Back In The Race

March 13, 2016 (rev31410)  NOTES NOT EDITED
Getting Back Into the Race
Luke 15:1-3; 11-32

SIS—The forgiveness of God transforms our failures and puts us back into the race of life.

Life is a difficult contest, a long arduous race to the finish.  Each step along the way we must deal with our sin—the best of us, the worst of us, ALL of us!  Sin leads to failure.  Failure sends us to the sidelines to sit on the bench and watch the rest of the world play the game of life.  We begin to identify ourselves by our failures.  We fail to see our failures as hurdles to overcome, and instead see them as nails in the coffin of our happiness.  Sinners sin.  That’s what we do.  Sin brings failure.  Failure breeds discouragement and even deep despair.

Failure is so prevalent in our world, it has even been given it’s own holiday.  I know Hallmark is always looking for new ways to sell greeting cards. I racked my mind but could not come up with such a day. So, I did what all great researches do: I “googled” it.

Sure enough, there is such a holiday to celebrate failure, thanks to Finland. According to sociologists that study Finland, it is a nation “adverse to risk.” As a result, their economy was not doing well. Finnish people lacked the “risk-taking” gene of entrepreneurialism. The Finnish government identified the “fear of failure as the number one reason for not starting a Finnish company.”

The government enlisted a couple of the rare Finnish entrepreneurs to publicize the institution of this new holiday. The goal was to show that “failure is a component of success.” One of those rare entrepreneurs pressed into service for this day was Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio Mobile. The world knows Peter through his creation of the addicting Internet game, “Angry Birds.”

“Failure Day.” I’m not sure the concept is going to catch on worldwide. Most people avoid the possibility of failure like the plague. Failure engenders thoughts of pain and disappointment, hurt and loss. Doesn’t seem to work well on a Hallmark card.

We all face failure because we all consistently fail to follow God’s decrees and dictates as revealed in the Bible.  This is the definition of sin.  Sin will indeed hinder us in the race of life, or knock us out of it altogether.  God does have a solution to our failure.  It’s called forgiveness.  God’s forgiveness transforms our failures and puts us back into the race of life.  Let’s read a familiar story of one man’s journey from failure to forgiveness.

^{LUKE 15  11} He also said: “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets  to them. ¹³ 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.  ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.  ¹⁵ Then he went to work for  one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.  ¹⁶ He longed to eat his fill from  the carob pods  the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. ¹⁷ 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!  ¹⁸ I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned  against heaven  and in your sight. ¹⁹ I’m no longer worthy  to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.  He ran, threw his arms around his neck,  and kissed  him. ²¹ The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’  ²² “But 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. ²³ Then bring the fattened calf  and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead and is alive again;  he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.  ²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ ‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ “Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets  with prostitutes,  you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ “ ‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me,  and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

There are many angles one could take (and many have) to apply the principles revealed in this most popular parable in the Bible.  I want to focus this morning on the words, “was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” speaking of the restoration of the prodigal son.

Interestingly, the prodigal son, from a strict hermeneutical study of the text, is not the focus of the story.  The story is not so much about the hard-headedness of the prodigal, but the hard-heartedness of the elder son.  The clue giving away this interpretive theme is found in verses 1-2:  Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered." Notice that very important contrasting conjunction, “but.” The Prodigal Son story contrasts the repentance of the Prodigal with the self-righteousness of the Elder Son.  

Two distinct groups are always revealed anytime the gospel is presented to a crowd.  One group will respond with repentance.  The other group will respond with self-righteousness. One group goes away changed and one group goes away calloused.  One group goes away “forgiven,” the other group remains “fixed” in their sin and rebellion.  There are four themes related to forgiveness presented in this text as we observe the restoration of the Prodigal Son.

1.  First, Rebellion is Always an Option (11-13)

¹¹ He also said: “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets  to them. ¹³ 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.

In the very first book of the Bible God declares that humanity is created in His image -- that is the creature reflects the Creator.  This means many things but one thing it most certainly declares that humanity reveals the creative nature of God - howbeit most often in a negative manner.

What is it we create most often?  Evil and chaos.  Let some great tragedy happen and who do the God-haters blame?  God.  How could a good God cause, and/or even allow, such tragedy like 9-11 for example. Or, the horrible chaos of murder and mayhem in the American inner cites.  Well, the answer to why there is so much evil in the world is shockingly simple: man creates it.  Whether the evil is a result of nature (which groans because of Adam's sin), or evil is a result of God's judgment on Adam's sin (as with Sodom and Gomorra; or if evil happens because of man's inhumanity to man as a result of original sin -- the ultimate responsibility for evil always falls upon the back of Adam and his seed, humanity.

