Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional as we continue in our Luke, Exploring Who Jesus is series. Today, from Luke 15:25-32, we reflect on the second half of the parable about a lost son who comes home and how, in this section, Jesus is teaching us to beware of being judgemental and unwelcoming to those who come back to God.
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‘“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 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.’” (Luke 15:25-32)
This week, through these three parables of lost and found things, we’ve thought about three lessons: Firstly, we’ve seen that this is a rebuke to the self-righteous that we must love rather than despise sinners; secondly, these parables teach us that we all start off as lost and need to be found through Christ; thirdly we saw that we are all to seek to play our part in finding lost people and help to bring people back to God. Today, finally, we consider the fourth lesson -s that we are to, like God, rejoice when lost people come home.
Having seen how the father in our story rejoices when the lost son comes home, Jesus contrasts this with the behaviour of the older brother who is sour that this lost and undeserving son gets such generous treatment from the father.
Who is the older brother?
This is, firstly, an allusion to the religious teachers who despised the way that Jesus welcomed people whom they condemned. Secondly, the older brother is all of us in some way; we are all prone to being unwelcoming to certain sorts of people when they profess faith and enter the church community. Whether its the way they dress, speak or behave, we can all struggle to feel comfortable, let alone celebrate, about certain people who come into our church community.
Like God, we are to rejoice
In this parable, we see the father running and rejoicing over the lost son who comes home. He has failed and betrayed his father and family name and yet he is unreservedly welcomed and is made to feel welcome. Jesus’ parable encourages us to ‘rejoice’ when lost people come to Jesus.
Are we hospitable and generous when new people come to faith? Often, like this son covered in the mess and aroma of the pigsty, people return in a bit of a mess and so the ‘ninety-nine’ need to welcome and support them. Do each of us, in our church community, reach out and befriend new people who come among us or are we so caught up with our problems or so focussed on our cliques that we don’t notice the ‘lost and found son’ among us? If we are content to love the ‘ninety-nine’ and are not prepared to make the lost one feel welcome, may this parable rebuke and help us to be more like Jesus.
Let’s pray together
“Father, I thank you for not only letting me come home, not only tolerating me, but also celebrating over my return. May I be filled afresh with the knowledge of your undeserved welcome and may your love toward me be imitated in me as I welcome and celebrate those who are new to us and those who are freshly coming to faith. Amen.”
Community Group Notes
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week, or maybe from our week of prayer, and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Sunday’s message from our Luke series was about how God loves lost and found things.
In our message on Sunday from Luke 15:1-32, We see how Jesus - the ‘friend of sinners’ - gives three parables that repeat the idea that those who are far from God and those who come home to God are loved by Him and, therefore, should be loved by us.
Please read Luke Luke 15:1-32 and discuss:
Did God speak to you about anything from Sunday’s message?
What do you think is the main idea of Luke 15:1-32?
All three parables (The Lost Sheep, Coin and The Lost Son) teach the same things. What do they teach about:
The spiritual condition of all people?
God’s attitude to lost things?
The poor attitudes that we can all have?
God’s attitude to ‘found’ things?
SIV - What does 15:1-32 teach about the attitudes we are to have, and actions that we are to take in regard to lost people?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus.
Let’s pray together: Pray for one another out of our study together and for anything else for which people would like prayer.
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