Luke 15 (4)

Pray Psalm 12.1-4.
Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

Sing Psalm 12.1-4.
(Hamburg: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)
Help, Lord! The godly cease to be; they who believe in Christ are few.
Falsely the wicked confidently flatter, deceive, and mock Your truth.

Stop, Lord, the lips that utter lies, all those who speak with boasting tongue!
See how Your holy Word they despise, while their own praises they have sung.

Read Luke 15.1-16; meditate on verses 11-16.

Preparation
1. What did the young man request?

2. What did he do then?

Meditation
Once again, pop culture can often lead us to take a hard look at ourselves. Around the time Carly Simon was singing “You’re So Vain,” the Beatles came out with “I, Me, Mine”, a song exposing and decrying the increasing narcissism of our secular, wrong-believing age. That was 50 years ago. Things have only gotten worse.

This ungrateful, self-centered son challenges us to look into our own souls. Do we discover there even a faint cry of “Give me!” (v. 12)? Are we inclined to expect others to defer to our wishes? Yield to our ideas? Do for us?

And are we haunted by the desire to journey to some far country (v. 13), find some new place to live, new job, new friends, even a new church – any place or relationship where we can better indulge our selfish desires?

Does the idea of prodigal living appeal (v. 14)? Run up the credit card debt? Get a new car every year or so? New clothes? New gadgets? Until we’ve spent to the limit and still haven’t found the happiness and contentment our soul requires (v. 14)?

It’s interesting to reflect on the fact “I, Me, Mine” rhymes with “to feed swine” (v. 15), don’t you think?

When self-love runs amok in your soul, your soul will end up wallowing in the mud of self-pity and degradation. Why? Because no one will give you anything (v. 16) when they finally see you for who you really are.

The tendency to narcissistic self-interest lurks in the soul of every one of us. Don’t let it flare into flame. Ever.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Jesus had another parable to tell from His wise and loving heart about two sons—both rotten in their own special way. The story begins with the younger son who said, “Give me what is mine.” Then he left town and promptly wasted his money by spending it recklessly, realized he was bereft of funds, and got a job feeding pigs; at which time he understood he was alone and destitute. Things looked very bleak for this young man.

He was the personification of many Proverbs such as: “He who is impulsive exalts folly” (14.29); and, “An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (20.21); and “Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth” (29.3).

If only he had paid better attention to wisdom he would not have let his self-interest “flare into flame.”

However, this is not the end of Jesus’ parable. And we know there is hope for those of us who repent and return. As Samuel said to the people of Israel, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing” (1 Sam. 12.20, 21).
“Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way [Your words]” (Ps. 119.37).

This younger son is in process. He will get to where God intends him to be.
It is the same miracle of grace that each of us has experienced.
“They shall remember Me in far countries…” (Zech. 10.9).

And when we remember, turn and repent, then Jesus sends us to other people in process “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26.18).

O God, give me that inheritance which is mine by grace!

For reflection
1. How can you tell when self-interest is asserting itself in your soul?

2. What should you do then? What can happen if you don’t?

3. How can believers help one another to check self-interest?

A sinful state is of departure and distance from God. A sinful state is a spending state: willful sinners misemploy their thoughts and the powers of their souls, misspend their time and all their opportunities. A sinful state is a wanting state. Sinners want necessaries for their souls; they have neither food nor raiment for them, nor any provision for hereafter. A sinful state is a vile, slavish state. The business of the devil’s servants is to make provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof, and that is no better than feeding swine. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Luke 15.11-16

Pray Psalm 12.5-8.
Pray that God will deliver you from all self-centeredness, all thinking that you can be a law unto yourself, and every temptation to give into the lusts of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Sing Psalm 12.5-8.
(Hamburg: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)
Rise up, O Lord, and rescue all Your precious children sore distressed.
Save those who faithfully on You call; grant them deliv’rance, peace, and rest.

Your words are pure and proven true, like silver seven times refined.
You will preserve Your Word ever new, and keep the heart to You inclined.

Proudly the wicked strut and stand; Your indignation builds on high.
Men may exalt their wicked plans, but You will judge them by and by.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.