Embracing Grace: The Prodigal Son's Journey Home

In these Jewish villages, family was very important. Fathers were the patriarchs and children were taught to respect and and honor their fathers and to honor God and to worship God. Everybody in the village knew each other. They knew all the families. They knew all the children. They cared for one another. They looked out for one another. They knew what was going on in each one of the families because it affected the village as a whole. So in this context, it was scandalous to learn and everybody learned this in the village that the youngest son in the family made this outrageous demand of his father. [00:01:54]

But perhaps the worst part of this demand was that he desired his father's death because inheritance are given after a parent dies. So when the son asked for his share of the inheritance early, it was like saying to his father, "I wish you were dead. I don't want to wait for you to die. Just give me what I'd get whenever you're gone and give it to me right now." And how that must have broken his father's heart. Those words must have pierced him. But the father's reaction was just as scandalous as that of the son as a demand rather of the son. [00:04:07]

Dr. Kenneth Bailey who who was a a New Testament scholar he was an expert in Middle Eastern studies. He wrote a lot about Middle Eastern study. He spent time over there. And he he wrote that in response to this demand by the son, Middle Easterners would expect a father to explode with anger and to slap the son in the face with a with an open backhand. And as you know, he would have had a ring and that backhand would have hurt. And the the people in the village would have applauded. I mean that's that's what he got. That's what he deserved. And what do you expect yet in the story that Jesus told the father doesn't react that way but he very unexpectedly grants his son son's request because God honors our free will as much as it hurts him. [00:04:53]

So he begins this long trip back and in the story Jesus said that when he left home he went to a far off land. So he was nowhere close to the father. It would have been a long walk back and he had a lot of time to think and maybe second guessess himself. He was probably nervous. He probably imagined walking home and arriving close to home and someone coming out to say stop right there. Your father doesn't want to see you, just turn around and go back. You had your chance. This is one of the big fears of people that are running from God. People who have left the faith. People who have dis deconstructed their faith and they're away from God and then they feel a tug to turn back to God. [00:08:27]

This is one of their fears. How will God respond when I come back? Will God forgive me or does he want to punish me? They think all these bad things that have happened, what if these things are God's punishment to me? What if God is punishing me? What if they're not just the consequences of running away, but what if they're the wrath of an angry God and he's mad at me? If I come back to God, what what will I say? What do I do? What will God say? What would will God do? Is God just waiting to punish me? And so, I want to address that in today's message. I want to answer what you can expect from God when you come home. [00:09:15]

But guess who didn't allow it? Have you ever wondered why the father ran to meet the son? I mean, the father was looking daily for his son to come home. And when he looked out that day and he saw what he had hoped for, what he had prayed for, what he had desired in his heart, he knew that he had to get to his son before the men of the village got to him and performed and enacted this Jewish ceremony of Kaza. He knew he had to get to his son before the men of the village told his son, "You are forever cut off from your family and from this village because you've sold your land to foreign people. Now turn around and go back." [00:14:15]

The father had to make sure there was no kaza. There would be no kaza that day if the father had his way and he had his way. He would not allow his son to be cut off from the village. And so he ran to the son. He ran. Another scandalous thing because that was unheard of in those days. It was scandalous and it was undignified for a man of his stature, for a patriarch of the family, for his Jewish man to run. That was humiliating. and and then to run he would have had to have lifted up his robe exposing his legs. That was shocking. Who does that? A father who says there will be no kaza for my son who's coming home today. [00:14:55]

The same son who had broken his heart. The same son who had disrespected his teachings and rejected them. The same son who had squandered his money. And so he ran to his son. He threw his arms around him and held him, never wanting to let him go. He wept. Not tears of sorrow, not tears of anger, but tears of joy. What a beautiful picture of God's love for you and me today. The son was stunned. Stunned. Instead of being rejected by his father, instead of kaza, he was welcomed by a father who was waiting for an opportunity to do that. [00:16:02]

Like the father in the story, God watches and he waits for you to come home today. God is not interested in cutting you off from his blessings, from his community. He's been waiting. God has been waiting for this moment. And the moment you turn your hearts toward him, he runs to you. This is not just grace. This is aggressive grace. Aggressive grace seeks you out. Aggressive grace pursues you. Aggressive grace leaves the 99 behind and goes out to look for you. Aggress aggressive grace sweeps and cleans the house and looks under every table and every bed and every corner looking for a lost coin. [00:17:02]

And when you decide to come home, God meets you on the road. You don't have to figure out what what will I say? What will I do? What do I have to fix? Because your loving heavenly father meets you on the road and he brings you home. So when I come home, God is waiting for me. But we also learn in the story, what the son learned is that when I come home, God loves me. When I come home, God loves me. And I know that almost seems too simple, like, "Yeah, I know God loves me no matter what." But I want you to know, God loves you when you turn away from him. [00:17:51]

