WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.920 Hey, we're thrilled that you're here joining us today. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:27.760 Like Dave said, if you missed last week, we are starting this new series called Prodigal. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:36.640 And the reason why we're doing this is at the beginning of the year, we set out as a church to take one whole year to just focus on one thing. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:44.240 And that's what is it to what does it look like to apprentice under Jesus for one full calendar year? 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.759 And right, what a grand thing for a church to think of. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:01:00.320 But the way that we want to do that is we want to look at Jesus' teachings, his life, and see what does it look like to live like the people we were created, we were made to be. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:10.560 And the way that we'll be doing that in this series is we'll be looking at one of Jesus' most popular, if not the most popular, uh parable that he's taught called the Prodigal Son. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:13.439 And we'll be looking at it four weeks, four different ways. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:18.560 And last week, what Ryan did was he kind of gave us some context to the story. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.120 Uh he shared with us like a pattern to see. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.760 He he told us like why he's telling uh these parables to begin with. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:36.640 Um but today what we're gonna do is we're gonna be looking at this story one more time uh from the vantage point or more focused on the younger brother in the story. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.599 Uh do we have any younger siblings in the house? 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:40.239 Yeah. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:41.040 Oh, okay. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:42.719 You were different from the last service. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:43.439 They were proud. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:44.560 They said something. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:48.079 You guys are like the shy younger siblings, like right here. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:02:08.960 They told me to be quiet, so um hey, well, I love that we have some younger siblings here because and that I get to be the one that gets to share from the vantage point of the younger brother, because although I'm the oldest of two, uh, I actually have always thought that I've had younger brother tendencies my whole life. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:10.719 Yeah, yeah. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.840 If you if you if you if you know me, then you know that's true. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.719 If you're surprised, that's very kind of you. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.280 Um but what what do I mean by that? 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:20.159 Let me explain. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.719 Uh we've all heard the stereotypes, right? 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.759 We we've all been fed uh the caricature of what like a younger sibling is typically like. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:36.719 They're they're fun loving, they're loud, they're sometimes just unhinged, uh they they get away with everything, right? 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.199 Um, and they're not really good at listening. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:40.960 They're not really good at listening. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:49.360 And as I say all that, remember, I'm just telling you what I've been told, what I've seen in the movies, and I know there's exceptions to the rule. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.479 We had all the younger siblings who were just really quiet about it. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:53.840 Like, there you go. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.120 Um, and and also I think I'm an exception to the rule. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.120 Um, let me show you. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:05.680 Uh, I've got some pictures that I wanted to kind of, I guess, prove or illustrate my younger brotherness. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:13.680 Um, like I said, I'm the oldest of two, and that person on the left is my younger sister, Carolyn. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:21.840 And if you like our age difference, yeah, we had the same haircut, but I got one before this, uh, before this picture at least. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:24.639 Catches at the right time of the year, we had the same haircut. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:30.560 Um, but like my sister, she's about, if you round up, like two years younger than me. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:37.199 And a few years before, or a couple years before this picture was taken, the year is like 2000. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.719 And wow, does that make you feel old? 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:50.879 The year is like 2000, and we had just moved to Ventura, and my parents and their two kids are like in a new place, like, got these kids, they need to be doing something. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:52.960 Like, we need to help this kid like make some friends. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.639 He doesn't know how to do that on his own. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.599 And he's and they came up with this grand idea. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.400 We're gonna sign them up for basketball. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:07.919 And me having this defiant, not wanting to listen, younger brother spirit in me. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:10.319 I said, absolutely not. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.360 I will not play basketball, mother. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.399 Even though she said, like, you're you would love it, it'll be great. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:17.120 I didn't believe her. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.120 I said, I'd rather be playing Game Boy Color. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.600 Pokemon is like the cool thing right now, mom. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.680 I'm not gonna play basketball. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.160 Um, so I didn't listen to her when she said that I would have loved basketball. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:36.399 And um, they gave in to my wishes and they ended up signing up just my sister uh to play basketball uh while she was in first grade. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:47.839 And it was pretty much game over from there because this girl in first grade, um, she barely four feet tall, uh, goes into this youth league and just wrecks it. