May 5, 2019 NOTES NOT EDITED
Family Matters: Bring the Prodigals Home
Luke 15:11-32
SIS: Prodigal family and friends deserve all of our love and efforts as the Church to bring them back home.
Someone once asked Mark Twain, “Who do you think is the best storyteller every lived?” Mark twain answered, “Jesus Christ.” “Then which story is the greatest story ever told?” He replied, “The Story of the Prodigal Son.” The Prodigal Son tells us the story of a person’s journey from sin’s destruction to Heaven’s celebration. The first stage of His journey began with the Lure of the World, followed by the Losing Proposition of Sin, to a turning point of Longing for Home, and finally bringing him to a Lavish Love Feast in the Father’s House.
1. The Lure of the World (11-13a)
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
This young man wanted to “spread his wings and fly.” He wanted to “sow his wild oats,” as the saying goes. The familiar surroundings of his childhood had grown stale. The young man longed for something new, adventurous beyond the end of his homestead’s driveway. This sounds innocent enough. Many of us have felt the lure of wanderlust pull upon the strings of our heart. The danger is, this is often a “trick of the Devil,” his bait, his lure to catch us with temptation and draw us into his boat. This man’s lust for the world was the very lure that the Devil would use to hook him and draw him into a boat of total despair.
Despair always begin with a nod toward sin and a leaning toward worldly lust. We fall over the edge into a black, bottomless pit when we make a conscious decision to move away from the Heavenly Father. The son heard the siren call of sin luring him into the darkness and destruction of a “distant land.”
Despair always begin with a nod toward sin and a leaning toward worldly lust. We fall over the edge into a black, bottomless pit when we make a conscious decision to move away from the Heavenly Father. The son heard the siren call of sin luring him into the darkness and destruction of a “distant land.”
The “distance” of the country of sin is not measured geographically, but spiritually. Sin doesn’t take us away from a place, but it takes us away from a person. It would be appropriate to ask, “Didn’t the father recognize that giving his son such and inheritance when the son was not ready to manage it was a recipe for disaster?” Certainly, many a son or daughter has been destroyed, “not by having too little as a child, but by having too much!” But, this father was legally and socially obligated to give the son his portion of the inheritance if the son asked. That was the culture of the day.
So many of us have allowed the Devil to draw us into the pigsty of his pit of despair, because we have chased our desires rather than our devotion to the father. Nothing could be more deadly oftentimes than for us to receive what we “want” instead of being blessed by what the Father has given us. The lure of sin will drag us into the dark deep of despair if we take the bait of temptation
ILLUS: This is how sin has always worked. We hear the sweet sound of Satan’s subtle voice in our hearts, cast our gaze on the tempting fruit, and before long, we are in a “distant country.” Consider Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:6):
6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Here we see the downward spiral of sin as we allow it to tempt us into the Devil’s waters. Sin enters our mind, descends to our heart, and traps our souls in the gnarly grip of Satan’s claws. Sin tastes so sweet but in the end it becomes like rotting meat. Proverbs tells us:
Satan never shows the end of the path of sin, only the beginning that looks sweet and enticing. The never shows someone a “broken man or woman on skid row, smelling of drink and urine, wrapped in the tattered garments of what once was a nice business suit. No, the Devil is too smart for that. He shows men and women drinking and having a party at some exciting disco joint. The Bible calls sin, “sweet for a season.” (Prov. 20:17).
A man and his wife bought an old farmhouse and moved to the idyllic woods outside of town. The house was old with many cracks and crevices—doorways for all kinds of critters from ants to mice. Still, they loved “old house living in the country.” Then they had a little girl. One day, as the little baby was eating in her high chair, the man turned away to do some dishes. When he turned back, to his horror, the baby and the high chair was swarming with ants. The ants were not attracted to the messy baby, but to the banquet of messy sweetness the baby had created. They loved sweets and would come en masse to take it back to their home. The Dad, horrified of course, washed up the baby and decided the ants had to be dealt with. So, he researched the Internet and discovered a remedy. It involved a mixture of Borax, sugar, and water on a plate as a passive poison trap. The idea is using what the ants are attracted to, sweetness, against them. No need to stomp each one by hand. I just left the toxic ant stew out for them and waited. Their inborn urges to consume sweetness would lead them to ingest poison. They don’t realize that these are fatal desires due to the Borax. They are ingesting and being covered by the Borax. Borax kills ants. They even carry it back to their home and kill their family. (Internet).
