March 18 sermon Prodigal Me

March 18 Sermon Prodigal Me
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32

We are all on a spiritual journey. Some of us have just gotten on the boat. Some are riding the waves of the sea right now. Some feel like they are in a hurricane. Others can see land ahead and believe their spiritual journey is coming to an end, but in actuality it’s just about to start up again.

If you think I’m crazy on this, think back 10 years. What was your spiritual life and beliefs like? Have they changed or evolved in any way? Are you more tolerant (or less tolerant) now than you were before? Are you quick to agree or disagree with a plan of action in the church knowing your way is the right way?

Do you let the BIBLE guide your decisions in life? You know what the bible is right. B-I-B-L-E….Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

If your beliefs never evolve and your spirituality never grows, you are stagnant in your God Life. Usually the factors that contribute to this stagnation is 1) little or no prayer life, 2) insignificant bible study, 3) skipping worship on a regular basis. Did you know that the more you skip worship, the easier it is to skip next week. Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not calling anyone out or throwing them under the bus. I know how hard it can be to get up here for a 9:45 Sunday School gathering and an 11 am worship service; especially since it’s one of the two days we have off during the week. Work Monday – Friday and off Saturday and Sunday. And we are up 14 hours a day, so that 2 hours on Sunday morning is like…2% of the time we are awake. It’s significant right.

But we are here this morning to grow. To hear what Jesus said 2000 years ago and be able to apply it to our lives; not just our individual lives, but also our congregational lives too. As we go through each person in this parable, I want you to figure out where you are and where you want to be. You’ll need it at the end.

Let’s look at the father in our parable first. He was the man of the house. He had servants and property. And he had two sons. The pride and joy of his life. Oh what fine men these two would grow up to be. He was completely SINCERE in this.

Throughout the scripture, there is not a time the father walks away from his kids. He loves them and only wants the best for them. But the younger son comes to his father and asks for his share of the inheritance. The father without question, but I’m sure he was sorrowful, and gives a percentage to the son.
He was the younger, so his inheritance was smaller than half, as the older son receives a larger portion.

Have you done with your kids or friends or nieces and nephews what the father did with his son? He knew what the son was planning, but he let him go anyway. There was grief and heartbreak, but love.

But we can look at the end of the story and see the father again. All those days he had been waiting for his son to come back. The father was always watching for him, waiting for the day he can put his arms around him again.
And that day finally came, and oh what HOSPITALITY was lavished on the lost son. The ring on his finger. The robe on his shoulders. The sandals on his feet. The fatted calf killed in celebration. The one who was lost was now found. He was dead but now is alive.

But the older brother was not happy. The father went to console him. The father was always NURTURING both his sons, even if they did not receive it in the way intended. We are going to look at the father in two ways.

First as God. God is sincere in all he does. He is more open, loving and honest than anyone you will ever know. When we become Christians, we know God. We get to feast with and be in communication with him. He will give us what we need.
But then sometimes we want to go our own way. We want to take our ball and play on another court. So we walk away. John Wesley would call this backsliding. God is a gracious host and won’t force anything on us. He will never drag you kicking and screaming into an eternity with him when you don’t want it. That is true hospitality.

And every time we come back to him, he will nurture us. He will clean up our wounds and bandage our scrapes. He will give us a cup of tea and a nice chair to sit in next to him. He is always watching and waiting for us to come back to him.

The other way to look at the father is the church. We are called to be sincere in our faith. Christianity is the truth. Christ is God; he came down from heaven; he was crucified and killed and on the 3rd day rose again. As a Christian, you must come to believe this.

The church must offer hospitality to each other and to the stranger among us. We welcome anyone who desires to be a part of the joyous celebration we call worship service. And we must nurture each other and the strangers among and around us. 1 Peter says to “have a reason for the joy within you and be able to share that reason with others, but share it with gentleness and kindness.” We must share the love and truth of Christ with everyone, with gentleness and kindness.
Let’s look at the brother now. The brother was SULLEN. He was brooding. 1st because father had given in to the younger son. 2nd because he was the elder son. He is the one who should be able to make request like this. And yet, when the prodigal comes back, father accepts him without question.

