OLDER BROTHER SYNDROME

OLDER BROTHER SYNDROME Luke 15:25-32 Dr. Jon McNeff, Senior Pastor June 26, 2011 Note: The following are the pastor s notes used in preaching this message. This is not a complete, word-for-word transcription of what was preached. These notes serve as a companion to the complete message, which is available by listening to the audio version. You can t handle the truth! I. HE WAS LEGALISTIC Review story Luke 15:1 tax-collectors and sinners were all drawing near Pharisees couldn t stand these people of the earth dripping with hatred.this man receives sinners lost sheep lost coin lost son picture of all sinners father a picture of God younger one demanded his share of his father s property life not inheritance no responsibility shameful unheard of goes into far country spends it all living with pigs no one helps returns with a plan to restore himself expected to kiss his father s feet, work as a craftsman to repay his father live apart from the father fathers sees him coming incredible demonstration of grace that confounded the Pharisees ran and embraced him and kissed him. signs of complete restoration gave him robe (honor), ring (authority), sandals (riches) killed fattened calf grain fed beef saved for special occasions fed 200 started to celebrate End of story? no Luke 15:11 There was a man who had two sons older son was completely missing refused to play role expected in middle eastern culture conflicts demanded a mediator usually one closest to both parties the older brother would have been expected to do this to talk sense to his brother and defend the honor of his father he did neither shows his disdain for younger brother and his lack of respect and love for his father 1 Finally he shows up again in Luke 15:25 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. what would you expect older son to do? rejoice? About time! Good to have you home little bro! None of that siblings can grow up with deep hostilities and jealousies innocent competition in childhood can become bitter rivalry in adulthood the older son must have seen this arrogant streak in his younger brother before he left home he had the mantle of responsibility on his shoulders younger siblings seldom recognize that He is still being responsible supervising work in the field to maintain the estate when he came home he drew near to the house saw the crowd heard the music but he didn t go in saw one of the servant s boys having their own party outside the main group called to him Luke 15:26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. Why hadn t he been notified? possibly working far away but why didn t father send someone to tell him? he had the responsibility to co-host the party but the father organized the whole thing without even notifying him why? because the father knew what his reaction would be knew how he regarded his younger brother felt the disregard he had for him as his father father knew the older son was a legalist and had no grace Legalists are law makers and rule keepers they are control freaks highly developed sense of morality their own! Mark Twain once described the older son He was a good man in the worst sense of the word. they are judgmental of anyone outside their box suspicious skeptical of joy devoid of grace because it does away with their laws 1 Kenneth Bailey, Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992), 122. 1

Legalist Upright, respectable citizen of the community who makes laws for other people to keep. Keller Elder brothers have an undercurrent of anger toward life circumstances, hold grudges long and bitterly, look down at people of other races, religions, and lifestyles, experience life as a joyless, crushing drudgery, have little intimacy and joy in their prayer lives, and have a deep insecurity that makes them overly sensitive to criticism and rejection yet fierce and merciless in condemning others. 2 Luke 15:27 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. hugies strong, active, sound - metaphorically of good understanding, sensible, shrewd, sober, of good judgment 3 complete restoration by the father II. HE WAS LIVID A. His emotion Luke 15:28 But he was angry double whammy angry is aorist passive of orgidzo more than a sudden outburst of anger it has the element of deliberate thought it pictures inner seething the older brother was silently seething with anger like sap in a tree on a hot day wasn t saying a word, but smoke was coming out from under his collar when he spit on the ground, the grass died! BTW this kind of anger in incompatible for a Christian James 1:19,20 let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Ephesians 4:26 do not let the sun go down on your anger,... B. His actions Like a pouting child he refused to go in who is he mad at? the father! serious breach of social protocol the father was throwing a huge party everybody was there the expectation was that the older son would honor his father by serving as co-host yet he stood him up in front of all the invited guests Pharisees finally, they had something to cheer about at last, someone had the sense to reject the younger son! the father hadn t the servants hadn t the whole town turned out for a huge party where was the honor where was the decorum? where was the self-righteous outrage of the community? like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof they stood for Tradition! a party for the prodigal was like someone walking on Center Court at Wimbledon wearing sagging pants, a muscle shirt, and flip-flops saying, Hey dude! Whaaaat s up! Who was he angry at? his father! hated the actions of his brother but was now livid with his father reveals profound spiritual truth open sinners receive grace legalists don t! His actions were worse than the younger son s: Showing incredible disrespect for his father Reject him in front of the whole town Showed that he really didn t love the father either He had no interest in grace rules were more important 2 Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2008), 70-71. 3 Colin Brown, vol. 2, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 169. 2

