

We open Luke 15:25-32 and focus on the older brother, the one who never left the field, never stopped working, and still somehow missed the Father’s heart. We talk about how self-righteousness can look like obedience on the outside while turning our relationship with God into a transaction on the inside. Along the way, we lean on the insight that there are two ways to be lost: in obvious rebellion and in impressive rule-keeping. Either way, the problem is the same: wanting the Father’s gifts without wanting the Father.

We also bring it down to everyday church life. What happens when sinners walk in before they have it together? What happens when a prodigal returns and the room gets messy? From a Nicaragua trash-bag moment to the very practical reality of VBS chaos, we ask whether our church feels like the Father’s house or the older brother’s field.

If you’ve ever felt like you have to earn God’s smile, this message is for you. Listen, share it with a friend who needs grace, and then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find hope in the gospel.

Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

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Hello and welcome. I'm Pastor Taylor Gearin here at First Baptist Church of Vel Doreto. I'm glad you've chosen to join us. We're in a series now called Stories from Above, the Parables of Luke. And it's just been a great time hearing these stories of Jesus, these earthly stories that give us a heavenly lesson about what God's up to and how we live in light of the kingdom of God. And so I hope you will enjoy it, and we hope to even see you in person real soon. Open with me to Luke chapter 15. We're going to finish this morning our series through some of the parables of Luke. We're going to finish in Luke chapter 15. Two weeks ago, we covered the prodigal son, the story of the younger son. Today we're going to cover the other son in the story, the older son. That was following the beginning of Luke 15, where we saw the lost sheep, and then we saw the lost coin. And so now today we look at the older son. And uh as you're opening this morning to Luke chapter 15, we'll begin. Really, our story begins in verse 25, but we'll back up a little bit to remind ourselves of what has taken place. But allow me to pray for us briefly as we begin. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word. Would you speak to us from your word for your glory by your spirit? We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

The Strange World Of Lost And Found

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Well, for anyone that has ever worked or volunteered with kids' ministry or student ministry, uh you've probably realized something uh after a VBS, after a retreat, after a summer camp, after even a Wednesday night service, whatever it may be, the most fascinating uh place to view, to see, the most fascinating thing is the lost and found. That the lost and found that comes following these events is just a fascinating picture into the minds of young people. Uh the things I've seen over the years in my time in student ministry, when the lost and found will have a single tennis shoe. And I'm so shocked because someone walked out of here with one shoe on. How are you not returning to find the one shoe you don't have? Uh it's the the wet socks that are in the lost and found. And I'll just tell you, they don't stay in the lost and found long. They go to the trash. It is uh when kids leave behind, you know, their their uh the page that exists maybe within their bulletin for the week for sermon notes. Uh that could be uh the most humbling, beautiful thing, because I'll see some and it it'll be kids or students that have just followed the message word for word so beautifully, and it's so humbling in one way, and then humbling in another when you pull up another round of sermon notes and it's just tic-tac-toe. It's just tic-tac-toe. The lost and found is a fascinating place, and in Luke 15, it's a fascinating place. Just two weeks ago, what we saw in the lost and found uh was a a young son who we'll see in a moment, uh betrayed his father in every possible way, yet finds himself found. But we're really surprised this morning what we find in uh the lost and found, or at least what we find that is lost that we hope can be found. Because there's another son in the story, and the fact that he is lost is very, very surprising to us. I want

Recapping The Father’s Compassion

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to see three things this morning. And the first is this simply the father's pity. And really, this is a reminder of where we've been. The story goes like this Verse 11 there was a man who had two sons, and you remember I'll paraphrase from two weeks ago. The younger son looks to the father and says, Uh, you're worth more to me dead than alive. I want my inheritance, I want it now. He takes the money, he goes to the far country, he life is good for a little while, he wastes everything he has, he finds himself in the pig pit, wondering if he could ever return to his father. He wants to go home, not as a son, but as a servant. And verse 20, I want you to look with me as we review. 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. This would have been scandalous news for the Pharisees in the crowd. Jesus tells the story because the Pharisees are sitting there grumbling because Jesus would receive tax collectors and sinners and spend time with them. How could someone who has broken and lost everything the father gave to him, how could he be welcomed home? And yet this is what the Father's love does. 21, the son tries to give his speech. I'm here not as a son, I'll I'll work my way back, I'll earn my way back. Verse 20, the father won't listen to it. Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found, and they began to celebrate. They began to have a party because the lost son was now found. This is a glorious picture of the gospel. A glorious picture that the Pharisees in the crowd needed to see of how the kingdom of God operates. This is a picture of the Father's pity, loving his son so much that there's no amount of my property you can waste. There's no uh amount of rebellion that you can uh kind of rebel against me. That there's nothing you can do to allow me to take my love from you. This is the love of the father, and the Pharisees needed to understand this.