Did you notice how the older brother disowned the younger?? He says to his father “when this “son of yours” came back…” The brother had been OBEDIENT all these years. He had done all the right things. I can hear him jump on the OFFENSIVE immediately. “Nothing should change, father. We have been living and doing things a certain way all these years. He must conform to us. He must do it our way.”

But no…the father accepts him in as a beloved son. The brother was NOT SATISFIED with the answer. The father said to his oldest son “You are always here and now all I have is yours. But I desire to have both my sons with me.”

At the beginning of chapter 15, the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” The righteous, the Pharisees, those who had been in the church the longest, the brother saw themselves as doing it right. They could not see any other option except what they had all these years.
And now to the prodigal son. The Prodigal son is the one we hear about so often. He was so SELFISH. Before his father was even on his death bed, the son wanted his share of inheritance. How much more can you put ones self ahead than that. He was tired of being #2. He wanted to make his own life. He had lived long enough and knew what to do.

He went to his father and instead of offering himself as a responsible part of the family, he became so self centered and wanting his way, he OFFERED NOTHING. Do we do that sometimes? Do we feel we have all the right answers, and we push and push to have it our way instead of looking at the possibilities on the horizon or in our own backyard? Do we look at others in society or close by and think “We need to train them how to do it the “right” way.”

In the son’s stubbornness and glee of getting his way, he went and wasted his future. He had so many options. His youthful vigor and excitement could have been directed in some great ways. But he ran. His brother and father watched him go. We see the gravity of the situation in the lost son with his decline into a lifestyle far removed from Jewish faithfulness and his downward mobility in economic terms (from a son to a hired hand).
He was NEEDY too. When you have lost everything and have burned bridges in the past, you need shelter, food, and care. It’s not there.
He was broken. He ran home. But not as a son…he ran home as a hired hand. Why?? He thought back and realized that his father treated the lowly workers in the field better than he was treated now. Having our spirit broken will do that.

When we run from God, we think…”oh this new life is great. I can do whatever I want whenever I want.” The Devil whispers in our ears, “You don’t need that church. It’s full of hypocrites. They don’t like your style. They don’t like what you wear. You’re better than them.” Then your out in the world and you realize what a pig sty this world is. It’s cheap and works as a black hole sucking you dry.”

You turn to go back and the Devil whispers again, “You can’t go back. Look at you. You’re not worthy to be a part of the church. You’re not good enough. You ran away.” Have you ever felt that way. First you’re better than THAT congregation or THAT pastor and then you’ve been away and feel you’re not good enough.

The Prodigal Son thought that way. But he sucked it up and went back home to be a servant. He had NOTHING TO OFFER. But the father accepted him back as a son. God will do that for us.
He is always waiting for us to turn from our selfish ways and come back as sons and heirs to the kingdom. Even when we mess up, even when we make mistakes, He will welcome us back. We are SANCTIFIED once again.
But the older brother was not impressed. He was still sullen. He still was not satisfied. The older wanted the younger kicked out of the house. In his mind there was nothing here for the son.

The parable is open ended. We don’t know if the older brother came to the celebration. I think it’s open ended because it’s up to us now.
*You see, you can be in the role of the father. You can welcome everyone in to the house, and when some stray away, you can urge them to come back and welcome them back into without question.

*You can be in the role of the prodigal son. I know I was at one time. I left high school and turned my back on church. Luckily I came back. It’s not as likely for young people to come back nowadays. Over 85% of them don’t. Maybe you left and are just now coming back. We are glad you are here. Maybe you left and have not felt welcomed back by your older brothers. Let me assure you, you are always welcome here.



*You can be in the role of the older brother. As an older brother you have a chance to accept everyone into the church, even if they are different than you. You have a chance to join the celebration taking place in our worship.

I started off this morning talking about your spiritual journey. The Kingdom of God is before us. All we have to do is go in the door and join in the celebration. The father is waiting for us.

I want to invite you to the alter rail now. This is not a time to be called out, but to be blessed.
If you feel like the prodigal son and are ready to get out of pig slop and come in to the house to clean off for the feast, come up and be blessed.

If you are the older brother who sees the changes before you and is wondering if you can make it through this storm, come up and be blessed.

If you want to be in the father role now to accept and be accepted, come up now and be blessed.