By nature, man is a sinner, our sin inherited from Adam.  Sin is to man what breathing under water is to a fish, or heat is to the sun. We cannot keep from sinning.  It is our nature. 

The Psalmist lamented: "Even from birth the wicked go astray" (Psa 58:3). Jeremiah declared, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt" (17:9 The Apostle Paul sums up the matter thusly in Romans, "I know that nothing good dwells within me" (7:18).  Man is a natural born sinner!

The technical terms for man's condition is "original sin" or "total depravity."  Simply stated this teaches that man is not a sinner because we sin, but we sin because we are a sinner.  Rebellion is our nature, our modus operandi.  We are totally incapable, in and of ourselves, of being anything but rebellious.  This is not a case part of the time but a matter of course all of the time.

Rebellion is always an option and every man, woman, or child choose that option.  The Prodigal had the option of requesting his inheritance early.  It was an option, albeit it was not a requirement.  We often have rights but the exercising of them brings ruin.  This was the case of the Prodigal.  He had a wanderlust and a longing to exercise his right to freedom from the supervision of his father.  He wanted to "sow some wild oats" as the saying goes -- and sow he did.

Notice how the Bible describes the young man's plans: v13:  he "set off for a distant country."

He set sail for a destination as far from his tiny homestead as he could get.  I think this statement implies more than geographical distance however.  I think it suggest cultural and spiritual distance as well.  I believe this young Jewish boy cast aside any and all restraints he had lived under as a ward of a god-fearing father.  I think verse 15 confirms my interpretation.  Will say more about that in a moment but this young Jewish boy goes from a pious Jewish home to a pagan pigsty thus granting absolute separation from his boyhood restraints.

Rebellion is always an option as part of the "freewill package."  Sadly, because what we know of original sin and human nature (aka, total depravity), humankind is absolutely (totally) incapable of choosing anything but rebellion until we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then, rebellion is no longer "always" an option, but still remains as "sometimes" an option.

A thirteen-year-old adolescent girl came to school with a bright red sock on one foot and a white one on the other. "Why are you dressed that way?" the principal asked.  "Because I'm an individualist," the girl retorted. "I dress the way I dress because that's me. I am not influenced by society's dictates - besides - all the girls do it."

Rebellion is human nature -- it's something we all share whether we admit it or not.  It is always the option we choose if we do not rely on Christ.  Notice another theme in our text in regard to the prodigals path into sin.

2.  Sin is always a disappointment (vv 13b-16)

¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.  ¹⁵ Then he went to work for  one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.  ¹⁶ He longed to eat his fill from  the carob pods  the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any.

As I said a moment ago this young Jewish boy had wandered about as far away from his Jewish roots as one could get.  Pigs were ceremonially unclean.  No pious Jew would eat such meat.  But, the picture here suggests more than the ceremonially defilement the young lad was experiencing -- it suggests something much more . . . shall we say, physically defiling.   Sin always works this way.  Sin always takes you farther than you want to go; keeps you longer than you wanted to stay; and ends up costing you more than you expected to pay.  The Word says,  “he squandered his wealth in wild living (13b).”

Here we have a picture of how sin pays off its wages.  First, the lad broke with the teachings of his father. Then, he embraced the loose living of the world.  Next, he finds himself flat broke and waste deep in the stink of the world.  Sin is always a downward spiral into the muck and mire of moral morass.

I was doing some research on the internet and stumbled upon a title of a book.  The title caught my eye with it's provocative theme:  "A Pimp's Bible:  the Sweet Science of Sin."  It is exactly what it says it is:  a handbook on pimpology.  The story of the seedy, extravagant life of a Chicago Pimp.  I was intrigued with the subtitle:  "The Sweet Science of Sin."

God's Word describes sin exactly in the same way, ^{Prov. 20:17}Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

Sin and rebellion always lead to disappointment:  "The wages of sin is death" -- and sin always pays off!

There is an epidemic sweeping Hollywood and it's not the swine flu.  Young Hollywood stars (and some not so young anymore) are dying at an alarming rate.  What's killing them?  Sin. It’s that simple--sin.

Some of you old folks probably won't recognize the name of Corey Ham, but the younger crowd may. He was the teen-age heart throb about six years ago, that starred in films such as "The Lost Boys" and "Lucas."  He shot out of Hollywood like a comet, and like a comet burned out early. He gained fame and fortune only to die bankrupt at the age of 38 as a result of a drug overdose.  Whether you recognize this Hollywood actor or not, you will recognize the all-too-familiar Hollywood tale of a fall from stardom, to utter burn-out.  Ham described his burnout this way:

"I was working on Lost Boys when I smoked my first joint. [Then] I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack."  Then came other drugs. He said, "I started on downers which were a [heck] of a lot better than uppers because I was a nervous wreck . . . But one led to two, two led to four, four led to eight, until at the end it was about 85." He entered rehab but he never overcame his addiction.