Meeting The Older Son Outside

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So, first we see the Father's pity, but but point two this morning, I want to see this the son's pity party. Look with me now at verse 25. Now his older son was in the field. From just that moment, we've got things we need to discuss. The older son is not inside the house, not at the party, not celebrating the young son. The older son is out in the field. What is he doing out there? Well, what what what is done in the field? He's working, he's working hard. We'll see throughout this text that he he's working hard for the sake of his father. Not because his father told him to. He he's working hard so that he can impress his father, so that he can show his father just how much he has done. Really, he's working so that he can show his father just how much I am not like that younger son who took everything uh from you and wasted every piece of it. He's working so that he can show just how impressive he is. Uh, Tim Keller is really good at this when he says that there's two ways to be lost. We can be lost in our badness. That's the younger son, lost in his sin in the far country. We can be lost in our badness, but then Tim Keller says this it's also possible to be lost in our goodness. That sounds odd, doesn't it? Lost in our goodness. What does he mean by that? What he means is this that we can be lost in our good works. What he means is in our desire to do good works and earn and try hard enough so that we can earn our salvation. That we're lost so near the home, thinking we've got it figured out because we can work our way to the Father and we can earn what can only be given as gift. It's possible to be lost in the far country, it's also be possible to be lost a lot closer to home. Really, if we think about all of Luke chapter 15, it's been painting this picture the whole time. At the very beginning, there was a uh one sheep who was lost. The shepherd left the 99 and went to find this sheep. Why? Because this sheep was lost outside the home. Very next story: what happens? There's a coin that's lost. Something is lost inside the home. Both are lost. And now Jesus summarizes both of these ideas in this story. There's a younger son lost outside the home. There's an older son who is lost at the home. We have this son who lives this life of work. Really, everything the younger son thought he was coming home to do. I'll work my way back, I'll earn my way back. This has been the son's older son's mindset all along. And verse 25, as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, he heard there was a party going on, and what is his response? Well, what should it be? We know what it should be. As he is uh figuring out what is happening, verse 26, he called one of his servants, asked what everything meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. Again, what should his response be? My brother's home. He should be running in the house to be part of this party. He should take his uh portion of the feast, he should celebrate with music and dancing. I won't name names of certain deacons I saw dancing this week in Nicaragua. I won't show videos either unless you ask me to. But he should be dancing, he should be partying and enjoying this, but instead, what is his response? Verse 28, but he was angry. He refused to go in. Why was he angry? Is he angry simply because his brother's home? Well, certainly that has everything to do with it. But even deeper than that, he he's angry that his brother's home and here's the important part, and is being celebrated for being home. That his brother, who wasted everything, who rebelled in every possible way, is home, and is being celebrated for being home. And verse 28 continues, his father came out and entreated to him. His father had to leave the party to go to the son. The second time today, now, the father leaves the house to go after a child. So the father leaves the house to go find his son. It says he entreated him, he's he's trying to figure out what the problem is, what's going on, how can we make this better? Uh what in the world is happening? And then verse 29, but the son answered his father, and and listen to this: the son begins, the older son in this way, look. I

