Luke chapter 15, verse 11. It's a pretty popular
story. Some of you may have heard it before.
If you hadn't, that's okay. It's a great, great
story. Jesus tells a parable here of a man whose
son went astray. And I know what some of you
are saying. Some of you are saying, well, you
just preached this passage. Not too long ago,
and you are correct, but we're going to look
at it again today. I felt like this was what
we needed to look at today, and so we're just
going to refresh ourselves with it, even if we
did just look at it recently. Luke chapter 15,
verse 11 is where we will start today. Let's
pray, and then we'll jump in. God, we come to
you. We thank you for your good word, dear Lord.
We thank you for loving us. We thank you for
the truth that's in this passage, God, that sometimes
we just blow it, dear Lord. Sometimes we sin
so greatly against you and against others. But
dear Lord, I pray that we would know today that
you love us, that if we are that one who has
gone astray in our foolishness and our sinfulness,
dear Lord, that we'd know you wait for us to
come home. So I pray. That you just bless the
reading of your word, and I ask these things
in Jesus' name. Amen. Luke chapter 15, verse
11. Jesus had just told a couple of other parables
before this, and this kind of follows in line
with the theme of that which is lost being found.
And he also said in verse 11, a man had two sons.
The younger of them said to his father, Father,
give me the share of the assets I have coming
to me. So he distributed the assets to him. Not
many days later, the younger son gathered together
all he had and traveled to a distant country
where he squandered his estate in foolish living.
After he had spent everything, a severe famine
struck that country and he had nothing. Then
he went to work for one of the citizens of that
country, who sent him into the fields to feed
his pigs. He longed to eat his field from the
carapods the pigs were eating, but no one would
give him any. When he came to his senses, he
said, How many of my father's hired hands have
more than enough food? And here I am, dying of
hunger. I'll get up. Go to my father and say
to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me like one of your hired
hands. So he got up and went to his father. While
the son was still a long way off, his father
saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran
through his arms around his neck and kissed him.
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. The father told his slaves,
Quick, bring out the best robe and put it on
him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter
it. And let's celebrate with a feast. Because
the son of mine was dead and is alive again.
He was lost and is found. So they began. To celebrate.
Now this is a popular passage in a well -known
parable of Jesus. And rightfully so. I believe
it's a parable that every one of us can connect
with. Now the setting is very simple for us to
understand what's going on. There's a father
who has two sons and all is well. The father
has raised the sons. The father has provided
for the sons. Everything that the Father has
will be the Son's, and everything is established
for them. They're in a place of safety and security,
and all their provisions are met. So there's
really no need for the Son to leave. Why would
the Son want to leave the presence of the Father?
Because the Son has the same problem that many
of us have, and that is the grass is always greener
on the other side of the fence. where we are
that doesn't look as good as where we want to
be i don't i don't know what what what that is
in us we just think that there's got to be something
better there's got to be something better and
we never stop to think that that maybe we're
in a good place sometimes we think the grass
on the other side of the fence is greener and
sometimes we find out it's the same grass we've
been eating or maybe even not as good and so
the son had grew up in the father's house and
And you guys get this because you were all teenagers
once. And, you know, your parents have rules
and they have ways they like to do things. And
you say, I don't want to follow these rules.
And they say, it's my roof, my rules. And they
say, it's time to find a new roof. You've had
this conversation with your parents probably,
something similar to that. And if you've got
young kids and I've got bad news for you, you're
going to have that conversation with them. And,
like, there's something about. even if we're
teenagers and maybe even adults, that we think,
I want to go out and do it my way. And the son
here didn't even really work to do it his way.
He just said, Dad, give me some money. I'm going
to get this anyway, right? You're going to die.
I'm going to get what's coming to me, so just
let me have it now. And I want to go and do things
my way, which was the first mistake that he made.
And the father allowed... the son to make this
mistake. Now, maybe there's something we can
gain from that, too, is that sometimes as parents,
maybe you have to let your kids make those mistakes.
Now, the father certainly knew that this was
not going to be good for the son. It probably
wasn't going to work out good. It was foolish
to begin with, but nevertheless, the father granted
the son's request. He gave him the money, and
the son went out and lived foolishly, and we
get it. I think that's why stories like this
are so good. Jesus was so brilliant at using
these kind of stories because every one of us,
this is probably your story. You were young one
day. You were so proud and so foolish you were
going to do it your way, and you went out and
you just made the worst decisions possible. And
you blew everything you had, and you didn't plan
ahead, and you didn't think straight, and you
did stupid, stupid things, and you find yourself
in a mess. It turns out all those things your
parents had said, your grandparents had said,
they start to make a lot more sense. Like when
you're young, your parents are so stupid. And
then the older you get, your parents, they get
smart. It's the craziest thing. And nothing's
changed. And so this guy was probably not so
different than you and I. His dad wasn't giving
him the life that he wanted. It's got to be better
out there. Give me what I got. I'm going to go
out and live my life my way and do my thing.
And he did that. And he lived so foolishly and
got himself in such a bad, bad situation. Now
he ends up working for a pig farmer, feeding
pigs. He wants to eat the pig slop. The text
says they won't even give him none of the pig
slop. He's starving to death. There's a famine
in the land. His foolishness has got him in a
bad, bad place. Now that might be where some
of us are today. It might have been where you
were when you were a teenager or it might be
where you are as an adult. You may have made
some really foolish decisions and they are painful.
And man, we're in the midst of that pain. We
don't like it. But a lot of times our decisions
get us right there in that spot. And so he begins
to think and he says, golly, when I was in my
father's house, things were pretty good. He says,
even my father's servants. Even they've got it
better than me. Even the people who work for
my father were better taken care of than I am.
