The Citizen of the Far Country
Luke 15:14-16 KJV And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. [15] And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. [16] And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
I. INTRODUCTION -- “I WISH I HAD TORN IT TO PIECES”
On December 26, 2002, Jack Whittaker’s life changed forever!
Jack had grown up in West Virginia and he knew that it was like to be poor. At the age of 55 all of that had changed. It had changed with a lot of hard work and perseverance. He had managed to scrape himself up out of the ruts of life working in the construction industry. He now owned a company that laid water and sewer pipes in new construction subdivisions. All of the hard work had made him a happy and apparently fulfilled man. His company employed more than 100 people and all those who knew Jack felt that he was a good fellow. He had some quirks and wanted the job done right but as long as it was completed efficiently Jack was easy to deal with.
He was married to a wife of 40 years and had a granddaughter that he doted on. It was overall a good life and from the appearance of things it was about to improve in a major way. On the morning of December 26, 2002, Jack took a little small ticket from his pocket and cashed in. It wasn’t just a little nickel and dime’s worth of winnings but Jack had become the largest winner of Powerball since its inception. His ticket was worth $314 million! A day would come when all the West Virginians would shudder to think of what had happened with Jack’s life but not on the morning of December 26, 2002.
By the time that taxes had taken a cut, Jack come away with less than half of the money which was still quite a payday. Almost $114 million was pocketed. After making rounds on all the morning shows, Jack actually demonstrated an idea that maybe he was level-headed enough to manage all of the wealth that had suddenly been dumped in his lap.
Brenda, who had served him biscuits as a waitress at a small restaurant in town, benefited greatly. Jack bought here a house for $123,000 and then wrote her a check for $44,000. She was dumbfounded and tried to talk him out of it but he would not hear of it. It greatly touched Brenda because she had grown up on welfare and had literally lived from hand-to-mouth her entire life.
It wasn’t long before the problems begin to show up. One night Jack walked into a club that offered all sorts of fleshly fares and dropped $15,000 on the bar and told the bar’s owner that the night was on him. He said that he wanted all to indulge until they couldn’t take any more. So the downfall started at the Pink Pony. It progressed from there to the racetrack and gaming centers and the money got to Jack.
Jewell was trying her best to lead a semblance of the way that life used to be. She continued to go to church and took the Bible “literally” as she says. She greatly disapproved of Jack’s drinking, gambling, and otherwise “horsing around.” Because of her disapproval it was sort of like the stimulus that pulls filings to a magnet, Jack just started trying to ride bigger “horses.”
With this change on the inside, some outward changes soon followed. He once took pride in his appearance, now his clothes were wrinkled and soiled with food and drink and his negligence with a razor gave him the look of a run-down hobo. When he came to the bars, his presence was that of extreme arrogance and belligerence that few really wanted to be around him but because of his Powerball winnings, people felt obligated to put up with his antics.
But the trouble at home escalated. His granddaughter, Brandi, suddenly lost her grandfather but she had huge wads of cash to take his place. It was nothing for her to have $5000 a day to spend. Because she had money, her set of friends also changed because it changed her too. Some predators who sold drugs soon enticed her into smoking marijuana which progressed to crack cocaine and finally to methamphetamines. She was hooked. Before long a kid would die at Jack’s house because of a drug overdose. A combination of oxycodone, methadone, Demerol, and cocaine and the only person who could buy those sorts of drugs was Brandi.
On December 24, 2005, Jack and his-estranged wife, Jewell were sitting at Brandi’s funeral. She died of an overdose a few days before. The music that was played at the funeral was by Nelly, a rapper, who rapped out “Nobody Knows” that contain the lines: Nobody told me nothing that would help me to ease my pain . . . I’ve been searching for something, for someone to help me find my way.
Jack and Jewell are trying to put their lives back together and Jewell now says, “I wish I would have torn the ticket up."
By the way, Jack did give $7 million dollars to split between three churches. One of the churches was a little small church that ran about 50. They sold the old place built a big new one that will seat 500 and it has nearly destroyed the Tabernacle of Praise. Many of the people in town have such disdain for the church that they refuse to go to it simply because of who paid for it. (Gathered from various news agency reports.)
-Now it is too late. That is the way it is with regret. We cannot go back and make the adjustments that will alter the way things turn out! That is why it is so crucial that we seek wisdom.
Proverbs 4:7 KJV Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 16:16 KJV How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
II. THE “FAR COUNTRY”
-The wooing cry of the “far country” that Jack Whittaker heard has been around for a long time. In fact, the story continues to carry on in modern times. . . The story always remains the same, just the characters change places.