Lost In Good Works And Pride

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want to ask you a question. Growing up and speaking with your father, if you began a sentence with the word look, how would the next few minutes go for you? Look, this older son says, These many years I have served you. I have never disobeyed your command. I like what H.B. Charles says that not only does this son grow hysterical, he grows historical. He starts calling the role on all of these historical moments in his life when he did the right thing. Dad, all these years I've served you. I've been out in the field. My blood, my sweat, my tears, everything you could ever ask for, I have done. I have worked so hard. I have done everything I could have. And look at this, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. He is furious that his son is home being celebrated, all the while I've been working every day of my life. And there was not a point, Dad, when you gave me a goat that me and my friends could celebrate. And I am blown away by this point. I'm blown away by what this child says because it's so similar to the younger son. Remember two weeks ago, we said the younger son wanted his inheritance and wanted to go to the far country, and we decided this that the son wanted everything the father could give, he just didn't want the father. Well, two weeks later, we have an older son and we're seeing the exact same thing. I've worked so hard. Father, you never gave me a young goat so that I can celebrate with my friends. What's he saying? Father, you've never given me these things so that I can celebrate without you, with my friends. The father's not invited to his little party. He also wants what the father can give. He just doesn't want the father involved. But he wants it from a place of earning. I've worked so hard, I've done all these good things. Dad, don't you feel like at this point you owe me something? He has completely lost the plot. This is someone who is speaking like a servant, someone who is speaking like an employee. I've worked hard, you owe me my wages. What is he not doing? He's not speaking like a son. But verse 30, it continues. I never got to celebrate with my friends, but look at this. But when this son of yours came, now notice from the start. This is his brother. Surely he knows his brother's name. And yet, how distant is this? How far does he want to distance himself from his brother? But when this son of yours came, look at this, who has devoured your property with prostitutes. It's fascinating to me. Earlier in the account, what we hear is that the son has gone and wasted his father's money in what it calls reckless living. It just calls it reckless living. And yet it's interesting that this older son is willing to get a lot more specific. Oh, Dad, it wasn't just reckless living. Let me let me call the role and count the ways my younger son has sinned, and let's call it exactly like it is. He calls it exactly as it is. But you know what I found is true about sin. We may sin differently, but we sin. And sin is sin in this form or that form, and you sin differently than me, and I sin differently than you, and guess what? We are sinners. In Nicaragua last week, we we had so many incredible moments, incredible stories, incredible times of evangelism, and just the Spirit of God moving.

A Nicaragua Trash Bag Lesson

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Uh this is not so much a spiritual story, but it is one of the funniest stories from our week. We were uh doing a fiesta with about 100 children uh one afternoon and got to sing and dance and do all these fun games, and then we got to share the gospel and really talk about what the gospel means and and and and you know ask if they would like to come receive Christ. And we saw students come to know the Lord, children for the Lord for the first time. We saw parents come to know the Lord for the first time. But after one of these uh fiestas, uh we had the opportunity to provide all the kids with ice cream. They got to all line up and and get a little uh ice cream sandwich, ice cream bar. And now I'll tell you, in Nicaragua, uh, right or wrong, uh they uh when they're done with something, as far as trash goes, uh you know, it kind of just goes to the ground. And quite literally, uh again, they they just throw their trash into the street. Literally. They might sweep it together and someone come around and and burn it, but but trash just goes in the street. And so we're handing out all these ice cream sandwiches, and a hundred kids get a hundred ice cream sandwiches, and and they're just dropping their trash on the ground. Now, uh, culturally speaking, like that's that's fine, but but we, our group, we we wanted to leave the the church property just a little nicer than we found it. And so Ray Henley was kind enough to find a trash bag, and uh we kind of walk around and start picking up the trash. Um, and and then the kids start joining in. It was a cool moment. The kids start joining in, they pick up trash and put it all in this white trash bag that Ray Henley had found. And, you know, mission accomplished on our end, we we've we're patting ourselves on the back. We have we have picked up so much trash and all this ice cream today. And so we all load up in the car, we load up in the back of this truck, and we are pulling out. And I kid you not, as we are pulling out, I see this sweet little boy uh holding up uh Ray Henley's trash bag. He he had it in the end, got the last piece of trash in, and as we are pulling out, he takes that trash bag and throws it in the street. We had good intentions. That's how it is, James says. That is how it is. Why do I tell that story? It's because of this. We thought we were cleaning things up. Trash looked better than it did out on the street. Sure looked nice when we got it in that uh nice, crisp and clean white trash bag. And guess what? At the end of the day, where did it end up? The same place trash ends up, the same exact spot. You know, I'm really good at cleaning up my sin. Oh, I promise you, I don't sin in the same way some of those others do. You know, I'm not perfect, I sin from time to time, but at least I'm not doing that. At least I'm not doing what they do. I I you know I've more of the sanitized sins, the cleaner sins. You know, not so bad. What am I doing? I I'm just trying to make my trash look a little better. I'm just trying to put it in a little nicer trash bag, and guess where it ends up? It ends up in the same pot of sin. Because I'm a sinner. And I may be self-righteous about it. I may look at myself and say, haven't I cleaned myself up good on the outside? And guess what? At the end of the day, my trash is my trash, my sin is my sin, and in my sin, I'm on the outside looking in. And that's the danger of self-righteousness. That we're as sinful as can be, and yet we've tricked the outside world. And by the way, we've even tricked ourselves into believing we are better than we are, we are cleaner than we are. This older son thought he was living as a son, and yet all the while he was just a servant of sin. Because he believed that his life was about earning his way to the father, and so his motivations were so off, and all the while, while he thought he was honoring his father, his motivations showed that all he wanted to honor was himself. Don't I look good? Haven't I worked hard? And here's the dangerous thing, and here's why self-righteousness is like this cancer that grows deep within, and maybe the outside looks good, but the inside is rotting away. Here's why it is so scary, because there are people in this world and maybe people in this room right now that believe they are doing well because they looked the part, are living the part, are acting the part, and yet if they died right now, they would spend an eternity in hell. That's just the truth. I've seen it in El Dorado, Arkansas. I've seen it in Leon, Nicaragua. You go to every corner of the planet. There are uh uh there are uh people lost in the wayward sins of this world, and there are people lost in self righteousness because they believed salvation was all about what I can earn. And that if I can do more and be more, won't God love me more? Won't God favor me more? Won't God smile upon me a little more? I want to offer one kind of uh nuance here. Uh uh, the the believer in Christ Jesus will do great works. We know that. The believer in Christ Jesus will live a life of obedience. Okay? That's what the Christian life is. Our sanctification, we will be obedient. But notice now, it's an obedience, as we said before, that that is not uh for our salvation, but from our salvation. We have been saved, therefore we obey and live the life God calls us to live. But the self-righteous person says, My obedience will earn me what only can be given by grace. We've seen the father's pity, we've seen the son's pity party. Now I want to see the savior's point.

