The Search For Happiness

Introduction

Good morning. Good morning. Details matter. Words mean things. Story goes of uh of an elder who had a horse and he was going to sell that horse to a man looking to buy a young, trained horse. And so the buyer came up and he said, I’m interested in your horse. And the man said, I have just the horse for you. He is well behaved. He does exactly what he’s told when he’s told, but there is one catch. Because I am a spiritual man, I have trained the horse to go on the command, praise the Lord, and to stop on the command, Amen. The horse will not move unless you say, Praise the Lord, and it will not stop unless you said Amen. And so the interested party started riding the horse, all that he did exactly as he was told, exactly as the man had told him he would, and he said he would buy that horse.

And a period of a month or so passed, and as the man had been taking care of him, he hadn’t been for a ride in a long time. And when he went to first get on his horse, and he couldn’t remember how to get him to go. He was saying, Go, go, dear God, oh God, please go. Trying all these starts to a prayer. But that wasn’t the way the horse would go. He had to say, Praise the Lord. And he remembered, and the horse began to go. And as he was riding along the hillside, he was he was amazed at how wonderfully responsive the horse was, and how he did exactly what he was told, and when he would do whatever it is a horse rider does, I don’t really know, it’s not exactly my expertise, that the horse would do as he was commanded.

But then he saw in the distance going over a hillside. And he started thinking, I gotta figure out how to stop. Whoa, whoa. Stop, stop. I need you to stop. Quit it. Stop. He couldn’t remember. He’s getting closer and closer to the hillside. He says, How do I make the horse stop? I cannot remember. And he starts to say a prayer. Oh, Oh God, I need you to save me. I need you to help me be safe. Amen. And he stopped just at the precipice of the hill. The man looked down and he said, Praise the Lord.

1. Details Matter: Why Jesus Told the Parables

Details matter. In Luke chapter 15, we see such a detail that often goes without remembrance. In Luke chapter 15 and verse 1 and 2, we have the beginning of what sets off what many describe as three parables, some describe as one parable. But we know most importantly, the story we’re going to study this morning for the sake of our study is the prodigal son parable. But do you remember that verse 1 and 2 start with a specific target in mind? We often think of Luke 15 as this is the place for the parable of the prodigal son. But why was Jesus telling that story? What details are we to glean from the parable that Jesus tells in three different forms? Beginning in verse 1 and 2, note what begins, what preempts these parables.

In verse 1, now the text collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners, and he eats with them. And so at this verse 3, he told them this parable. What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them? Does not leave the 99 in the open country and goes after the one that is lost until he finds it. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulder, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

You can kind of tell where Jesus is going with this to a degree. But when we think about the story of the prodigal son, our focus is on the Son. But keep in mind, why was Jesus starting this series of parables? It goes back to verse 1 and 2. In verse 1, who was around him? The sinners, the dreaded to the Jews tax collectors. And the accusation in verse 2 against Jesus was he dines with, he eats with, he receives these sinners. Jesus should not do that. He is wrong for being in the presence of these sinners. I think it’s important to note one more detail at the end of verse 1. When all these sinners and tax collectors were drawing near to him, for what purpose were they there?

The very last phrase. To hear him. They were willing to listen. This morning I want to discuss the idea of a search for happiness. Because that is what the prodigal son does. But before we get there, we have to realize the details that go into Jesus explaining this younger brothers, this younger son’s failed search for happiness. We look for happiness in all kinds of ways. We think that if we do a lot of what God says, that will bring happiness. And there’s some truth to that. There’s an extent that says, you know what, if I just reject God and live the life I want to live, I’ll be happy then. And from an earthly standpoint, there may be some temporal truth to that. But the truth of the matter is, God reveals his method for true thankfulness, for true contentment, for actual happiness and peace.

Is found only one way and one alone. It’s not just the story of the prodigal son we’re going to focus on this morning, though. It’s the parable that Jesus is telling at large, where we see not just the three characters in that story, but we see the lost sheep and, and of course, the lost coin as well. As Jesus is teaching the scribes and the Pharisees in response to this accusation that he is eating with and dining with sinners and tax collectors. He is being judged. And so he answers that judgment by telling of not only the lost sheep, but note with me, verse 8. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it.

And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Can I plant one detail in this story to reap a little bit later this morning? There is not a single bad person left in these two parables Jesus has told. Do you see that there was the one sheep that was missing, but then it was found, and there was rejoicing? There was the lost coin, but it was found, and what was the reaction of everybody around? They were rejoicing. It’s interesting that the prodigal son is the only story that involves someone who ends in this chapter in a negative form in a negative fashion, and it’s not the person we think.

