You Can Always Come Home
Come Home • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome
Welcome
Come Home
Pt.2 – You Can Always Come Home
I have a great sense of direction, however I also have ADHD and tend to forget where I am going. Thankfully my IPhone has a fix for that with the help of Apple and Google Maps. So for the most part I have a solid chance of getting to where I intended. Plus you have the added challenge of beating the intended arrival time.
You, Younger drivers have no idea how good they have it. Some of you remember GPS before the iPhone. You had to purchase a device like this – a TomTom. It attached to your windshield with a suction cup, because if it couldn’t see the sky, it was just as lost as you were. If you were travelling to a different city, you had to download the maps and install them on a memory card – because there was no way the entire country could fit in one GPS unit.
That was all inconvenient – but not near as bad as when you actually tried to use it. Today’s technology looks ahead at traffic patterns and response quickly to mistakes. Not TomTom. You didn't have options. There was one predetermined, supposedly efficient route. If you missed your turn, it would say “Off Route – Recalculating”. By the time it was done recalculating, you already missed the turn it recalculated you to take, thus beginning a never-ending cycle of recalculation
When all hope of TomTom working properly was gone, you finally gave up and asked for directions – which was not much better. Because these are some of the things people said when you called for directions:
· “Where are you?” Well – if I knew that, I wouldn’t be lost, would I?
· “We’re real easy to find – you can’t miss it.” In other words, “How’d you get lost, You idiot?”
· “Turn right ½ mile after the broke down combine.”
· “Turn at the Jone’s house. Well - they sold it to the Smith’s, but turn there anyway.”
· “Go to the second red light – then keep going.”
· “If you get the Wal-Mart, you’ve gone too far.”
· “Turn left 4 streets before the dead end.”
· And - my all-time favorite direction: “Turn left where the Happy Chef used to be.”
“Thanks a lot. I really need to find my way. Why can’t you just tell me how to get there?”
The Sad Thing is we do the same thing to people who’ve lost their way spiritually.
We tell them where they need to be, but don’t really tell them how to get there.
Most of the time, they know where they need to be; but they’re lost. What they want is someone to tell them how to find their way back to God.
In Luke 15, Jesus told a story to a group of Pharisees who were criticizing him for eating with and talking to sinners. Let me quickly tell you the first half of the story.
There was a man with two sons. The younger one is the star of the story, but not in a good way. Jesus never gave him a name. I’ll call him “Scott.”
Scott was tired of living in his father’s house and by his father’s rules. He wanted to do his own thing, so he asked for his share of the inheritance. In their culture, that was the ultimate insult. It was like saying, “Dad, I don’t care if you live or die. I just want my money.” Heartbroken, Dad split the money and gave it to his sons.
Scott left home and went wild. He lost all the money partying. Then, hard times came. There was a famine. Scott was far from home with no food or money. He finally got a job, working with pigs.
Remember – Scott was a Jew. Even touching a pig made you unclean and required a cleansing ritual before you could return to the temple. Jews hated pigs. Working with pigs was the ultimate horrible job. Scott was embarrassed, ashamed, hungry and alone.
The Bible says, “…no one gave him anything.”
Jesus was a great storyteller. Like all Jesus’ stories, this one illustrates a principle. Jesus was using story telling for correction and also For the Spiritual Formation of His Followers.
The Dad in the story represents God. Scott represents people who leave home and walk away from faith and relationship with their Heavenly Father.
We pick up the story in verse 17. Scott was in a pitiful situation, sitting with the pigs – broke, hungry and alone. Running wasn’t fun anymore. What seemed like a good idea obviously wasn’t. Doing things his way had miserably failed. Scott had to make a decision – live like this or swallow his pride and go home.
“Let’s see, I can live here with the pigs or I can go home – sleep in a warm bed and eat good food.” Sounds easy doesn’t it?
But, in real life, it’s not so easy at all.
When you have left God and done your own thing, only to miserably fail, it should be easy to say, “I don’t want to do this anymore! I thought living without rules would be great. I thought I knew better. Obviously don’t. I’m going to return to God with my whole heart and never do this again!”.
It sounds easy, but it isn’t.
To illustrate this let’s take a look at a couple of stories from those who have lost their way.
One Person said:
We talked about it every now and then but I just couldn't imagine walking back into a church.
Another said:
I ran for so long because I knew the life I was living was wrong. I just wasn’t ready to face it. I thought I’d ruined any relationship that me and God ever had and that I wouldn’t be able to get it back.