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.720 She's like the star of the show. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:05:02.000 Um she's like so good as a first grader in basketball that like parents would stay late after their kids were done playing basketball to watch my sister play. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:15.439 And as like as the like mythology of Carolyn Jimenez like grew in Ventura County, like later on in the season, like parents would they would come early before their kids' games to watch my sister play. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:24.079 And it was just funny, right, to see like this little Filipino girl with like the ball half her size dominate the sport that she was in. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.399 Uh and if it's the pick, see the ball's half her size, there's proof. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.800 Um yeah, and then like I just I was there to watch it because I wasn't playing basketball. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.800 And she was so good that there was this coach, this is like the tipping point for me. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:48.079 She was so good that there was this coach who coached a club basketball team that came to a couple of her games and made it a point to come out just so he could recruit her to play travel basketball. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.800 And that's where I just was like, are you serious? 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:51.839 Are you kidding me? 00:05:52.079 --> 00:06:02.879 And all of a sudden, there I stood watching my sister be like the Kobe Bryant of Ventura County, and me be the quote unquote older brother, just watching it all happen in front of me. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:05.439 And all of a sudden, I just wanted to be like her. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:10.000 And the roles, like I said, younger brother tendencies to me, the roles were reversed. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:18.959 And there I stood at like eight years old, watching my little sister, and all I had in my mind was one day when I grow up, I want to be like Carolyn. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:28.480 Long story short, uh, I realized that I should have listened to my parents the the first time they ended up signing me up for basketball. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:40.879 Um, but not listening became a very detrimental thing to my life because from second or from third grade on, when I started playing basketball, the rest of my life was just trying to prove to people that I was half as good as my sister. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:42.639 And here we are today. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:50.079 But, right, if I had only listened, this would have been a very different story. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:58.639 Uh, and it's that lack of listening, that inability to hear that we often attribute to younger siblings, whether it's right or wrong. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:14.560 Um, it's that that thing that I want to hone in on today, because it's actually really relevant to the parables that Jesus teaches, and actually really relevant, especially to the one that Jesus that we're looking at today. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:21.600 You see, the reason that Jesus tells these parables isn't so that he could give some moral point at the end of it. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:28.879 I think a lot of us living in like this part of the world hear about Jesus, and many of us are convinced that he's just a really good moral teacher. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:38.560 That when he tells a story, that maybe it's about just saving money and being more frugal with it, maybe it's learning how to share, or maybe it's about like cleaning up our toys when we're done. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:40.800 But that's not what he tells them. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:45.759 He also doesn't talk in parables so that more people would understand. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:47.600 And that sounds kind of backwards, right? 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:48.399 That sounds kind of weird. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:49.680 Why would he do that? 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.959 Instead, this is what he says in Matthew's gospel. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:57.920 He says, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.199 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:08.399 Uh, he says it another way, again in Matthew's gospel, a little more clearly on why he speaks in parables. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:09.360 Why do I say this? 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.879 Because verse starts like this. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.360 This is why I speak to them in parables. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:14.240 Why? 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:19.360 Because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.040 And then go to verse 16. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:27.839 But, but blessed are your eyes for they see, and blessed are your ears for they hear. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.199 So why does he tell these parables? 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:46.559 Is that uh he's saying that those that might actually listen to these words, those that might hear these things, and not just like hear like a sibling in and out, but like hear these words, that they that you would be blessed. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.320 That you would be blessed. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:57.279 Like for those of us who are willing to do more than just sit and assume what Jesus is trying to say, or sit and come away with some simple like moral thing. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:04.159 No, for those of us who have ears to hear, Jesus says there is blessing on the other end of these parables. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.279 There's a state of happiness that's supposed to come with it. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:10.240 And what does Jesus want to bless us with? 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:10.799 Right? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.840 If if if all that's true, what does Jesus want to bless us with? 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.159 One more time in the Gospel of Matthew. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.559 He says this about the parables on talking about them. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:22.159 He says this one line. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:36.320 It's not just to get smarter or wiser, but he says, if we listen, we would be given, and this says in Matthew 13, verse 11, if we listen, we would be given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:49.200 He's saying that if you hear, if you're willing to have ears to hear, that you would be blessed, and that blessing would come in the form of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.399 And when someone showed me that, I was just like, that is so cool. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:10:01.679 That the parable, the parables are these keys into understanding uh the kingdom of God, about who got who God is like and the kingdom of heaven. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.720 So that's where we begin with this parable today and this morning. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.000 And especially with the prodigal son, right? 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:26.639 A story that you might have heard a hundred times, if not a thousand times, at least two times if you were here last week, um is that if you if if you've heard this a million times, that there's actually something more that maybe we need to be listening to. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:38.559 That if if we have heard this story and haven't walked away blessed and knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, that maybe we need to hear again. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:47.039 And that's the invitation that God is giving you and me today to listen afresh, to listen that we might be blessed. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:11:04.639 And not just today, but also next week when we look at the older brother and the week after, when we look at and we look more closely at the Father, and every time we hear these parables, there's an invitation for you and for me to really have ears to hear. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:25.919 And I say that to a room this size because I think if you're here, not I think I'm convinced that you're here on purpose, for a purpose, and that purpose this morning is that you would hear Jesus' parable and invitation, maybe for the first time, and be blessed by it by having ears to hear. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:42.000 So today what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at Luke 15 again, um, and we're gonna look at it more from the younger brother's vantage point and consequences to him, and we'll look at it in three movements, kind of a beginning, middle, end of how Jesus tells this story. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:56.080 And before we start reading it, just as a little, I guess, spoiler, uh, Jesus' goal as he tells this parable for all people is that we would actually all identify with the younger sibling at the end of it. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:03.840 That uh that as we hear this parable again and again and again, that we should identify with that younger brother character. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:23.200 But today, as we embrace our younger siblingness, um, remember, my challenge is that we would hear it afresh, that we wouldn't have that like eight-year-old Roland Jimenez unable to listen to your mom thing, that we would shake that off, but then instead have ears to hear the secrets of heaven. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:34.639 So if you're following along, if you found the white piece of paper, not the blue one, uh, we'll be in Luke chapter 15, and we'll start in verse 11, is where the parable begins. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.679 And Jesus, he begins the parable like this. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:48.080 Uh, there was a man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property property that is coming to me. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:58.080 So the father he divided his property between them, and not many days later, the younger son, he gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:04.559 And there, in that far country, he squandered his property in reckless living. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:13.120 So the first movement of this story, right, we're introduced to the the main to the three characters of the whole thing, right? 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.039 A father and two sons. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:21.440 And as Jesus begins this story, he gives us a picture of this younger sibling. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.279 And this younger sibling, he has a vision for his life, right? 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:40.240 We can tell from his requests and his and his ventral actions that there's this yearning for something more that he has, that he knows he's unfulfilled, he's dissatisfied, and he he wants something more. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:46.720 And the younger son, right, he he feels like this dissatisfaction that it's not going away anytime soon. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.639 Um, but he is certain that he'll find it in one thing. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.639 And that one thing is what is having more stuff. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:07.120 He wants more money, more personal wealth, a new car to drive, uh a job that pays more, whatever, a gold chain. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.159 He just simply wants more stuff. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:30.639 And he's he's so certain that having more, that having this property that he feels is owed to him, that finally getting that is the thing that'll cure all his desires, that when he asks for his inheritance, he he's so certain that this will be the thing that he's also willing to wish for his father's death. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:31.200 Right? 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:38.159 Without getting too much into the cultural specifics, um, these two sons that Jesus is telling a story about, right? 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:42.399 These two sons would have been entitled to the father's wealth and property. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:45.039 Um, about two-thirds would go to the older brother. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:56.399 The older brother was always like the one, and you're all of the time that we read our scripture, like that was the older brother was the one that was like esteemed and more important and culturally like at the top of the hierarchy. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:04.080 Um, but also the younger brother would still get one about one-third of whatever was remaining would go to the younger brother. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.279 However, right, of course, this would all happen. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:15.519 The brothers would receive their property, their inheritance only upon the father's death as an inheritance. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:24.639 And remember, when Jesus is telling this story, he's telling it to a bunch of first century Jewish people, right? 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:29.600 So when they hear that, they already understand what's going on. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:35.679 The the original audience that Jesus is telling this to, they know just exactly what the younger son is doing here. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:44.960 That essentially uh the the he that he wishes that his father essentially be dead just so that he could have his share of the wealth. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:54.480 And what we see already, right, that the younger brother in this story wants the father's stuff more than the father himself. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:59.519 And remember, this is a parable, a parable about God at the end of the day. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:25.120 And already, how many of us uh wish for the things of God, go to God for his blessings, ask him to grant us wealth and prosperity for a new car, a job that pays more, a gold chain, but care little of his like presence in our life, care little about how he might change and affect us. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.799 Uh doesn't that sound familiar? 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:36.879 But maybe just as surprising uh is that is the father's response, right? 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:49.919 Maybe just as surprising as the younger brother asking for his wealth now and willing to wish his father dead, even more surprising is the father's response in that he granted to him, right? 00:16:50.240 --> 00:17:03.840 It would have been it would have made more than it would have been more than culturally appropriate for this father to chastise his son, uh, to make a mockery of him for bringing the family such shame and embarrassment. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:10.000 Uh, he could have even driven this kid out of his home for for approaching him and asking such an audacious thing. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.000 But the father does none of that. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:19.200 Jesus says what the father does instead is that he hears his son's wishes and he grants them. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:27.200 In verse 13, right, it kind of tells us uh uh about the son's journey, right? 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.160 It says it leads him into a faraway country. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.519 Um, think about it like he went to Vegas, right? 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:39.200 Sin city, and he puts it all on red and loses it all. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.759 Um so he loses everything. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:57.359 But why I want us to focus on on verse 13 for a second is that in the Greek language, when this was written, uh there's this word that is used to describe the way that the son spends all of his stuff, to describe that living at the end. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:03.759 And it'll be on the next slide, it'll be the thing in red, that word is acetos in in Greek. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:11.920 And that word um in many of our translations is is often translated to wastefully or prodigally, right? 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:17.359 So he's he's he's he uh squanders everything in prodigal or wasteful living. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:23.519 That's where we get this the name or the title for this um for this uh parable, the prodigal son. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:44.160 But I think a helpful way of understanding this, Justin Martyr, this this Greek philosopher in the first century, knowing Greek really well, knowing this story really well, sees that word and the way that he helps describe it to others is that that word could also mean like a madness that knows no bounds. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:52.000 In other words, the son spent all of his stuff with this madness that knows no bounds. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:19:01.839 And already a few sentences into Jesus' story, what he's doing is he's giving us commentary on a reality that we all often live in. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:06.559 It's that we confuse our madness for happiness. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:08.160 Isn't that true? 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.000 I know it's true of me, right? 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:21.200 And whatever relationship you might have to Jesus and the church or Christianity or whatever, what we often do as humans is we often forego conventional wisdom, right? 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:30.079 We we we think that we are the exception to the rule that this this isn't a good idea or this isn't a good idea for most people, but for me, like it'll work out this time. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.319 Let alone like God's wisdom in our lives, we think we that it'll be different for us. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:53.440 And if I'm completely honest, right, in my heart of hearts, I know that the uh far too often that the absolute wrong thing is the thing that I convince myself uh will will complete me or bring me happiness. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:20:04.720 Uh things like that that toxic habit, that that unhealthy relationship, that the serotonin that we get from social media or or really anything on our phones these days. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:05.200 Right? 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:13.839 We we look to these things with such certainty uh that it'll it'll cure that longing that we have, uh, that that void would be filled. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.720 We we go to them with this this frenzy. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:20.720 We get what we want sometimes, and yet we're still wanting more. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.359 We even do this with good things too, right? 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:30.480 Like our careers, our families, our reputations, maybe for like us at school, our our parents' approval of us, our grades. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:43.759 We go to these things with with such fervor, or some might describe a madness that knows no bounds, and even get what we're aiming for, we get what we were desiring, but yet it's not enough. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:53.279 And what we end up doing time and time again is we confuse our madness for happiness, and we we're stuck in a cycle. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:00.079 So as Jesus begins this story, he's trying to sound the alarms for us, right? 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:06.079 He he's telling this, he's he's building this character for us, and he's saying, Are you hearing it yet? 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:09.279 Like, do you see yourself in this story yet? 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.119 Does does this sound familiar? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:19.599 He's telling all those who are willing to listen, you and I today, is do you see yourself in the story yet? 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.319 And he goes on to the second movement. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.160 Verse 14. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:32.240 And when the younger son had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:37.200 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.640 What did he do? 