The Hope of Christmas

Luke 15:20–24 (NIV)

So he got up and went to his father.

“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.

Introduction

Have you ever received something that didn’t work out?

A friend of mine bought a car right at the same time that I did. I bought myself a 2011 Ford Fiesta, and he bought himself a BMW Quarter to 8. In case you didn’t know, that the 745 series.

I paid $13,000 all in, and he paid in the ballpark of $80,000.

And over the course of time, his car started having issue, after issue, after issue…

My car? Oh that thing was running like a champ!

I remember one day mentioning to him… I don’t think an $80,000 car is supposed to run like that. And with a look of defeat he said that he was already in conversations to return the car to the dealer because it was a lemon.

You all know what I’m talking about?

Things just didn’t work out.

Transition

And as we continue our series on Home Alone I want to talk about what happens when you get evertyhing you wanted, and it doesn’t work out. You get everything you wanted, and you still feel empty.

Text

Our text today is the about the reunion of the prodigal son and his father. I only read a portion of the text, because we’re going to once again allow Home Alone to help us preach this message this morning.

So let’s que up our first scene of our feature movie, Home Alone, Lost in New York.

What the Son Wants

In this opening scene of the movie we once again find Kevin wanting something different for Christmas. While his family was getting ready to hit the beach and have a warm and coastal Christmas in Florida, Kevin wanted a traditional Christmas and a Christas tree.

This slight conflict in the story is a conflict that we are all aware of, aren’t we?

We don’t always want what our parents want for us.

Come on for the kids in the room, if you are being honest, there are things that your parents want for you that you don’t want for yourself. Come on, let’s be honest.

And let me tell you all a secret… the same thing happened to your parents!

So, when they say they understand, they really do understand.

We also have the same story in Luke 15 when Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal Son.

Luke 15:11–12 (NIV)

Jesus continued: “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.

What this verse is telling us is that a Father was prepared to leave his two sons with his estate when he passed away. The younger son is impatient, and he doesn’t want to wait until his father passes away for his share of the estate. He wants his estate now, so that he can leave his father’s house, and go on ahead and live life the way he wants to live his life.

This scenario that the son created brought a lot of grief to his father.

You need to understand that what the son was saying to his father was I no longer want to have a relationship with you. You see, as long as you’re alive, I don’t get what is coming to me. So rather than waiting until you die, I’ll leave your house now, you’ll never see me again, and you’ll be as good as dead to me...

And the father… must have been devastated.

We don’t know the conflict that existed in that home, but I believe any good father would break to hear those words from his son, “I want to leave now, and I want what you owe me...”

And the father, in spite of what he is feeling, he does what the son wants. I mean, he so loves his son, and wants to please his son, that he goes ahead and gives his son his share of the estate.

Lost in the City

And how did that go for the son?

Well initially, it went something like this...

Kevin is getting the Christmas he always wanted!

Church, I’ve been to New York right around this time of year, and the city is as advertised. It is a fun time of the year to be in the City.

And just like Kevin is enjoying himself in the city, so is the prodigal son.

Luke 15:13 (NIV)

“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.

The son is very much enjoying his fathers inheritance. He’s living the life he wanted, that his father probably told him that it wasn’t as good as what he is believing it is.

The Bible gives us a description of the type of living that he was doing - WILD.

What does that mean? It means it was WILD!

I’ll let you let your imagination loose… but I’m sure that with the resources he had, he is finally doing everything that he always wanted to do.

But the Bible let’s us in on what eventually happened… the Bible says that he squandered his wealth.

Squandered… that’s a fun word. That packs more of a punch than waste. He didn’t just waste his money, but he squandered his money.

All Good Things Come to an End...

We’re going to toss is back to Kevin now in New York and see how his luck is going as he too is away from his home and away from his parents.

Things are about to change for Kevin, aren’t they?

He’s been living on his Daddy’s credit card, and that card just got shut down and he’s about to face the reality of being away from the covering of his parents and away from the provision of his parents.

