The Greatest Love of All
A Sermon on Luke 15:11-32 by Elder Arnel Chavez
Watch the sermon here.
Introduction
This story that we are going to be talking about today is one of the most famous parables in the bible, The story of the prodigal son. Even the famous Charles Dickens said that the story of the parable of the prodigal son was the greatest short story every written. We are all familiar with the story, we all have heard preaching about the topic. For the longest time we always hear about a son, the younger son that is, who asked his father for a part of his inheritance who went to a far away land and spent all that he has and came back and asked forgiveness for all that he had done and most of the time if not always things end there and that’s about it. It’s a good story and the message is profound and touching and you come home feeling happy. But this afternoon we are going to go beyond the younger son, we are going to explore all the characters in this story.
The Rebel
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.
The Father’s Love
22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
The Religious
28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘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. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Conclusion
The bible tells us that all our gifts, all our good deeds are like filthy rags in his eyes. Don’t get me wrong, serving God and doing his ministry and being obedient are things that God’s want us to do. But check your heart, what drives you to do all these things. Do you do the things you do for God because you want to be more like him, that you want to spend as much time with our Lord. Brothers and sisters let’s check our heart and make sure our heart is in the right place when we are serving our God, He deserves that much because he gave his life for us.
