Scripture: Luke 15:11-32; Psalms 32; Joshua 5:9-12
Theme: Forgiveness
Proposition: In Jesus' Parable of the Loving Father we see 1. The love of forgiveness and 2. The joy of forgiveness
INTRO:
I had the privilege of growing up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky in a little town called Beattyville, Kentucky. It was made up of hard working and loving people. I had the joy of attending a school full of some amazing teachers. One of those teachers was a lady by the name of Ms. Gladys Oliver. Every day she would do her best to teach her students the fundamentals of English, Science, History and Math. We all learned a great deal under her care and leadership.
Ms. Oliver not only taught us those fundamentals, she made sure every week that we would do some extra circular activities. At times all of us would go outside and play a game of kickball or softball. She would join in and that made the games extra special. At other times we would do a class art project or we would take some time and sing some songs or listen to music. Ms. Oliver had this wonderful gift of being able to teach in a way that it was always a joy to go to her class.
Friday afternoons in her class were the best. During the last hour each Friday our whole class would all come together and clean up our room. I know that doesn't sound like a lot of fun but she was able to make cleaning a lot of fun. We would push all the desks to one side and sweep and clean the floor. We would clean up any of the clutter that had accumulated throughout the week. We would straighten all the books on the shelves and make sure our desks were clean and tidy. Then Ms. Oliver would then appoint a few of us to do what we children thought were the greatest jobs of all
1. One job was to take the chalk board erasers outside and get all of dust out of them. You would have to hit them against a wall until all the dust was gone out of the erasers. It was a lot of fun to hit those erasers against the wall and watch all that dust fly.
2. The second greatest job was to wash and clean the green boards ( our blackboards were green). First you would have to erase all the writing that was on the green board. Then you would pick up all the chalk that was lying in the little chalk board trough. Then it would be time to get a rag and a pan of warm water and begin to wash down the green board. The goal was to have the board look like new for the next week. Sometimes it would take washing that board two or three times but each week when we got through it looked brand new - or at least it looked brand new to us.
We all felt good when we got finished. Our room was straightened up, the floor and walls were clean and the green board was all shiny again. Everything that had been put on that board that week was now gone. Everything was all new again. It all felt good and we were proud of our work.
This morning, that is very similar to what the LORD does for us when we accept His gift of forgiveness. It's like the LORD takes this great big wash cloth and fills a pan full of living water and washes away all of our sins. The Lord removes all the sin and guilt that has been written on our life's black boards. When the Lord is through we are all clean and shiny so to speak. We are forgiven inside and out.
This morning, I would like to share a message that centers on God's gift of forgiveness. In all of our readings this morning, we see that forgiveness is the central underlying theme. This is very true as we look again at the Parable of the Loving Father that we find in Luke chapter 15.
Most of us may know that story by other name - the Parable of the Prodigal Son or perhaps even the Parable of the Elder Brother. When some people teach or preach on Luke 15 the focus tends to be more on the sins committed by the sons than on the forgiveness that is given by the Loving Father. It is true that both boys do sin - one of course sinned by living a life of what the Bible calls "riotous living" while the other sins against his father by being inhospitable and unforgiving.
This morning, though, I don't want us to focus on their individual sins as much as to focus on the love and joy of forgiveness that we find in Jesus' Parable. Now, that is not to make light of their sins or to quickly dismiss those sins. Each son grieved his father by their inappropriate attitudes and actions. Both are guilty of sin and are thereby under the penalty and power of sin. Both sons need to repent and accept their father's forgiveness.
All too often though, it is so easy for us to focus on the negatives that we find in this story; on the sin(s) that each son commits that we fail to appreciate the majesty and beauty of forgiveness that Jesus wants us to see and experience. We need to see more than just the black background. We need to see the diamond of forgiveness that is lying right there in the middle. For it is the diamond of forgiveness that I would like for us to look at this morning. I believe that Jesus wants to teach us:
1. Forgiveness is born out of a heart of love and
2. Forgiveness always brings a Celebration of Joy
I. Jesus wants us to understand that forgiveness is born out of a heart of love
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt love and ran and embraced him and kissed him." - Luke 15:20
"I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." - Psalm 32:5b.
We humans have a few problems when it comes to radical forgiveness. We deeply appreciate it when we have been forgiven. In fact, we rather like it when we feel that others have forgiven us. The problem usually arises when someone is seeking our forgiveness. We want to forgive them but at the same time we want to make sure that it is all balanced. That alongside forgiveness there is also some penance, justice and righteousness. We want to be forgiving people but we don't want to quickly let people off the hook. After all they did hurt us and they need to be aware of that fact.
We want to be compassionate and forgiving but we are a little afraid that if we are too forgiving we will continually be taken advantage. And so, we set up parameters. We will forgive but we also expect to see some life changes. We will forgive but we also want to put in some security measures of accountability. We don't want to waste our time forgiving someone if in the end they are just going to continue to do wrong. We don't want to forgive someone if they haven't quite earned it.
The truth is we humans do not possess the full capacity to forgive like our Heavenly Father is able to forgive. I believe the Bible tells us that the reason is rather simple. It all comes down to where all forgiveness is born and that is in a heart of love.
