Big Brother's Watching You

Tonight we're going to visit with a very difficult Bible character. There are three or four characters in the Word of God that are rather difficult to visit with. Judas is one of them.

In the Old Testament, Pharaoh is certainly a difficult one, as is Balaam. But in the New Testament, there are few people who can hold a candle when it comes to orneriness to the man that we've come to call the elder brother. Luke chapter 15, beginning at verse 11, I'm reading the parable of the prodigal son.

Jesus speaks and he says, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after that, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country.

And there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. And no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger.

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father.

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.

For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.

Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and entreated him. He answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment.

And yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Child, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

It was fitting that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. For some reason the elder brother is the forgotten man in this story, and yet he is the most important man.

Because Luke 15 begins with two classes of people. Then drew near unto Jesus all the tax collectors and sinners to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.

So you can see in the first two verses of this chapter we have the two brothers. The prodigal son, the word prodigal means wasteful, the wasteful son of course represents the publicans and the sinners. The elder brother represents the Pharisees and the scribes.

So you have to read the entire story to get the real meaning that our Lord wanted to get across. Now there are many things that are commendable about this elder brother. We don't want to overdo it.

He was a moral person. We have no evidence that he went out on drunken orgies. He was a hardworking person.

He was out in the field working. He was faithful to get his work done, lo these many years do I serve thee. But somehow when you read these verses and try to get close to this fellow, something down inside of you revolts a little bit.

Because he did not go into the party. He is outside the circle of joy. And he was outside because there was something wrong with the inside.

There was something wrong with his heart. And so what I'd like to do tonight is interview this young man. I don't know how old he was, he's the older of the two boys.

It's amazing how in the same family two brothers or two sisters or a brother and sister can be so opposite each other. Anybody who's had one child thinks he knows all there is about raising that child. Then the second one comes along and you learn that the second one's not like the first one.

Third one comes along and breaks all the rules. And by the time the fourth or the fifth are in the family, you have had a major education in how different people can be. Apparently the younger boy was the kind who wanted excitement.

He was the kind that wanted to get out and do things. The older boy apparently was content to stay home. Two opposite kinds of men and yet both of them were sinners.

And so what I want to do tonight is interview this elder brother. I want to ask him three questions and they're very simple. I think in asking these three questions we'll learn something about our own hearts.

I don't know if any of us here tonight would dare to admit that we were prodigal sons or prodigal daughters. If we are, I think we're going to sort of keep it between us and the Lord. But I wonder how many of us would dare to admit we were elder brothers.

That's hard to admit. Question number one, why are you outside? There's a party going on in there. They've been fattening up this calf, possibly for somebody's wedding.

I don't know, maybe for his. They've been fattening up this calf. And of course, to have a fatted calf was a real delicacy among the Jewish people.

Our Jewish friends in Bible days did not eat meat regularly. They kept their sheep and so forth for reproduction and for milk and for the wool. And here they have this fatted calf.

There's a party going on in there. There are veal cutlets being served in there. And they're singing and they're dancing.

Now, it's not the ballroom dancing that you see on TV and things like that. This is the rejoicing, the dancing that gives praise to God, the kind of thing David did back in the Old Testament. Why are you outside? Why you'd think you'd want to be in there.

Family reunion. Well, he tells us why he was outside. Verse 28.

And he was angry and would not go in. He was outside because he was angry. Well, let's investigate this a little bit.

Against whom was he angry? I think there are three answers to that question. First of all, he was angry at his father. That's obvious.

The father had to come out and talk to the son. Now, here is a man angry at his father, and he was angry at his father because the father had taken the fatted calf and given it to the younger brother, and he felt the younger brother didn't deserve it. You'll notice in the reading of the Scriptures that the thing he complained about was not the party.

He wasn't even complaining too much about the forgiveness that he gave to the boy. I suppose he could tolerate that. The thing he was really complaining about was that he had never had so much as a kid to have a party with his friends.

But when this good-for-nothing comes home, you kill for him the fatted calf. You should have given him a few TV dinners. That's what he deserved.

You should have given him the leftovers, but instead you've killed for him the fatted calf. He was angry at his father because his father was gracious and generous to his brother. Have we ever had that experience? Have you ever gotten angry at God because somebody else got something that you thought you ought to have? What about that promotion, or that recognition, or that answer to prayer? You see, I meet people in my counseling ministry who are angry at God.