The Father’s Reply And The Cliffhanger

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This son of yours came. He devoured everything. You killed the fattened calf for him. Verse 31 here's the Savior's point. As the father responds, son, notice he starts there, son, not servant, not employee, son. You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. Father's Day is coming up. Mother's Day was just about a month ago. And we all remember being children on Father's Day and Mother's Day. What we would all ask, Mom, Dad, we're celebrating you. That's great. But why isn't there a kids' day? You asked that. I asked that. And every parent who has ever lived, rightfully so, has let their child know there are 365 kids' days. Every day is your day. Even Mothers and Fathers' Day end up being your day. What the father was trying to show his son is every day's your day here. You are a child of this house if you will accept it. This home is your home if you will come in. All that is mine is yours. If you will just lay down your pride and your desire to earn this, you can just come receive it. If you will just lay down your desire to work hard enough and be good enough and just receive the gift that is here for you, all can be yours. That's what he says. Son, you're always with me. All that is mine is yours. Verse 32 it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. My son, here's the news. Your brother was basically dead in the far country, and now what has lost has been found. We've got to celebrate. But guess what? My love for one son does not discount my love for the other. That my love for my child who is lost in the far country does not discount my love for my child who is right here at the home. If you will only but come in, lay down your attempts to justify yourself and let me justify you. Come take what is mine. All that the father's has is yours. If you will just reach out and take it, come receive it. HB Charles again talks about the fact that at the beginning of the story, it's as if the Pharisees are saying, Jesus, if if you're as close to God as you say you are, why are you receiving tax collectors and sinners? And then at the end of the story, Jesus is asking the Pharisees, if you are as close to God as you say you are, why aren't you receiving tax collectors and sinners? Because this is what the kingdom of God is like. And it's interesting, the story ends at verse 32. Really a cliffhanger. We do we don't know what happens. There's two options. Maybe the older son gets the message, lays down his attempts to justify himself, and comes into the party and takes his place as a son of the father and lives the life the father has called him to live, has invited him to live, not as a thing of duty, but as a thing of delight. Maybe that's that happens. Or maybe the son can't bring himself to do that and goes right back to the field and keeps working and working and working his blood, his sweat, his tears, because he has no idea what the grace of the Father looks like. But I believe Jesus intentionally leaves this as a cliffhanger for our sake. Because the question for us is now, what will we do with the story? If we find ourselves in this place of trying to earn the Father's favor and love and acceptance and validation instead of receiving it as a gift, what do we do with this story? Do we go in the house and rejoice that the Father invites us in by grace, or do we go back to the field to keep working and trying harder and harder and missing the point all along? We have to ask these questions of ourselves and take inventory of our own lives, and we also have to ask this collectively.

