What many call the "Prodigal Son" is better named "The Story of the Best Father"

Let's turn now to Luke 15 and consider one of the more familiar parables, perhaps the most familiar parable that our Lord ever told. You know it as the parable of the prodigal son, I think.

A better title might be the parable of the loving father because by the end of the narrative it is most assuredly the father's love and joy and forbearance that really takes center stage. Lord, thank you again for your word. We pray that your Holy Spirit will be our preacher and he will lead us into truth, that he will quicken us, touch our hearts, soften us, use us, bless us, we pray, and thank you for the power of your spirit to grant illumination and regeneration. And so we pray that you will work in us today, mold us and make us after your will while we are waiting, yielded and still. Through Christ our Lord we pray.

Amen. Luke 15, beginning in verse 11. And he said there was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that's coming to me. And he divided his property between them.

Not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate.

No one gave him anything. When he came to himself he said, how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread? But I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.

And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant and he said to him, your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.

But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him but he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command that you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. And he said to him, son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive.

He was lost and is found. Amen. All flesh is grass and all its loveliness like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.

Amen. I have to back up just for a moment and confess to you that when we began the service with the Sursum Quarta earlier, the Lord be with you and also with you. I couldn't help but remember the story of what happened in an Anglican church some years ago where the minister who sadly was rather unpopular and seemingly more unpopular with each passing week stood up to begin the service with the Sursum Quarta. But as he spoke those first words, the Lord be with you, he realized the microphone wasn't on. And so he tapped on it and he played with it and he looked for the on-off switch and then he finally realized it wasn't here but over there with the sound engineer and the sound engineer realized his mistake and so he turned the microphone on. At just the moment, the minister was heard to say, there's a problem with this thing.

And the very well-trained congregation responded immediately and in unison and said, and also with you. There is a problem with the fathers these days. Too many fathers I'm afraid. Some fathers are too severe. Some fathers are too lax. Some fathers are too distant, not engaged with their families. Some are too unspiritual.

Some are all of the above. And as we come to this familiar parable, we come to a father who initially looks to be a great failure, doesn't he? Seemed like he had a lot of problems. But as we look closer and as we come to the end of the parable, we come to admire his love and his patience and his joy over the sinner who repented. Notice several things about the father. We're going to call him the best father. We all want to be the best father. We all fail, don't we?

But we should set our standards high, aim high and see how well we do with God's help, of course. First of all, he trusted the Lord, verse 13. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. Prior to that, verse 12, the younger son said to his father, father, give me the share of property that's coming to me.

And he divided his property between them. We cannot always prevent our children from making mistakes, can we? And this boy or probably young man actually made a mistake. In fact, he made a big mistake. Life at home was no longer good enough for him. He rejected his father's leadership.

All that the father had done for him, it didn't matter. He wanted out. He wanted his share of the inheritance. And he wanted his share of the inheritance now. He was not willing to wait until his father passed away as would have been the normal custom. So he went to his father with an ultimatum, with a demand and surprisingly, the father consented. No doubt with a broken heart because he knew his son was heading in a very bad direction, didn't he? And you might say, well, why didn't the father just sort of man up, step up and lock the old boy in his room, refuse to let him go? Why give him his share of the inheritance? Was he not aiding and abetting the son's rebellion? Well, perhaps so.

But consider this. Why does God allow us to run and make a mess of our lives at times? Can't you look back on your life and say, oh, I wish God had stopped me.

I wish he'd locked me in my room before I made such a mess of things. Why did God let Jonah run for a while? Why did he let Peter deny him three times? Don't you know Peter regretted that for the rest of his life?

Why did he let Paul kick against the pricks? Don't you think it's fair to say that sometimes God allows us to run, to teach us our folly and to show us our need of him? Doesn't he allow us sometimes to try our very best to try so valiantly to prove that we can do it to ourselves, that we can indeed be the masters of our fates and the captains of our souls only to show us in the end how incompetent we are and how desperately we need him?

As he said once, apart from me you can do nothing. This boy might have been at home, but his heart was already a long way from his father's heart. And so the father granted the request and in so doing trusted the Lord that all the good seed he'd sown in his life up to that point would one day bear fruit. It's a hard thing to do for most of us who are control freaks, aren't we, as parents? It's a hard thing to let go and trust the Lord, particularly when we see our children heading down a bad path.

D.L. Moody once was asked to go preach at a prison, and he did. And after preaching he visited some of the inmates. And one by one he asked the men what had they done. And one after the other said things like, well, I had a bad attorney, the judge wasn't fair, the jury didn't get all the information, I was framed one excuse after another, and finally Moody came to one man who had his face buried in his hands. And that man said simply my sins are more than I can bear. And Moody said thank God for that and had the joy of leading that man to a saving relationship with Christ. The son had to come to that point.