They really are. When you get right down to it, deep in their hearts they're angry at God, and they're saying, God, why did my baby die? God, why did I lose my house? Why did I lose my job? God, why did that good-for-nothing drunken fellow at work get that promotion that I really deserve? In their hearts there's an anger against God. Now I want to share this with you, my friend.

When anger gets into your system, it will drain you of all of your energy. Have you ever noticed that? When you get angry, you start using the energy that you ought to use outside constructively. You use it inside destructively.

And you go through life with a negative attitude. He was angry at his father, because his father had done something for his brother. It's a difficult lesson to learn, but I think we have to learn it.

Better get your eyes off of what God does for other people, and just be thankful for what he does for you. And when God does do something for somebody else, let's learn to be grateful. Let's learn to say, thank you, Lord, that my fellow missionary was provided with what she needed.

Praise God. That just shows you can do it. Thank you, Lord, that my neighbor's kid was healed.

Praise the Lord for this. He was angry at his father. Now my friend, when you get angry at the father, none of his blessings are blessings.

They become burdens. His gifts become burdens. His kindnesses become curses.

And of course, this poisons life. And I'm sorry to have to confess this. There are Christians whose whole spiritual system has been poisoned.

And so they take it out on the wife or the husband, or they take it out on the children, or they take it out on the preacher, or they take it out on the elders, take it out on some church member, take it out on the doctor. Really, there are people who go from church to church with a grudge against God. And they think that by hurting God's people, they're hurting God.

They're really only hurting themselves. Why was he outside? Because he was angry, angry at his father, and secondly, he was angry at his brother. You know why he was angry at his brother? Not because the boy left home.

And not because the boy got into sin. There are those people who rejoice when a brother falls. Over in Galatians chapter 6, Paul says, if you want to test whether or not you are spiritual, here's the test.

My brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. That, said Paul, is the test. Not speaking in tongues, not floating four feet above the ground.

If you are spiritual, you will respond with meekness and tenderness and kindness when a brother falls into sin. But there are those people who rejoice when a brother falls into sin. Now, let me tell you why this fellow was angry at his brother.

Not because the brother left home. Not because the brother went into sin. Not even because the brother wasted the father's substance, which really was his own.

The father gave it to him. He was angry because the brother came back home again. You know why? As long as the brother was in the far country and the news was coming back that he was living a godless life, it made the elder brother look good.

My friend, if the only way you can make yourself or your ministry look good is by tearing down the other man, watch out. Now I will go out on a limb. We have too much of this among evangelical Christians.

Some of the publications that come to my desk are filled with this kind of thing. You know, when I go visiting in the hospitals, I'm sure Pastor Filkin's had the same experience. And you're talking to people who are in bed, you know, and they're either sick or injured.

And oftentimes they will say to us, and they mean well, well, you know, Pastor, I really can't complain. Other people are worse off than I am. Now I will confess to you, it doesn't give me one bit of encouragement to know that somebody's in worse shape than I am.

It really doesn't. I don't want anybody to be in worse shape than I am. I know what they mean by this.

They're saying, thank you, Lord, it's not worse. But I read some of these publications that come out, and it seems that some of these churches, the only way they can make their ministry look good is by blasting the other fellow, comparing statistics. The only way some schools can make themselves look good is by tearing down somebody else.

This is what I call the elder brother complex. He was angry at his brother because when his brother came home, it was a threat to him. He was threatened.

The fellow got straightened out. He was walking with God. He was back in fellowship with the Father.

He was living a clean life, a dedicated life, and he was a threat to his brother. And he was angry at the elder brother, was angry at the younger brother because as long as the younger brother was crawling around with the pigs in the dirt, he made the elder brother look good. Quite frankly, I don't have much joy when some ministry goes to pieces.

Somebody writes me a letter and says, Pastor, did you hear that so-and-so has run off into sin or this ministry is falling apart? I feel a pain in my heart to think, oh, my God, if that ministry goes down, we're all going to feel it. We all belong to the same body. We're all members of the same spiritual body.

And if a brother pastor goes off into sin, it affects me. If he grows in grace, it affects me. He was angry at his brother because his brother was a threat to him.