He didn t know his father any more than the younger son III. HE WAS LOST Nevertheless Luke 15:28 His father came out and entreated him - began pleading with him nothing could have prompted the father to leave the feast except this heard his oldest boy was outside pouting the father loves both the flagrant sinner and the self-righteous law keeper could have used commands and threats, but he didn t He pleaded with him fathers in that culture didn t plead they commanded total authority he would have been perfectly justified in bringing the son inside for a public beating But his reaction was different Luke 15:29-30 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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him! at one moment all the years of pride and resentment erupted: Look not Father total disrespect I have been your slave. uses doulos never regarded himself as a son working for his father had been a duty no joy no love for his father no family pride the only reason he was hanging around is waiting for his father to die to get the estate you never gave me a young goat not true! he had the rights to all the estate whiny, poor me attitude If he had planned a party, who would it have been with my friends no tie to family complete self-centered indulgence But when this son of yours came not brother no love for his brother or his father you killed the fattened calf for him you owe me an apology! He is a prideful, selfish hypocrite hypocrites pretend to be good on the outside, but inside they are nothing but self-serving, prideful liars all he wanted was Dad s money too! he was just as lost as his younger brother. God extends grace to all shows this man didn t know his father! knew nothing of grace, forgiveness, repentance, and restoration he never goes in thought his performance would get what he wanted and it wasn t the father s love it was the father s things The amazing things here again the father s love Godly fathers true fathers never think that! at least not Godly ones one of the hallmarks of a father is to continuously tell his kids that he loves them no matter what and make them believe it A Father s Love George Strait I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye. Fighting was against the rules and it didn t matter why. When Dad got home I told that story just like I d rehearsed, then stood there on those trembling knees and waited for the worst. And he said, Let me tell you a secret, about a father s love. A secret that my daddy said was just between us He said daddies don t just love their children every now and then. It s a love without end, amen, it s a love without end, amen. When I became a father in the spring of 81, there was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father s son. And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end, I took my daddy s secret and I passed it on to him. And I said, Let me tell you a secret, about a father s love. A secret that my daddy said was just 3

between us. I said daddies don t just love their children every now and then. It s a love without end, amen, it s a love without end, amen. Last night I dreamed I d died and stood outside those pearly gates. When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake. If they know half the stuff I ve done they ll never let me in. Then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again. And they said, Let me tell you a secret, about a father s love. A secret that my daddy said was just between us. You see daddies don t just love their children every now and then. It s a love without end, amen, it s a love without end, amen. The father s love was extended just as much to the older brother as it had been to the younger prodigal IV. HE WAS LETHAL Story looks like it s over no more verses but it s not to understand this, we must understand different genres history, narrative, poetry, doctrinal, etc. example Old Testament poetry is different Psalm 119 each verse begins with successive letter of the alphabet another form used is chiasm (slide) Simple chiasm A first thought B second thought B second thought A first thought Many forms in Old Testament complex chiasm, parallelisms, ellipses, hendiadys, hyperbole, metaphor also in New Testament (next slide) SIMPLE CHIASM Matthew 7:6 A Do not give what is holy to dogs, (dogs) B and do not throw your pearls before swine, (pigs) B lest they trample them under their feet, (pigs) A and turn and tear you to pieces. (dogs) Special form used in Luke 15 written in two halves Luke 15:11-24 and Luke 15:25-32 remember verses were not added in New Testament text until Geneva Bible in 16 th century first half inverted parallelism (next slide) INVERTED PARALLELISM Luke 15:11-24 There was a man who had two sons. 1. Luke 15:12 A. Death 2. Luke 15:13-14 B. All is lost 3. Luke 15:15-16 C. Rejection 4. Luke 15:17 D. The problem? 5. Luke 15:18-20a D. The solution 6. Luke 15:20 C. Acceptance 7. Luke 15:21-22 B. All is restored 8. Luke 15:23-24 A. Resurrection 4

