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Luke 15:13-32: Celebrate!

This parable of the lost boy is the third of three stories. Who here likes to lose things? How do you feel when you lose your keys? You know that feeling? You think you put them somewhere but they are not there. You are running late. You need to be somewhere and your keys are missing. This is like the first story, the parable of the lost sheep (vv. 8-10).
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Now imagine that you find your keys; you go to the mall, buy groceries, and then walk to where your car is (or at least where you think it is) but it is not there. Your car is lost. You look around. You fumble for your fob trying to make the horn honk or the lights blink but it is icy and you have your hands full and you are sure that this is where you left your car but it is lost and you are frantically scanning the parking lot wondering where it might be. This is a parable of the lost coin (vv. 3-7).

Now imagine that you are still standing there completely disoriented with your hands full, in the middle of the parking lot frantically looking for your car and you spot it; you walk over to the car. You are wondering why you can’t get it to unlock and then you realize that it is not your car after all. It is just one that looks like your car. You look around. You can’t find your car anywhere and you are really starting to get concerned now because, even though you know you shouldn’t have, you left your two year-old child or grandchild in the car. This is the parable of the lost son (vv.11-32). These are the progressive emotions that Luke is trying to evoke as we hear these parables from Jesus. This is how God feels when we are separated from Him.

These three stories, with progressive emotional intensity, address concerns raised by the Pharisees, Verses 1-2: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”

Jesus answers the muttering by showing that not only does he welcome sinners and eat with them but Jesus says: Verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents;” Verse 7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent;” and Verse 32 “…we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” This is how much it means to God when we His children come to, or return to Him. It is like finding our child in the lost car.

So for those of us who are already living at home with our Father, let us come in, join the party and celebrate with our brothers and sisters who are returning home. And for those of us who have not yet come home, come now and join this eternal celebration.

Questions for us today: 1) How can we celebrate with - instead of being an impediment to - people coming to the Father? And 2) when and how did someone encourage us when we first came to the Father?
Originally presented to Swift Current Men's Breakfast, 30 October 2014
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