-The story of the Prodigal Son is a classic story among stories. It has all of the drama of a best-seller. Basically the story is about a young man who feels that he has outgrown the wholesome restraints that have been placed on him in his home.
-He wants to get away from the influence and love of his father and take a journey into the far country.
-As you read the story, you almost feel the sense of loss that the father has and you the giddy rebellion of the son is almost palpable. Little is known of the elder brother until the return of the prodigal and then he displays his true feelings.
-In all honesty, I have to admit that I have felt the feelings of remorse of all three of the main characters in this story.
• I have felt the profound sense of loss the father had for the son.
• I have felt the foreboding sense of chaos as I knew what was coming for the prodigal.
• I have felt the feelings of failure that embraced the prodigal in the pig-pen.
• I have also felt the same feelings that the elder brother had. (His emotions are nothing more than the feelings that are summoned by the sense of true justice.)
-In a nutshell, this story is about a boy gone bad who hits rock bottom and shatters into a thousand pieces. He comes to his senses and returns back home to the awaiting arms of the father. It is the classic story of every backslider who makes it back.
-I suppose that the pull of the far country woos all of us at times in our lives. Over the years, I have watched the pull of the far country affect a diverging array of people.
• Some young and some old.
• Some who had been in the church for a short period of time and others who had been around for years.
• Some who worshipped and some who did not.
-As time progressed they finally lost their grip and slipped out into the ravaging “far country.”
-The “far” country as the Bible defines it is generally going to be an unsatisfactory place for our soul to live in. It is a place where one lives without God.
-The “far country” is not necessarily a place where the scum of the earth inhabit. Nor is it a place that is inhabited by crack houses and human predators. I am more of the belief that the “far country” is a place in the heart and it is only expressed in the surroundings that we see them.
-People go to the “far country” for different reasons:
• A quest for supposed freedom.
• A pursuit of bitter resentments that accumulate in the heart.
• A boredom with their marriage.
• A longing for some excitement that pulls them from the routine of life.
• A dalliance with deception.
• A strange pull that promises better days and opportunities.
• A hope for a place that is without responsibility.
• A pressing greed for the base things of this world.
• A temptation to be an influence among their worldly peers.
• A lure that promises so much more than the ordinary.
• A chase after an elusive ambition.
• A hunger for success.
• A desire for life to have “meaning.”
• A war with anger that would not abate.
-The geographical location of the “far country” can be a palatial home with manicured lawns and a matching lake. . . . but it can just as well be a barren and ramshackle cabin. The spirit is what really defines the “far country.”
-The “far country” leaves no room for error or adjustment.
Lou Gehrig, the famous baseball player with the New York Yankees, once found himself in a pressure-filled moment during a game. Unwittingly, a New York sportswriter gave a lesson more about life than baseball when he wrote what happened.
Gehrig came to bat in the ninth inning with the winning runs on second and third. He ran the count full to three balls and two strikes. All that he needed to do was get a base hit and the game would be won. The stands were beside themselves with excitement. The opposing team was watching this last pitch anxiously in the dugout. They were very aware of the skill of Lou Gehrig and more times than they cared to remember, he had won the game for the Yankees in situations just like this one.
The pitcher wound up and hurled a heater of a strike across the plate. Lou Gehrig did not even take a swing at the pitch. The ump yelled, “Strike three!” Very slowly, Lou turned to the umpire and said something to him. At this the home crowd of Yankee fans went wild because Lou never argued with the umpire.
The sportswriter all piled over their seats and went straight to the field to find out what Lou had said. They asked the ump what had been said because whatever it was would certainly make the headlines the next morning. The umpire smiled and turned to Lou and told him to tell them what he had said. He looked a little startled as he answered, “I said, ‘Mr. Ump, I would give ten dollars to have that one back.”
The New York sportswriter was so impressed with this that he added to his column that day: There are people all over the world who would give ten dollars or ten thousand dollars to get just one minute back and for the privilege of changing something they said or did in that minute. (Adapted from Ray Angell, Baskets of Silver, pp. 35-36)
-There are no second chances with the “far country” moments of life. There may be some recovery to a certain degree but sin never plays fair and its leavening influence always takes a part of us with it even after restoration.
III. THE “CITIZEN” OF THE FAR COUNTRY
-That is basically the foundation of the story of the Prodigal Son. The area of text that we read is only three verses out of the whole story that is comprised of 22 verses.
-When one reads this story that Jesus told on that day, in actuality, the three verses that I read could be removed and very little of the outcome would be changed. Yet these three verses contain some huge details that add to the danger of the far country.