Just like ants are lured to the “sweetness of the sugarcoated poison,” man is lured to the “sweetness of the first bites of sin.” Like Borax kills the ants, sin kills the soul. This leads to the next stage in a Prodigals journey.
2. The Losing Proposition of Sin (13b-16)
As surely as the Lure of Sin will hook us, the Losing Propostion of Sin will bring us to utter, and left unforgiven, eternal despair.
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.
Years ago I read a description of sin that has stuck with me over the years. Someone said, “Sin will always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you planned to stay, and cost you more than you want to spend.” Another man said, “Beware, the Devil always pays in counterfeit blessings.”
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.
Years ago I read a description of sin that has stuck with me over the years. Someone said, “Sin will always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you planned to stay, and cost you more than you want to spend.” Another man said, “Beware, the Devil always pays in counterfeit blessings.”
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death”(Rom. 6:23). Anything sin touches, sin destroys. In every sweet sip from the bottle of worldly pleasure lurks the sour sickness and decay , of skid row. Sin always pays its wages.
The meaning of “riotuous living” is illustrated by the young man’s condition. His sin left him wretched and wrecked, reeking of the gut-wrenching stench of a pigsty. Most of all, this young man was “lost,” utterly without “hope.” He was, in a word, “lost!”
The word translated “riotous living” is found in the writings of Aristotle and it was associated with an “incurable condition.” In other words, absolute destruction, and eventual death. The original classical understanding of “riotous living” (asotia) refers to a particularly vile behavior as opposed to behavior that might be considerd “typical, or average.” The prodigal’s sin was “sin on steroids!” He scraped the bottom of the barrel of human depravity in his indulgences. He lost any sense of what it means to be truly human. Even animals would not participate in such debauchery as this lad. This is a picture of not only this prodigal, but every one of us. We have all “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
The meaning of “riotuous living” is illustrated by the young man’s condition. His sin left him wretched and wrecked, reeking of the gut-wrenching stench of a pigsty. Most of all, this young man was “lost,” utterly without “hope.” He was, in a word, “lost!”
The word translated “riotous living” is found in the writings of Aristotle and it was associated with an “incurable condition.” In other words, absolute destruction, and eventual death. The original classical understanding of “riotous living” (asotia) refers to a particularly vile behavior as opposed to behavior that might be considerd “typical, or average.” The prodigal’s sin was “sin on steroids!” He scraped the bottom of the barrel of human depravity in his indulgences. He lost any sense of what it means to be truly human. Even animals would not participate in such debauchery as this lad. This is a picture of not only this prodigal, but every one of us. We have all “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
This once, fine-looking young man from a respectable Jewish household was now working with pigs—the very symbol of “uncleaness” in Jewish life. And, worse yet, we get the picture of him walking through pig waste and mud while fishing with his hands into the hogs’ slop bucket for something to eat. I’ve been to a “pig farm.” You can literally smell it from miles away. But, the young man’s situation gets even worse than workingwith pigs—he begins eating with them! He begins to swish his hands in the slop buckets o to find, perhaps, some “carob pods” so tough he could barely chew them. In total, hopeless despair, I see him collapsing in a heap and sinking into pig waist while crying—no, deeply sobbing—tears of utter disappointment and despair. Sin had sucked the very life out of this young man. He had lost everything—even his very soul.
Sin is ALWAYS a losing proposition. Today, sin has a a death grip on the souls of our families, especially our youth, and it is literally squeezing the life out of them like a python squeezing its prey before devouring it whole. This brings him to a
3. Longing for Home (17-18a)
The Bible says, 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.
The Bible says, 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.
The words translated in “came to his senses” literally say, “came to himself.” The man was not only “out of His Father’s house, sin now had him out of his mind!” Sin will make you stupid, and after a while it will even rob you of our very “self.” Remember, the Devil is a “thief and a destroyer.”
I remember when I returned to W.Va. in 2004 and to serve at my little brother’s funeral. He was ** years old. He had battled alcoholism for over 30 years. I had not seen him for over ** years. When I looked down into that casket, my little brother that was two years younger, looked older than our father. Sin had completely destroyed his life—all that remained was a shell, a broken shell. Thank God, like the prodigal in this story, my brother had “come to his senses” a nearly a year earlier, returning to his Heavenly Father love, and now was enjoying a place in the Father’s eternal home.