This leads to an interesting observation. The prodigal son did not create problems. He revealed them.

When he came back home, he didn't create a problem. He revealed a problem. There are some Christian homes where as long as that boy or that girl is not living for the Lord, it makes the parents look real good, then that kid gets straightened out with the Lord and starts living a better Christian life maybe than the parents or the rest of the family, and it becomes a threat.

Thirdly, he was angry at himself. Do you ever get mad at yourself? He was angry at himself. You know why? He'd gotten himself involved in a bad bargain.

All of these years, he had worked and worked and worked, and you know why he had worked? He tells us why he'd worked. Lo, these many years do I serve thee, and never once transgressed any of your commandments, and you never gave me so much as a goat. But when this thy son, wouldn't even call him his brother, thy son is come, you killed for him the fatted calf.

Ah, now the secret is out. I have learned that many people who are angry at God and angry at the church and angry at fellow Christians are really angry with themselves because they feel they've been shortchanged. They worked and worked and worked and didn't get what they thought they should have.

Now, it's unfortunate that this elder brother served his father out in the field but did not get close to his father's heart. I want to ring the changes on that right now. Do you know, my friends, it's possible for me to do God's work and not do God's will? You say, that's impossible.

No, it isn't. Jonah did it. Jonah did God's work.

Go and preach. Yes, Lord. I don't want you to put me back on that fish again.

I don't want a rerun of that one. And Jonah goes and preaches, and he hated the people he preached to. And he was the elder brother of the Old Testament.

And Jonah, when Nineveh repented, went outside the city. Where was this fellow? Outside the party. Where was Jonah? Outside the city.

What was Jonah doing? Waiting for God to blow the city up. And if I remember Jonah chapter 4, it says, Jonah was angry. You see, Jonah had done God's work, but he hadn't done God's will.

God's will was for Jonah to pity these people, to have compassion on these people, to love these people. When that dirty, smelly boy came home, he wasn't running. He was rehearsing his speech.

He was trudging along. His feet hurt. He'd pawned his shoes.

He'd pawned his ring. He smelled like he'd been with the pigs. He was trudging home.

And when the father saw him, it says he had compassion on him. And he ran to him, and he embraced him. Didn't fumigate him first.

And he kissed him. But you see, that's compassion. Jonah didn't have that kind of compassion, nor did the elder brother.

The elder brother was out there toiling in the field, doing his father's work, and he was a drudge. I find Christians like this. They don't have one ounce of joy in their service.

Now, if I understand the Old Testament scriptures at all, especially the book of Psalms, it says, serve the Lord with gladness. Why, if some people started serving the Lord with gladness and even smiled, it would crack their faces. There are some of the saints who have been spending their lifetime frowning so much, they have to screw their hats on when they put them on.

They have misread that verse. They've got the American reversed version, serve the Lord with madness. Come before his presence with complaining.

I've had instructors who were elder brothers. There was no joy about their teaching. I've listened to preachers who were elder brothers.

They weren't preaching because they had something to say. They were preaching because they had to say something. And there could be people here who are elder brothers.

Oh, I'll do my job. That's where I'm supposed to be. They've elected me or they've chosen me or they've appointed me.

I'll be, but I'm not going to enjoy it. Oh, that's a tragedy. Why are you outside, fella? I'm angry.

I'm angry at my father. I wanted that fatted calf. I'm angry at my brother.

Now that he's home, he's making me look bad. And I'm angry at myself. Because I've gotten a raw deal and it's my own fault.

You'll notice when I read the scriptures, I changed a word in verse 31. Because the word there is not the word son. It's the word child.

Oh, the immaturity of this guy. He was a baby. Now, I'm not defending the prodigal son's wantonness and lust.

Oh, no. But neither will I defend the elder brother's immaturity. And the father comes out and he says, child.

That's a term of endearment, but it indicates there was some immaturity here. Now, please get your brains really working on this one, because it's very important. I find that young people today are making two mistakes in one way or another.

You see, every one of us wants identity. We want to know who we are and what we can do. What's our place in this world? The psychiatrists are talking about the identity crisis.

We all want identity. Who am I? And we want security. We don't want to be pawns out there in a chessboard someplace.