-The Lord wanted us to get a good look at the misery of the far country’s master. He is the only person that is mentioned in the far country.
A. The “Citizen” of the Far Country
-A father and two sons seem to be the crux of this story.
-But you must look over this passage of Scripture slowly. Do not pass over it too quickly because he looms in the shadows. Most who read the tale of the Prodigal never give him much thought.
-He lingers in the darkness, hiding in the shadows, under the cover of the bushes along the fence row. When he appears he will be nameless and faceless but nonetheless, he will be very destructive.
-He is very seldom recognized, but he is still there. He stands in the crowd anonymously, in the city streets, in the country pastures, in the shopping places among the mall, in the hallways of the school, in the offices of busy commerce, wherever we look, we find him there. He is the walk-on.
-Enter stage right—the citizen of the far country. He is the citizen of Hell. He very well could be one of the commissioners of the “far country” or he might even be the mayor. . . but one thing is for certain. . . . he is full of wickedness. This citizen, this farmer, this contaminant comes into the fallen path of the prodigal.
-He catches him at just the right time. The Bible states that the Prodigal begin to be in want. This is an ominous sign because this citizen was a predator. Want begins when we enter the far country. It only intensifies and becomes more cruel and tormenting as the famine rages on. This “citizen” was aware of this because I am certain that this was not the first prodigal that he had encountered.
-When we make some comparisons and contrasts within the text, we find out more details.
• Only two men are mentioned in the “far country: The Prodigal and the Citizen.
• One is a traveler and the other is a resident.
• The Prodigal suffers in the famine and the Citizen gets stronger in the famine.
• One famine, two very different outcomes: The Prodigal is almost destroyed and the Citizen has pigs that prosper.
• The Prodigal has nothing in his possession but his clothes and the Citizen possesses a farm.
• Two men who both have needs: The Prodigal needs money and the Citizen needs muscle.
• The Citizen would get the Prodigal’s muscle but the Prodigal would never get the Citizen’s money. . . The wages of sin are very steep and demanding and never pay well.
-Who is this “citizen” of the “far country?” He is the devil who always does his best to work with a disguise in a cloak of anonymity.
• He is the wayfaring man who destroyed the poor man’s sheep in Nathan’s parable.
• He usurps authority with a lesser bramble king.
• He has his way in the forbidden charms of the woman whose path is the way to hell.
• He will find his voice among those of the mixed multitude who clamor for the spoils of Egypt (the world).
• He is the spoiler of the summer fruits.
• He is the enemy who sows tares.
• He is the one who scatters the sheep.
• He is the one who empties the vessels.
• He is a dragon who swallows up the nations.
• He is the one who steals strength.
1. Spoiled Peas
When I started my illustrious employment career, I was only fourteen. I worked for Alonzo Jones at the Little Farmer’s Market. It used to be way out in the middle of nowhere twenty-five years ago but as Dothan has grown that area of town has grown into quite a somewhere now.
The Little Farmer’s Market was a small produce stand and gas station. It also, as a fringe benefit, provided a huge oak tree that a lot of farmers would gather up under in the afternoons on those hot July and August days. They would sit out under this tree (’78-’79) and drink RC’s, eat Moon Pies, and tell lies. Some were little and some were big but all in all a lot of lying going on! From fishing to hunting to Bear Bryant stories these gentlemen could tell some tales.
One of the things that I was responsible for was shelling peas with an electric pea sheller. There was one old farmer who would routinely come by and try his best to rip Mr. Jones off. On one such occasion, he came by with the bed of his truck loaded down with probably 10-12 bushels of peas. He told Mr. Jones that he wanted something like $6 a bushel. So Mr. Jones told me to go get the money for him from the cash register and pay him. So we paid and unloaded the bushels of peas and I was to begin shelling them later that afternoon.
It wasn’t too long before the time passed by and I started working on these peas. After shelling about a third of the first bushel, I reached in to get the peas out and immediately pulled my hand back because I had come into contact with some very slimy and spoiled peas. I shifted the bushel a little and discovered that the lower 2/3’s of the bushel was ruined. Furthermore, I looked over in two more bushels and discovered that the top 1/3 was in good condition but the lower 2/3’s were spoiled. So I went and got Mr. Jones to tell him.
He came over and started rustling around in the peas and discovered that the rest of those were spoiled too. He said two or three dirty words and told me to load them up in his truck that he was going to get his pistol. So I loaded the bushels in the back of his old Dodge Ramcharger while he was getting his gun. He told me that he would be back in a little while. Sure enough in a little while (an hour or so) he came back and he had his money but he also had the peas. He told me that he had told the farmer who took us decided to give him his money back and then told him that he could also have the peas and they would call it even.