God loves you when you go your own way. God loves you when you feel like you don't need God and you don't need any of the teachings and traditions and, you know, faith traditions and any of the sacred things you learned at home. God still loves you. God loves you. When you feel lost and unhappy and and you begin to realize that you made a mistake, he loves you right now. Wherever you are, right now, he loves you. That's why Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 8:38 and 39. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [00:18:28]

I find it amazing that even when we choose to walk so far from him, even when we choose to participate in negative, disgusting behaviors, he chooses to love us. He chooses to love me in my nasty, stinking sin. He chooses to love me in my redeemed life, too. His grace, his forgiveness is truly amazing. Oh, but you don't know what I've done. I know God loves you. You don't know what I've said. I know God loves you, but I've done so much bad, so terrible things. So many terrible things. God loves you. And the father and son stood and they hugged. And finally, when the tears were cried, the son spoke up. [00:19:52]

These are words of repentance. We talked about repentance last week and the difference between remorse and repentance. These are words of repentance, not just remorse. And the principle that we learn here is this that repentance comes in response to love. Repentance is in response to love. That's not always what we think, right? We tend to love people after they repent. Okay, repent. I want to see some signs of repentance and then I'll love you. God loves people to repentance and through repentance. His unfailing love and kindness lead to repentance. That's what Paul says in Romans 2:4. He says that God God's kindness leads you to repentance. [00:21:00]

It's God's kindness that leads you to repentance. It's not the regret that leads you to repentance. It's not the guilt or the shame that play on repeat in your mind. People are tormented by guilt and regret. They're tormented by that. And the devil makes sure they're tormented by that. That alone doesn't lead you to repentance because condemnation is not from God. It's not from God. His kindness leads to repentance because condemnation rejects but kindness welcomes. Have you ever considered that you can be someone who loves people back to God? You can be someone you can do that someone who just loves people back to God. [00:21:48]

So rather than becoming a a servant or a slave and waiting on the father, the father had the servants waiting on him. All the privileges of sunship were restored. You know, God has amazing blessings for his children. But those blessings don't return until we return to him, until we come home to him. When you walk away from God, oh, things may go well for a while. I know people that are away from the Lord. The people that grew up in the faith and that serve God and they walk away from the faith and they say, "Look, hey, everything's going fine. I'm doing great. Got a great job, great family. I don't miss church. I don't miss God." [00:25:30]

And I don't say it to them, but I I all I can do is think, well, the the end of the story hasn't been written because eventually things begin to fall apart. Money problems, broken relationships, bad choices. And if you've run from God, you may assume that since you since you no longer experience his blessings, that must mean that God doesn't love me anymore. That's not true at all. God's blessings are separate from his love. When you return, when you run from God, rather, he still loves you. When you run from God, he still loves you. His love never ends and his love pursu pursues you. [00:26:10]

You lose the blessings when you run but God's blessings are res restored when you return. His plan for your life is still in intact. That's why God wants to restore you. People assume that God wants to punish them because of their rebellion. But God says, "Look, you're still my child. I have to let the consequences uh carry out in your life, but I want to restore you. And when you come back, God restores you. And when God restores you, how many of you know you're restored, you're whole. You're complete. You get the robe. You get the ring. You get the sandals on your feet. It's like you never left. That's God's restoration." [00:26:51]

When I come home, God celebrates. When you decide to come home to return to your heavenly father, there is a celebration in heaven because there is great joy in heaven when the prodigal son comes home. Jesus told three consecutive stories with the same theme. The story of the lost sheep. When the shepherd went out and found that lost sheep, brought it home. There was a great celebration. When the woman who lost that coin found the coin, she called her neighbors and they had a great celebration. And when the prodigal son came home, the father celebrated. God celebrates when you come home. It's a celebration. [00:29:33]

No matter how far away you went, no matter what you did, when you come home, God celebrates that you're home and he restores you and celebrates you. And we should do the same thing when someone comes back to Jesus. We should not mock them, say, "Where you been? It's about time you came back." That should not happen. Let's not ever allow that to happen in our lives and in this church. It should kick off a crazy, wild, excited celebration. There should be laughing. There should be shouted, cries of joy, tears of joy because someone has come home. [00:30:24]

Wherever you are in the story, I want you to hear this truth. God sees you. God loves you. Your father is running to him. And you in turn can run to God. You in turn can run to the father and meet him. He's not wanting to condemn you. He's running. He's running. And he's waiting for you. Not with folded arms ready to lecture you, but with arms wide open to wrap you in grace, to restore your identity in Christ and to rejoice in your return. [00:31:52]