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:48.559 And he said he sent him into the fields to feed the pigs, and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave the younger son anything. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:50.400 Verse 17. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:22:04.480 But when he came to himself, when he was gifted the gift of realization, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have More than enough bread, but here I am, and I perish with hunger. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:16.400 I will arise and go to my father, but not just that, I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:19.039 Treat me as your hired servants. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:27.839 So Jesus continues this story, and he tells us that this kid, this son, this younger brother, has nothing left to spend. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:34.400 That at the end of this wild bender in Sin City, he's left to deal with the consequences. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:44.400 He's in such a desperate place that he just wishes he could eat what the pigs were eating, the the pigs that he was actually feeding. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.880 He wishes he could just eat the pods that they had. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:23:00.720 And I I don't know what like the 21st century, 2023 Silicon Valley equivalent of like being a pig feeder is at a as at like a tech company, but use your imagination. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.599 But that's where this son was, right? 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:10.559 Cultural historians often, when talking about this passage, they point out one thing. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:18.559 And they have often pointed out that simply feeding swine, it's one of the lowest things a Jewish person could do. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:27.839 It was an undesirable, not even job, just an undesirable act, uh, one that was that that came with like such cultural stigma. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:33.519 So to eat with pigs was supposed to communicate a level of degradation to the sun, right? 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:43.039 Um, but what has happened is that it actually goes a step further to evoke this repulsion in the people listening that would understand what's going on. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:46.799 That he didn't just feed pigs, he was trying to eat with them. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:53.039 And the people hearing this are are supposed to be realize, like, oh, like this is such a low pit. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:58.160 Like, really think about the younger brother's situation for a moment, right? 00:23:58.400 --> 00:23:59.920 He he started off the story. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:16.319 He went from a place in his father's home where his stomach was always full, where whenever he was hungry, uh he had food at arm's distance, uh and now he's in this wretched place where he just wishes to eat what the pigs are eating. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:28.160 So this brother, right, the realizing in his desperation and this pit that he's in, uh, he comes to his senses, as the text says. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.440 And he realizes that he should return home. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:37.839 But before he can return home, what he thinks is he needs to prepare a speech for his dad. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:44.000 Uh he knows that he's in the wrong, so he's like, I gotta come back with like, I gotta come back with something good. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.079 And he says, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:49.119 Right? 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:51.200 That's that's the crux of his speech. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.039 He wants to pay his dad back. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:01.759 And what Jesus is showing in the second movement of the story is that our shame leads us to sadness. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:02.799 Right? 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.960 We see that in in verse 17 and in the son's solution. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:16.720 Uh uh, his solution is to go home, but not just to go home and be taken care of, but to go home and try to pay his dad back for what he's done. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:35.039 He recognizes that he's in trouble, that he has brought this great debt upon himself, that he has taken so much from his father that now instead of even being called his son, he just wishes to be a servant to him and to try and repay this incredible debt that he has built up. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.319 But the dominating theme and the motivation to all of that, what is it? 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.599 It's shame. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:50.799 And this shame it brings a host of problems with it, a host, a lot of sadness with it for this younger brother. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:57.440 One, right, his identity is wrapped up in the shame by saying, I'm just a sinner before before heaven and my dad. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:58.880 That's my identity now. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.720 Two, it it's it's only shame that has prevented him from going home. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:03.680 That's what we see, right? 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.319 Didn't go home sooner because he felt all of this shame in it. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:21.680 And three, now his whole goal, his new life's journey, uh, his his new like thing to do is that he would try to reverse that shame to pay back all of that stuff that he has done and the shameful ways he has acted. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:30.480 Yeah, see, shame, it has it tends to have this strong power in our lives, at least my life. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:30.960 Right? 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:46.880 Well, whether it's because I grew up in a family where most of them grew up in the Philippines, or maybe it's just always been in me, or I picked it up somewhere, but shame has always been a really strong thing in my life. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:51.759 Uh when I like it's it brings up this nasty mental block. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:27:06.720 When I feel ashamed, when I feel like I've been acting shamefully, or if I feel like I've uh I should be ashamed because I've like hurt someone in some way, and shame is the dominating thing, it's difficult for me to say or or do something productive. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:14.559 My view of justice or making things right, it's skewed because all I can think of is is the shame that's overwhelming me. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:29.920 Maybe that's true of you too, but I bring this up because I have often brought that view of thinking uh into my like perspective of church and God and Jesus. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:32.559 What what about you? 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:32.960 Right? 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.960 Have you kept yourself a distance from God because of something in your past? 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:45.279 Uh do you feel like you're too far gone uh for God to care about you in your life? 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:50.960 Uh have you felt like you've wandered uh way too far away to be found? 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.759 Uh do you feel like you're just not the right kind of person that God would care about? 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:08.799 Or maybe do you also share this view of God, the Father, as someone who wants you to repay him for all of the junk that you're responsible for in your life? 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:19.680 All of that stuff that that it's up to you to pay all of that back, that you know you owe someone something, and now you're gonna try to repay that debt. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:29.200 And again, Jesus is he's telling this parable, and again, as he as he finishes this second movement, he says, Do you hear yourself in it yet? 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:33.200 Does shame affect the way that you see uh God? 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:38.240 The way that that uh is it keeping you from from being part of the fold? 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:40.319 Do you hear yourself in it yet? 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:46.000 The third movement uh of the younger son, uh it ends like this in verse 20. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:53.920 So Jesus he continues on, and he says, and he arose, the the younger brother arose and came to his father. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:29:05.279 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and he ran and embraced him and he kissed him. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:10.880 And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:12.480 He's starting his speech, right? 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.279 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:27.119 But the father cuts him off and said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe, uh, put it on him, put the ring, put it on his hand, put shoes on his feet, show that we will clothe him like he is one of my own. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:28.559 He's part of the family. 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:32.880 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.039 For this my son was dead and is alive again. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:42.640 He was lost, and now he's found, and they began to celebrate. 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:46.079 Beautiful story, right? 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:59.519 Jesus ends the younger son's story with him returning home, the father in a in a very undignified way for a man in the ancient Near East during this time, runs to his to his child. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:01.440 Running is something that only children would do. 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:12.079 I'm sure we'll talk about in a couple weeks, but he runs to his son, and he's not thinking he's he there's not a thought about the ways that his son has wronged him, all the shame that he needs to cover up. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.759 No, he just he just is happy that his son is coming home. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:18.000 So he runs to him and he meets him. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:24.079 And the son, he has his speech prepared, ready to share it, but the father cuts him off. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:26.240 The father stops him short. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:28.240 He's like, I don't need to hear that. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:29.920 It's not even true anyway. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:31.279 He cuts him short. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:31.839 Why? 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.160 Because he has a party to throw. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:38.799 He's like, we stop right there, we have a celebration. 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:39.759 Why? 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:42.240 Because his son was dead and is alive again. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:44.880 He was lost and now he is found. 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:50.000 And again, what what a beautiful story of father and son reuniting. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:55.200 Like on first read like that, there's so much just beauty to it. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:31:05.039 But I think for us to hear today, right, for us to listen as Jesus has challenged us, um, there's more beauty in the depth of it. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:12.000 And for us to really hear all of that, Jesus is is kind of saying we we kind of need to zoom out a little bit. 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:21.680 That uh to really get what's going on with the younger son, the perspective, the consequences, and and this uh this reuniting moment, we need to zoom out a little bit. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:32.079 Uh first, we have to remember, right, that that this parable, uh Jesus is Jesus is telling, along with two other parables, to make a set of three. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:37.599 Um what he's doing, and this was all from last week, so it's a real quick recap. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:47.279 What he's doing is he's responding to these religious leaders and elite because there's these people that are gathering around Jesus, and they don't like that. 00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:52.400 They don't like the kind of people that are that are starting to form this like faith community in Jesus. 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:58.240 Um if you have your Bibles, it's in Luke chapter 15, verse 2, before all three parables are told. 00:31:58.400 --> 00:31:59.359 This is how it's written. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:03.039 Now the tax collectors and sinners, I forgot to get a slide, sorry, Glenn. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:09.200 Um the tax collectors and sinners, if you had one up there, I would have been like impressed. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:16.799 Uh the now the tax collectors and sinners, they were all drawing near to hear him, to hear Jesus. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:28.400 And the Pharisees and the scribes, they grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners, and more than that, he eats with them, he identifies with them, he's he's okay, they're part of his community. 