Get the Most Out of Life
By Otto Kaiser
Global University Professor
Introduction
Are you
getting the most out of life? Are you achieving all that you want to achieve? I
want to answer these questions from The Parable of the Lost Son.
In the
immediate context, tax collectors are coming to Jesus. In reaction, the
Pharisees complain that Jesus, who claims to be a prophet, receives sinners and
eats with them. In response, Jesus tells three parables: (1) the lost sheep,
(2) the lost coin, and (3) the lost son. The last parable on the lost son has a
tremendous missionary application.
Title: Get the
Most Out of Life
Text: Luke 15:11-32
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 servants 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 servants.’ 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.’”
What does
the Holy Spirit want to teach us from this parable of Jesus? How does this
parable of Jesus apply to world missions?
Outline
I.
Significance of Abundance
II.
Sympathy for Sorrow
III.
Silence in Conversation
IV.
Scorn from Selfishness
V.
Satisfaction for Service
I.
Significance
of Abundance
What are the circumstances of the
older son? He is in his father’s house eating and enjoying life. The older son
is filled with abundance. True, the younger son asked for his inheritance and
left home. But according to the Old Testament Law, two thirds of the
inheritance remained with the older son. Also according to the Old Testament
Law, none of the family estate could be sold; it had to remain in the family.
Thus when the younger son left home, all he could take with him is one third of
the movable portion of the father’s wealth. The bulk of the inheritance
remained with the older son. Through his austere handling of his father’s
wealth, the older son more than doubled what the younger son had taken with
him.
The family most likely lived in the
great fertile plain of southern Galilee . Jesus
boyhood home of Nazareth
God has blessed our nation in a
wonderful way. We have beautiful homes, modern cars, and electrical appliances.
We spend more money on luxuries, pleasure, and entertainment than any other
people. What is the significance of our national abundance with the spiritual
and material needs of the rest of the world?
As Christians, we are crowned with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We have become new creations in
Christ. We have become more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. Many
of us are being blessed with a Bible college education. What is the
significance of our spiritual abundance with the spiritual poverty in the rest
of the world?
II.
Sympathy For
Sorrow
The father had great sorrow for his
younger son. What sincere human parent would not have great sorrow for his
wayward son? The father was always on the lookout for his younger son. He
waited for the least news that might come with the next caravan. He never ceased
watching and waiting. This is the reason; the father could see his younger son
returning at a great distance. And when he saw the younger son at a great
distance, he ran to him, embraced him, and kissed him.
The older son was not sympathetic
with the sorrow of the father. The older son did not enter into the concern of
his father. The older son told his father, “Dad forget him. He choose his life.
Let him learn his lesson. Why worry about him? You have more important things
to think about?”
What does all this say to us today?
Here is a heavenly Father of whom the Bible says, “For God so loved the world.”
Here is a heavenly Father who wants all people to come to Him. Paul wrote to
Timothy, “God desires all men to be saved.” Peter wrote, “God is not willing
that any should perish.” Are you sympathetic for the sorrow of your heavenly
Father? Have you felt the heart beat of your heavenly Father for lost humanity?
The father of the lost son cried
out to God for his wayward son. He saturated his pillow with tears as he wept
for his lost son. Have you felt the burden of your heavenly Father for lost men
and women? Have you prayed that reapers might be sent into the harvest? Have
you prayed that God will raise up those who will be empowered by the Holy
Spirit? How often have you prayed and fasted for the younger son?
III.
Silence in
Conversation
Have you ever considered what the
father and the older son talked about? I am sure they talked about the most
recent scientific agricultural techniques developed at the State College at Caesarea . With the large staff of servants, I am sure
they talked about the latest principles of psychology in labor relations. I am
sure they talked about the recent strike of the camel driver’s union. I am sure
they talked about the price fluctuation on the grain market at Rome
But what did the father and the
older son talk about in reference to the lost son? Reports kept coming back of
what was happening to the younger son. Was there a silence in the home? In some
homes, it is understood that the family members do not talk about certain
topics. Family members can be in the same home and yet be far removed from each
other. The older son was living in his father’s house yet he was not at home
with his father.
Did the older son ever volunteer to
bring back his younger brother? Did the older brother offer to his father to go
and look for his younger brother? Did the older son go to his father and say,
“Dad, I know you love my younger brother. Let me go and bring him back. We can
entrust the estate to our servants.
Have you ever volunteered? Like
Isaiah, have you cried, “Here am I, Lord send me?” Like John Knox, have you
prayed, “Lord, give me my country or I die?” In eternity, will others put their
arms around you and say, “We are in heaven because of you?” How many of your
friends, your neighbors, your family members, have you bought to Jesus Christ?
IV.
Scorn From
Selfishness
Let’s look closer at the character
and motives of the older brother. Upon the return of the younger brother, the
older brother was out in the fields supervising the hired servants. The fields
would be several miles from the home. Because of raids and wars, the home would
be in the village. As the older brother approached the home, he heard
instrumental music. The father had quickly hired professional dancers to act
out the story of the return of the wayward son. As he came near the house, the
older son asked a servant what was happening. When the older son was told that
his father was celebrating the safe return of his younger brother, the older
son refused to enter the house. Even at the entreaty of his father, the older
son refused to enter the house.
