John Newton was once known only for his occupation: captain of a slave-trading vessel. He made many trips between Africa and the U.S. with slaves in the belly (below deck) of the ship, which was bad enough, but when storms would arise or a government vessel could be seen approaching from a distance, in order to lessen the weight of the vessel or to avoid incrimating proof of slave trading, Newton would have the slaves thrown off the ship to drown in the water. But, after an especially bad storm got his attention to the point he barely escaped with his own life, he began considering getting right with his maker. Some years after that event he did indeed give his heart and life to Christ, and put his story into song lyrics. Today John Newton is known more for the song than his earlier profession...Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
In the early 70’s Charles Colson was known as the feared "hatchet man" for President Nixon. Colson even described himself as a man "incapable of a humanitarian thought," admitted to being guilty of numerous political "dirty tricks" and was "willing to do almost anything for his President and his party." In 1973 however, he had a personal encounter with God, and gave his heart and life over to Jesus. When news of his conversion leaked to the press, the Boston Globe reported, "If Mr. Colson cn repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody." After serving time in prison for his Watergate-related crimes, Chuck Colson established Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1976, and that ministry has expanded even beyond the U.S. to minister to inmates around the world...to men and women who have committed notorious sins, but for whom God’s love is still reaching, and available.
John Newton & Chuck Colson represent multitudes around us who have discovered God’s amazing grace and forgiveness.
However, today our focus shifts to one of the best-known stories in all the Bible...a story about another sinner (like us all) and his experience with God’s grace.
I invite you to open a Bible and turn to Luke, chapter eleven.
As we’ve discussed earlier in this series of Pursuing Meaning, looking at the lessons to be applied from the Parables of Jesus, a parable is an earthly story with a spiritual meaning. It’s an illustration, a way of looking at a truth in a round-about manner.
There are 3 primary characters in this story: the young man who leaves, the father he leaves, and the older brother who stays home.
There are 3 chapters in the story: the son leaves, the son messes up, the son returns.
So, there are many ways to approach the subject of this parable, but I want to do so today by looking at...
LESSONS FROM THREE AREAS:
1) THE SCOPE OF SIN.
---ILL> Susana Wesley defined "sin" to her young son, John Wesley, by saying: "Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things, that, to you, is sin."
---Sin in its simplest terms is disobeying God, doing that which displeases God.
---In the story before us today, there are some lessons we can learn about the overall scope of sin...
--a) SIN IS SELFISH IN ITS ESSENCE.
----*v.12 -- "The younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’"
---There are a number of sins going on in this story: impatience, ingratitude, disrespect of elders, greed, gluttony, immorality, impurity, etc.
---However, every one of them has one common ingredient: selfishness.
---It can be a sin of commission, something we do: stealing, lying, sexual immorality, gluttony, boasting, cruelty, causing discord, or placing our priorities on something other than the Lord.
---Or it can be a sin of omission, not doing something we should do: not tithing, not witnessing, not honoring our parents, not being faithful in worship attendance or studying God’s Word, not using our spiritual gifts to serve Him, not taking care of our bodies, etc.
---In the end, all sin comes down to selfishness...where we’ve chosen to place self above God’s will for our lives.
---It would be nice if we would always heed the Bible’s warnings of the consequences to sin, but many times we don’t.
----ILL>I’m reminded of the "No Trespassing" sign in West Texas that a rancher had signed his name to in blood at the bottom of the sign. The message of the sign was a pretty clear warning: "STOP. I know you’re thinking about crossing this gate. What you should know is that if the coyotes, cactus, mesquite, dust, or rattlers don’t get you, I will."
--b) SIN IS PLEASURABLE FOR A SEASON.
----*v13 -- "...he squandered his estate with loose living."
---Let’s face it, the reason why people do drugs is because it feels good for awhile. The reason why people have affairs is because it’s momentarily exciting and pleasurable.
---If sin wasn’t "fun," wasn’t pleasurable, it wouldn’t be a problem for us...but it IS pleasurable.
----ILL>Erk Russell, football coach at Georgia Southern, tried to get his players to reject the "deadly pleasure" of drugs. He arranged for a couple of good ol’ country boys to burst into a routine team meeting and throw a writhing, hissing, 6-foot long rattlesnake onto a table in front of the squad. Everyone screamed and scattered, then Russell told them, "When cocaine comes into a room, you’re not nearly as apt to leave as when a rattlesnake comes in, but they’ll both kill you."
---The young son had a great time...for a season, but then the season ran out.
--c) SIN LEADS TO DESTRUCTION.
----*v15 -- "...he...attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."
---Pretty soon, the "hook" of the drugs, the guilt of the affair, the poverty from gambling, etc., sets in.
---Sin always brings us down, never lifts us up.
---Three facts to remember about sin, each clearly seen this story are...
----1) Sin will always cost you more than you ever think it will.
------*v14 -- "Now when he had spent everything..."
------Th Prodigal never imagined being BROKE...his image was of "living it up" as a wealthy young man.
----2) Sin will always take you further than you ever thought you’d go.
------*v15 -- "...he went and attached himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."
