Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV)
1. The brother’s dishonorable conduct
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 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.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in . . . Luke 15:25–28 (ESV)
Augustine: “For it is not by our feet, nor by change of place, that we either turn from Thee or to Thee … in darkened affections, lies (the) distance from Thy face” (Confessions, I.28).
Be angry and do not sin. Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)
Aristotle: anybody can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.
2. The father’s gracious response
25 . . .His father came out and entreated him, Luke 15:28 (ESV)
3. The brother’s graceless perspective
29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Luke 15:29–30 (ESV)
Tim Keller: “it is not his badness keeping him out, but his goodness. It is not his sins that are keeping him from sharing in the feast of the Father so much as his righteousness. The elder brother in the end is lost not despite his good record, but because of it.”
Mark Twain’s adage has it: “He was a ‘good man’ in the worst sense of the word.”
4. The father’s invitation to joy
31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
Luke 15:31–32 (ESV)
5. The listener choice of ending
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Ezekiel 34:2–6 (ESV)