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:32.160 And like Ryan said, uh, so that's what that's what's happening. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:36.559 Jesus hears that and he's like, I've got three three short stories to tell you. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:40.960 And like Ryan said, those three parables, they all share this pattern. 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:48.079 Something valuable is lost, a careful search was made, and a big celebration was thrown. 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:59.119 And the first two parables, if you weren't here last week or don't remember, it's about a sheep and a coin, a lost, lost sheep and lost coin, essentially people's property. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:06.160 And in those first two stories, you you think about like especially a coin or any kind of property, right? 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:09.759 You don't necessarily blame those things for getting lost, right? 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:14.880 You don't say, oh man, like my coin, mind of its own, like shame on you. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:28.000 But in this story, like this kind of crescendo to the whole thing, Jesus tells his third story, but we can't help but know that it's the younger son's fault for being lost. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:33.519 That it is clearly the younger son's own wrongdoing that leads him to this place. 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:39.519 And when we realize that, when you start to see that, we start to zoom out a little bit more. 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:43.359 And we start to think about our Bibles kind of as a whole. 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:49.519 And you can't help but notice and realize that what Jesus is doing, it's kind of sneaky. 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:52.000 Uh, it's like a Jedi mind trick, right? 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:59.839 Is he giving us this sort of meta-commentary on the narrative or the story of God's people throughout all of Scripture. 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:09.039 Read your Old Testament enough times, and you'll notice this pattern of God's people seeing something that they desire, but maybe shouldn't necessarily have. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:10.400 But what do they do? 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:13.280 They take it anyways, and then what happens after that? 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:16.159 They find themselves outside of God's blessing. 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:20.880 Here's some more of like Jesus making these connections, right? 00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:28.000 Uh in the Old Testament, the way that the people of God or Israel was referred to was as a son. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:31.519 Uh, it's in Exodus, it's in the writings of the prophets. 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:34.880 Time and time again, the people of God was referred to as a son. 00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:36.639 But what do those people do? 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:45.760 They often go and squander the blessings that God has given them just to find themselves in exile in a faraway country among the Gentiles, right? 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:48.239 Jesus, what he's doing is he's making it really clear. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:49.840 He's making two things really clear. 00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:54.000 One, he's a Bible nerd, and he's really geeky about it. 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:59.679 But two, he's making these really overt like connections with his story. 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:01.119 He's trying to say something. 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:08.239 And for those of us who have heard these stories again and again and again and now hearing this one, he's saying, Oh, there's something for you to hear now. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:08.960 Right? 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:11.920 We see it with at the beginning of the story with Adam and Eve. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.800 They see the fruit, they take it, they're banished from the garden. 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:16.880 There's God's people, they see gold. 00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:18.400 Like, what should we do with that gold? 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:21.920 Let's take it and let's like make this golden cow that we can worship. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:24.000 God doesn't like that, surprise. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:25.679 Um, one more, right? 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:32.880 God's people in the Old Testament, they look around, they see all these other nations, and they have a king, and like, oh man, they're doing well. 00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:34.000 We need a king. 00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:43.360 And despite all the warnings uh and from a prophet telling them it's a bad idea, they're like, no, we're gonna go take someone for ourselves and make them our king. 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:44.320 And what happens? 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:49.280 It leads into the fracturing of God's people, it leads to their destruction and all that. 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:55.920 This is one of the biggest Old Testament like patterns, uh, and it's consistent about God's people. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:04.239 They are constantly disobeying, wasting away the blessing of God, and they're and what happens is they are kept out of the promised land. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:10.079 So, with all that, right, back to the parable that Jesus is telling. 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:18.079 He's telling these religious folk, right, a story that really it's imitating their own history, right? 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:22.159 Their story of breaking covenant with God and going in exile. 00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:32.400 And you think of this prodigal son story now, and you hear the echoes there, that the son who disobeys his father, finds himself in a faraway country, this kind of exile, right? 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:40.079 Um, but in Jesus' story, in the prodigal son, it ends differently. 00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:45.119 It ends with a father who rejoices simply in the return of his son. 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:54.719 And it's in this third movement that we realize this last thing is that our worth is found in God's gladness. 00:36:55.199 --> 00:37:01.679 That it's God's grace, something that we don't deserve, that covers all of our sin and our shame. 