Notice the perfectly symmetrical themes that are keyed to concepts, not to verses same with second half (next slide) INVERTED PARALLELISM Luke 15:25-32 Now the elder son was in the field 1. Luke 15:25-26 A. He stands aloof 2. Luke 15:27-28a B. Your brother is safe anger! 3. Luke 15:28b C. Costly love 4. Luke 15:29 D. My actions my pay 5. Luke 15:30 D. His actions his pay 6. Luke 15:31 C. Costly love 7. Luke 15:32 B. Your brother is safe joy! What s missing? the eighth stanza no A Jesus left the scene open to write your own ending would expect And the older son embraced the father and entered the house and was reconciled to his brother. And the father celebrated with his two sons. Is that realistic? Who was listening? Luke 15:1,2 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Who did the younger brother represent? the tax collectors and sinners Who did the older brother represent? the Pharisees! What chance do you think there was of them extending grace to the sinners? NONE! Think of their accumulated gripes: The shepherd in tale of the lost sheep was obvious contrast to them who didn t care about lost sheep The woman who found the lost coin was a female picture of God unheard of In the story of the prodigal they would have been aghast at: The impudent son saying show me the money! The father who gave it to him! The horror of a Jewish boy going to a Gentile country The ghastly picture of a Jewish boy eating with pigs The shameful breach of tradition in the father s welcome running to him, embracing him, kissing him were shameful! The robe, ring, and sandals were clear pictures of full restoration for a young gutter-snipe who deserved to die The banquet and celebration was a affront to the whole community The request for the older son to join in with these awful festivities was deeply offensive They were ready to pop a cork! Luke doesn t record an ending Pharisees were seething if they had written the eighth stanza it would have said And the son became enraged and picked up a piece of wood and clubbed his father to death in front of everyone. Then he tore the robe, the ring, and the sandals off his younger brother and cast him out of the house and out of the family. Thus the older son vindicated the honor and traditions of the family. they would have cheered! 5

But they knew the story was about them! they walked away from Jesus then but they finished the story later a couple of months later we read in Mark 14:1 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him elder brothers are lethal! Do you know where older sons are found today? in the church! conservative, evangelical churches are filled with legalistic, responsible, card-carrying conservative legalists who disdain sinners and pride themselves on the fact that they are responsible citizens! but there is little unbridled joy in the father little or no seeking for the lost younger brother little expression of grace in their lives as a pastor I can tell you that prodigals don t cause problems in churches legalists do do things their way or they will leave the church What do we learn from all this? the gospel is simplest form: We are all sinners either younger or older brothers We need God to run to us we can t run to Him True prodigals are easier to save they know their sin Religious legalists are harder they don t see their sin Our works will never save us younger son got it older one never did God s love is immense invites all sinners to the party Mozart and Solieri Keller p. 39 QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. How would you describe the older brother syndrome described in the sermon? 2. Why do you think the older brother didn t go into the house when he came home in Luke 15:25? 3. Why was the older brother so angry in Luke 15:28? 4. What was the older brother s relationship like with his father as seen in Luke 15:29-30? 5. What was the unwritten end of the story of the prodigal son? 6. Do you have any of the characteristics of older brother syndrome? What are they? 6