The Lost Son
Introduction:
Over the next several weeks, we are going to use the theme of ABC Television Show, Lost. Some of you have not seen it because you have been here for the last year. So I’ll quickly fill you in.
Lost is about a group of people whose plane crashes on a deserted island. They survive and have to work together. The DVD for the first season is out – so when you go home check it out.
But there is more to Lost than just a remake of Gilligan’s Island. The characters are very well developed so we are going to talk about them over the next few weeks.
Tonight, I want to look at the character Jack. Jack in the first Character you see in the show. He is the Doctor. He is a man of patience and civility. He begins the show as the leader. But he is lost.
Not only is he lost by being on the island, but he is last because of the relationship with his father. A relationship that he was never able too repair. The father son relationship was stained to the point the Jack ran away, separating himself from his father.
Some of us here have similar relationships with our parents things are stained. Some of us left on a bad not, some of us are returning to returning to a bad situation. We can relate to Jack.
Others of us have good relationship with our parents – but something is not quite right. We are some how still in rebellion.
All of us can relate to being in rebellion against our heavenly father.
So today we are going to look at a story that Jesus told describing how our Heavenly Father reacts when we come home.
Read Luke 15:11-24
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16 The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.” ’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.*’
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
Let us Pray.
I Rebellion:
We look at this passage and the first thing we see is a son in rebellion.
Verse 13—
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living.
It was bad enough that he took his share of his inheritance. But he used it on things that his father would not approve of.
We see this later in the story when the other brother is trying to figure out why he can’t have a party.
Verse 30—
30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have.’
So the son rebels completely against the father in leaving home and in the way he acts.
It reminds me of Franklin Graham, the great evangelist Billy Graham’s son. For years, he rebelled against his father and everything his father stood for. He wanted nothing to do with the church or the Gospel. We now know that he accepted Christ and his life was changed as well.
When Franklin Graham rebelled, he will tell you that he was also rebelling against his Heavenly Father.
And all of us fall into the same trap. The trap of rebelling against the heavenly Father.
We rebel against the Father by our sins.
Sin is anything you think, anything you say, or anything you do that makes God unhappy.
That’s a pretty tall order.
Anything or think. God knows our thoughts. He knows our evil intentions.
Jesus says that, “if you lust after a woman you have committed adultery” or “if you hold hatred against another person you are guilty of murder.” (Mathew 5:21-27)
What other sins can we think up?
What about anything we say?
We’ve heard the poem “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Is that true? We all can think of times that we have been hurt by what someone says.
And what about cursing? We hear a lot of it. But is it honoring to God? Mathew 15:19-20 says it isn’t.
And we all know we do thing that make God unhappy.
We are all sinners.
Search your heart, soldier. Are you living in rebellion against you heavenly Father today? How far will you let it go? How long will you stay dirty with the pigs before you come home?
That brings us to the only response to rebellion.
II Repentance
And that response is repentance.
Look at Verse 18
18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
The son looked around at his life and saw how the results completely ruined is life. One day he was living the good life—plenty of money, plenty of friends, plenty of girls—and then one day it was all gone.
It was gone because the friends you buy—whether it is through money, through popularity, or whether it is through drinks and drugs—they will be gone when the assets stop flowing, they are not true friends.
So here he is with nothing. He reaches back into his memory and remembers his Father.
His Father’s servants are well fed.
His Father’s servants have clothes to were.
His Father’s servants have had a shower, and in this part of the world-that’s important.
Why can’t he just go and work for his Father?
The Bible says, he came to his senses.
He is going one direction and he turns. That is what repentance is – turning.
Last week, I overheard some soldiers talking about that controlled blast.
One soldier thought it was a mortar, so she ran to the nearest bunker.
Then ran back to get her IBA.
Then ran back to get her weapon.
Then finally ran back to get her camera.
I’m glad when we run to God, we only have to run once.
But that is repentance this soldier was going one direction.
She heard the blast and ran another direction.
When we repent of our sin we turn from sin toward God.
Turning from the master being ourselves to the master being Christ.
Some of you here this evening are here because church is something you just do. Some of you are here because, “what else do you do in the desert?”
Tonight can be the night where you turn from living for you and living for Jesus.
Then there are some of you here that this is the first time in a long time that you have been in church. You were faithful once and you just kind of faded away.
You can return to the Father and to Christ tonight as well.
That brings me to show you what happens when we do turn and go back to the Father.
III Reception
Look at Verse 22-24
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
That is what happens when the son comes home the Father throws a party. The Father spares no expense in celebrating the return of the son.
I picture a welcome home event that we will see when we return home in a year or so, or even in a couple of weeks for some of you. Wives kissing the soldiers, and soldiers kissing their children. Soldiers hugging fathers and mothers. It is event I’m looking forward to. This will be a celebration honoring people who have done great things for this country.
But here this son doesn’t deserve a great celebration. All that he has done is squandered the money that was given to him. In fact, if you read the rest of the story you will see that the other son questioned the father about the party.
The last son didn’t deserve the party. But the father was so happy to have the son back that out of his love he celebrated.
And that is exactly how it is for us. We deserve is death and hell. But God loves us so much that he throws a party for us – even when we don’t deserve it.
You see God had made it possible for us to come home by sending us his Son.
Through Jesus our sin is paid for. And when we repent and return and return to the Father – He sees us as pure and welcomes us. And all the angels celebrate.
Rebellion, Repent, Reception
Today is a day when you can come and return to Christ. I will be here after the service, other chaplains will be her as well I ask you to find us and tell us you want to come home.
Let us Pray.
