Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Monday August 10, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey good morning, everybody. It is Monday, August 10th. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is the latest edition of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. I am once again ⁓ on the road enjoying ⁓ enjoying life. So I'm gonna keep this one short. We're gonna focus on just the scriptural part of today's message. That's all that really matters anyway. ⁓ and then I'm gonna go to enjoy some time on the beach with my beautiful wife. So ⁓ today we're gonna talk about a story that that we've all heard. We're gonna talk a little bit about the prodigal son. ⁓ but as I've spent some time kind of reviewing this, and maybe part of it's because I just celebrated a birthday, and as as age comes, so does a little bit of perspective. ⁓ but I think maybe we've all been been reading the prodigal son or hearing that story from and and and kind of missing the point, or at least missing a point that we should take from it. We've all heard of it, you know, called the prodigal son. The sermon always revolves around the younger brother. We've heard messages about rebellion, repentance, forgiveness. We've all heard messages about the prodigal son as it relates to a the father's love. And every one of those points is is true and valid. But as I was kind of reading back through it this week, I I noticed something that I think I've overlooked. And it's I don't think Jesus primarily told this story solely because of the younger brother. I think in a lot of ways he he tells this story in in ways to highlight the older brother. And once you see it, you'll you'll really never read that that story from Luke chapter 15 the same way again. But most of us make the mistake, I think, of jumping straight into the story of of the prodigal son himself. But that's not the way the story is told in the Bible. It's not the way Jesus did it, it's not the way Luke does it. Before the story ever really gets started, Luke tells us why Jesus told this story. If you go back to Luke chapter fifteen, the the first two verses, one and two, 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. Stop right there. That's the reason for the story. The religious leaders weren't upset because Jesus taught false false doctrine. They were upset because of who he welcomed. They couldn't understand why a man claiming to represent God spend so much time with broken and unholy people. So Jesus tells us three stories. We hear the story of the lost sheep, the lost cun, and then finally the lost son. Or in in in the truest sense, maybe lost sons. Plural. The younger brother is easy to understand. We we all get it. He w he wants his inheritance early. In that culture, asking for your inheritance before your father died was essentially like saying, Hey, I I wish you were dead. I'd rather just take the money. So that's what he does. He takes the money, he leaves home, and as most of us would, he he squanders everything and and ends up having to feed pigs. That is that is rock bottom in the Jewish culture in those days. And and finally he decides he he's gotta come home. He's got no other options left. He's gotta turn tail and and come home. And and the father runs to him, embraces him, throws a celebration. It's one of the greatest pictures in in all of the scripture. And think about it. This is this is running out to embrace a son who had literally said, I'd rather have the money than have you in my life. But here's the question, and if if that's the whole Point of the story is the forgiveness, the repentance, the father's love. Why doesn't Jesus end the story there? Why does he keep going? We we go to read on the older brother hears the music. He learns that his younger brother has returned. And instead of celebrating and being happy to see his loved younger brother, he's curious and listen to what he says. All these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never even gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. He's talking like an employee. He isn't enjoying a a father-son bond or relationship. He's keeping score, thinking about what he deserves and what he's earned. He's measuring his worth. He's comparing himself to someone else. And then he says something very revealing. This son of yours, think about how he's referring. That's his brother. But he doesn't say my brother. He says this son of yours. His resentment had had Become so deep and so passionate, he couldn't even refer to him as his own brother. He couldn't even didn't even want to consider him family at that point. Obviously, the the young brother was lost and he knew it. That's why he came home. But the older brother was lost as well and didn't know it. One ran away from the father, but the other stayed close to home because his heart, his heart wasn't in it, didn't have the strength to leave. But that same heart that didn't have the strength to leave just kept drifting as far away as the other son. The young the younger son sinned openly and honestly. The the older brother ended up sinning, but did it so respectably. He did it and kept his mouth shut. One was broken by rebellion and and the other was poisoned by self-righteousness, taking the high road, doing the right thing, but being miserable about it the whole way. And and here's what amazes me. The father goes out to both sons. He runs towards the younger son, and then later he leaves the celebration to go plead with the older son. Grace pursues both in these cases. That's where the story stops, and kind of without an ending. We never find out if the older brother goes to the celebration or not. And there's probably a reason for that. Jesus wasn't just telling us a story, he's asking us a question. Remember who's listening to this parable? It's the Pharisees, it's the teachers of the law, the people who Couldn't stand the idea of sinners receiving grace. Jesus was just holding up a mirror to these people. He was saying, You are the older brother. And then he leaves the ending somewhat unfinished because now the decision belongs to them, just like it belongs to us. Will they stay outside or will they go and enjoy the father's joy with the brother? This is where it gets uncomfortable. We have to ask ourselves: have I ever secretly believed? That God owed me something because I've been good because of my behavior? Have I ever struggled when someone else received something that I didn't think they deserved? Have I ever looked down on someone because I believe that their sin is more visible than mine? Have I ever forgotten that I stand before God by grace alone, not by comparison and not by my own deeds? That's the danger we all face in becoming the older brother. You can be close to God's house, you can be in it. But your heart can still be far from the Father. The beauty of this story isn't just that God welcomes all of us home like the prodigal son, it's that he pursued the religious truth. Jesus came for both brothers, the openly rebellious and the quietly self-righteous, because both are lost without grace. The cross wasn't built only for obvious and natural sinners, it was built for every one of us. The younger brother clearly needed mercy. The older brother Needed mercy as well. We all need mercy. So let me leave you with this one question today. When when you read the story of the prodigal son, which brother do you usually identify with? Or maybe there's another question. Which brother are you becoming? It's possible to be far from God in a distant country. It's possible to be far from God while standing in the front yard of your father's house. You can be far from God no matter where you are, or you can be close to God no matter where you are. The good news is that the Father is seeking you no matter where you are. And whether you're the older brother or the younger brother, the father is opening his arms and reaching out to you. He is walking towards you. Open your Bibles. Get in, get in Luke chapter 15. But this time don't stop just comparing yourself to the younger brother. Think about it from the perspective of the older brother. Watch the father, how he tries to manage both and get with both. Where where do you see your own heart in this manner? I I think it's one of those that and it's often the case with the Bible. When you when you go back and we read stories, it just unlocks new things and you see stories that are from different perspectives or even richer and deeper than you thought you were doing. That's that's what makes it the greatest book that ever recompiled. So that's all we got for today. I hope you all have a blessed Monday. Enjoy your week. Have a great day, and as always, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and God bless. ⁓ and tell the truth.