Another is still running. She said:
What keeps me running? Failure, regrets, thinking of what could have been. Unanswered prayers. It's so hard being where I have been in the church and with God and going back is like starting all over again. I guess I don't want to pay that price. I want go back and have a do-over. Don't get me wrong I do love the Lord. I’m just not sure of His love for me.
When you have completely messed up your life, how do you start over?
How do you return to your Heavenly Father?
How do you find your way home?
Maybe you haven’t yet experienced the severe consequences Scott did. Things aren’t great, but you haven’t hit rock bottom - yet. Still, you are aware something is missing – you know where you need to be – in right relationship with God - but how do you get there?
For Scott, it started with a breakthrough:
17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!
Scott’s miserable conditions led to fond memories of his father’s house.
He remembered delicious food,
A comfortable bed with clean Sheets
A closet full of clothes.
Scott had to lose everything in order to see how wonderful it really was.
Life with the father was so much better than life without the father.
Scott wanted to eat!
He was hungry!
Scott realized, “I don’t like this. I don’t want this. Home is way better than running.”
That’s the first step, realize: “I want to go home”.
You can’t make someone want to come home.
You can’t make them desire a restored relationship with God.
They have to want it themselves.
The road home starts with desire.
You have to make the decision, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I need help – I need God!”
One Lost Person said:
By the age of 11, I was smoking marijuana and by 13, I was a drug dealer. From 10-26, I was away from God, my heart was hardened, no love but for myself. I became selfish. I was so far from God that I had no emotions. I came back to God when I realized I was at rock bottom and had been searching to fill a void which could only be filled by Jesus.
Another said:
I lost my family and my friends, I became homeless, I lost my car. I couldn’t keep a job. I fell to rock bottom… All I was doing was killing myself.
Some of you have already decided: “I don’t know if it’s possible or how to do it, but I want to come back to God. I want to come home”.
Others of you have been away for so long that you can’t even find the desire to come home.
Maybe the best you can do is to want to want to come home—to wish for the desire to return to God. God can work with that little bit of desire—that little bit of flame that hasn’t gone out.
Scott realized he wanted to go home. Then, he decided, “I’m going to do it.”
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
That’s the second step. Make a decision based on your realization of the facts - decide to go home.
Not everyone who wants to go home make this decision.
Think of all the things you decide to do and never accomplish:
· “I’m going to lose twenty pounds.” Good decision. What happened? “Well – I never got started.”
· “I’m going to get out of debt.” Good decision. But, you never cut up the credit cards and kept buying things you didn’t need. Your decision didn’t make it to action.
· “I’m going to obey God with my money. I’m going to tithe”. Great decision. Why didn’t it happen? Your decision didn’t make it to action. You never wrote the first check.
· “I’m going to read the Bible all the way through” – Great decision, but you never set aside time and started reading.
· “I’m going to be a better husband” – that sounds awesome and would be great, but you have to actually do something different.
Lots of people make good decisions. The key is – act on those decisions.
You want to do it; you’ve decided to do it.
Now, don’t wait, don’t hesitate, do it. Take the next step: Come home.
Every change starts with a desire: “I want to go home”.
Then, that desire becomes a decision: “I’m going home.”
Finally, that decision becomes action. Act on your good decision and come home. That’s what Scott did. It was time to act.
20 So he got up and went to his father.
It’s time to act. Come home – come back to God. For some of you this is walking in the door of a church.
For others, it is raising your hand for prayer.
For you, it might be opening the Bible or praying a prayer.
You’ve been gone too long. Make the decision and act on it – come home
Scott walked out of the pigpen, scraped the Muck off his sandals, and took the first of many steps in a long journey home.
I honestly don’t think Scott even took the time to bath.
Remember – Scott ran to a distant country. It wasn’t a short walk.
Scott had a lot of opportunities to doubt himself or change his mind. But, one slow step after another, Scott kept walking. The road to his father’s house was drawing him back home. As Scott walked, he rehearsed his first words to his father:
· “Father, I have sinned, I’m no longer worthy to be called your son”.
· “Father, I have sinned, I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.”
· “Father, I have sinned, I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.”
Scott was incredibly nervous. “What was going to happen? What would Dad do?” Somehow, he must have known his Dad would take him back – because he made the walk.
You might have some of those same fears – “How can God forgive me after what I have done?”
Scott worried the whole way home.
“What if Dad is still angry?
What if he won’t even let me in the door?
Then what?
Where will I go?
What will I do?”
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.
Scott spoke first. He had rehearsed the speech over and over. Now, in a voice trembling with emotion and tears, he said:
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Scott’s broken heart became humble and submissive instead of arrogant and rebellious.
He had wasted his inheritance, he realized he was no longer worthy to be called “son”.
