Prodigal

Shame vs. Guilt 

Guilt (Law punishment for behavior, right/wrong, individual focused 

Shame (ostracized, how will others look, community focused 

Luke 15:1-2 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 

Luke 15:11-13 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “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. 

God gives us freedom to leave   

Luke 15:17-20 “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! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. 

The Son’s three part speech:

Confess sin “I have sinned against heaven and you” 
Admit deserves consequences  “no longer worthy to be called son” 
Attempt to pay for/penance “make me like a hired servant” 

Luke 15:20 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.  

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Transferred all the shame onto himself  

Making him unclean – kissing a pig stained clothing  

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Luke 15:21-24 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “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. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 

God lets us confess our sin and admit we need to pay 

God won’t accept payment 

Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness  

Older Son represents those who work hard to be good 

Luke 15: 28-30 “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!’ 

Pharisee’s repentance is measuring up/ punished 

Jesus/Father’s repentance is coming to one’s senses  

Luke 15:31-32 “‘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.’” 

The Father wants children not workers  

God the father humbles himself coming to us, taking on our dirt and replacing it with his righteousness and authority, making us clean  

God won’t let us pay to be restored, in fact if we think it’s about us being good enough we dishonor God’s gift.  

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

This is a hard one to get. It’s not about a giant scale – wrongs can’t be paid for by good 

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

Whether you feel you are good or bad, you still need to come in the house  

John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 

The Father wants children not workers  

The father’s joy is incomplete until everyone is inside 

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