Yesterday I started a new sermon series on the Parables of Jesus. I began with the parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-31. We often refer to the son who squandered his inheritance in wild living as the Prodigal Son. He was lost, and when he returned to his father and repented he was then found.

As I was preparing for this sermon I began to realize that the character who was truly lost in the story was the older brother. When his younger brother returns, he becomes jealous and angry because his father threw a party for his brother. He was wondering where his party was and his gifts. He deserved them more than his brother. Instead of having hope and love for his brother in his heart, he instead had hatred and spite.

What’s scary about the older brother is that it is so easy to be like him. I’ve never actually known anyone who was angry or jealous when someone else came to Christ, but I have known people who had no hope in their hearts for those who are lost. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been guilty of it myself. There are certain types of people that we can look at and shake our heads and say, “There’s no hope for them.” In our minds some people are so bad, so evil, so wrong that we are certain that they will never come to Christ, and worse….we may not even want them to.

I don’t know about you, but God blessed me with a lot of people in my life who never gave up on me. They didn’t care what I had done or how bad I might have been. All they cared about was my soul and they wanted more than anything for me to come to Christ. I thank God for them and I pray that God will always help me to be more like them.

Luke 15:31-32
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.’ ” NIV