A Father’s Day message.
Reading: Luke
15:11-32.
“Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons.
The younger said to his father, “Father, I want right now what is
coming to me.' So the father divided the property between them.
It was not long before the younger son packed his bags and left for
a distant country. There, undisciplined and immorality, he wasted everything he
had.”
“After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all
through that country and he began to hurt.
He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to
slop the pigs.
He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop,
but no one would give him any.
That brought him to his senses. He said, “All those farmhands
working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to
death. I am going back to my father. I will say to him, Father, I have sinned
against God, I have sinned before you;
I do not deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.”
He got right up and went home to his father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart
pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.
The son started his speech: “Father, I have sinned against God, I
have sinned before you; I do not deserve to be called your son ever again.”
But the father was not listening. He was calling to the servants,
“Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his
finger and sandals on his feet.
Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We are going to feast! We
are going to have a wonderful time!
My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost
and now found!” And they began to have a wonderful time.
All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's
work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and
dancing.
Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on.
He told him, “Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a
feast—barbecued beef! —because he has him home safe and sound.”
The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join
in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he would not listen.
The son said, 'Look how many years I have stayed here serving you,
never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me
and my friends?
Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores
shows up and you go all out with a feast!'
His father said, “Son, you do not understand. You are with me all
the time, and everything that is mine is yours—
But this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This
brother of yours was dead, and he is alive! He was lost, and he is found!”
Luke 15:11-32 (MES)
This parable is
really about a DAD, not just about a son!
What is “Father’s
Day?” One small boy said, “Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you do
not need to spend so much money on the gift.” Some may say “What gift?”
The family unit has changed a lot over
time. But the Bible calls Christian fathers to a different standard!
Dads, we are called to provide a proper spiritual environment where our
children can grow up in love and grow to serve the Lord! It is easy to become a
father, but not that easy to “father” our children.
“For
though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have
many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” 1 Corinthians 4:15.
The Bible has special value for us,
since it shows us an IDEAL Father, God Himself! Here is the Bible’s most famous
“Father’s Day story.” If you have made horrible mistakes, taken foolish risks,
and basically wasted your life. Our Heavenly Father still welcomes you home!
1ST POINT: THE FATHER’S HOUSE.
The results of living away from our Heavenly Father’s guidance is
always unsuccessful, and nothing can prevent the ultimate price from catching
up with us. The farther away we run, the worse the destruction gets.
As exciting as the world appears, the
Father’s house is the only place where real life and love are experienced.
Someone said: “The world is the illusion; but, the Father’s house is the
reality!”
Some people are surprised that God
acts like the father in this story, why? Because:
He does nothing to
stop the son from taking advantage of him.
He does not even
try to keep him from leaving home.
He does not stop
his son from living his own chosen life.
God refuses to step in and stop people
from doing what is wrong? He has a non-interference policy. Because God has
given us the amazing gift of free will! If He interfered, it would no
longer be free will. We would like to have Him force them to do the right
things and stop them from doing wrong things.
We think we would like God to be more
controlling, that is, when it comes to other people. But when WE want to rebel
we do not want God or anyone trying to control us. God knows that the moment He
forces us to do His will, it is no longer obedience, and therefore it means
nothing.
In the culture of Jesus’ day, children
did not even leave home when they became adults and married. The father simply
added on to the house, especially if his estate was wealthy. To leave home
was to leave everything, your family, relationships, work, and future.
But the father did not want his son to
stay at home if the son did not want to stay. He did not want him to be there
out of some kind of obligation and regret.
2ND POINT: THE SON’S CHOOSEN LIFE.
This rebellious son was living off of
his father’s resources in the house and in the far country, the whole time! He
would have had to work a lifetime to get that much money! Yet, he was wasteful
in his inheritance and throwing away that which had been intended to provide
him with a future.
The pleasures and parties were paid
for out of his father’s pocket. He used the blessings and resources of his
father provided to rebel against his father! The worst part of this young
man’s life is not that he went away to the far country and wasted his
inheritance, but that he never developed a relationship with his father. If
he had, he would never have left home.
He never understood how much his
father loved him. He never figured out that what was available to him at
home, was more than all the pleasure and money in the world. He would not
believe that his father wanted the best for him and had great plans for him.
He had lived with him all those years and never knew him!
CONCLUSION:
If you also, have made horrible
mistakes, taken foolish risks, and basically wasted your life, God loves you in
spite of that!
See, this Heavenly Father still
welcomes sinners home! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”
John 3:16.
Audio sermon at: http://www.spudbyte.com/bchurch/2016/19.06.2016.PM.DAVID.WALTERS.mp3