We want security. The prodigal son sacrificed his security to get identity. So I'm going to leave home and go out in the world and find myself.

But he didn't find himself. What happened to him? He lost himself. The elder brother said, I'm going to stay home.

I'm going to have security. And lost his identity. You see, only in Jesus Christ do you get both.

The hippie out there on Wells Street, they don't call them hippies anymore. They have other names for it. I have some names for them too.

But the street guy, the fellow who said, I want identity. So he sacrifices security to get identity and doesn't have either one. He doesn't know who he is or where he's going.

I've talked to these people. They're confused. But they're also some of the goody goodies who wouldn't go out on a thing like that.

But they stay home and they haven't found themselves either. You can leave home and not learn the lessons of life. And you can stay home and not learn the lessons of life.

In Jesus Christ, you have identity. You find out who you are and what you're here for. And you have security.

When you're in the will of God, there is security and identity. This fellow didn't have that. Well, let's ask him a second question.

My, our time is getting short here. Young man, I want to ask you a second question. Is it costing you anything to be out here? I mean, you're staying outside and you're angry.

Are you, are you gaining anything by this? No. Is it costing you? Yes. What's it costing you? Well, it's costing me fellowship with my father.

You know, the apostle John explains this over in first John. And he says, look, if you can't get along with your brother. You're not going to get along too well with your father.

If you love God, you're going to love your neighbor and your brother. If a man says, I love God and he hates his brother, he's a liar. Or if you say you can love God whom you haven't seen, why can't you love your brother whom you have seen? Yes, it's costing me something.

I've, I've broken my fellowship with the father. You see, when the father did come out to him, it was just like when he went to meet the other boy. He saw the other fellow a long way off and he ran to him.

And the servant came in and said, your son won't come in. Now, if I'd have been the father, I would have said, fine, let him stay out there and starve. But God's not like that.

I'm glad God's not like me. So are you. The father compassionately, lovingly, graciously went out to the boy.

And talk to him. Is this not an interesting thing? When the elder brother was out in the field, he didn't know his brother had come home. Now, you'd think he would have gone out in the field.

He's hauling away and he's saying, oh, may my brother come home. You see him any place? No. Oh, may he come home? Anybody see him? No.

That wasn't his attitude. He had no idea his brother had come back home. He couldn't talk to his brother, but he could talk to the servants.

And the father came out to him and the father tried to restore the fellowship again. Yes, it costs me something to be outside, says the boy. It cost me my fellowship with my father.

Secondly, it's costing me joy. The whole theme of Luke 15 is joy. Fellow loses one of his sheep and he goes out and finds it.

And when he finds the sheep, the sheep is happy and the shepherd is happy. And he calls his friends together and he says, rejoice with me. I found my sheep.

Woman loses a coin and she searches for the coin and she finds the coin and calls all of her friends and says, rejoice with me. I found the coin. And the father says, rejoice with me.

My son's come home again. And Jesus said, there's joy in the presence of God's angels. The whole chapter is full of joy.

Everybody in this chapter is happy except the elder brother. And of course, he's the Pharisee. Oh God, I thank thee that I'm not like other men.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I'm not like this publican over here.

Oh, no joy. You know why many people don't want to be saved? Somebody came to Mahatma Gandhi one day and said to him, sir, what's the greatest obstacle to Christianity in India? And Gandhi said, Christians, that's the greatest obstacle to Christianity in Chicago. Christians, miserable, sour Christians.

He lost his joy. He lost his brother and he needed his brother. He needed his brother.

You say, well, he's the older brother and that was the younger brother. What can a younger brother teach an older brother? We need our brethren. The day we say we don't need him, we're giving evidence that we do need him.

Paul amplifies this in 1 Corinthians 12, talking about the body. The hand can't say I don't need the foot and the eye can't say I don't need the ear. Each part of the body needs the other parts of the body.

If you don't believe it, just lose one part and find out. So he lost his fellowship and his joy and his brother. He lost his character.

Oh, I have said this many times from this pulpit. I'm sure I'll say it many times again. You know why we're here? We're building character.

The one thing you'll take with you at the rapture is character. Physically, you'll become like Jesus, a glorified body. Hallelujah.

But you're going to take up to glory. Character. We're building character.