We humans don't naturally have the measure of love we need to be able to forgive ourselves or others completely. It is beyond our fallen nature. We don't 100% trust ourselves and we sure don't 100% trust other people. We want to forgive but more often than not our forgiveness comes with provisions, parameters and steps for accountability. Again, we want to forgive but we also want to make sure not one takes advantage of us. At times we are more worried about someone taking advantage of us than we are of granting someone forgiveness. Sadly, at times we like to play God when it comes to forgiveness but unlike God we do not have a heart full of love.
Let's look at what Jesus shares with us here in Luke 15. The forgiveness that Jesus speaks of in this chapter is divine, it is supernatural and it is complete. It is a love that can only come from a heart of holy love. It is a love that can only come from a heart that has been filled with the Spirit of the LORD.
The story tells us that the younger son wanted his inheritance before his father had even died. By asking for it in this fashion, he is insulting and dishonoring his father. He is in fact wanting to treat his father as if he was already dead. In Jewish culture there could not have been any more of a grievous sin than to wish a parent dead so that you could profit from their death.
The young man then takes what his father had sweated and scrapped for and he throws it away on what the Living Bible calls "prostitutes and parties". In a matter of weeks and months the young man has foolishly thrown away a life time of hard earned savings. He is left without anything and finds himself taking care of pigs and pretty much living a pig life. Not a great place for a prized son to end up.
In verse 17, the young man begins to walk the road of repentance. He is fully aware of where his life of sin has put him. He knows that he has messed up his life and foolishly thrown away his future. He makes up his mind to go and ask his father for forgiveness. In his own heart, mind and soul, however, this younger son doesn't believe that he deserves his father's complete forgiveness. He can't even see his father completely forgiving him. It is beyond his mindset. At best he hopes that his dad will forgive him enough to take him on as a hired hand. At least that way he can have some food, shelter and clothing. That is the gist of what we read about in verses 17 - 19. The young man is simply hoping for some type of partial forgiveness.
Jesus surprises all of his readers as he continues his story. He tells them something I am sure many of them could not fathom. Jesus tells them and us that the father completely forgave his wayward son. Jesus shares that the young man's father not only forgave him, but he also welcomed him home and restored him to his former position as a cherished son. The young man was not taken back as a hired hand, he is redeemed and restored. He is alive and he is home.
How is this father able to do this? Why did the father do this? Is he crazy? Didn't the young man just wish him dead and then spend all of his money foolishly? We can sort of understand the father allowing the young boy to come back home but shouldn't there be a time of penance and parole at least? Shouldn't he have to earn his way back into the fold? Is this just asking for more trouble down the road?
The key to the whole passage can be found in verse 20 where we read of the Father's love. It is from the Father's immense and holy love that he can so completely forgive his son. Forgiveness can only come from a heart of love and who has a bigger heart of love than God Himself. That is one of the lessons Jesus wants to teach us in this parable. He wants us to understand the depth and the width of God's holy love.
In Psalm 32, David writes his song using three of the strongest Hebrews he knew to describe the sin(s) that the Lord graciously forgives. He uses the words:
+Pesha which describes the sins that are premeditated. Sins that are a result of open and deliberate rebellion against the LORD.
+Chattath which describes the sinful actions we do in going off the right path. These are the sins that we commit when we stray away from experiencing a close relationship with the LORD.
+'Awon which means living and acting as if God doesn't exist or matter in the first place. These are the sins that we commit when that we choose to do things without acknowledging God's sovereignty or lordship in our lives. When we decide that no matter what God says or thinks we are still going to do them any way.
David then praises the LORD for His heart of complete and holy forgiveness. In essence David is singing to God a praise for God being able to forgive a man of every type of sin David thought possible. David is singing a praise to the LORD for having a heart of love that can reach down and totally and completely forgive a person. David knows what it means to commit all of those sins and he praises God for forgiving him.
This morning we need to understand the depth of God's love for all of us. There is no sin(s) that God will not forgive if we will only confess them to Him. I believe if the Devil Himself would have asked God for forgiveness then he would have been forgiven, redeemed and restored.
While we may have trouble with the whole concept of forgiveness we need to understand that God does not suffer from our limited minds or hearts. Our God is able to forgive even as the loving father in our parable is able to forgive and bring his son back into his life. Our God is able to forgive anything and because of that we should always understand this morning that we can bring anything and everything to the LORD. We never need to hide our sins but bring them to our loving Heavenly Father.
Just like that green board in my 3rd grade classroom years ago that we were able to wash away anything that had been written on it - God can wash away all of our sins this morning. That is the message I believe that the LORD wants us to receive from this passage and share with the world around us.
So, often we attribute to the LORD all the things that we humans can do. If we can do this or that we know God can do this or that. When we can't forgive or can't forget we tend to think that God cannot forgive or forget certain things. However, we must always remember that we are not God and God is not like us. God is able and loves to forgive humanity. God does want to forgive the vilest offenders and God wants to forgive the deepest of sins.
