May grace, mercy and peace be to each of you from God our Father and our resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
The good news of the gospel is that we are no longer slaves to sin and death. Let’s pray as we open ourselves up once again to God’s Word …
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and for the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let your grace and your peace be with those listening and gathered here today. Guide us that we may be Your disciples as You teach us how to truly confess. We ask this in the name of Jesus our Savior and our Lord. Amen.
When we were kids, I am certain that each one of you can remember those instances and circumstances where we may have been reluctant to tell the truth, or at least tell the whole truth, because we were afraid of getting punished.
Perhaps we carelessly broke a window? Or, was it a scratch or dent on your parent’s car? Or, how about, why you couldn’t get home on time? Or, why a younger sibling was really crying?
Admitting failure has always been difficult. Even now as adults, admitting failure is still difficult, because confessing and coming clean, when something is OUR fault, is never easy. Sometimes it is hard to take responsibility for our actions.
I’m sure many of you here today have stories similar to the examples I just shared. Honestly, we probably all have numerous stories that SOUND eerily similar.
Thankfully, all those type of stories END DIFFERENTLY when God gets involved. With God, we are promised forgiveness when we confess our sins and come clean. And God’s forgiveness is different than our forgiveness to each other for God does not remember the sin when He forgives. We have to intentionally choose to not remember sins when we forgive others, but not God. When He forgives,
it is no more.
When we bring ourselves into the Light of Christ, we are able to live free, unburdened lives … lives that are unhindered by the sin that so easily entangles us.
That is when we can “run the race set before us”, as it says in Hebrews 12:1.
Obviously, Jesus led a sinless life, only man to do so, so we won’t see any specific examples from His life that include sin.
However, it is because of Jesus’ sinless life, and humble sacrifice, that we can experience the UNRESTRAINED forgiveness of the Father over our sin. As I said in week 1, “you are not broken beyond repair”.
As we have mentioned many times before, Jesus is the reason we can confess and experience complete forgiveness in our lives.
God’s forgiveness is truly amazing grace. When you think about it, it is such a different response to our wrongdoing than what many of us grew up experiencing.
Our teaching today is going to follow the story of an ARROGANT son and his journey from the ash heap back to the arms of his father.
This story is where most of our stories begin. We are convinced we know how to run our life better than God does. So, we take all that he has given us, and we waste it on living however WE want.
We double down on our bad decisions and hurt ourselves and others in the process. In short, we Squander It All.
Our Gospel lesson today cites the story of the younger son, the prodigal son – page 730 if you want to follow along in a chair Bible…
“Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.” Luke 15:11-13
The word used here for “wild living” is only used once in the New Testament. It describes an extravagantly wasteful lifestyle. It may seem like the right thing for a time, and after all, in the case of the younger son, he was only spending his rightful inheritance. But eventually the money runs out, the parties come to an end, and the nerves wear thin.
It is at this point we realize we’ve squandered it all. In the words of the prophet Isaiah…
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…” Isaiah 53:6
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the prodigal’s story …
nor is it the end of our story. At some point in life’s journey, I pray that we all realize that we are…
No Longer Worthy … just like the prodigal son.
Continuing now in Luke 15:14, we read…
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”
“When he came to his senses, he said; ‘How many of my father’s hired servants 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 servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.”
Luke 15:14-20
There needs to be a time in each of our lives, where we simply come to our senses, and realize that our life will NEVER be what it was meant to be apart from God, our Father. Never!
My prayer always is that none of you will have to lose everything, become shattered, and have your dreams reduced to ashes…
But the good news is this … if it ever happens, we can be a prodigal son and make the decision to head home at any time.
Some of us simply have to come to the end of our worth, and realize that IN CHRIST ALONE we are found worthy before the Father.
And we are worthy NOT based upon anything we can or cannot do, but entirely upon the finished work of Christ on the cross.
As the younger son reaches his end, look at the confession he was practicing in verse 21…
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you…”
He recognizes the depravity of his life, and he understands his sin not only touches his earthly father but His heavenly Father, as well.
When we reach this point in our lives, we can be Alive Again. Continuing our Gospel lesson at Luke 15:20…
“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. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” John 15:20-24
This is one of the most beautiful scenes of compassion in the entire Bible. The younger son reaches bottom and begins heading home. But even while he’s still a long way from home, his father sees him, and RUNS out to meet him.
You can almost hear the son’s muffled apology coming through the sound of his father’s warm embrace and smothering kisses. The father makes it difficult for the son to even speak.
The younger man’s humility, confession, and willingness to return home, after having lost EVERYTHING, says a lot about his true character. Yes, he was physically starved, and yes he was in a foreign land with absolutely nothing.
But there, when he hit rock bottom, what really mattered became clear to him. The abundance of mercy, compassion, food, and the warmth of his father’s house called him home.
How many of us this morning need to humble ourselves, confess our sin against God and others, and return to God our Father?
Let me ask you this…
“What is keeping you from the Father today?”
• Anger?
• Unforgiveness?
• Offense?
• Unmet expectations?
• Past hurts?
What needs to be confessed, repented of, and healed now? James leaves us with this counsel for today…
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
I encourage you to always remember these words, and know that God is always ready to see you far off and run to you with open arms … come home today.
And all God’s people say … AMEN!
Let’s pray:
“God, we confess today that we have made decisions that have broken our relationship with You and others. Forgive us for the mistakes we have made. Free us from shame and guilt that we may walk in the newness of life that You offer us in your Son. May our lives be transparent before you, and may you help us live our lives with wisdom.” We pray in Jesus precious name. Amen