When sin controls us, we are at the mercy of a Devil that hates us and wants to destroy us. The Bible says the Devil is a “Thief that comes to steal and destroy” (Jn 10:10a) John in Revelation describes the Devil, especially as he will be unleashed in the Last Days. The Devil is a flesh destroying, soul devouring plague:
7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle. Something like gold crowns was on their heads; their faces were like men’s faces; 8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth; 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, eand in Greek he has the name Apollyon (Destroyer).
As God’s Ambassadors seeking to reconcile sinners to Him, we do not have the power to overcome the sin that has a grip on another’s life. We cannot “bring the prodigals home,” until they first long for what lost by moving away from God. All we can do is remind lost souls that the Lord is looking for them, and ready to receive them back home. Until a person has a “longing for Heaven,” we will never be able to “bring them home.” It’s been said, “The Lost Man has a God-shaped vacuum in His Heart.” Missionaries refer to lost tribes as having “Eternity in the Heart.” Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in God.” We are called to the “salt of the earth” creating a thirst for the Father’s Home, and the “light of the world” illuminating the path of repentance that leads back to the Father’s House. This is the final stage in the “Prodigal’s Journey.
I remember when I returned to W.Va. in 2004 and to serve at my little brother’s funeral. He was ** years old. He had battled alcoholism for over 30 years. I had not seen him for over ** years. When I looked down into that casket, my little brother that was two years younger, looked older than our father. Sin had completely destroyed his life—all that remained was a shell, a broken shell. Thank God, like the prodigal in this story, my brother had “come to his senses” a nearly a year earlier, returning to his Heavenly Father love, and now was enjoying a place in the Father’s eternal home.
When sin controls us, we are at the mercy of a Devil that hates us and wants to destroy us. The Bible says the Devil is a “Thief that comes to steal and destroy” (Jn 10:10a) John in Revelation describes the Devil, especially as he will be unleashed in the Last Days. The Devil is a flesh destroying, soul devouring plague:
7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle. Something like gold crowns was on their heads; their faces were like men’s faces; 8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth; 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, eand in Greek he has the name Apollyon (Destroyer).
As God’s Ambassadors seeking to reconcile sinners to Him, we do not have the power to overcome the sin that has a grip on another’s life. We cannot “bring the prodigals home,” until they first long for what lost by moving away from God. All we can do is remind lost souls that the Lord is looking for them, and ready to receive them back home. Until a person has a “longing for Heaven,” we will never be able to “bring them home.” It’s been said, “The Lost Man has a God-shaped vacuum in His Heart.” Missionaries refer to lost tribes as having “Eternity in the Heart.” Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in God.” We are called to the “salt of the earth” creating a thirst for the Father’s Home, and the “light of the world” illuminating the path of repentance that leads back to the Father’s House. This is the final stage in the “Prodigal’s Journey.
4. The Lavishness of God’s Love
The Lure of Sin leads to the Losing Proposition of Sin, which can lead to repentance and the Longing for the Father’s home, and at last forgiveness “Brings the Prodigal Into the Lavishness of Yahweh’s Love.” Notice the Prodigal’s longing for his father’s blessings:
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.”
The Prodigal was truly sorry. His repentance was more than a regret he had been caught, but a true remorse that his sin had hurt, not only his earthly father, but more so, his Father “in heaven.” The young man was not looking for God’s favors, but God’s forgiveness!
But, I want you to notice something else that is very important in regard to “Bringing Prodigal Home.” Verse 20 says—don’t miss this: 20 So he got up and went to his father.
The Prodigal was truly sorry. His repentance was more than a regret he had been caught, but a true remorse that his sin had hurt, not only his earthly father, but more so, his Father “in heaven.” The young man was not looking for God’s favors, but God’s forgiveness!
But, I want you to notice something else that is very important in regard to “Bringing Prodigal Home.” Verse 20 says—don’t miss this: 20 So he got up and went to his father.
It’s not enough to simply realize sin is bad; or even, God is good. It is not enough to know about God’s forgiveness. It is not enough to intellectually agree that sin is bad and God is good. Forgiveness requires true repentance—a completely change in your mind and heart—but also, a definitive action of your will. No prodigal will every make it home simply by remembering the address, but a prodigal must, “get up and go to the Father!” Salvation requires we “DO SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT JESUS HAS ALREADY DONE FOR US.” Paul tells us that salvation comes when we:
confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10).
Repentance “turns us around 180 degrees” and sets us on a path to regaining what sin has taken—physically, mentally, and spiritually. This happens the moment we honestly admit “Father, I have sinned!” (v18), turn around 180 degrees and, “get up and go to Father”(v20).
