Focus:
Home, sweet home!
Function:
To move the people to emotionally enter the story of
Luke
15 and pray that the Holy Spirit may speak to them all.
Text:
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
When I grew up in Holland, I learned
at school that Holland has a tremendous history and is a beautiful country. In
history class I enjoyed hearing the stories of General Michael de Ruyter and
his sea battles against the Spanish and the British; I took pride in hearing
the stories of resistance fighters in W.W. II. And so it went. I grew up
hearing much about the Netherlands. But it was not until I had left Holland for
a year or two and then came back again, before I realized what I had left
behind when I emigrated.
You see, when I came back to Holland
for the first time, it hit me how flat—and how pretty-- Holland really is; I
was struck by the smallness of things, by the tidiness of things, by the order
of things. I could not believe how green the meadows in the countryside were. I
would visit places and I began to realize, for example,
·
That
on this tower the wife
of
Prince William III waved farewell to her husband sailing off to England.
·
That
the soldiers of
Napoleon
paved these cobblestones in this street.
·
That
in this pulpit in this
church
in Utrecht Abraham Kuyper, Holland’s greatest Reformed politician and preacher
once stood and proclaimed the gospel. It was only after I had left home—and
made a new home in another country—that I came to realize the rich history and
heritage of my native country.
Many of us were born and grew up in
a home where Jesus’ name was at least acknowledged and where worship of the
triune God was a common pattern. Many of us also grew up taking for granted the
sweetness of a Christian home.
Some of us left the Christian faith and ended up in
a spiritual wasteland of sin and selfishness. Some of us are still stuck in
that wasteland. Others have come home. Today Jesus comes to us with a marvelous
story about finding our way back to God. I hope that you have the courage to
enter that story.
Traditionally people call it the
story of the prodigal or lost son. But that’s a misnomer. It’s a story about
two lost sons and a father. The story has a particular context, which helps us
to understand what Jesus is trying to get at in the story. For example, we find
the Lord Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (Lk. 15:1,2). They are upset with Jesus,
because Jesus makes them uncomfortable. Jesus keeps rocking the boat; Jesus
dares to turn upside down their sacred cows; Jesus keeps challenging their
theology, their way and understanding of God, and of life. Listen: “Now the
tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear him. But the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and
eats with them.’”
You see? Jesus is upsetting the applecart of
religious decorum: As a religious teacher, you just don’t associate with
unpatriotic people such as tax collectors who work for the Roman government.
And certainly as a Rabbi you just don’t eat and drink with men and women who
are lost in society, who re-define decency and who defy religious standards set
by Pharisees and by the teachers of the Law. These people are a lost cause. You
just don’t hobnob with society’s rebels and riff-raff. So, the Pharisees are
“rattled.”
And it’s in this context of moral
and religious outrage, that Jesus tells us three stories. The first story is
about a shepherd going after a lost sheep, leaving 99 sheep behind. The second
story is about a woman who lost one of her ten silver coins. She looks for it
till she finds it. The third story is about the father and his two sons. That’s
the story Jesus begs us to enter and embrace.
Though different from each other, each of these
stories has some common themes:
·
A
theme of being lost and
of
being found.
·
A
theme of searching,
finding,
and welcoming home.
·
A
theme of rejoicing and
throwing
a party when the lost come home. Jesus tells us all three stories, with their
common themes, so that you and I may learn to do what God teaches us to do.
As we enter the story of the father
and his two lost sons, I want you to notice that Jesus leaves the story
open-ended. The father holds before his older son an invitation framed in an
emotional appeal: “My son,” the father said, “you are
always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be
glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.” Jesus leaves the story open-ended; he does not tell us
if the older son actually changes his mind. In leaving the story open-ended the
Lord Jesus gives you and me the opportunity to choose: will I listen to and
respond to the invitation of the father, or will I choose to be a stubborn,
self-righteous, uninviting, unwelcoming lost older son?
The genius of Jesus’ story of the
father and his two lost sons is its open-endedness and also its many different
angles to enter the story. For example, we can enter the story from the angle
of the father and walk in the father’s shoes; or we enter the story from the
angle of the younger son and walk in his shoes; or we can enter the story from
the angle of the older son and walk in his shoes.
I invite you this afternoon to enter the story in
such a way that “if the shoe fits you, put it on.” And as you identify with the
characters in the story, let the Spirit of Jesus Christ move your heart. But
don’t kid yourself: we need courage to face whatever truth Jesus will confront
us with this afternoon. This story of the father and his two lost sons is not
for the weak of heart, nor for those who like their comfort zones untouched.
Consider, for example, the father.
What strikes you about him? Is it his patience, his compassion, his seemingly
lopsided treatment of his two sons?