I'm not here with the pigs. I don't have anything
to eat. I've got to do something. So he plans
out this whole speech. I'm going to go home and
I'm going to tell my dad everything I've done.
And then he has to take that step to go back
home. And that's a hard step to take. Now, I
don't know if any of you have ever been there
before. I suspect you have where you've... You've
decided to do things your way and you said, I
can do this. I'll do the way I want to do it.
I don't need you. And then all of a sudden you
find out, uh -oh, I do need dad or mom or whoever
it may be. And that's a hard step to take to
swallow that pride because now all of a sudden
you've got to go back and you've got to say,
I need some help. And sometimes people don't
take that step. Sometimes we're too ashamed or
sometimes we're just too proud. Sometimes we'd
rather just be proud and live in hungry and afraid
and ashamed because we're too proud to take that
step. And as hard as it may be, that step is
what's going to restore us in life. Now maybe
for some of you today, maybe this story is kind
of literally your situation. Maybe there's a
broken relationship you have with a parent. or
a child because of something like this. Maybe
this scripture today is a good wake -up call
for you to say, you know what? It's not good
to live separated. It's not good to live in pain.
It's not good when there's foolishness involved,
whether it's your foolishness or your child's
foolishness or somebody else's foolishness. Our
desire should be for some restoration to take
place, and it may be for some of us today. That
it's time to take that step. That it's time to
take that first step and say, man, I have really
blown it and I'm in a bad place. But I want to
go back where there's peace and safety and security.
And so the son begins his journey home. And the
beautiful part of the story is that as the father
sees the son coming in the distance, Smirk or
smile and say, well, I told you so. I can't wait
until he gets over here to tell him. His first
words were not, I told you so. And that's a good
lesson in there for us too. Okay, so maybe your
child has done something or somebody else has
acted foolishly towards you. Maybe our first
response doesn't need to be one of, I told you
so, but one of compassion. To see that there's
somebody that's blew it and they know that they've
blown it. And they're coming back. before us
in shame and in guilt and just feeling the weight
of that. It's not a good time to say, I told
you so. That's not love. The father, he had compassion.
He saw the son coming at a distance and he runs
out and he embraces the son and he says, my son
is home. Let's have a big party. Let's have a
feast. My son was dead, but now he is alive.
And the father welcomes him back in with open
arms. And this is a beautiful story because maybe
it's not our story in real life. Maybe our life
with our parents or other people have been good
and we haven't made too many foolish decisions
and things are pretty good. Praise the Lord if
that's you. But this story is all of us because
this story represents God. who's a good father,
who's provided for us and desires to take care
of us and give us all that we need in a place
of safety and security and say, look, you're
here. Just let me take care of you. That's what
God says to each and every one of us. And how
many times that we read God's command and see
his instructions in our life and we just think,
I want to do it my way. I don't want to do it
God's way. I want to have fun. I want to do this.
I want to do that. There's so many things in
our life, temptations and sin, that look so good
to us. And that grass on the other side looks
so green, but where God has placed us in God's
presence is the best place for us to be. Because
it's there we have everything that we need. And
some of you know what it feels like to be in
the presence of the Lord. You know that joy.
You know that peace. You know that comfort. And
some of you know what it feels like to step out
from that. Some of you know what it feels like
to be out on your own doing it your way. To be
out living for the world. To be out living for
sin. And you know what it feels like. And you
know what this son in the story felt like. Because
you're there right now. You may have food on
your plate today, but spiritually inside you
just feel like you're just famished, like you're
just starving, like you cannot make it. Like,
how can I go on? Well, I've got good news for
you today. God the Father wants you to come back
to Him. All you've got to do is take that step.
Yeah, you've probably blown it. Every one of
us has. We have blown it with such foolishness
in our life. And we have sinned so greatly and
God has provided for us and we know what he told
us to do and we've just done the opposite. We've
just abandoned him. We've just stepped away from
him. We've just quit listening to him and gone
our own way and we find ourselves in such a rotten
place. But I want to tell you today that Jesus
Christ died on the cross so that you could be
forgiven. Whatever your sin may be, however great
it may be, I want you to know today that the
Lord... He wants you to come home. He wants you
to take that step. He wants you to get on that
journey. He wants you to come before Him. He
wants to give you compassion and grace. God doesn't
desire to see you struggle and fail and live
in foolishness. He wants to see you seek Him
and put your trust in Him. So what are you going
to do today? The invitation that God gives us
through Jesus Christ is that we can come home.
That our sins can be forgiven. Have you wandered
far away from God? Today you can come home. If
you take that step. If God's speaking to you
today. Don't stay in a foreign land. Starving
and worried and afraid. Seek the Lord. Let's
pray. God we come to you. We thank you for your
good word. I pray dear Lord that you would help
us. In our life, in the midst of our foolishness,
wherever we may be, dear Lord, maybe there are
some in here that's just made some really foolish
choices. Maybe there's some online, dear Lord,
that's wandered far away from you, dear Lord.
I pray today that they would just repent. To
know that you love them, that you don't want
them to stay in your foolishness, but you sent
Jesus Christ to die on the cross so that they
could be forgiven. So if there are some here
today that don't know him, I pray that they take
that step. to come to Jesus. If there are some
in here today, God, that are yours, and they've
just been like the prodigal son and wandered
away, I pray today that they would repent and
return to you. God, if you've spoken to anybody,
I pray that as this music plays, that they would
come to you now. And I ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.