The son did return home. He found his father waiting. The Bible says that the father saw the son “while he was a long way off” (v20). How many days had the father stood looking down the long road home, hoping to see his son? What a reunion that was. The Bible says (Lk 15:20-24),
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.
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.
What a celebration it was! The father lavishly laid upon his son a robe, but a huge ring upon his finger, shoeson his feet and a put a roastin the oven. There was going to be a lavish celebration and no expense was going to be spared. The son who became a slave to sin was a son again! Slaves did not wear robes. Slaves did not wear rings. Slaves did not wear shoes. Slaves did not dine on the fatted calves. Nothing was too good for the Prodigal Son who had returned.
Guiding prodigals to a heart-felt repentance activates the mercy of God and appropriates the grace of God unto salvation.
Parables reflect real life situations of real life people. In our families, we all know real-life prodigal sons and daughters, prodigal moms and dads, uncles and aunts, cousins, and friends. The Bible is a practical book of wisdom for facing practical situations in life. I read this week about just such a real-life prodigal that was brought home.
A few years ago, there was a story in the LA Times entitled “A Mother’s Search for Russell Love.” It told of a woman in Houston named Beverly Elliott. She had not seen her son, Russell Love, for four years and had not heard from him in two years; but she knew he was homeless somewhere in Los Angeles County. The FBI and L.A. Police said they could not help her. Longing for her son to come home, she ran a personal ad in the Times for twelve days. It read, “Russell L. Love from Houston or anyone knowing where he lives, please call his mother collect: 713-447-5968. Russell, your mother will never forget you. She loves you!”She desperately hoped someone would get in touch with her. A man named Ralph Campbell, who had spent twenty five years living on the street, had once given some extra sandwiches to a friend. He remembered that this friend had turned to another homeless man and said, Russ, do you want a sandwich?” Campbell phoned the newspaper. He led a reporter to some shipping containers in a parking lot. There were some bedrolls there just where he thought this Russ might be sleeping. The next morning the reporter returned and saw a young, blond man asleep, rolled up in a bright yellow blanket. When he awoke, he lay there and smoked a cigarette. The reporter asked if he was Russell Love. He said he was. “Your mother wants you to call her,” said the reporter. On Friday he did so. They talked three more times over the next week and after she sent him some money Russell flew home. Upon his return they “grabbed each other and hugged and hugged.” Said Russell, “It feels great to be home.” Today, we as God’s people, have the opportunity to rededicate our lives to “Bringing The Prodigals Home To the Loving Embrace of the Father.”
But today, you yourself may be a prodigal. You have the opportunity to come home, to return to your Father. He has not forgotten you and He never will. He will always love you. Jesus is waiting for you, to take you there. All He needs is you. You are, after all, the one He came for in the first place. COME HOME.
A few years ago, there was a story in the LA Times entitled “A Mother’s Search for Russell Love.” It told of a woman in Houston named Beverly Elliott. She had not seen her son, Russell Love, for four years and had not heard from him in two years; but she knew he was homeless somewhere in Los Angeles County. The FBI and L.A. Police said they could not help her. Longing for her son to come home, she ran a personal ad in the Times for twelve days. It read, “Russell L. Love from Houston or anyone knowing where he lives, please call his mother collect: 713-447-5968. Russell, your mother will never forget you. She loves you!”She desperately hoped someone would get in touch with her. A man named Ralph Campbell, who had spent twenty five years living on the street, had once given some extra sandwiches to a friend. He remembered that this friend had turned to another homeless man and said, Russ, do you want a sandwich?” Campbell phoned the newspaper. He led a reporter to some shipping containers in a parking lot. There were some bedrolls there just where he thought this Russ might be sleeping. The next morning the reporter returned and saw a young, blond man asleep, rolled up in a bright yellow blanket. When he awoke, he lay there and smoked a cigarette. The reporter asked if he was Russell Love. He said he was. “Your mother wants you to call her,” said the reporter. On Friday he did so. They talked three more times over the next week and after she sent him some money Russell flew home. Upon his return they “grabbed each other and hugged and hugged.” Said Russell, “It feels great to be home.” Today, we as God’s people, have the opportunity to rededicate our lives to “Bringing The Prodigals Home To the Loving Embrace of the Father.”
But today, you yourself may be a prodigal. You have the opportunity to come home, to return to your Father. He has not forgotten you and He never will. He will always love you. Jesus is waiting for you, to take you there. All He needs is you. You are, after all, the one He came for in the first place. COME HOME.
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