Building A Church Safe For Sinners

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A are we a church that looks a lot like the Father? Or are we going to be a church of older brothers? The question is simply this Is this church a safe place for sinners to come? Is this room a safe room for sinners to walk into? Not once they've cleaned themselves up. The Lord will get around to that. But is it a place safe place for sinners to come and find relief and peace and hope and joy? And are we the kind of place when a prodigal returns, we we don't heap upon them guilt and shame, but instead we go out back and kill the fattened calf so that we can celebrate because what was lost is found. There's many ways this might play out. I think of this week that we're gonna have 200 kids in this building. Think about that. 200 kids in this building. Let's say, um, and I'm making this number up. Let's say uh a hundred of them are lost. We will have a hundred lost souls in this building, and we will have four days to show them the love of Jesus, give them the time of their life, and preach the gospel to them in such a way they will have the ability to respond. I want to make you a promise. I want to make you this promise this morning. That when you come back in this room, seven days from right now, when you come back into this church in seven days, I promise you this something will be broken. I even promise two somethings will be broken. I want to make you a second promise. There's gonna be a stain on the carpet that is not here right now. I make you that promise. I want to make you another promise that when you, all of us, uh uh my young adults over in the craft room, my my adults on the third floor, the parlo class, whatever it is, that that when you arrive, your class, we're gonna work hard at it, but it might not be set up the exact same, and you might find a little confetti on the ground that we missed. I promise you that's the case. But I also promise you this. When you arrive next Sunday morning, there's gonna be 200 kids that since you left this building have heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm not the Holy Spirit, so I can't fully promise it, but I got a feeling because I do know the Holy Spirit a little bit, or as best I can, I can almost promise you that when we arrive next Sunday, there will at least be one kid, two kids, five kids, twenty kids that have moved from death to life. That this Sunday morning they were heading towards eternity in hell, and next Sunday morning they are heading to eternity with Jesus Christ. I make this promise as well, that if that happens, that in the near future, you can't see it now, but we'll fill that baptistry up with water and we'll baptize them. A lot is going to happen over these next few days. There's gonna be a lot of kids in this building, and there's gonna be a lot of lost souls, and there's even gonna be moments when some of these kids act like lost souls, okay? But I got a feeling we're gonna be the kind of church that welcomes them in. And when they break something, we're gonna be the kind of church that looks at our budget, pulls something out, and gets it fixed. And I got a feeling we're gonna be the kind of church that celebrates when those lost children come home. But it's not just our VBS kids. I believe we're gonna be the kind of church that is a safe place for the lost, the sinful, the broken, those who have made big mistakes, public and private, those who are longing for something and have tried to find it everywhere else, that they can come home and have family and life here and hear about the good news of Jesus, and also a church where older brothers can come home and can lay down their efforts to look the part and be the part and earn their way and just hear the good news of the gospel, that you have a place in the Father's house. I

Gospel Invitation And Next Steps

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I wonder if there's an older brother this morning that just needs to come home. That your whole life you've thought that a relationship with the Lord was purely based on what you could earn. Or even as a Christian, I want to be clear, even as a Christian, that old self-righteous idea is tempting you, and you're tempted to buy back into it to where uh you just think how much you do will earn more favor with God, and how much you don't do will surely take you further away from the Lord. Again, Christians are obedient. I'm not I'm not uh moving past that. What I am saying is maybe you just need to take inventory of your heart and say, do I view my father as a father? Do I serve him out of delight more than mere duty? Maybe you're in the room and you're just like that younger son, and you know what it is to live in the far country, and uh today you just need to come home. And maybe you just need, whether you're a younger son or an older son, to see the gospel and experience the gospel and hear the gospel for the first time, that Jesus died for you, loved you so much. He took your sins to the cross, he died on the cross, he went to the grave, he rose from the grave so that why you could receive forgiveness, you could experience that life so that you could know what it is to know Jesus personally. That's the gospel. As my son says, that's just how it is. That's the gospel. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, thank you for the gospel message. Thank you for the hope of the gospel, the joy of the gospel, the life that we find in the gospel. Thank you that whether we are a younger son lost in the wayward country, or an older son lost in our own self-righteousness and blind to the truth that we are children of God. Wherever we find ourselves this morning, you are a loving father who by the cross, by your forgiveness of sins, by the resurrection, you welcome us home. What a gift that is. I just pray that one younger son or one older son this morning would experience the Father for the first time. However, we need to respond this morning, Lord. We give this time to you as we worship. In Christ's name. Amen. Would you stand as we worship? And as we do worship, I'm gonna be down front. Maybe you want to come join this church family, talk about baptism, talk about a relationship with Jesus. Maybe you want a pastor to pray with you. I'll be down front. You respond now.