Quietly Unhealthy

Quietly Unhealthy

Luke 15:

• Three stories: The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
• Ever lost something you love? A woman lost a ring at a harvest festival here at church, we shut the whole thing down looking for that ring.
• Charles Dickens called this parable, “The greatest short story ever told.” (Not that Jesus needs affirmation from Dickens!)

I. The younger son:

• The younger son is: Rude. (Can’t wait for his father to die!)
• The younger son is: Lazy. (Doesn’t want to work)
• The younger son is: Unkind. (Willing to make his older brother and father worker harder)
• Proverbs 22:28.
• Luke 15:13, Greek, “Sunago” has the connotation or turning everything into cash. Cash me out. Sold his part property, took the cash and left.
• The younger son is: Immoral. (Luke 15:30)
• The younger son is: Stupid. He lost it all! Treated the money like it would not end.
• He realizes that he is in a gentile land that doesn’t care for the poor. Torah, back home, had laws to help the poor. Better poor in a land that honors the law, than among these Gentiles who don’t care about my soul or body.
• Deuteronomy 21 commanded such a son be stoned. He had renounced his father, his nation and his God. Coming back asking to be a servant is not humble, it’s hopeful.
• Illustration: Rebecca and I visited Hearst Castle. The tour guide said that recently Hearst son had been to the castle. “Oh,” one visitor was surprised, “Do they live here?” The tour guide smiled, “No, they were just on the tour like everyone else.” I will never tour my father’s house as a stranger. You are welcomed back not as a guest, but a child.

II. The older son: (Luke 15:25-32)

While not outward and screaming the way his younger brother did, the older brother is also unhealthy in his relationship to the father.  Jesus parables are usually simple; he does not add elements just for dramatic flavor.  The older brother is there not as just another character, but someone Jesus wants us to observe.

Attitude of the older brother:

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III. The Oldest Son: (Luke 11:31-32)

This story has three brothers.  The younger, who rebelled.  The older who resented.  And the oldest brother, who told the story.  It is Jesus who puts the parable in context to our walk with God.

• A is Greatest Thing you can Possess
• This world has nothing authentic to offer.
• An honest question, are you taking advantage of your relationship with God?
• A step toward healing is to start here, “God forgive me .”