You Are Welcome Here

Key Elements

In Luke 15:11-24, Jesus gives the parable of the lost son emphasizing everyone’s need for repentance and return and God’s desire to welcome us with the open arms of grace.

Main Idea: The Gospel is God’s great invitation—to follow Jesus, be welcomed into His family, and join His mission of leading others to new life. That invitation begins with this truth: no matter what we’ve done, God is ready to welcome us home with the open arms of grace.

I want my audience to realize that there is nothing they have done that can keep them from having a relationship with God and, as the church, we are called to follow the example of Jesus welcoming others with the open arms of grace celebrating their repentance and their return.

Intro

Open your copy of God’s Word with me to Luke 15:11-24. Today, we begin a brand new sermon series here at Stone Ridge entitled The Great Invitation. And for the next 4 weeks we are going to be looking at the great invitation of the Gospel. We are going to be spending each week talking about an aspect of that invitation that God extends to all people and we are going to be exploring how we as the church of Jesus Christ are called to follow the example of Jesus extending that same invitation to those in the culture around us. And here’s our goal over the next 4 weeks, first of all if you are not a follower of Jesus and you have never surrendered your heart and life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, our prayer for you is that you will accept this great invitation that God is extending to you. To first, become a follower of Jesus and second, become a member of his church here at Stone Ridge sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. And if you are already a follower of Jesus and a member of our church, that you would grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus Christ and see the mandate that God has called you to of making disciples of Him. So, just to give you an idea of where we are going the next 4 weeks, there are four great truths we are going to be focusing on: Today-You Are Welcome Here; Week 2-You Are Invited; Week 3-You Matter; and Week 4-You Have A Purpose. All pointing us to the great invitation of the Gospel that God extends to all people and the mandate He has given us as the church to extend that invitation to all people as well.

So, the truth we are focusing on today is You Are Welcome Here. I want you to think for just a moment about the power of feeling welcome. To feel like you are being welcomed into somewhere makes all the difference in the world. When we walk into someone’s home and they greet us at the door and smile and say something like “We are so glad you’re here” it changes everything. When you walk into a store and you are greeted by an employee or you are walking down the aisles and there are employees asking you “if you need anything” it makes a huge difference in the experience you have. When you go to a restaurant and the people who work there actually act like they are glad to be there and they are glad you came in and are eager to make your experience there as pleasant as possible, that feeling of being welcomed makes us want to come back. Being welcomed gives you the sense that you belong. But the opposite is true as well, when you walk into someone’s home and you don’t know anyone and no one acknowledges you are even in the room or worse you get the sense that you’re not welcomed there, that changes everything as well. The truth is this, knowing that you are welcomed somewhere leaves an impression that will last a very long time.

And this is the truth that we see echoed in our text today in Luke 15:11-24. In a very familiar story that Jesus tells about a lost son, what we see is the emphasis of everyone’s need for repentance and return to God. That in everyone, whether we acknowledge it or not, there is a deep seated need for God in all of our lives. That in our rebellion and our running from God, there exists in the core of all of us a need that only God can fill that only He can satisfy. And the even more beautiful truth we see today is that God’s desire is to welcome us home.

Message

So, looking to the truth of God’s Word today, here’s our main idea to focus on: The Gospel is God’s great invitation—to follow Jesus, be welcomed into His family, and join His mission of leading others to new life. That invitation begins with this truth: no matter what we’ve done, God is ready to welcome us home with the open arms of grace.

You see, it doesn’t matter how far we’ve wandered, what mistakes we’ve made, or how unworthy we may feel-our Heavenly Father has an invitation with all of our names on it and He’s standing at the door with open arms ready to say “You Are Welcome Here.” And as we listen to this story of repentance and restoration today, we see three truths that paint the full picture of God’s welcome and guide us to extend that same welcome to others.

1. God welcomes us all back from our rebellion. (vs. 11-20)

Now, to really get the full picture of what Jesus is saying in this parable of the lost son that we are focusing on today, we have to bring in the context of the whole chapter. And what really sets the tone for our entire chapter is the first two verses. It says...