The son had to be broken. And the father had to trust the Lord that somehow the Lord would work even though he knew his son was heading down a bad path. Godly parents, godly fathers sow good seed, water that seed, and in the end must trust the Lord at his appointed time to bring forth fruit.

And sometimes there's a lot of pain before that fruit is born. Secondly, the father was a safe man. Verse 20. And he rose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

I want to tell you that's probably the clearest, one of the clearest statements of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in somewhat disguised form that you'll find anywhere in the Bible. Look at the father. The son arose and went to his father but while the boy was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and ran to him. It wasn't the son running to the father.

It was the father running to the son. And he embraced him and he kissed him and he said, let's party. Let's have a celebration. How much joy is there in heaven over one sinner who repents? I don't know. A lot.

More than over 99 who need no repentance. This son had essentially come to the point where like the inmate he said my sins are more than I can bear. But the question was were his sins more than the father could bear? That was the important question. He didn't know. Was it safe to go home or not? Would the father have the front door locked or the front gate locked?

Would he have flaming cherubim with flaming swords guarding the entrance? Would he be there ready to lecture the boy? He didn't know.

So there was some risk in going home. That's all he knew. And therefore he rehearsed his speech. He practiced just like a preacher might practice a sermon. So he practiced his speech. Verse 18, I will arise and go to my father and I'll say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Just take me back as a hired servant. You ever practiced a speech before? You didn't practice any speech before you came here today because there wasn't anything at stake. You're going to see people and you're going to say hello, how are you, et cetera, et cetera.

When do you practice a speech? Well, for one, you do it when you want to get it right. And there's something important to be said.

And maybe you're a little bit nervous about it. And I think all of those things would apply to this boy. He wanted to get it right. And he was a little bit nervous about going home.

But you know what? More importantly, he was hungry. His repentance started in his stomach and made its way to his heart.

I know a man one time who rehearsed his speech was very first date, very first time he asked a girl out. And he was so nervous. This was back in the day of pay phones.

And remember those things? And he didn't want his parents to hear him. So he walked some distance to a pay phone.

And he had a little piece of paper with him. And everything he was planning to say, how he was going to introduce himself and lead into the big question, would you go out. And every conceivable response that she might make with exactly what he would say in response to her response.

Control freak maybe, right? One thing he didn't count on, she said yes. I wonder if the prodigal son counted on the father saying, yes!

Exclamation point. He ran to his son and he embraced him and he kissed him. And he said, put the best robe on this boy and a ring on his finger. He's part of this family, you see.

And shoes on his feet and kill that fattened calf. And let's have a party to end all parties. It's always safe to come to the Heavenly Father. Please understand that.

No matter how far a country you and I may have journeyed to, no matter how far we may have run, it is always safe. He will in no wise cast out those who come to him in faith and repentance. The sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a broken and contrite heart. He will not despise. He delights to show mercy. He loves to forgive. Charles Spurgeon once said, God is more ready to forgive than we are to sin. How ready are we to sin?

More ready than we'd like to admit. It comes very naturally for us. He loves to forgive. This father trusted the Lord when things seemed pretty bleak. He was a safe man to come home to. And finally, we see that he loved extravagantly.

I've already mentioned this but worth mentioning again. Verse 22, the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe. Not just any robe. Bring the best robe. Put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it.

And let's eat and celebrate. This my son was dead. He's alive again. He was lost and is found. They began to celebrate.

He spared no expense. He was so thrilled to see his son. And verse 31, we take up this interesting subject of the other brother. Verse 31, the father said to him, son, you're always with me and all that is mine is yours.

It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. You know, he had two prodigals. He didn't have one prodigal. He had two prodigals. And those of you parents that either are trying or have tried to raise multiple children, I see some smiles on your faces.

You know how challenging and how perplexing it can be. How often are they all happy at the same time? We used to say if we had three out of five happy, one of them is here this morning. If we had three out of five happy at the same time, that's pretty good. Baseball terms were batting 600. Nobody bats 600.

This father was batting 500. One out of two that was happy. G.K. Chesterton once said the family is like a little kingdom and like most little kingdoms is generally in a state of something resembling anarchy. We just got back from the beach last night and we had 20 people with us.

Five children, nine grandchildren, in-laws, girlfriends, et cetera. If you looked at Kristen's forehead this morning, you might think there was some anarchy. The self-inflicted wound as she tried to teach the grandchildren to do a back flip in the pool.

