We All Have Some Prodigal Son In Us
Luke 15:11-24
I always seem to have some one come to me and ask some of the following questions; How can I be sure God will forgive me? How do I know that God will forget my sins of the past? I have wasted so much time and things God has already given me. I have been too bad for God to forgive. All of us have been too bad for God to forgive us. For the longest time after I knew I had a calling on my life I to preach God’s word I kept saying, “Why me? I’m not worthy.” The first person to say something to me that made sense was my son Andrew when he said, “Why not you daddy?” Then my first home pastor at Lake Wylie Christian Assembly said the one thing that made sense to me, “None of us are.”
My Message today is I think that all of us have a little bit of Prodigal son in us. We ask God for things that we “think” we need, or that we have an actual need for and we either waste it, or use for something else. I think we have all done that some thing like that with our earthly father as well. We end up in a bind and need to get bailed out and we come running back to God for help. The parable I am using today is the story of the prodigal son. Charles Dickens describes it as, “the finest short story ever written.”
This parable symbolizes the moral state of being lost, as well as the moral state of conversion by being found in repentance. I always get a laugh when I hear people say, “I found God.” Or they ask somebody, “Have you found God?” I have news for them, God was never lost.
That reminds me of a story about two little boys (we will call them Billy and Jimmy) that were always in trouble and one day the mother decided to put a little bit of the “fear of God” in them. She took them to a pastor who was very big and tall he also had a very deep and overpowering voice and he decided to speak to them one at a time in a room. The pastor stood over the first little boy and said in a deep voice,” have you found God.” The little guy was scared to death not saying a word. Once again the pastor stood over him and again this time leaning in toward him and said, “Have you found God.” The little boy jumped out of the chair and ran across the room and out the door. As he passed the other boy he screamed, “Run Billy somebody took God and they think we did it.”
In the parable of the prodigal son I want to look at two very important facets. Give and Take. But before I read the text for today I want you to listen to a song about this parable and how God feels about His precious children. Please listen very closely to the words.
Play song When God Ran by Phillips Craig & Dean
Luke 15:11-24 And He said, "A man had two sons. 12 "The younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.´ So he divided his wealth between them. 13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 15 "So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 "But when he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 `I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." 20 "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 "And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.´ 22 "But the father said to his slaves, `Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.´ And they began to celebrate.
Let us pray
I. This story takes in two distinct but vastly different requests “Give Me – Make Me”
A. First let’s look at “Give Me”
1. The son obviously knew the law
a. Deuteronomy 21:17 "But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
b. If there were two sons the older got 2/3 of the inheritance
c. It could be asked for as a “favor” if the father was still alive
d. Although the father had the right to dispose of his riches by “gift”
2. In essence the son “took the money and run”
a. It says he went “into a distant country”
b. Augustine calls it “forgetfulness of God”
c. Paul describes it as being “alienated from the life of God”
3. Al he wanted to do was live a great life and satisfy his “lustful appetite”
a. Sounds a lot like some of us
b. All we wanted to do is have fun and have a good life
4. Jesus said he, “wasted his substance with riotous living.”
a. How many of us have “wasted our substance with riotous living.”
5. He, “Devoured his living with Harlots” “riotous or loose living”
a. I’m not going to go there in church
b. Actually a harlot can be different things; the original
i. The Hebrew zanah -- pronounced: zaw-naw’
ii. figuratively, to commit adultery or idolatry
iii. Idolatry – Worship, idolization, reverence
iv. Putting your wants and desires above God and everything
6. Then came the loss of all he had
a. How many people do you know have nothing left? (Totally alone)
b. There is no one around to share what you don’t have
c. They feel like this is the way life is supposed to be for me; not ture
i. Jeremiah 29:11 `For I know the plans that I have for you,´ declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope
ii. God has a great life planned for each of us
d. He had nothing and nobody
i. Jesus said, “no one was giving anything to him”
ii. Your friends are gone and they have nothing for you
iii. They want no part of you
iv. You are alone
7. The son realized he was about to starve and had to do something
a. He hired himself out and they, “sent him into his fields to feed swine”
b. To a Jew there was no lower place to be (pigs were unclean)
i. He degraded himself to eat the pig’s food
ii. Eating the husks, bean-pods, basically the “garbage”
iii. Some go through the same thing today
iv. We eat from the left-overs and the “garbage” of the world
v. We could be feasting on the riches of our father’s table
c. But as he was about to perish he thought of home (Just like us)
i. Again just like us when we get in a spot we start to repent
ii. We begin to think of how things could be
iii. We begin to think of how things used to be
iv. We think of all the comforts of home; being in father’s house
v. We think of the love of our heavenly father and His protection
vi. We think of the wealth of riches we had (Key word)
d. It says in the KJV, “And when he came to himself”
i. When he came to his senses
ii. When he finally realized how our life could be
iii. When he realized how things used to be (Foolish we are)
iv. When he finally had no where else to go (Sound familiar?)