This really tells us a lot about Jesus and His ministry. I mean these statements really are a description of everything we see in all four Gospels in the NT when it comes to describing Jesus’ ministry. You really can’t get a better summary. It’s actually pretty amazing. You’ve got tax collectors, Jewish people who were hated by their own people because they had sold themselves out to Rome and were part of the oppression of taxation that was happening in Israel at the time. They were considered traitors. And it says, that sinners were there as well, referring to all types of people who were engaged in all types of immoral activity-prostitutes and others living lives contrary to God’s Word. And it says, that among the crowd were Pharisees and scribes, Jewish religious leaders who had set themselves religiously above everyone else around them. They look at these people around them in the crowd as lower than them and they think they are on a different level spiritually. And this is evident in what they say. They complain about the fact that Jesus, who claims to be a holy man a rabbi, is hanging out with sinners. You see, if these guys were as spiritual as they claimed to be, they would have recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, that He was the Son of God, and ministering to the broken people of the culture is exactly what He was supposed to be doing. But that’s not what they say. Instead of being in awe of Jesus, they complain. Instead of commending Jesus for what He is doing, they condemn Him. And this is what sets up the parables in this chapter that leads us to our text today.

Jesus addresses the complaints of the Pharisees and scribes by talking about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and our story today, a lost son. In the first two stories, we see a shepherd losing a sheep from his flock because the sheep has wondered and we see a woman who loses a valuable coin because it has been misplaced. In both stories, we see two valuable things that are lost and we see joy and celebration when both of those things are found. In both stories, we see owners of these items who desperately search for what’s lost because they feel the loss and because both the sheep and the coin are valuable to the owners. That’s why the shepherd can’t remain with the 99 other sheep and the woman has to turn the house upside down because the loss they feel is so great. And when they are found, it’s party time. It’s time to celebrate. And Jesus looks at those judgmental pharisees and says “this is why I sit and eat with lost and broken people because I am in pursuit of them and when they repent, we celebrate.”

I love the way I heard one pastor put this, “Heaven rejoices over every repentant sinner. Christians do too. Pharisees don’t.” (Thabiti Anyabwile)

And then Jesus arrives at His third story just to make things a little more personal. In this third story, He slows down and takes His time. In the first two stories, Jesus is to the point. In this third story, Jesus wants the people in the crowd to see in detail what it looks like when we run from God in rebellion, we repent, and God welcomes us back. So, He continues in vs. 11, He says… (read vs. 11-20)

This story is really a picture of all of us in some form or fashion. We all in our lives, before we surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are all running from God. Now, it may not be to the extreme that we see the young son in this story but there’s two very striking things this story points us to here at the beginning:

a. When we run, sin leads to emptiness and death.

Notice what happens here at the beginning of the story. This younger son comes to his father and says “give me what I’m due.” Now, under Jewish law, when a father divided his estate, the older son got 2/3 of it and the younger son got 1/3. Usually that happened when the father passed away but it was not uncommon for it to occur while the father was still alive. But we notice a certain callousness to this request, there’s a harshness present in the heart of the younger son. Basically, he is saying to his father “Give me now the part of the estate I will get when you are dead.” And we don’t know any of the backstory or history between the father and the son. We don’t know if there’s been a strained relationship there. But basically what this younger son is saying to his father is “I wish you were dead so I could get what’s coming to me.” And what’s even more shocking is that the father in this story obliges the son. He gives him what he asks for.