What were the motives of the older
son? Most all Bible commentators in my library suggest: material selfishness
and legalistic self-righteousness. The older son angrily shouted out, “I refuse
to go in. If I share my inheritance with that brother of mine, my rating on the
New York Stock Exchange will go down. If I give my money to world missions, I
will not have enough money left to enjoy life when I get old.”
What did this selfishness lead to?
All that the older brother could do was spit out scorn upon his younger
brother. I have heard white Christians downgrade Indian Christians as being
drunkards. I have heard mission leaders (not Assemblies of God) accuse Oriental
Indians and Africans as being lazy. The older brother accused the younger
brother of wasting his money while living with prostitutes. No where in the
Bible does it actually say that the younger son slept with a prostitute. The
original Greek only says, “loose living.” Without the wise counsel of his
father, the younger son may have made a free wheeling investment and failed.
All that the older son could say to
his father was “This son of yours.” No one can really say “Father,” and not
say, “Brother.” No one can really say, “I love Jesus,” and not have a burden
for those who do not know Jesus.
V.
Satisfaction
for Service
In response to the entreaty of his
father, the older son replied, “Lo, these many years I have served you and I
never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid that I might make
merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, you killed for him the
fatted calf.” In the original Greek, the older son used a term that describes
gallow slaves in the hole of Roman worships, a concept totally foreign to a
father-son relationship. The older son never really appreciated his sonship
with his father. The older son never appreciated what the father said, “Son,
you are always with me, and all that I have is thine.”
Why was the older brother not happy
when his younger brother came home? Most all Bible commentators in my library
suggest: material selfishness and legalistic self-righteousness; and I looked
up almost twenty sources in preparing this message. But I believe that there
was a far deeper reason why the older brother was not happy, and you don’t find
this in Bible commentaries.
The older brother was not happy
because he had no part in bringing his younger brother home. The older brother
only stood off on the side and criticized. Why? Because great things were
happening and he was not participating. God was doing great things, and the
older brother was not involved.
Today, God is doing great things
around the world. I am a grading professor at Global University Global University
In 1949, when Mao came to power in
Mainland China , there were
only one million Protestant Christians in China China China China
Up through the 20th
century, the Islamic world was closed to the Gospel. Mission
leaders were told by church growth scholars to put their missionaries among the
receptive populations and only keep a few missionaries in the resistant areas
like the Muslim people. But then about 20 years ago, groups of Christians
worldwide, independent of each other, were led by the Holy Spirit to pray and
fast for the Muslim people. What are the results? In the 21st
century, that is, the last 12 years, more Muslims have converted to
Christianity than in the entire 1,400 years before. Some scholars claim at the
rate of six million a year. In answer to prayer God has sent supernatural
dreams, healings, miracles, and even people raised from the dead. Our Global University
In the world today, there are 1.6
billion Muslims and 16 million Jews. Have you caught the burden of the Holy
Spirit in intercessory prayer for these multitudes? Have you caught the burden
of your heavenly Father for these who are outside His Kingdom? Jesus gave His
life on the Cross for them. By bloodline or adoption, they are descendents of
Abraham through Ishmael and Isaac. God said to Abraham, “I will bless those who
bless you” (Gen. 12:2). Those who intercede in prayer for the Muslim and Jewish
people worldwide will come into the blessing God promised to Abraham. Will you
be one of those blessed ones?
Jesus has promised that His house
will be filled whether you bring people in or not. You can stand off on the
side, like the older brother, criticize; and be very unhappy. Or you can be
involved in what God is doing and experience the joy of the Holy Spirit. Can
you experience a greater joy than finding the lost sheep, than finding the lost
coin, then finding the lost son? Can you experience a greater joy than being
the arm of God extended? Or will you be like the older brother, critical and
unhappy, because you missed out on the joy of the Holy Spirit? You did not help
bring your younger brother home.
Let me ask you again, are you
getting the most out of life? Are you achieving all that you want to achieve?
How can you get more out of life?
Permit me to close my sermon with a
brief illustration from church history. As I describe a late teen age boy, you
may recognize who I am talking about. This 16 year old boy lived in a coastal
town of West England which was part of the Roman Empire at that time. His grandfather was a pastor
of a church. This young boy was raised in a Christian home. His mother taught
him Bible stories in the Old and New Testament. This boy learned about Jesus
from his mother. Even though, he had a head knowledge of the Bible, he took
spiritual things lightly.
Norsemen from Norway raided the west coast of England Ireland
For the next six years, this young
boy cared for pigs on a farm. In the field watching the pigs, he remembered the
godly teaching of his mother. The prayers of his mother followed him. The Holy
Spirit convicted him of his sin. He prayed for Divine forgiveness and asked
Jesus to become his Lord and Savior. Then for six years while watching pigs, he
prayed and fasted for the people of Ireland
The Holy Spirit enabled him to
escape the pig farm. He saw a beam of light come from heaven. He followed the
beam of light from heaven to a seaport. He was able to get a boat ride to France
While having his devotions, this
young man had a vision. In this vision, a man from Ireland Ireland Ireland
Patrick enrolled in a Bible school
in France and was sent by
the Bishop of France as a missionary to Ireland Ireland Ireland
Make a commitment today!
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