A Thanksgiving Story, or Three-legged Thankfulness

November 16, 2013
A Thanksgiving Story: Three-legged Gratitude
Luke 15:11-32

SIS – Ingratitude will rob you of the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of God.

My message today is titled, “A Thanksgiving Story.”  In America the Thanksgiving Story focuses much on “food.”  The star attraction on most Thanksgiving tables is the venerable (usually butter-basted) turkey.  The centerpiece of my story is not a turkey, however, but a less venerable, somewhat tragic pig.

Now, before I tell you this story I want to set two very important rules regarding my jokes.  #1:  all my jokes are assumed to be funny and therefore laughing is mandatory; and #2:  many of my jokes are as old as I am and so laughing before I get to the punch line is strictly prohibited.

Here’s my Thanksgiving Story.  A woman was visiting some people who lived on a farm, and she noticed a pig limping in the backyard with a wooden leg. She asked the farmer, "What happened to the pig?" The farmer said, "Oh, Betsy is a wonderful pig. One night the house caught fire and she oinked so loud she woke us and we got the fire truck in time to save the house." The woman said, "That’s really something!" The farmer continued, "That’s not all, one day my youngest fell in the pond and Betsy oinked so loud that she got our attention and we were able to pull my daughter out of the pond in time." The woman said, "That’s really amazing! But I still don’t understand why the pig has a wooden leg. The farmer said, "Well, when you have a pig that special, you don’t want to eat him all at once!"

Gratitude for the three-legged pig was a bit shallow, to say the least.  I wonder if many times our gratitude for God is a “bit shallow,” or perhaps non-existent.

The lack of deep gratitude to God for Who He is and what He has done will rob a person of the opportunity to enjoy God’s blessings.

The text we are going to read today describes just such a person—a person who allowed ingratitude to rob him of the opportunity to enjoy all the wonderful blessings of God.  Let’s read that story together.

LUKE 15:11-32

Now, this is a familiar story.  In fact, it is known in about every culture on earth.  The usual approach to teaching and preaching this passage focuses on the Prodigal Son, for obvious reasons.  The Prodigal’s path from rebellion to reconciliation provide the primary story line.  There is however a back story, as those familiar with Hollywood plots will recognize.  The main character in the backstory is the Elder Son.

The Elder Son typifies the experience of so many people.  Recall the scene:  some great fortune befell the Younger Son.  From a life of depravity, by means of the Father’s grace, the Younger Son receives a glorious party.  The whole household is full of joy.  Except, the Elder Son.  He is not happy.  He is not enjoying the party at all.  The Elder Son is angry.  Why?  Why is the Elder Son miserable when everyone else is so full of joy?  The Elder Son is ungrateful.  His ingratitude robbed him of the opportunity to join the celebration and experience the blessings so evident in his life.

There reasons the Elder Son was robbed of joy and fulfillment because of his ingratitude for what he had.

1.  He let PERFORMANCE rob him of GRACE (17-19; 29)

Notice what the Prodigal Son admits once he “came to his senses.”

¹⁷ When he came to his senses,  he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!  ¹⁸ I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned  against heaven  and in your sight. ¹⁹ I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story of grace, specifically the grace of God.  Grace refers to the “unmerited favor of God as expressed in act of providing salvation for mankind.  The writer of a gospel song put it this way:

He paid a debt He did not owe

I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now I’m singing as I go Amazing Grace.
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

Until a person understands the idea of “grace,” one can never fully appreciate, and be truly thankful for the salvation of God.  The entire Bible spins on the axis of grace.

Recall what the Prodigal Son said:  “I am not worthy!”  The Prodigal Son would be overwhelmed by the reaction of his father because the Prodigal Son realized he did not deserve the father’s love.  When we receive what we don’t deserve from God, we call it grace.  The Prodigal Son was “truly happy” and experienced great blessings beyond any thin he could imagine because he knew he had not earned it and did not deserve it.

Now look at the Older Son.  His whole argument revolves around his “performance.”  Notice what the Elder Son says,

29 But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

The Elder Son’s complaint all revolves around his performance.  It’s hard to imagine that the Elder Son is exaggerating a little bit about “never disobeying” but in general the statement may well be true.  He had always performed as the “dutiful son.”  That is an honorable thing.  We should always do our best.  We should always seek to perform at a level of excellence, however, we err greatly when we make our performance the basis for our salvation—represented by the father’s reception of his Prodigal Son.

Performance and grace are like oil and water.  They just do not mix.  The entire Old Testament is written to show us that it is impossible to please God through our performance.  Paul reminds us

^{Gal. 2     21} I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law,  then Christ died  for nothing.

Even if you could perform the Law of God perfectly—and you can’t—you could never gain salvation by your performance.  In fact, seeking salvation through performance will rob you of the experience of grace.

The Elder Son could not appreciate the salvation of his younger brother because the Elder Son did not understand grace.  He let religious performance rob him of the experience of grace.

2.  He let POSSESSIONS rob him of PEACE (13-14; 3-32)

The father makes a very insightful statement in regard to the possessions of the Elder Son.  Now, remember that the Prodigal Son insisted he receive his portion of the inheritance before the father died.  This was not uncommon in ancient times.  So, right from the very beginning we see how “possessions” or riches lead not to greater happiness and satisfaction, but just the opposite.  Look at vv.

¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered  his estate in foolish living.  ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.

Those words really paint a vivid picture for me:  “Spent everything…
had nothing!”  Repeat that with me.  “He spent everything—had nothing.”  The folly of seeking happiness through riches is a theme woven into the fabric of Holy Writ.  Solomon spoke intensely an intimately about such folly in the Book of Ecclesiastes. 

A person can have all the money in the world and at the end of the day all he has is “all the money in the world.”  All the money in the world certainly cannot buy salvation.  It certainly can’t buy love.  And, all the possessions in the world won’t buy a moments peace.  In fact,  too often just the opposite occurs.  The more possessions one has the less peace one has in life.

The Elder Son had great possessions, but no peace.  The Elder Son had much wealth, but no joy.  Look at what the father says,

³¹ “ ‘Son,’  he said to him, ‘you are always with me,  and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Remember, both sons received their share of the inheritance.  Being the Elder Son he received two-thirds while the younger one third of the capital assets, which apparently were substantial.  The father retained what is called the “usufruct.” Under Roman law the Elder Son who gained title to the property could not dispose of it. 

But what good did all these possessions do the Elder Son?  He had no peace in his soul.  He spent his days improving the holdings of the estate.  His possessions robbed him of his peace.  When everyone else was “celebrating,” he was “calculating.”  Notice verse 30:

But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets

The Elder Son was not only keeping his own books, but was keeping tabs on his brother’s spending.  For the Elder Son, it was all about the “coin.”  He became a prisoner of his possessions as so often happens.

Solomon knew a thing or two about wealth.  This is his conclusion:

¹⁰ The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.

Possessions robbed the Elder Son of his peace and ability to join in the celebration. 

3.  He let PRIDE rob him of LOVE (20; 29)

There is no greater sadness than to live a life in which your love is only big enough to cover yourself.  The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a love story—pure and simple.  The father’s reaction to his returning son is nothing short of amazing, considering the son’s actions.

Nobody was more surprised by this reaction than the Prodigal Son, himself.  He expected to be scolded, scorned and consigned to the life of a hired hand.  Instead, here’s the reception he got:

²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.  He ran, threw his arms around his neck,  and kissed  him.

The father could not contain his love for his son.  Day after day for perhaps a few years the father would go out to the long lane passing through the property, stretching his neck and peeling his eyes to see if maybe this was the day his beloved son would return.  Finally, that day did come.  The Bible says the father was “filled with compassion.”  The word describes a “deep, gut-level love that is uncontainable.”  The father had no harsh words for his son, only a warm embrace. 

The father did not let pride keep him from his son, and the son did not let pride keep him from the father, but the Elder Son let pride rob him of love, and in the course of the matter, rob him from enjoying the great celebration all around him.  The father had ever right to scold the Younger Son for disgracing the family name and squandering family assets.  But, the father did not let pride raise its ugly head.

Likewise, the Younger Son could have let pride keep him working in the pig-sty—the lowest possible job a Jewish boy could get.  He would have to face his father, family and friends.  Reconciliation is never easy, on the part of either party, but it is oh so beautiful. 

Pride turns our whole lives inside out, or actually folds life back onto itself.  Pride locks us into a small room of self-centeredness in which there are no windows—only mirrors. 

It is easy to see the source of the Elder Son’s troubles:

²⁹ But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

Perhaps some editing will make it clearer:  “Look, I. . .and I. . .so I.”

The Elder Son had an “I” problem that robbed him of the opportunity to embrace his brothers turn of fortunes.  Rather than be grateful for his brother’s good fortune, the Elder Son could only reflect upon himself.

Pride robs one of the opportunity to love and be loved by others.  Pride intoxicates itself with “self-love” and there is not enough love left over for anybody else, nor is there an avenue to receive love from anyone else. 

Why was the Elder Son so ungrateful?  Why was the Elder Son incapable of truly entering into the festivities and celebration taking place around him?  Ingratitude robbed him of the opportunity to really enjoy the blessings of life.  His performance robbed him of grace.  His possessions robbed him of peace; and his pride robbed him of love. 

The hymn gives us a necessary reminder of how to maintain a thankful heart:  Count your many blessings name them one by one. A prideful person loses count of his or her blessings.

We must not allow ingratitude to rob us of the opportunity to enjoy the multitude blessings of life.  Even if the only blessing we have to count is:  “well it could be worse!” then I think we have much for which to be thankful.

Remember, the Thanksgiving Story we started with?  I could have titled the story:  “Three-legged Thankfulness,” or perhaps “Gratitude and the Missing Leg.”  Or maybe, “ThankfulLESS.”  Something definitely was missing in the family’s “thankfulness.”  Thankfulness for the pig’s sacrifice ran a bit shallow in the farmer’s family.  I hope and pray that we do not value the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ so cheaply.

Jesus gave His all, so we can have it all—eternal life that is.  The Younger Son in repentance received all he expected and infinitely more.  The Elder Son could not even be thankful for what he had and had nothing more to look forward to.

Let us be truly, deeply thankful, fully thankful and not let ingratitude rob us of the opportunity to enjoy God and His bounty.

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