Luke 15:25-28(NKJV) 25“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ 28“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
This week we have spent our time together talking about the need to preach the gospel to the lost. Our mandate for 2012 is to possess our promised land, drive out our enemies and occupy that land until the Lord comes. Occupying must include winning the lost. The whole purpose for the church in the earth is to make disciples of all nations. The first step to discipleship is to win the lost. To win the lost the gospel must be preached.
To illustrate how important this is to Jesus we looked at his instructions concerning fishing in Luke chapter 5. We then moved to Luke 15 and found that the Pharisees did not understand why Jesus would associate with sinners. In a series of parables, Jesus lets the Pharisees know that all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. It is not that God loves the sinner more than the righteous. It is that the righteous are already in his family and the sinner is not. God sees every human being as his child. When a child is lost, a parent will do anything to get that child back. He loves the children that remain just as much, but the lost child receives a different focus because he is lost.
Yesterday we looked at the last parable in Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son. The younger son demanded his inheritance from his father. This required that his father retire and distribute his whole life’s work to his two sons. The younger son left home for a life of sin. He used up his inheritance and found himself in difficult circumstances. After realizing how wrong he has been, he determines to return to his father as a servant instead of a son. The father, however, will not hear of this. He receives the son back as his son. He restores his righteousness, his sonship and his authority in the kingdom.
This story says much more about the father than the son. Jesus wants us to know that the heavenly father is not looking for ways to keep people out of his family. He sent Jesus that the world might be reconciled to him. Our Heavenly Father is like the father in this story. He will not follow us into sin, but he is always there when we repent. He is ready to receive us home.
We know about the prodigal younger son. We know about the wonderful father in this story. What do we know about the other brother, the older brother? This man has been faithful to his father through the whole story. He did not ask for his inheritance. When his father chose to honor his brother and liquidate his resources, the older brother stayed with the family business. He probably hard to work harder since his brother was no longer there to do his share.
While the younger brother was off squandering his father’s money, the older brother took care of their father as well as the business. He was faithful, honest and hard working the whole time. Now he hears a commotion and asks the reason for the noise. He is told that his brother is back and his father is throwing a party for him. “Your father has killed the fatted calf because your brother is home.”
The killing of the fatted calf involved a major celebration. The whole town was invited. I am sure many of these people knew of the younger brothers indiscretions. He had compromised the family reputation. They also knew that the older brother had stayed behind and taken care of business instead of “sowing wild oats” as his brother had.
The older brother is angered and humiliated. He refuses to come to the celebration. This was first time in this story that the older brother dishonors his father, but that is what he is doing. The father comes to him in the field. I want you to note something here. He did not go to the prodigal in the pigpen. The prodigal had to come to him. However, he does go to the faithful brother.
The older brother complains that the father has never offered anything to him and his friends for a celebration, but now he gives the best for this young, ungrateful man. He is hurt and humiliated in his own eyes. The father’s answer to him is very important.
Luke 15:31-32(NKJV) 31“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
The father points out to the older son that everything the father has belongs to him. The wealth had been distributed. The father had given out the inheritance. The younger son has squandered his. He was restored to position in the family, but the wealth that was left belonged to the older brother. That was the law.
Since this was the case, the older brother could have killed the fatted calf anytime he wanted to. In fact, part of the problem may have been that the calf actually belonged to the older brother. He would not withhold it from his father, but technically, it was his.
We can learn so much from the older brother. We need to make sure that we do not have this same attitude towards new people in the church. We need to understand that our faithful service to God comes with eternal rewards that cannot be matched with recognition in this life. However, in the context of this story there is a more important lesson.
The rest of what the father says is significant. He points out that the older brother is there always, but the younger brother was dead to them. He is now alive and returned to their home. The father tells the older brother, “It is right for us to celebrate.”
Why should we preach to the lost? Why should we go out of our way to bring them in? Does God love the lost more than those who are faithful? No, he does not. He went out to the older brother in the field. He loved him and appreciated his faithfulness. However, he also loves the younger brother. The older brother should love him as well, but even if he did not, he should rejoice because of the joy his brother’s return brought to the father.
We need to reach out to the lost for two reasons. First, they are our brothers and sisters in humanity. They were created by the father just as we were. They may not be part of the family yet, but the father sees them as his children nonetheless. If we love the father, we must love his lost children. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to save them. We must remember that once we were part of the world Jesus came to save.
Romans 8:29 calls Jesus the firstborn among many brethren. I thank God that this “older brother” chose to leave heaven and pursue you and me even though we neither knew nor loved the Father. The Father’s love moved him to follow us all the way to the cross. If you are a Christian today, you are the older brother. Should we not do the same for the world that Jesus did for us?
Jesus left the comfort of heaven to become flesh to save us. We may need to leave the comfort of our homes to bring salvation to them. Jesus suffered the cross to pay for our sins and purchase our salvation. We may have to endure embarrassment or even persecution to bring this salvation to our prodigal brothers and sisters. However, if that is what the Father desires, we should rejoice at the opportunity. When they find their way home to the local church where we faithfully serve, we should rejoice with the Father and with the angels. For our brothers and sisters who were once dead are now alive!
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