I ended up shelling about 3 bushels out of the twelve and threw away the rest of them behind an old barn in the back of the store. But as the years have passed by that event has made an impact on me as to what sort of things that people will do in the world.
-The “citizen” of the far country had no more principles than did this farmer who took us back in the ‘70’s. As a matter of fact, this “citizen” does his best to perpetuate himself in all sorts of people these days.
2. A Puritan Quote on the Devil
-This “citizen” of the “far country” is none other than the devil. You must remember always that the “citizen” is only interested in his pigs prospering and all else being destroyed in the process.
Thomas Watson -- Satan does value souls, he knows their worth; he says as the king of Sodom did to Abraham, ‘Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.’ So saith Satan, ‘Give me the persons.’ He cares not how rich you are, he doth not strive to take away your estates, but your souls. Give me the persons, saith he, take you the goods; whence are all his noemata, his warlike stratagems, his subtle snares to catch souls? Why does this lion so roar but for his prey? He envies the soul its happiness, he lays the whole train of temptation to blow up the whole fort-royal of the soul. Why does he lay such suitable baits? He allures the ambitious many with a crown; the covetous man with a golden apple; the sanguine man with beauty. Why does he tempt to Delilah’s lap, but to keep you from Abraham’s bosom? The devil is angling for the precious soul; to undo souls is his pride; he glories in the damnation of souls; it is next to victory to die revenged. If Samson must die, it is some comfort that he shall make more die with him; if Satan, that lion, must be kept in his hellish den, it is all the heaven he expects, to reach forth his paw, and pull others into the den with him. (From Harmless As Doves, p. 110)
-While our highest fear is reserved for God (Proverbs 1:7 -- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . .), I fear that many in this hour do not have a fear of the devil nor of sin, the very enemy of their soul.
B. Feeding the Lesser Beasts of Life
-On this Citizen’s farm, he had some pigs. If you can imagine what it was like in a famine that helps to get the full picture. Famines are usually associated with heat and with drought. You can imagine what it was like to work among the pigs.
-The Prodigal was chained to a task the Citizen would not do.
-I am sure that this was a challenge for the Prodigal to find himself involved in. What also plays out in the story that Jesus told was the incredible irony of the Prodigal working among the pigs.
-The Lord was using this point to further challenge the thoughts of the Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15:1-2). Ultimately the Prodigal would recover from the citizen and the pigs but for now, the Lord was proving that the Prodigal would have to feed the lesser beasts in his life.
-Throughout Scripture, swine was referred to physically and symbolically was a filthy animal.
Leviticus 11:7-8 KJV And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. [8] Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
-They were considered unclean. Other characteristics of swine are portrayed in Scripture in several ways:
• Filthiness and Apostasy -- 2 Peter 2:2
• Wickedness -- Matthew 7:6
• Destruction -- Psalm 80:13
• Idolatry -- Isaiah 65:4
-So now we find the Citizen forcing the Prodigal to feed the “lesser beasts” in his life. As time progresses in the life of every prodigal, he will always end up feeding the “lesser beasts” of life. No friends, no money. . . Advantage, Citizen!
-Let the swine grow and multiply and all the while the Citizen beats down and destroys everything that he can get his hands on.
-He wants the Prodigal to feed the lesser beasts of life.
• Feed the bitterness of an offense committed against you from long ago.
• Feed the anger that tears families apart.
• Feed the jealousy that consumes every waking moment.
• Feed the unforgiving spirit that will not let you rest.
• Feed the pandering lust that fills unclean minds and hearts.
• Feed the rebellion that refuses to hear instruction and wisdom of the Word.
-The longer that you feed these lesser beasts, the hungrier that you get. In fact, you will get so hungry that you will want to eat what you are feeding to the pigs.
-What the Citizen does not want you to know is that payday never comes in the far country.
IV. HOW LONG CAN THIS “CITIZEN” KEEP YOU?
-How long can this “citizen” keep you in this horrible state? The answer to this question is found in Luke 15:17. . . “And when he came to himself.”
-Somewhere in the far recesses of his mind the pain and misery of his situation summoned some thoughts together:
• Old-fashioned prayer meetings that he had once attended.
• The faint songs of the past now begin their melodies in his mind.
• The cry of the preacher now begin to ring in his heart.
• The face of a concerned father appeared.
• Small Sunday School classes that were filled with laughter and learning.
-This world and the devil can only hang on to men as long as they will allow it to!
Romans 6:23 KJV For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Philip Harrelson
April 9, 2007