And what does he do, he leaves home, he runs. He goes from a situation where he has everything he needs, where he has stability, and he ungratefully runs. He runs from his father’s house, his father’s care, his father’s guidance. He goes from a situation in the care of his father to a situation where he is now fatherless. And we see what happens. He spends all he has in this “distant country.” Without self control and knowledge of how to manage things, in a matter of time, he blows his inheritance. And he finds himself empty with nothing left. And Jesus, really wanting to drive home the point of just how bad it is for this younger son, gives a pretty hopeless description: He spent all he had, a famine comes upon the land, and he is forced to find work and what he ends up doing indicates he’s at the bottom: he’s a Jewish man feeding pigs, which would have been considered disgusting because the Jewish people considered pigs the most unclean animal and were forbidden to have anything to do with them. This young man has hit rock bottom. Not only is he feeding pigs but he is so hungry that he looks at what the pigs are eating and thinks “I’ll eat some of that.”

(show pic of the prodigal) This is the ultimate picture of what sin does. This is the destruction that sin leads to for all of us. When we run from God and try to live our lives apart from Him, eventually this is where it leads all of us to: emptiness and death. And this is where our enemy, the devil, wants us to sink to. This is what he has been focused on from the beginning of time. A life of destruction and separation from God. Running from God always leads to a life of emptiness and dissatisfaction. And the ultimate destination of a life outside the care of our Heavenly Father is death. But there is hope, because....

b. When we return, He meets us with compassion and new life.

And that’s the hope of this story. That’s the longing in the heart of our God. That when we turn back to Him in repentance, He is there with open arms to welcome us home. And what a beautiful picture of this we see so plainly in the heart and actions of the father in this story.

There’s a turning point we notice in the life of the son in vs. 17, it says “when he came to his senses....” He had been out of his mind that was consumed with rebellion and sin but in repentance he wakes up. He does exactly what repentance means “he changed his mind.” And he thought “what am I doing? He looks around at his situation and how low he has sunk and he realizes that the servants that work for his father have a better life than this.” And reality sets in, and we notice something that is key to his repentance: first, he recognizes that his sin is against God first (vs. 18a). Which is where repentance begins for all of us. We first have to recognize that true repentance begins by realizing our sin is against God and His goodness in our lives. That our sin separates us from God and to restore that brokenness, repentance requires us to first seek God’s forgiveness that is only possible through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus for us. Second, we have to realize that our sin is against others. Look again at vs. 18, he says.… Not only has he sinned against God but he has wronged his father. He desires restoration in his relationship with God and he desires restoration in his relationship with his father. Which is what true repentance requires, restoration with God and restoration with others. He’s not seeking sonship but he is asking to be a servant in his father’s house.

So he returns, and this is probably the best part of the story. Look at vs. 20...

And this is what God does for us. When we repent and return to God, He meets us with compassion and gives us new life. The father had been looking for the son. He’s looking down the road for him hoping that one day he’ll return. And it says “when he was a long way off, filled with compassion, he runs to him.” He doesn’t wait for his son to get to him, he goes to him. He meets him where he is. He kisses him as a son and he wraps his arms around him. The son expected to return and be chastised but the father shows compassion and welcomes him home.

And what a picture this is of God and us. When we “wake up” when we “come to our senses.” When we realize how unworthy we are and we decide to stop running and return to God, He meets us with compassion and in our repentance grants us new life in Him. And I just want to say today, if you have been running from God and you have come to the end of yourself, He is standing here this morning with the open arms of compassion that only a loving father can have and he says “Welcome Home.” And as you surrender to Him and fall into His arms, it’s not judgment you’ll find, it’s compassion and a new life like you’ve never known before.

God welcomes us all back from our rebellion. And,...

2. God welcomes us all with full restoration. (vs. 21-24)

If you’re like me, our forgiveness comes with conditions. When people have wronged us, we might forgive them but we’re going to remind them of it for a long time or we are going to offer forgiveness based on certain things happening, them meeting certain conditions. (this happens a lot in relationships as husbands and wives, dating relationships, friendships, family-we say we forgive someone and then we have that argument and that thing they did or didn’t do pops in our heads and the Holy Spirit is saying “don’t bring that up,” but we’re stupid and we don’t listen) That’s just how we are as human beings. Thank goodness God is not like that. When we repent and we come to God, He offers forgiveness and full restoration in our relationship with Him.