Perhaps a few of us here would knock our son over
the head before we would give him his inheritance. We won’t put up with that
nonsense, would we, of having a son telling us in essence to “drop dead” so
that he can get his share of our wealth and estate?
And perhaps others here would shut the door and say
to such a rebellious kid: O.K. you choose your bed. Now sleep in it. You may be
inclined to turn your back on your rebellious child.
Others here may do what the father does: he lets go.
He gives his rebellious son the freedom to find out for himself how to live an
abundant life of joy and satisfaction.
Some of us have sons and daughters
who turned their backs to us and to the Lord Jesus Christ. They have left the
home, the church, and the Christian faith—and they are wandering around in the
wilderness of sin and unbelief. Some of them are doing quite well—so it seems;
others are struggling and still searching to find fulfillment, to satisfy the
restlessness in their hearts. What is Jesus telling us in this story as we walk in the shoes of this father, this
parent who is hurting for his adult child?
I believe that Jesus teaches us as
parents
·
To
never give up on our
wayward
sons and daughters.
·
To
pray for them, to give
them
space to sort things out for themselves, to communicate to them our love for
them—regardless of the hurt they may have caused, regardless of the sin they
are committing.
·
To
welcome home, to look
for
the home-coming of our lost sons and daughters. If that means that our pride
gets busted, then so be it; if that means that we say “I’m sorry,” that we walk
the extra mile, put up with the extra humiliation of “loosing our face,”
dropping our dignity and running toward our lost sons and daughters to welcome
them home, then so be it.
Jesus teaches us to consider the father’s heart and
become more like him—our heavenly Father—in our dealings with all those who are lost
in sins and in life. Let the heartbeat of this father set the pace of your own
heart toward all those who are lost: “come home, my child; come home, my
friend; come home”—your heavenly father, whose child I am—is waiting for you to
come home.”
Now consider the shoes of the
younger son. See if it fits you. Take note of where they lead you. What strikes
you?
·
Is
it the recklessness of this
young
man to say in essence to his father “why don’t you drop dead, because I want
my share of the inheritance when you die. In fact, I want it now, so that I can
do what I really want to do”?
·
Is
it the restlessness of this
young
man? He wants to get away from home as far as he can.
·
Is
it the glamour of the
lifestyle
he seeks, the thrill of the friends he has?
·
Is
it his willingness to go so
far
down the pit that he ends up with swine and eats their food?
I believe that Jesus speaks to us through this young
man. What is Jesus saying to you?
1.
You
have the freedom to
choose:
to choose a path that leads back to home or a path that leads to emptiness, and
self-destruction.
2.
Sometimes,
our sons and
daughters
learn the hard way. Sometimes, they come to their senses when they hit rock
bottom.
3.
Some
of our sons and
daughters
need to go on a journey—they need to move away to find themselves and their
God. Remember! A son or daughter of Abraham is a pilgrim by nature—always on
the move.
If you recognize yourself in this young adult, I
invite you to take note of what the Lord Jesus is saying to you through this
person:
1.
The
way back home to God
the
Father is marked by signs of
genuine
humility, genuine heart-filled sorrow, and by genuine repentance or change of
heart.
Listen to the story: “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! I will set out and go back to my father and say to
him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’”
2.
The
Father is waiting for
you.
In fact, the Father delights in seeing you come back home. Your heavenly Father
will not only take you back, he will also restore you and adopt you into his
family. Our heavenly Father is waiting for you. And he will give you all you
need to live as his son or daughter.
3.
The
Father is not waiting for
you
with words of condemnation and judgment. Rather, he will welcome you with words
of love and compassion. Your heavenly Father is incredibly rich in love and
grace.
Now what about the shoes of the older son? Do they
fit you, perhaps? What strikes you? Is it his loyalty to his father, and to his
father’s business or estate? Is it his hard work mentality that appeals to you?
Is it his sense of fairness and justice that says: “my younger brother got
what he had coming. Why should I bother with him now?”
Do you think
the older brother had a point to be angry with his father for restoring his
younger son? Do you think the father is unrealistic toward his older son?
What strikes me is that this older son knew his
father so little. This older son totally underestimated the longing heart of
his father to restore his wayward child.
I
think that Jesus is saying to us:
·
Count
your blessings as a
child
of God
·
Rejoice
in your blessings
and
receive them as God’s gifts to you; the blessings we receive are not earned
blessings; we are not entitled to them. Our heavenly Father simply gives them
to us out of his abundance and love.
·
Do
not begrudge other
sinners
when they find their way back to God differently than you. Rather rejoice in
that others are seeking God, and finding their home sweet home.
Congregation,
finding your way back to God may differ for each one of us: But oh, the home
coming! The sweetness and joy of being home and of living at home with God our
Father! May many more in our community and in our sphere of influence find
their way back to the Father, back to Lord our God—our HOME!
In
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.