Hello, friends. I hope this post finds you doing very well this day. I apologize for missing last week, as I had two toddlers in the house and I was a bit busy 😊. This is the sermon from a few weeks back, the weekend before Easter, and the last of the ‘Lost’ Parables Series. Now, let’s set the morning ambiance: I am drinking my favourite coffee currently, ☕️ Michigan Cherry. I rolled a mix this morning from yesterday that I cannot recall, but my main leaf this morning was Mendo Breath, an indica that is worth what I paid for it. That being said, I am floating happily along 🍃 and hope you can join me.
You can read below, or open your Bible to Luke 15.
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your properties with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’
Luke 15: 11-32 (ESV)
The younger son comes, takes, and exercises a hostile will toward God; by nature and by choice is hostile to God. The father let’s his son go…
- God will leave you to yourself, but He never leaves you by yourself. —The Lord will arrange things in your life to get your attention and to get you moving!
- God regularly gives you more than you can handle, so that you may see your need for His provision. You’re never more in your right mind as an image bearer of God than when you recognize that you are a sinner in need of His grace.
- A relationship with Jesus is rooted in grace extended to broken men & women. -The son has been practicing, but really has no capacity to demand anything, ie. ‘Treat me like your servants’.
- God’s grace is extravagant! —He is watching, waiting, and loving you the entire time. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15: 20b). This one verse is just jumping off the page for me today.*
- If you think God owes you something, you’re putting yourself in a dangerous place. —The older brother is just as lost as the younger, just in a different way; hard hearted and Pharisaic. (The basis of your relationship with God is NOT based on your good works).
- GOD STANDS READY TO MEET YOU WITH GRACE. With all the rage the older brother brought, the father replied with calm & grace and with the truth that he was there the entire time.
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Luke 15: 31-32 (ESV)
*Luke 15:20b – Dear Readers, this is just in my mind today, that the Lord loves you and is watching, waiting, for you to come home. .łç.
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