The water was a little bit too shallow. And so she'll be all right. I'm completely innocent of that. Guilty of other things.

These editorial comments. It was a great week actually. We had a lot of fun together and we stayed in separate units, which was a good idea. We were in the same complex but different units. But we did eat together sometimes and we had all 20 in our place one night and somebody started playing some music and people started dancing and you know that YMCA song?

The YMCA song came on and we were all doing the YMCA thing and it was just really very exciting. But I'll bet you what, if we'd have stayed another day or two, I bet there would have been some anarchy. There was anarchy here in Luke 15. There was some serious anarchy and it was so human. So typical.

Had to be so frustrating. Understand that for this father? His prodigal son had just come home and he was so happy, maybe ecstatic is the better word. He was so beside himself with joy and that celebration triggered rebellion from the older son.

Whining and complaining, all these years I've labored for you and you never even gave me a billy goat. There were two prodigals. The father had two emotions at the same time. He had this great joy, this delight, this ecstasy, this euphoria.

At the same time such exasperation, such frustration, even maybe despair. But he loved both of them extravagantly and unconditionally. He was strong and he was solid and he was committed and to the one he said put the best robe on him and to the other he went out and entreated him. Party pooper he was, the father went out and treated him and said son everything I have is yours. And in so doing this father furnished I think a beautiful picture of our heavenly father who isn't stingy with his love toward us.

He isn't frugal. He is extravagant and there's a party in heaven over one sinner who repents that makes our YMCA dance look puny. And there's grief in the Godhead when we rebel. We grieve the Holy Spirit and that Holy Spirit begins to speak to us and work on us and plead with us and entreat us and beg us and summon us and command us to repent and seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he's near. And through all the roller coaster of emotions that we know all too well as parents, I won't speak for God. I don't know if he has that same roller coaster of emotions or not. I know he has grief.

The Holy Spirit gets grieved and I know there's joy in heaven. But through it all he loved so faithfully and so extravagantly and gave his son for us while we were busy rebelling, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. He didn't wait for us to come home. He came after us and loved us and gave his son for us. You know it was 15 years ago this month that President Ronald Reagan died. And at a private service out in Simi Valley, California, his adopted son Michael spoke.

And among other remarks, he made these I think wonderful remarks. He said, you knew my father as governor and president, but I knew him as dad. I want to tell you a little bit about my dad. Ronald Reagan adopted me into his family in 1945. I was a chosen one.

I was the lucky one. And all of his years, he never mentioned that I was adopted either behind my back or in front of me. I was his son, Michael Edward Reagan. When his family grew to be two families, he didn't walk away from the one to go to the other.

He became a father to both, to Patty and then Ronnie, but always to Maureen, my sister and myself. We looked forward to those Saturday mornings when he would pick us up sitting on the curve on Beverly Glen as his car would turn the corner from Sunset Boulevard. And we would get in and ride to his ranch and play games and he would make sure it always ended in a tie. We would swim and ride horses or just watch him cut firewood. As the years went by and I became older and found a woman I would marry, Colleen, he sent me a letter about marriage and how important it was to be faithful to the woman you love.

He added a P.S. He said you'll never get in trouble if you say I love you at least once a day. I was so proud to have the Reagan name and to be Ronald Reagan's son. What a great honor. He gave me a lot of gifts as a child, a horse, a car, a lot of things. But there's a gift he gave me that I think is wonderful for every father to give every son. Last Saturday when my father closed his eyes for the last time I realized the gift that he gave to me, the gift that he is going to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He had back in 1988 on a flight told me about his love of God, his love of Christ as his Savior.

I didn't know then what it all meant but I certainly, certainly know now. I can't think of a better gift for a father to give a son and I hope to honor my father by giving my son Cameron and my daughter Ashley that very same gift he gave to me. Knowing where he is this very moment, this very day that he's in heaven and I can only promise my father this. Dad, when I go I will go to heaven too and you and I and my sister Maureen that went before us, we will dance with a heavenly host of angels before the presence of God. Father in heaven, we ask your help that we as fathers and mothers, as families and as a church family would always be directing each other to our Savior who has loved us so extravagantly, who sought us when we were strangers, who is safe to come home to, who does not despise a broken and contrite heart. So give us grace when we hear you softly and tenderly calling us to come home, prodigals that we are by God. Give us grace to come home. Give us grace to serve you, to honor and worship you, to love you with all of our heart just as you first loved us so extravagantly. And as fathers and parents and mothers, help us to trust you when our children go astray and to continue to bear witness to them knowing that your seed is good seed and your word never returns void. So use us all we pray to bring glory and honor to the one who loved us and gave himself for us even while we were prodigals. Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.