2. The Younger Son Looking for Happiness in the Wrong Places

But note and read with me the first several verses of the parable of the prodigal son, beginning in verse 11. And he said, There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. And so he went and hired himself out of one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

Notice verse 16. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread? But I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Rather treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fat and calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and now is found. And they began to celebrate.

Do you see that? Something was lost, albeit with the sheep and coin, not a soul, not a person. But something was lost. The owner, or in the case of the prodigal son’s story, the father, was looking for what was lost, and it was restored. But I want to dive into this young man’s journey and then finish the parable and understand what did Jesus mean with this parable when he was speaking it. Did you notice that the younger son was looking for happiness in all the wrong places at the beginning of the story? You notice back in verse 11 that there’s these two sons, and the younger one in verse 12 does what right off the bat. He says, Father, give me my inheritance. I want what is going to someday be mine.

And without getting into the details of whether that was right by law or not, suffice to say the father said, okay, here it is. And so the younger son then takes what is his or what he is taking with him, and in verse 13, he goes into a far country, he travels far. He thinks, this is going to bring me happiness. If I can get out of my father’s shadow, if I can have my inheritance already, if I travel, if I get far away from home, then I’ll be happy. But of course it doesn’t end there. The verse continues in verse 13. He took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in, as the English Standard Version renders it, reckless living.

That’s kind of the world’s pursuit of happiness, isn’t it? When we give in to the devil rather than our creator, we’re trying to just do with our bodies what we want. We’re trying to do with our time what we want. We’re trying to do with our stuff what we want. And if we remember that we’re stewards of what God has blessed us with, then could it not be said of me too that I have been squandering what is God’s in reckless living? You can imagine in this world, he would have tried every imaginable feat, every imaginable avenue of pleasure he would be seeking, he would be striving for.

3. Nothing in This World Provides Peace

Sons run out. And the time is no longer quite as grand. You can imagine maybe for a while he was having a blast, having a hoot. But then the reality struck. When reality hits, we remember who God is and where we are without him. And this young man realized, where am I without my father? I’d rather even just be a servant with him than be stuck where I am, feeding the pigs, being involved in the trough. We have to know that nothing in this world provides peace. That’s going to be an important application point in a moment. Look at me in 1 Timothy chapter 6. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, note the strong language beginning in verse 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6, beginning in verse 6.

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. You see, in verse 9 and 10, I think there’s obviously in verse 10, and even in verse 9, a spiritual tent, a spiritual hue to the warnings. If you live for money, it will separate you from God.

Do you see that in verse 10? It can separate you from the faith. But even verse 9, this desiring to be rich, not only will you fall into a snare, what will come? Destruction. What came to the prodigal son as he left, taking his father’s inheritance and reckless living? Destruction. Debasement. He bottomed out. There was nowhere else to go. He was a servant down with the pigs. We try all sorts of things to make ourselves happy. We think that if we can just get over this one hurdle in life, if we can just get the job we’re looking for, if we can just get a little bit more money, if we can just spend the money a little bit more, then we’ll be a little bit more happy, then we’ll be good.

Then we’ll be content. Notice verse 7 again. Godliness with contentment is great gain. We need them both. True is we try all the different ways to be content, and I could make a whole list of things we try to do, besides trusting in God for happiness, joy, and peace, and where it would fail, but can I give you just one right off the bat? The way we use social media, we look at each other’s lives. And we say, if I just had what they have, if I just had what this person has, if I had their family, if I had their wealth, if I had their job, if I had their friends, if I just had what these other people had, then I could be at peace.

Then I could serve the Lord. Comparing ourselves to others not only will not lead to happiness, it leads to, like the love of money, complete destruction and despair. News flash for social media posting. That is not real life. What you see of other people are the best parts of life. You don’t see what’s real. And what the prodigal son learned in Luke chapter 15 was not only that he could squander what his dad’s inheritance was for him, but that when he got to real life, how pretty did it look then? How wonderful was this idealized life for him at that point. It was no good. Not only was he better back home, he would have been better off being, in his estimation, a servant back home.

4. Serving the Father Is the Only Way

We have to realize that serving the Father is the only way. Well, you look with me at Romans chapter 6. I think this is an interesting passage. In America, we hate the phrase slavery. We don’t want to be enslaved to our employer. We don’t want to be enslaved to anyone else. But that’s not the God given message. In Romans chapter 6 and verse 15, God tells you, I have to make a choice. You can choose to be my slave or a slave of sin. We are all slaves. Romans chapter 6 and verse 15. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.