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:13.119 That the secret of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is telling you and me and all these people and for people for thousands of years, is that returning home means you will be accepted. 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:26.079 That you will be clothed with the signet ring, that you will be thrown one of the biggest of parties, regardless of who you are, where you've been, and what you've done, when you return to God, there is instant delight in you. 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:31.360 His joy for you, it goes beyond comprehension. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:35.920 And it's not logical, but what it does is it shows a loving God. 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:43.119 And when Jesus is telling this story to a bunch of religious elites, right, he's saying that, what is he saying? 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:47.440 You're no different than the people who you think should not be here. 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:57.840 All the wrong people that you think are gathering for this church service, we actually we all stand on common ground, or you all stand on common ground is what he's saying. 00:37:58.159 --> 00:38:01.440 That only God's gladness can you find true worth. 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:10.880 Not in you trying to cover up your shame and not in you like putting on this bold face of just religious um exercises. 00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:17.119 That the happiness we are looking for isn't found in the madness, it's in God's gladness alone. 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:30.719 And what Jesus is ultimately saying, right, is that that party at the end, the the party that the real party that I'm throwing, it's with the poor and the crippled and the lame. 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:34.480 It's what I'm doing with the widow and the orphan. 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:40.719 Uh it's with it's the real parties with the brokenhearted, the weak, and all are welcome. 00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:54.159 Would you see that you're the younger brother, that you are just like this, that we're all in desperate need of a God who would save us, a God who would cover all of our wrongdoings, uh, and join me in this party. 00:38:54.719 --> 00:39:01.840 And Jesus, he says, right, you don't have to let your past jeopardize a future with him, and in fact, your past can't. 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:02.960 Why? 00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:34.079 Because Jesus is the God who became man, that we couldn't possibly earn our way uh into this right relationship with God or pay back all that stuff and shame in our lives, that that thing that we celebrated a couple weeks back on Easter Sunday is that Jesus has defeated for us sin and death and shame and makes a way for you and I to know God personally and intimately. 00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:40.800 And and and in this story, well, what is it how what do we do then? 00:39:41.039 --> 00:39:41.440 Right? 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:54.320 Jesus says, all you have to do is accept my invitation that you hear this parable, maybe hear like for real for the first time, and all you have to say is, I want to come home. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:00.079 So what's gonna happen now is the band is gonna play a couple of songs. 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:14.239 And uh, but I think what the the most appropriate thing from from hearing this parable that Jesus teaches us, um, I think the the next step or the application is that we just pray together. 00:40:14.480 --> 00:40:21.599 That in a room this size, I'm willing to bet that that God is tugging on the heartstrings of some of you. 00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:38.079 That as you hear this story, as you hear about this this younger brother who who who, for all intents and purposes, should not be allowed home, that God actually receives him gladfully with with this joy. 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:40.639 And that that's true of you and for me. 00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:55.599 So maybe today, maybe for the first time, uh, maybe you felt like you've wandered and you're ready to come home, or maybe you've had this wrong view of God, that God is actually a God who wants you to work your way to Him. 00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:00.079 Regardless of where you are, I want to invite you to pray with me. 00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:08.719 Um, a simple prayer, a prayer that just acknowledges our need for God and His His power in our lives. 00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:12.639 Um And as we sing these songs that we're reminded of that. 00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:16.880 And then maybe the simple prayer is a prayer that you pray with someone else later. 00:41:17.199 --> 00:41:18.800 Maybe you take it to the prayer team. 00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:25.760 Maybe you sit the next couple songs uh and you sit with God as you hear these words, and then and then you can pray these words. 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:30.719 But regardless of where you're at in this room, uh would you pray with me? 00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:40.000 Uh Father, God in heaven, thank you for uh my church family at Awakening that's here today. 00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:45.840 Thank you that you have reminded us of your goodness through your scripture, through your teaching. 00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:56.000 Um and as we sit here, some of our friends here want to pray uh and return home, maybe for the first time, maybe for the hundredth time. 00:41:56.159 --> 00:42:00.880 And they join me as they say this, Lord Jesus, I need you. 00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:04.960 Thank you for for dying on the cross on uh for my sins. 00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:07.920 I've listened and I've heard your good news. 00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:16.800 So now I open up the door of my life and receive you as Savior and Lord, place that only you can hold. 00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:22.960 And I may not know what all that means now, but I know that you are good and you have my best in mind. 00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:29.599 Thank you for forgiving my sin and my shame and giving me a life that will never see death. 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:38.159 Take control of the throne of my life, make me the kind of person you want me to be, and thank you that we can pray this in your name. 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:39.119 Amen. 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.280 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:47.920 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:50.159 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:42:50.320 --> 00:43:07.360 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash cards.