Concordia Lutheran Church
March 30, 2025

For the Joy Set Before Us…
For the Feast Set Before us!
Luke 15:11-24

† Jesus, Son & Savior †

May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ prepare you for the party thrown in Jesus’ honor, and in yours!

• Who/What is the main thrust of the passage?

We call it the parable of the prodigal son, focusing in on the rebellion of this wayward youth. Because, well, we’ve all been there.

Or we could  call it the parable of the Prodigal’s Dad, and focus on the old man, representing God, and focusing on the desire for the son to come home, to be restored, to know the love of Father.

Or we could call it the parable of the real prodigal, and focus in on the elder brother, who though acted in the right way, didn’t, couldn’t experience the love Father—he was blinded by his own desire and jealousy of the younger son’s “freedom.

Or as I will today, focus on a different aspect, and call it the “parable of the prodigal’s party!

For we dwell in the middle of Lent, and need something incredibly joyful to look forward to, and this party, the party the Father and our brother Jesus throws, is to be the most joyful day every known, by man, yet also the day God has crafted since before the garden…

So the parable of the prodigals’ feast, the feast set before us. That draws us to the cross of Jesus.

• Uniting to the wrong host/feast!

We, and I am speaking of all humanity, are horrible at waiting for that which we want. It’s called delayed gratificaiton by psychologists and philosophers, and requires both great wisdom and experience, as well as faith in the one providing what is desired.

The young prodigal didn’t have it – he wanted an enjoyable feast now, as did his brother. No thought to the cost, what was wanted was wanted, and wanted now!

So he goes in search of his party, and finds a feast…no one wants.

¹⁵ He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

That phrase “Persuaded a local farmer to hire him,” is far more than just applying for a job. In Greek it means to “join in a relationship”- he became part of their household, a very minor part, given the worst job—providing the feast for the pigs!

Wrong family, wrong feast, and at a tremendous cost.. .

You see, all sin is basically a search after something that can be experienced now – and we turn to idols to provide the party we think we want, to be honest, that we think we deserve.

The problem is that such sin brings with it a different definition of what we deserve. And what we deserve, at that point, isn’t all that exciting, and it is not joyful.

• Repentance!

How different a party is seen when he rejoins his family!

²²  “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³  And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴  for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. Luke 15:22-24 (NLT2)

He is dressed for it, equipped once again a trusted member of the family!

The robe, called a stole in Greek, is the symbol of office of one with authority, one whose wisdom and holiness is to be trusted and relied upon! The signet ring is the corporate executive credit card, and authority to negotiate and enter contracts, and the sandals symbolize the authority to judge and impose discipline.

And this transformation, removing the word prodigal from his identity is the cause of the party. This is what repentance truly is, the change of our hearts and minds upon encountering a love so unexpected, so overwhelming, so life changing that our identity changes.

To be so loved, that what the Father prepared years to sacrifice, would be sacrificed in view of our return!

• Action Versus Experience

Ultimately, the difference between the repentant prodigal and the prodigal’s brother was that one did all the right actions, but didn’t know His father’s heart, and the other experienced the love that heart had for him, living in the reality of God restoring him fully to life.

One got to share in the feast, in the glorious sacrifice that proclaimed the glory of the Father, for it was a love feast, a celebration of reconciliation and of peace.

Action is no substitute for experience. The former demands, and often overlooks its reward. Experience is knowing we do not deserve to be loved, yet we are. That we don’t deserve God’s mercy and pity, yet we receive it. That we are loved…

And we need to celebrate that – with the feast the Father provides in this life, and eternally…

And the overwhelming, unexplainable peace that comes, as we commune with God.

Amen!