----*The young man’s sin took him father into bondage than he had ever experienced.
------He had taken pride in being free of any submission to the authority of his father, but now he was "attached" to another authority...one that didn’t have his best interests at heart at all.
----*The young man’s sin took him farther into degradation than he could have imagined.
------This was a Jewish young man, one who probably never imagined himself spending time around pork, but now he was around the swine everyday...and longing to be fed as well as they were.
----*The young man’s sin took him farther into desparation that he had ever experienced.
------v.16 -- "...he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine was eating, and no one was giving him anything."
-----Bad enough to have to be around swine, he was now desperately seeking to eat what the swine were eating...but no one was helping him even with that! He had reached rock bottom...just like sin does to us.
----3) Sin will keep you longer than you ever thought you’d stay.
------*v17 -- "...he said, ’...I’m dying here with hunger!’"
------You don’t die of hunger overnight.
------How long do you suppose the lad was in that swine pen? It’s clearly longer than he ever wanted to be there.
--d) SIN WEARS MANY FACES.
----*v28 -- "But (th older brother) became angry, and was not willing to go in..."
----Most of the emphasis in this story is placed upon the prodigal, and his coming home to the father, and that’s a good lesson to learn from. It’s truly a beautiful picture of God’s grace.
----However, the focus must also include the older brother.
----Just as the father in the story represents our heavenly Father, and just as the prodigal represents any sinner who genuinely repents and comes back to the father, likewise the older son represents so-called "believers" who are judgmental or think they’re somehow better than other people.
----It’s a mistake to "play down" the older son’s actions, his sin of judging, of unforgiveness, of snobbyness, of being "holier than thou," of being envious or resentful, of being not compassionate, of not rejoicing over a sinner who repents. We might not like it, but sin wears a "smug" face too often. From God’s perspective, and what should be ours too, sin is sin. Rolling in the pig sty is one thing, self-righteousness in the pew is just as bad.
2) THE STEPS TO FORGIVENESS…
---ILL>A Sunday School teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. So she asked her class, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?" There was a short pause, and then from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up, and said, "Sin."
---We can’t argue with that logic, but assuming sin has taken place, here is what the Bible says is required in order for forgiveness to take place:
---a) Recognition / Realization.
-----*v17 -- "...but when he came to his senses..."
-----*v18 -- "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;"
-----There must be a sincere, honest, admission of guilt. It involves an accurate and non-rationalizing summation, a confession if you will, owning up to what you did, and acknowledging / realizing that what you did was against God, and grieved God.
-----Not rationalizing (Well, others are doing it;...well, it’s not as bad as so and so;...I’ve been good for so long;...well, we’re consenting adults so nobody’s real hurt)
-----No, there needs to be a "came to his senses" moment...a "come to Jesus" realization and admission that what was done was a sin.
------>ILL: Someone has aptly pointed out: Man calls an accident, God calls an abomination; man calls it a defect, God calls it a disease; man calls it an error, God calls it enmity; man calls it liberty, God calls it lawlessness; man calls it merely a trifle, while God calls it a tragedy; man calls it a mistake, God calls it madness; man calls it a weakness, God calls it willfulness.
---b) Remorse.
-----*v18 -- "I am no longer worthy to be called your son;"
-----There needs to be genuine, godly sorrow for what you did...not just sorry for getting caught, but that you ever did it at all!
-----There must be an agony inside that you sinned against God, you hurt God’s feelings, you disappointed the One who loves you the most.
------*Quote: W. S. Plumer, in "The Pursuit of Holiness," writes: "We never see sin aright until we see it as against God. All sin is against God in this sense. It his His law that is broken, His authority that is despised, His government that is set at naught. Pharaoah and Balaam, King Saul and Judas each said, ’I have sinned,’ (meaning they were sorry they got caught), but the returning prodigal said, ’I have sinned against heaven and before thee,’ and David said, ’Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned.’
-----There will be sorrow that our actions hurt others, but the greatest sorrow of all will be that we hurt God.
---c) Repentance.
-----*v.20 -- "So he got up and came to his father."
-----There must be a loathing for our sinfulness, not making excuses or trivializing it.
-----But there must also be a leaving.
-------We must leave our sinful activity, do a complete turn around, leaving the whole environment behind, and turning TO God.
-----There must be a returning to God, coming back to where we know we’re supposed to be, coming back to a right relationship with God.
-----We must be willing to forever trade our sorrows for his joy, our sinful activities and associations for his purity and righteousness.
-----There must be "no turning back, no turning back" to our old way of living ever again, leaving the camp of sin, and coming home to the love of God.
3) THE SPAN OF GRACE
----*v20 -- "...his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him."
Two lessons the prodigal learned, and lessons we need to learn today about God’s grace:
--a) There is no sin to great for God’s forgiveness.
-----Other than the "unpardonable sin" of forever rejecting God’s drawing us to Himself, never accepting Christ as Savior, nothing is too bad to be forgiven by God.
-----That’s why it’s called amazing grace. That’s what the Bible means when it tells us that where sin abounds, God’s grace much more abounds.
-----That’s what Romans 8:1 means when it tells us "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are Christ."
