June 19, 2011
Missing Home Wk 1: The Younger Brother
Posted by Michael
Learn:
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Main Idea:
The parable of the Prodigal Son can be looked at in three sections: the younger son leaving home, the younger son away from home, and the younger son returning home. 1. Leaving home. Why did the younger son want to leave home? He decided his life would be better without his father. He wanted the gifts his father could offer him, but not the relationship. Sin always looks better on the front side than after you do it. If you are in a situation where you are contemplating doing something that would go against the Father, think it through and consider how it will end. 2. Away from home. We don’t know how long the younger son stayed away from his father. It could have been days, weeks, or years. But the thing that sustained the son while he was away was the gifts of his father. Sometimes the very gifts God gives us can keep us from Him. God blesses someone with financial independence and they use it to insulate themselves with comforts. God blesses someone with intelligence and they use it to reason Him away. But we all come to the point where we need more than the blessings of the father. We need the Father Himself. 3. Returning home. When the gifts could no longer sustain the son and he knew he messed up, he decided to go home. But the best he could hope for (in his mind) was to simply be a servant to his father. There are people who know they must return to God, but the best they are hoping for is to fulfill some religious duty or live the rest of their life being punished and maybe they’ll make it into heaven. But that’s not what the father in this parable, or our Father, has in mind at all. He runs to the son and welcomes him back into the family. The grace of our Father is better than we imagine.
Know What: Living life away from God may seem alluring, but it never delivers on its promises.
So What: The gifts God gives to us are not enough to sustain us by themselves; we need a relationship with our Father.
Now What: If you are far from the Father, return home. He is waiting with open arms.
Discuss…
1. In what ways can you (either currently or in the past) relate to the younger brother? Why do you think Jesus told this parable?
2. Have you ever been in a situation where someone cared more about what you could give him or her than about having a relationship with you? How did it make you feel? Do you think God feels the same way when we take His gifts and leave home?
3. Why does sin look so appealing before we engage in it? Does sin ever deliver on its promises?
4. How can thinking through an action before we do it help us to make wiser choices? Is there anything you are considering doing that you need to think through?
5. Why is it so easy to love the gifts more than the Giver? Have you ever allowed a gift from God to keep you from of a relationship with Him? What happened? Are you allowing anything to keep you from Him right now?
6. How do you define grace? Is your perception of grace different than the one proposed in this story? How has your idea of grace been skewed by the world we live in?
7. Where are you today? Are you home with your Father, or in a distant country? If it’s the former, how can you make “younger brothers” feel welcome in this community when they decide to come home? If it’s the latter, what is keeping you from returning home?
Next Steps…
This week, take some time to read through Luke 15:11-32 again. What surprises you the most about how the father handles the whole situation? Is it easy or hard for you to believe that God is really like the father in the story? If you are far from home, tell God that you are ready to return. If you are home, pray for the “younger brothers” in your life.