But thanks be to God that you who are once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness. I’m speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, present now your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. We have a choice to make.

5. The Older Son: The Unhappy Soul

Said, I need to go back. He said it would be better for me to go back and be a servant. But how did the father receive him? Did he say, Okay, you’ve sinned against me, you’ve admitted fault, and so now you can be my servant. No, no. The father was waiting. He embraced him, he kissed him, and he put the best robe on him because his son had returned. But I want to know remember the details matter. Words mean things. And how did Luke chapter 15 remember in verse 1 and 2? Remember, Jesus was dealing with the scribes and the Pharisees, who were accusing him of spending time with sinners, eating with tax collectors who were there to listen to him. Can I tell you that the older son, beginning in verse 25 of Luke 15, is the only person, place, or thing in this entire chapter, beginning with verse 3 in the parables Jesus tells, that ends in a negative fashion.

The sheep was found. Angels in heaven rejoiced. The coin was found, and the friends gathered together to celebrate the coin being back. The prodigal son returned, the father forgave him, the servants led this celebration. But the older son, the good son, the son who did what was asked, who was working in verse 25. He’s the negative example. And of course, who would he apply to then with the context of Luke 15 in mind? The scribes and the Pharisees. Luke chapter 15 and verse 25. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the Vaden calf because he has received him back safe and sound.

But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, Look, these many years I have served you. I’ve 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. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me. All that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and now is found. The fulfillment and pattern of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son is that when it is found, everybody, including the angels in heaven, rejoice.

What is the response, though, of the older son, who never deserted his father, who didn’t demand his inheritance, who didn’t deprave the conditions by using the money for prostitutes. He is the jealous son. He is the unhappy soul. Do you see that in verse 25? He’s not happy. In fact, where was the father when the son came back? Apparently somewhere ready, watching and waiting for his son to return. Because he saw him and he went out and greeted him. But where is the older son in verse 25? In the field. In fact, in verse 26, when he came back from his work, he had to understand what are we celebrating? What’s the big deal? And perhaps age plays into that that he would be working in a field.

He wouldn’t understand. But I think we can see there’s something interesting about that. And certainly his reply colors him with guilt. In verse 27, your brother has come back, and what was his response in verse 28? He was angry and refused to go in. Unhappy souls are those who don’t rejoice with others, who don’t see the picture that God tries for us diligently to see. In fact, you might say that serving God without love is complete vanity. If you look with me in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul is one of the best servants in the New Testament pages. His life story, his change, his conversion, his conviction and boldness for God goes second to none. And note what he says in the first few verses.

We know 1 Corinthians chapter 13 as this paragon of love. But note what he says in verse 1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Do you see that in verse 3? If I give away all that I have and have not love, what does the text say? I gain nothing. If my faith, verse 2, is so strong that I can remove mountains, the end of verse 2, but have not love.

I need to know that I need to love God more. You know what the secret to happiness within the Lord is? Thinking outside of yourself. This was the older brother’s problem. When you look at Luke chapter 15, what happened when the woman found the lost silver coin? She called her friends, and what’d they say? Hey, why’d you bother us with this? Who cares? It’s not my coin. Hey, I have all my coins. They rejoiced with her. What was the response to the lost sheep? What do the angels in heaven do when a sinner repents? They rejoice. You see, unhappy people are unhappy because they’re constantly focused on self, and there is no joy, peace, and love in being selfish. There never has been, and there never will be.

6. The Patient Father

Paul says in verse 2 and in verse 3, if my faith was strong enough to move mountains, if I gave away all that I had, if I have not love, I have nothing. And of course, then we see who did have love. Who is the picture of love? And I want to make two points on the patient father. We know the story of the prodigal son, that the father was waiting and he was there watching, and he had compassion. He ran, he embraced and he kissed his son. He had the best robe brought to him, he had the fat and calf killed for him, and he showed his love. But can we key in on a couple other verses in Luke 15? What else did he do?

How did the father deal with the unhappy soul? How did he deal with the one who had been serving him all those years? In Luke 15, if you look in verse 28, when the older son was angry and refused to go in, notice what his father does. His father likewise went out to him. He pleaded with him. Verse 29, but he was answered Look, these many years I have served you, I have never disobeyed you. But when verse 30, this son has come back with all the evil and wickedness he’s done, you celebrate him. Father in verse 31 has the proper reply.