Folks, that's how sin always works.  Sin always disappoints.  As one old preacher used to say, "Sin will always take you further than you intended to go; keep you longer than you intended to stay;
and cost you more than you intended to pay."

So it was with the young son in in our story.  He sowed his wild oats only to end up harvesting heartache and disappointment.  The prophet Hosea said of the rebellious nation of Israel,  "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind" (8:7)

The Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write: ⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction." (Gal. 6:7-8)

With the risk of beating a dead horse let me say again: "The wages of sin is death and destruction" and sin will pay off every single time!

3.  Forgiveness is always available (vv. 17-24)

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

For me, this is one of the most heartwarming passages in all the Bible. I am particularly moved by the words, v20, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him.

How long had the boy been gone? The story indicates some time had passed?  How far had the son gone? The word says, "a distant land."  Yet -- and here's the heart of the story -- the father never gave up on the son.  This is a beautiful picture of God's love for us

God is always waiting for us to come home.  No matter how far we go or how long we stay, or how low we fall -- God is always waiting.

Forgiveness is always available, but it is inseparably linked to the most important theme in this parable on forgiveness:

4.  Repentance is Always Necessary (vv. 21-31) 

"I have sinned" (v 21)

These words are the key that unlocks eternal life and puts us back in the race of life.  Until a person genuinely and wholeheartedly confesses to God -- with a heart full of repentance -- these three words, there is no salvation.  Without repentance there is no forgiveness.  Without forgiveness we continue carrying the rotting corpse of sin upon our back through all eternity.

The Romans sometimes compelled a captive to be joined face-to-face with a dead body, and to bear it about until the horrible effluvia—putrifying dead flesh--destroyed the life of the living victim. Virgil describes this cruel punishment:  The living and the dead at his command Were coupled face to face, and hand to hand; Till choked with stench, in loathed embraces tied, The lingering wretches pined away and died.

Without Christ, we are shackled to a dead corpse our sinfulness. Only repentance frees us from eternal death.

 There is an eternity of difference between saying, "I made a mistake," and saying, "I have sinned."  Many people will acknowledge they are not perfect, but few will fall before God and declare with a broken heart -- "I have sinned."  Confession without repentance is absolutely useless and forgiveness without repentance is absolutely impossible.  Repentance describes the act of coming face to face with your sin and being so utterly ashamed that you turn completely around and run into the forgiving arms of God.

Sin is an affront to God. Sin is like spitting in God’s face.  Spitting on someone is a act of total disgust.  When our Viet Nam Vets returned from war, many people in the protesting crowds spit in their faces. There is not greater insult than to have someone spit in your face -- especially when you have risked your life to spare their lives.  When we fail to repent of our sin, we are spitting in the face of the one that died in our place, for our sins, on the cross.

Now, here we turn to the real focus of the story.  Verses 28-30:

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

The younger son responded with repentance.  The older son negotiated with "religion."  The whole point of this story is to show God's contempt for non-repentant religious posturing represented by the Elder Son.  Look again at verses 1-3 that introduce this story:

15     Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

The great tragedy of life is that the vast majority of people who will hear a gospel message today will respond like the Older Son, not the Younger.  Many will feel quite comfortable and smug beneath the mantle of religion -- but for such as these -- God has the greatest contempt.  The prodigal son came home and received salvation because his heart was truly repentant.  He was truly sorry he had grieved his father and treated his father's love with such contempt.

Now, through forgiveness of his sins, he was back in the race of life.

In the race of life, there are only two lanes to run in:  the lane of forgiveness or the lane of failure.  There is no middle lane, no matter how big your bank account or how great your fame, there are only two lanes:  forgiveness or failure.  Sin will always knock you out of the race—always.

This is why, in our present Primary cycle, Donald Trump created such a stir among Christian people when he declared, “I have never asked God for forgiveness.”  He says he is a “Christian,” but has never asked for forgiveness.  He is a perfect example of someone who believes he is running in the winning lane of life, but he is actually running in the losing lane.  There is not salvation without forgiveness, so there can be no true success without forgiveness.  Any such success is an illusion—a tragic self-delusion.

The forgiveness of God transforms our failures and puts us back on the winning lane in the race of life.  So, I leave you with these immortal words from the Silver Screen:  “Run Forest! Run!”