And in our story of the Prodigal Son, here is what we read about him.

Luke 15:14–16 (NIV)

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.

The son in this story is out of money and he’s out of options.

This son, who was handed a portion of his father’s estate, now has to settle for feeding pigs.

And in case if you’re wondering if this is like a ranch hand, no! That’s not what this was…

The job that he worked paid so little, that he was getting jealous of how good the pigs were eating. He wanted to eat their food, but he wasn’t allowed to do that.

The son had hit absolute rock bottom in his failed attempt to live life without his father.

The Prodigal In Me

Now this story of the Prodigal Son isn’t just a story for someone who is far from God, but it is for all of us. You see, we too have been that Prodigal Son.

The Prodigal Son represents my desire to do things my way.

I’m not talking about the good decisions we make, I’m talking about the decisions we make that we know contradict the nature and the word of God.

And there is a prodigal in each and every one of us.

Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way...

Some of us have gone further than some of the others, but make no mistake. Every single one of us in this room has decided that we could do it our way. We could do it on our own.

And the problem that we are all going to eventually run in to, just like Kevin, and just like the prodigal, is that if we want to live outside of the covering of the Lord, he will let that happen.

Can I give you my personal theology here?

I haven’t completely worked this out, and it’s not unchangeable doctrine so please give me grace for this.

When we want to do things our way, the grace of God will go with us and it will cover us for a time.

But when you no longer desire the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart, and he will pull back his grace. You didn’t want it anyway, so he’ll just pull it back…

There’s a Way Home

And this is where the prodigal son found himself when he suddenly came to his senses...

Luke 15:17–19 (NIV)

“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.’

That day, the son who dishonored his father remembered how good it was to be in the home of his father. And that day in the pig pen he made the decision that it was better to be a slave in his father’s house than a son living on the street.

So the son made his way back to the father...

That’s what many of us believe, but that is actually not the larger story of the gospel.

You see it wasn’t the son who made a way to the Father, it was Jesus who made a way to the Father.

When the Prodigal Son left the covering of his father, it would require an obedient son to make a way back to the Father.

Jesus is the obedient son who steps into Earth and is submitted to the will of his father.

Without Jesus, there is no door back into the Father’s home. Without Jesus, there is no “right standing” that we could attain in order to return to the Father’s House.

And this is the Hope of Christmas. The Hope of Christmas is that a man named Jesus came into this world to lead us back to the father. The Hope of Christmas is that there is hope for the prodigal. There is hope for everyone who is far from God right now. There is hope for your children. There is hope for your family. There is hope for your friends.

The door is open, and we just need to help lead them back into the father’s house.

The Father’s Heart

(NLT 10 mins before) There is of course a beautiful ending to both of these stories. Let’s run it back to Kevin for a moment.

Don’t you just love to see how Kevin’s Mom is running to Kevin? There is nothing like the love of a mother… and there is nothing like the love of our Father.

Luke 15:20 (NIV)

“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.

When the son was still a long way off, the Father saw him.

Maybe you are still along way off today, but let me tell you something… The Father sees you! The Father knows exactly where you are, and he knows exactly what you need.

Maybe you feel unseen, or you feel unknown. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Don’t let the distance between you and God make you feel like he can’t see you.

He sees you, and he loves you.

And I love this… he saw the son a long way off and he had compassion for his son. Not judgment. Not condemnation.

Compassion. Love. Acceptance.

You see everything you want, and everything you have been looking for, is already in Him.

What the son needed, and he thought was out there, was actually in his home the entire time. You don’t have to leave to be seen. You don’t have to leave to feel accepted. Everything you need is already in him, and in the house.

So rather than stay a long way off, turn towards the father.

Because when you turn towards the father, he’s going to start running towards you.

I said, he’s going to start running towards you.

Conclusion

The prodigal son, wanted to do things His way.

Jesus, the obedient son, makes a way for us back to the Father.

The loving Father runs towards us.

The greatest gift of all is available for you today.

The Father is running after you, and the question is, will you respond and come back to the Father?