Dear Christian friends:

I think many of you have heard this story before, perhaps many times! You have also seen various pictures of it showing the younger son coming home to his father's house, and the father embracing him with great joy on his face.

Artists love to paint this story. Teachers and ministers love to tell it again and again. And although we have heard it many times we love to hear it again and again. It is a very beautiful and precious story about a father and his two sons. Why did Jesus tell this story? What does Jesus want to impress upon us by this story?

He wants to teach us:


We are all sinners, so this ought to be very precious for us. So today I want to preach to you about that. In the story Jesus shows us that the sinner must "wake up". In Luke 15:17 Jesus says, "When he came to his senses." So before we can come back to God we must "wake up" and realize how wrong we have been. If we do not wake up and see sin that it is bad and only leads us to trouble, then we can't come back to God.

The younger son woke up and saw his mistakes. Read verses 17-20.

“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!
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
So he got up and went to his father." (Luke 15:17-20)

Before Jesus explained how the younger son asked his father for his inheritance. According to Jewish law that was all right. The oldest son got 1/4. And he could ask for it even before the father died. That was all right.

He should have taken his father's money and established another farm and home with it and used the money wisely as his father had taught him. But he did not do that. He thought his father was old fashioned and "square" and did not know how to have a good time and find satisfaction in life.

So he left his father's country and went to live in a far county, and there he spent his money for pleasure eating, drinking and good times. After a while his money was gone. His friends forsook him because now he couldn't give them a good time anymore. He couldn't find a job and had nothing to eat.

Then he began to think about his past and remembered his father's home, how happy he could be. He woke up and realized his mistake and the terrible harm he had done against his father. He saw his foolishness.

God is the father we are like that son. We often think that God's teaching and God's way is boring and not satisfying. We don't want to use our life to serve God and follow His commandments. We want to have good times and satisfy the desires of our selfish, sinful nature.

We don't care if we are greedy and hurt others. We want more and more and more. We do not respect our husband and wife as God's gift or our children. And children do not respect mother and father as God's representatives. After a while we have many problems: divorce, broken homes, riots, crime multiplying, and wars. Thank God if he helps us to wake up and see our sins and that we can't find true happiness and satisfaction when we rebel against His commandments. Thank God, if you have troubles and problems, by that He makes you see how wrong and foolish you have been.

The older son did not wake up. Although he stayed home and worked on his father's farm, in his heart he also rebelled and hated his father. When the younger brother came home ashamed and sorry, he refused to accept him back. He showed the anger and hatred in his heart, and refused to go into the house and join the celebration. He was self-righteous and said to 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." (verse 29)

Many people are like the older brother. They outwardly obey the laws and they even join a church, but in their heart they hate God and other people. They are self-righteous and find much fault with others. They are asleep in there respectable life. They can't come back to God unless they wake up and see that they, too, are very bad sinners before God.

But we must do more than wake up and confess our sins. We must also believe that God still loves us and forgives our sins.

After the younger son woke up and realized his mistakes, he hurried home to his father's house. Although he knew that he was not worthy to be a son anymore, he still called his father, "father". By this he shows his faith and trust in his father and that his father will forgive and accept him.

When his father accepts him and gives him a new robe, shoes and a ring for his finger, he accepts his father's love and forgiveness and joins in the celebration. So by this beautiful story God wants to show us His great mercy and love for sinners. That although we are not worthy to be His sons anymore, He forgives us in Jesus Christ and accepts us as His sons and daughters. He wants us to be happy in His great love and forgiveness.

May God through His Word always keep us awake about our sin and believing in Jesus.

Amen.