Scott was willing to return, not as a son to his father, but as a servant submitting to his master.
His heart was changed.
True repentance always produces a change of heart.
I don’t know which is the most important step.
Maybe it’s when you realize you want to return to your Heavenly Father. No doubt, you’ll never move without first having that desire.
Maybe it’s when you decide to do it.
Maybe it’s when you act on that decision.
But the road home has to include this step: Repent.
It’s not always easy.
There is a difference between being remorseful and repentant.
Remorse is sorry for the past, but doesn’t want to change the future.
A lot of people are sorry for what they do, but not sorry enough to quit.
Repentance is still sorry for the past, but makes a change in heart so the future will be different.
Repentance changes future behavior so past mistakes won’t be repeated.
As a parent – you understand the difference. If your kid is remorseful – it’s because they got caught and don’t like the consequences.
If they are repentant – they don’t do it again.
Repentance is: truly sorry + a commitment to change.
Why don’t people repent? I think sometimes it’s because they blame others - or God.
One Runaway put it this way:
I was furious at God. I was raised in a pastor's home and knew all the right things to do and say and pray and read. I had faithfully, consistently prayed and fasted for myself and my husband. I had done everything right, for years, and God had ignored my fervent prayers. If God was done with me, I was done with Him. I could ignore Him too. I didn’t start this fight, God did by ignoring me.
Scott was willing to take the blame.
It wasn’t the pigs’ fault.
It wasn’t his bosses fault.
It wasn’t his friends’ fault or the church’s fault.
It wasn’t his Dad’s fault.
It was his own fault.
Repentant people don’t point fingers of blame at anyone but themselves.
Scott said, “Father, I have sinned”.
One Runaway said it this way:
I hope that anything I have said doesn't sound like I'm trying to blame or make excuses. I know that when it comes down to it I am responsible for myself and my choices.
Another said:
I went through a phase where I didn’t trust people in the church, and I even went as far as to say “I can do this thing called life on my own”. I became very self-dependent. It was awful. I went through depression, wrong relationships and financial hardships.
Repentance says, “No blame. I was wrong.” It’s not your parents’ fault. It’s not your husband or your wife, your pastor, your boyfriend or your girlfriend. Take responsibility.
The second obstacle, pride Keeps many people from finding their way back to God.
Pride says: “I don’t want to admit I messed up. I don’t want other people to know”. I’ve got news for you – they already do.
Another obstacle to repentance is comparison. Either way you compare causes trouble.
· If you compare yourself to someone you think is worse you say: “I may have done wrong, but I’m sure not as bad as him. At least I never committed adultery. I never went to prison. I’m not as addicted as him.”
· Or, on the other side, you decide no one is as bad as you. “I know what Pastor Terry said, but he doesn’t know what I did! Even God has to have limits. I’m not good enough. I’m the worst sinner in this room.”
· Sometimes I want to reply, “I don’t want to disappoint you, but you’re not even the worst sinner I’ve talked to today!”
God doesn’t compare your sin to someone else.
One of my favorite things to do in to send out birthday cards.
If I am sending out should I add more stamps if I have one going to Marquette and not McPherson?
What about one going out of state? No! It doesn’t matter where in the US this card was going, all it needed was one stamp. Whether it was going to someone in Little Rock, Memphis, Dallas, Detroit, or Seattle - All that was needed was one stamp.
It’s the same with you.
It’s not about how far you have wandered or how far you are from a relationship with God; it’s that you are gone.
God sees you the same and desires a relationship with you.
Come Home.
Scott wanted to come home.
He decided to come home.
He came home.
He repented.
But, now was the moment of truth: his father’s reaction.
Can you imagine how uncomfortable and anxious Scott must have felt?
22 “But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast,
24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
Forgiven and forgotten, Scott was restored to the family. He was home.
God’s response to you will be just like the father in Jesus’ story.
First John 1:9 says:
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Make that personal:
I Jn. 1:9 If I confess my sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.
That’s it.
No conditions.
No exceptions.
When you come home, you are forgiven.
Forgiven by God,
forgiven by me,
forgiven by us.
Forgiven.
God hasn’t given up on you. He never will. Come Home. He is
I have a gift for you today. It’s not chocolate, it’s a letter. The envelope is sealed. I want you to keep it. Everywhere you go, every time you move, take it with you. One day, if you are far from God, this letter will remind you that you can come home.
READ THE LETTER / Pass our letters
God hasn’t given up on you – He never will. Come Home. He is waiting for you. Make the decision and act on that decision. Come home.
Realize – Decide – Do it – Repent – Come Home
Response:
Offering:
Prayer of Dismissal