God in not limited in His ability to forgive, to redeem and restore. Where we may struggle to forgive someone who has hurt us, hurt our family or has done something grievous against us, God is able to forgive them and us. The elder brother felt slighted, he felt like his father was letting his little brother off the hook. He felt like his little brother should have to paid some kind of price. He felt that way because he simply did not love his brother in the same way the father did.
This morning, rejoice in the fact that God loves you so much that He will and has forgiven you of everything. It's not a matter of if the LORD will forgive us, it is a matter of if we will come to him with our sins. Repentance always will lead to forgiveness. The only reason some people are not forgiven is they have never asked for forgiveness.
Rejoice in the reality that out of God's holy love all of us can live being forgiven. We can all have our blackboards washed by the blood of Jesus. Rejoice and share that message with everyone you meet.
II. Jesus also shares with us the Joy that Forgiveness brings
"Blessed is the one who sins is forgiven, whose sin is covered." - Psalm 32:1
"Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. An bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate." - Luke 15:22 - 23
Think about it this morning, doesn't it feel wonderful when we experience forgiveness? When you and your spouse have had an argument and the one who started it is able to say, "You know, I was wrong. I'm so sorry"—isn't there a feeling in the heart that is especially wonderful? Isn't there a feeling of freedom and joy that fills the air? Isn't it a time of celebration.
When children are disobedient and they finally admit it, doesn't it feel great when their parents tell them that they are forgiven? When they join together in a hug and everyone knows that the all tension and anxiety has dissipated. When all is right. It's a time to celebrate.
When friends argue, doesn't it feel terrific to regain the lost friendship and say, "All is forgotten"? Everyone is back on the right page with one another and there is a feeling of joy in the air. It's a time to celebrate.
Forgiveness starts with love and ends with joy. Forgiveness is the greatest gift that we can receive and the greatest gift that we can give. Forgiveness is supernatural and it leads to supernatural joy.
One of the greatest examples of forgiveness that I know comes from the life of a lady that suffered during WW II. Her name is Corrie ten Boom. In her book Tramp for the Lord she shares the following story that deals with forgiveness:
"It was in a church in Munich that I saw him—a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear.
It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.
It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. “When we confess our sins,” I said, “God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever…”
The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947.
People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.
And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!
Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!"
And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?
But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying, “I was a guard there.” No, he did not remember me.
“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,”—again the hand came out—“will you forgive me?”
And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us.
“If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.
And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too.
Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
“… Help!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then…
But even so, I realized it was not my love. I tried and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Romans 5:5… “because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.”1
I can't image how difficult that must have been for Corrie Ten Boom. But I also know the joy that she was able to experience as a result of God's forgiveness and her forgiveness. I wonder this morning, how many families, friends and even churches that have been destroyed because they chose not to forgive out of love or celebrate the joy that comes with forgiveness. I have a feeling that over the years that has been thousands if not millions.
Again, Jesus leave us with a parable open-ended. We don't know if the older brother repented and shared in the family's joy and celebration. We don't know if he continued to be inhospitable and unforgiving. Jesus doesn't finish the story. He allows us to create our own ending.
I would like to think that the elder brother came to his senses, repented and joined in all the celebration. I would like to think that he opened up his heart of love and forgave his younger brother. I would like to think that then the party went to the next level of love, forgiveness and joy. But I don't know. Jesus doesn't tell us. He doesn't tell us because he wants us to enter into the story.
He wants us to understand that in Him we can have the love of the Father. He want us to understand that God can help us love just like He loves. He wants us to understand like the younger son we can have all of our sins forgiven. He wants us to understand that like the elder son we are invited to join in the party of forgiveness and joy.
This morning as we close let us allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us.
+This morning, have you personally experienced the fullness of God's love in forgiveness - have you allowed Jesus to forgive you of all your sins - in your heart do you feel the full joy of salvation, redemption and renewal? If you do - then rejoice. If not, the LORD is here today to wash away any sin you have committed. The Lord is here today to forgive you and bring you into His loving family.
+This morning, would you like to experience the same joy that the Father experienced as He forgave His son? Is there someone in your life that you need to forgive. Is there someone that has harmed you, hurt you or your family and you still have not forgiven them?
It's not fair, it's not what others would tell you to do - but it is what the Holy Spirit wants you to do. The late Dr. Lewis Smedes, a great teacher at Fuller Seminary wrote this about forgiveness - “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” When we forgive we experience God's love and we experience God's joy.
Is there something that is holding you prisoner - a word, a slander, an argument, a disagreement that you had with someone years ago that you have been holding on to and that has caused you great pain and suffering?
This morning, its time you were able to let that go and be free and rejoice in God's forgiveness and love. You can't do it on your own, but in Jesus - you can forgive and receive the joy that comes with forgiveness. As we sing this morning come down to the altar and leave that hurt here with the LORD. He will take that hurt and He will give you a joy unspeakable. Listen to the Holy Spirit as we sing our closing hymns:
Contemporary song - Amazing Grace (My Chains are gone) Tomlin/Newton/Giglio
Traditional - There is a wideness in God's Mercy or Jesus Paid it All
1 http://www.epm.org/blog/2015/Nov/16/joy-forgiveness