You see, the prodigal son was guilty of sins of the flesh. The elder brother was guilty of sins of the spirit. And both are sins.

There are sins of dissipation. The prodigal son. There are sins of disposition.

The elder brother. There are sins of action. The prodigal son.

There are sins of attitude. The elder brother. There are evangelical Christians who wouldn't be caught anywhere near a place of sin.

I told you about that college, that Christian school that advertised in its catalog, our campus is located 40 miles away from any known sin. I wonder how many elder brothers there were on that campus. You see, the elder brother, his character was going right down the drain.

Now, many of us would have admired him. Oh, we would have said, what a great fellow he is. He works hard all day long.

He saves his money. Ah, but he had no love for his father. He just was a drudge.

You see, we have the idea that rigidity is maturity. That rigidity is stability. I can take you to a place here in Chicago where there is rigidity and stability.

It's a cemetery. There are some people who have spiritual rigor mortis. And people think that because they are so firm, I shall not be moved, that they are mature.

You know, that kind of an attitude can be a cover up for immaturity. Where there is no change, there's no growth. And where there's no growth, there's no maturity.

I'm not talking about changing doctrines or standards. I'm talking about our character. Well, he lost his father's fellowship, and he lost his joy, lost his brother, and lost his character.

You know what else he lost by staying outside? He lost the opportunity to help other people. You know what he should have said? Hey, I've always wanted a party like this, but it's better for him to have it than for me. Let me go get my friends.

He could have filled that place up with his friends. They could have rejoiced together. Every time you find an elder brother who stands around criticizing, he's standing in the way of somebody else getting the blessing.

Well, we've asked him two questions. Quickly, let me ask a third. I appreciate your patience tonight.

Sir, can you go in? Do you have to stand out here? Can you go in? Yeah. Why don't you do it? Costs too much. You see, the only way to get in is to admit what we are.

He had to see himself as he really was angry with himself and angry with life and angry with God and angry with his brother. He had to see all the poison in his system. He had to see that he was going through life negatively, negatively, not positively.

Yes, I can go in, but it means humbling myself. It means confessing my sin to my father. Oh, but he confessed his sin.

Yes. You see, the confessions are just the opposite. Don't miss this.

The younger son came home and said, Father, I'm no longer worthy to be your son. Make me a servant. The elder brother had to say, Father, I've been acting like a servant.

Please make me like a son. Yes, I've got to get the poison out of my heart and confess my sin to my father. And I've got to be reconciled to my brother.

If I walk through that door, my brother's there and I can't put on a masquerade and pretend to rejoice when my brother's there and we aren't even reconciled. Don't you think you ought to go in? And so Jesus leaves it right there. You know why? Because maybe some of us are elder brothers and Jesus doesn't want to tell on us.

You've got to finish the story. It ends the same way that Jonah ends. It does.

Jonah ends with God saying, Jonah, why are you angry? Don't you have pity on these people? The prodigal son story ends with the father saying to the elder brother, child, don't you have any compassion? And so you and I have to write the last verses. And that's probably the most costly kind of writing we'll ever do. Are we willing to face up to what we are? Maybe we're prodigal sons.

Well, if we are, we can come home. The father will forgive and cleanse. Hallelujah.

Maybe we're prodigal sons. Maybe we're elder brothers. Maybe we don't have the blots and the blemishes of carnal living.

But oh, our attitudes have been so bad. Fellow, it'll just take a step. I mean, just father's right there.

Talk to your father first. Once you and the father get straightened out, it'd be no problem to get straightened out to your brother. And once you and the father and the brother are straightened out, that'll be the happiest thing and everybody else will be happy.

There's no need to be outside. There's no need for any of us to be outside. God's inviting us to come in.

Father in heaven, how many times we have prided ourselves in not being like other people. And yet how few times we have judged ourselves for not being like Christ. Oh Lord, thank you that many have not become prodigals in waste and wantonness, dissipation.

But Lord, we would not want to be known for what we have not done. We would like to be known for what we have done in a positive, godly way. We don't want, oh Lord, our spirituality to be negative.

We want to be positive. And so deal with our hearts tonight. If somebody here, Lord, needs to be saved, may that one come and trust Christ.

If some elder brother needs to come and get rid of the poison, Lord, may it be done tonight. For Jesus' sake. Amen.