--b) When God restores, He restores us completely...covering every area of our lives.
---The father in this story represents our heavenly Father’s response to our pleas for forgiveness, demonstrating by our confession and repentance.
---Get the picture: the prodigal has trashed his father’s name and reputation, has spent his entire inheritance on things the father did not approve of, stunk from being with pigs, showed up barefoot, had hocked the ring the father had given him before, was dirty and smelly, broken and desperate, and arrived starving and without hope for a future except in his father’s kindness.
---The father could have responded with an "I told you so," he could have punished the son, could have held the son up for ridicule, etc.
---But, notice what the father DID:
----a) He responded to his son with compassion.
------1) He saw him from a distance.
---------It wasn’t an accident the father saw him from a great distance away. The son had been on his heart, he was looking for the son. He had probably been looking for him every day for a long time, hoping to see him, waiting to welcome him.
------2) He ran to him.
---------This is the only occurrence in the Bible of God running or being in a hurry. He is urgent about the business of providing us forgiveness, of restoring us after we’ve sinned.
------3) He embraced him.
---------In all of the son’s stink and dirtiness, the father through his arms around the son, and embraced him...just as he was. He wasn’t going to wait until the son had cleaned up. He was going to welcome the son, stink and all, and take care of the cleansing later.
------4) He kissed him.
---------Lest anyone misunderstand or misconstrue the father’s hug as being simply a stumble of foot or somehow an error on the father’s part, the father went even further and kissed his son. He showed affection, not anger. He showed compassion, not judgment. He showed tenderness, not retribution.
------5) He listened to him.
---------No one had paid the son any attention for some time. The son needed to get some things off his chest. He needed to recite the speech he had planned along the way. He needed to openly confess his sin. The father knew it was important for the son to be heard, so he listened. The father wouldn’t have had to, he could see it in the son’s eyes, see it in the humiliation and desperation of coming home, but he let the son have the opportunity to work through the catharsis of speaking...as much as anything else, he needed someone to hear what he was thinking, and understand.
----b) He restored his son in every way.
------1) He put a robe on him...and restored his purity.
--------We’re told in Scripture that God has now clothed us in a robe of righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus, the Lamb without blemish. We’re declared pure, sinless, clean.
------2) He put a ring on his finger...and restored his authority and position in the family.
--------Servants didn’t wear the master’s ring, only a son could do that...a son who would carry with him the blessing and authority of the father to engage in financial transactions or binding matters, as a representative or "ambassador" of the father.
------3) He put sandals on his feet...and restored his dignity.
--------In Jewish culture it is shameful thing for a man to be shoeless, barefoot. Never was a man of any worth to be seen in public without his shoes unless someone was washing his feet temporarily, honoring him in doing so. But here the son was barefoot, in need of his dignity being restored, and the father took care of that too.
------4) He put food in his stomach...and restored his satisfaction, met his need.
--------Note: the fatted calf didn’t get fat overnight. It means the father had been preparing for this day for some time. He had been fattening up a calf for the celebration. He had gone ahead and prepared for the day of rejoicing.
------5) He brought him inside...and restored his intimacy with the father.
---------His son had spent his days and nights in a pig pen, but now was coming into the parlor.
------6) He celebrated with him...and restored his joy.
--------The Bible tells us there is much rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.
--------The son came from the pigs to a party.
BRINGING IT HOME...
What about you today?
<> Are you off in a distant land, far away from a close relationship with your heavenly Father?
---Are you engaged in sin? Are you hurting as a result of it? Are you bound up in it? Are you living your life as though you were imbedded with pigs? Rolling around in a pig sty, and ready to leave it?
---I urge you today...realize and admit your sinfulness; recognize that your sin is breaking God’s heart, and hurting you too; and return...come home.
<>Is there someone you need to forgive today? Has someone come to you and ask forgiveness as the prodigal did? Have you shown compassion and forgiven them?
---If not, I urge you to extend the same grace God has afforded you to the person requesting forgiveness of you. It is sin on its own to not forgive them. It can be a time of bondage for you to not release them. It can also be a wonderful time of restoration and joy for you as well as the person requesting forgiveness.
<>Finally, are you feeling "self-righteous" toward someone, feeling as if you’re better than they are? Or, are you resenting the fact that someone else has been forgiven and restored, rather than condemned and punished in some way?
---Then you are the one bound up today. You are the lesser of the two individuals, and you need to confess your own sin of judgmentalism and ask God’s forgiveness.
---The older brother missed the celebration entirely. What a shame. But notice too, the celebration wen on without him. It was his loss.
Join th Party.
--The lyrics of the old hymn are well demonstrated in the story we’ve looked at, and as true today as when they were first written:
"Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling; calling for you and for me. See, on the portals, He’s waiting and watching; watching for you and for me. Come home. Come home. Ye who are weary, come home. Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling; calling, O sinner, come home....O, for the wonderful love He has promised! Promised for you and for me. Tho we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon; pardon for you and for me. Come home. Come home. Ye are weary, come home. Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling...calling, O sinner, come home.
Come and join the party around God’s forgiveness today.