1. When we are down to nothing God is up to something
2. When you have finally reached the bottom there is no way to go but to look up (Start to worship God)
3. One writer put it this way, “It is a wonderful s stroke of art, to represent the beginning of repentance is the return of sound consciousness.”
4. Repentance begins when you realize how foolish we have been
e. It is at that point Jesus said, “I will get up and go to my father” NASB. In the KJV “I will arise and go to my father.
i. Either way he had to pick himself up (Down for the count)
ii. Either way we have to pick ourselves up
iii. As a child of God we can go back to God for forgiveness
B. The second request the son made was to “Make Me”
1. As he was walking his way back he was preparing his plea, “make me as one of thy hired servants…” In this case he knew he was wrong
a. When we do something wrong we make up “a line”
b. How many times have you made up a story?
i. “My little brother tore up my homework.”
ii. “Officer I did not know the speed limit was….”
iii. “Those drugs aren’t mine!” (They are in your pocket.)
iv. “I was drinking cough syrup.”
v. “I only had one beer.” (Must have been the pint of liquor)
2. In this story obviously the father had been waiting and watching
a. “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him…”
i. Our heavenly Father is just watching and waiting for us
ii. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
iii. He wants so much for us to come to Him for everything
iv. It implies that the father saw the son first
v. Just as God will sees us coming first
b. Jesus said the father, “had compassion, and ran”
i. The father forgot about his age, his dignity, his health
ii. He ran to the hungry, ragged, foot sore dirty son
iii. The only thing that mattered was his son was home
c. “..and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
i. The original implies that the “father covered him with kisses”
1. to kiss with passion (as if breathing hard): KJV -- fierceness, indignation (loved him with a passion)
d. The KJV says, “his father saw him, and had compassion”
i. The original means that, “his vitals moved”
1. His heartbeat rose, His blood pressure rose (adrenalin)
2. The excitement level went way beyond normal
ii. What a glimpse of the love of God
iii. This is a picture of God welcoming a repentant sinner
1. “When He ran to me, He held me to His chest, wiped the tears from my eyes and said My son has come home again. With forgiveness in His voice he said, “Son do you know I still love you?””
2. I can feel the arms of the Father around me now
3. When I stray and get lost and ask for forgiveness
4. His loving arms hold me close and kiss the hurt away
5. He kisses away the past into forgetfulness
6. Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
e. After the degradation, disillusionment, and destitution we feel unworthy
f. We feel no longer worthy of being called His son
g. We feel so worthless and low
h. All the Father wants to hear is the repentance (“I am so sorry”.)
i. Just as in this case this father did not hear the request for servant-hood
j. God only wants to hear the repentance (I’m sorry, forgive me.)
i. The rags were removed and replaced with, “the first robe”, or the “best robe”
ii. Replaced with the robe of righteousness
iii. It means he was reinstated to the original son-ship
iv. Reinstated to our original position and rights as God’s children
k. The signet ring signified the union of hearts with the father
l. The shoes signified restoration to the family – slaves all went barefooted
m. The fatted calf signified the feast of a special joy
n. One commentary describes a 3 spiritual significance like this
i. The robe – The righteousness of Christ
ii. The ring – Token of authority and assurance
iii. The feast – The Lord’s supper
When we get lost it is identical with the son’s departure from his father and being separated from the father in a “far away land”. May times we get lost in a far away land but by the love of the Father we can come back home and are forgiven by coming back home with repentance in our hearts. It is said that each time a sinner comes back home the angels in heaven rejoice. Too many times we seem to think that we can never be forgiven for what we have done. Like I told my son one time before I turned my life over to God, “Son you don’t know where I’ve been. I’ve sinned too much.” But his reply was, “But daddy you don’t know how much God loves you.” Jesus seldom called people sinners; He called them lost. In Matthew 18:11 "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
God knows that we are going to make a mess of things. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t need Him. I don’t know about you, But I NEED HIM! I want to close with the story about what happens when we make a mess of things.
Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.
Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was turning out very bad. He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn’t know how the stove worked.
Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky. And suddenly he saw his Daddy standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure big time punishment was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just looked at him.
Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process. That’s how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our relationships get all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can’t stand our job, or our health goes sour, or we make bad choices.
Sometimes we just stand there in tears because when we can’t think of anything else to do. That’s when God will pick us up and loves on us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others. Sooner or later with God’s help we will get it right.
Let us stand. There is a prodigal child in this church today. I don’t know who it is but there is a prodigal child that God is just waiting for them to come back home. The Holy Spirit is speaking to me and saying, “I se them off in the distance but I can hardly wait for them to come back home.” If that is you, The Father is here at this alter waiting for you to come back home to kiss away your tears and forgive your sins. He is running toward you right now. He just wants you to ask for forgiveness and come back home. If you have mad e a mess of something God will get the mess all over Him to help you get things cleaned up.