And all that is mine is yours. Why was it fitting to celebrate? Because what was dead is alive, and what was lost is now found. If we’re searching for happiness, we not only have to look outside of ourselves and look to God. We have to look to others as well. We have to follow not just the formula of the prodigal son. Can you see yourself as the prodigal son, though? Anybody who’s a Christian has, because you recognize you have not been serving God, and the only way to come back to be right is to do what did the younger son do. He came back and he repented. I have sinned against heaven and against you, my father. And the wonderful message of love is the father took him back.

Conclusion

The older son. Anybody feel sometimes like the older son? Notice that the one who was dutiful, who never left, never squandered in reckless living, was always working for his father, he is essentially what we might call by today’s standards, the bad guy in this story. And he not only is the bad guy in the story, the story ends before we learn that he ever changed. Who had a happy ending? The prodigal son. And that’s of course only possible. Why? Because of the son’s father, who was waiting, who was pleading, and who was there for him. I want to conclude with a story to think about happiness and joy that can only come from the proper restoration of a relationship that by sin we have severed from our God.

There was a story of an older preacher who used to go from appointment to appointment on a train. And one day the older preacher was riding on the train and he saw this really nervous 18-year-old young man. And he was squirming. The young man was getting up and he would pace and he was sitting by himself. And the preacher said, There’s something interesting about that kid. And so as they continue riding, the boy continues to shift around and be kind of squirmy in the pace, and finally the preacher gets up and he says, Look, I just want to let you know I’m a preacher. If you want to talk to me about whatever’s on your mind, I’m here for you. And boy, did the floodgates open.

The boy started telling the story, and he said, Look, when I was 16, my parents, excuse me, when I was 17, my parents and I always fought. My dad and I were always butting heads. And finally one day I just said, Hey, I’m going to leave here and never come back. And my dad said, You know what? Don’t let the door hit you on your way out. And he said, I should have stopped. But I didn’t. I was so mad at my dad. I was so angry. Our fight had been so large and built up over so much time that I left. I took all that I had and I ran away. And after a few months, I got to drinking. I got to be with people I shouldn’t have been with, and one night we tried to rob a liquor store, and we were caught, and I was incarcerated and thrown in prison.

I wrote to my parents, realizing that I had messed up my life. But that the last words I had said to them was, I hate you and I’m never coming back. I don’t know how they could ever take me back. This train ride is going to take me to their home. In my letter I wrote to them, I said, if you are willing to take me back, place a white flag outside the door. And if not, I’ll go my separate ways. I’ll see that you don’t want to have me back, and I’ll just go on with my life. So as the train stopped, the young man said to the older preacher, he said, I can’t bear to look. I just I’ve been waiting all these years to come home.

I can’t look. I need you to go with me. And he said, Okay. And so when they got to around the corner, he said, You have to go. I can’t look. I can’t look in the yard. I can’t, I can’t take bearing the thought that my parents wouldn’t want me back. And so the preacher said, I’ll help you. He turned the corner, and everything white that the mother and father had was out in the yard. Tablecloths, towels, napkins, bed sheets, everything in the front yard was a sea of white. Because the parents were waiting. The parents were loving. And they wanted to embrace their son who was willing to repent and come home. Our challenge in happiness is not one that says, How many good things can I do until God will reward me?

But a disposition that says, Without God I have nothing. I have royally messed up my life in a way that I cannot fix. But if we’ll be humble or humbled by the world, if we will repent, if we will admit that we have sinned and wronged our Lord, we can know that our Father is waiting. That the sea of white is there. That there is rejoicing to be had. But recognize too, in a grave warning that in Luke chapter 15, I said, the details matter. Who are the bad guys in the story? Not the sinners who came back, but the ones who acted righteous and had no room for the sinners who needed to come home. I cannot be the older son and be pleasing to my God.

I have to be the prodigal son that needs my Father, comes home, serves him, and submits in love. Happiness is truly found only in the Lord our God. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never had your sins forgiven, recognize that God is standing there. He’s waiting. He’s pleading. And as Romans chapter 10 and verse 21 says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and a contrary people. God did that for the Israelites. He’s doing that for us today. If you believe in Jesus, if you’re willing to confess of your sins, repent of your wrongdoing and be baptized, you can have your sins washed away. You can be restored with your Father. You can begin that walk today. Maybe you’re a Christian who’s lost your way.

Maybe you’ve been the dutiful son, you’ve been doing the right things, but you have not love. You can repent. You can be made right. The angels in heaven will rejoice. If we can help you in any way at all, come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.