The son decides to return home to his father. And when he gets in sight of the family home, the father who was looking for him, runs to him. Now, in the ancient Jewish culture in the those days, older distinguished men didn’t run. It was actually disgraceful and belittling for them to do so. But in this story, the father runs to the son. And this is significant, first because it communicates the father’s overwhelming joy at his son’s return home and that he is alive and well. But there’s something else here. Something interesting I discovered about this story of Jesus that I had never known before is this: In Deuteronomy 21, according to the Jewish law, when a son disgraced his family and in turn disgraced his village, he was deserving of death by stoning. Which is the case here. This son has disgraced his family and in turn disgraced the village and upon his return, the village knowing what he had done would have had the right by Jewish law to stone him to death. So, the father runs to him in overwhelming joy embracing his son in love but also protecting him from the potential punishment of the people of the village. By embracing him, the father would have taken the punishment for the son if that had happened. And what a picture this is of what Jesus has done for us by going to the cross. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die the death we deserved taking the punishment for our sins on the cross, absorbing the wrath of God for you and me and all humanity so that we could experience the full restoration of a relationship with God. You see, because of what Jesus has done for us, God welcomes us all with full restoration.

And in this restoration...

a. He restores us with grace.

The father is running to the son, and you can imagine what’s going on in this son’s mind. He’s bracing for impact… but instead of punishment, what does he find? Look at vs. 21… (read 21-23)

The son prepared to make an appeal to his father to be granted permission to be a servant, before he can get the words out of his mouth, he is restored as his son. A ring is placed on his finger, servants didn’t wear rings, only sons; a robe is placed on his back, servants didn’t wear expensive robes, only sons; and sandals are placed on his feet, servants didn’t wear expensive sandals if shoes at all, only sons. In grace, the father fully restores him as his son.

When this son deserved nothing, the father, in grace, gave him everything; when this son deserved to be stoned for his rebellion, the father, in grace, saves him by his grace; when this son requests to be a servant, the father, in grace, bestows upon him complete forgiveness and sonship.

And God by His grace does the same for us. When we come to God just as we are in all our sin and shame recognizing our need for Him, deserving of nothing, God in His grace fully restores us making us sons and daughters of the King. Not giving us what we deserve, but in grace making us right with Him desiring to use our story to share that same grace with others.

He restores us with grace. And...

b. He redeems us with mercy.

You see, God not only shows us grace, giving us something that we haven’t earned and do not deserve; but He also shows us mercy, not giving us what we do deserve. You see, the son had spent his inheritance. He had no right to come back to his father and ask for anything. But in his mercy and his love for his son, the father looks past all of that and doesn’t give him what he deserves but in mercy offers full restoration.

And just like this rebellious son, we all have forfeited our rights to ask God for anything. Living in rebellion against Him, in our sin, we deserve nothing but judgment and death. But God, our heavenly father, in His great mercy, has sent Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sin and rebellion and instead of judgment and death, when we come to God in repentance, He redeems us with His mercy.

One pastor puts it so beautifully, “The distant sighting of a sinner’s return elicits the fountain of God’s love! The sinner who turns finds that he turns right into the waiting arms of his God. God receives the penitent with the riches of heaven: the robes of Christ, the signet of sonship, the banquet of salvation! A kingdom for a beggar—that’s what heaven is! It makes the riches of God’s grace all the more glorious.” (Thabiti Anyabwile)

God welcomes us all with full restoration. And...

3. God welcomes others through His people. (22-24)

Some of my favorite videos to watch are when a soldier who has been deployed comes home and surprises a loved one. It can be them popping out of a present at Christmas or a birthday, it can be at a child’s event. There is nothing that will make you ugly cry like one of those videos. There is such joy and celebration when a loved one comes home unexpectedly.

So, notice a common theme in all three of these stories. It’s celebration. The lost sheep is found, in vs. 6-7 it says.… The lost coin is found, in vs. 9-10 it says.… The lost son comes home and in vs. 23-24 it says....

The son, who the father thought was lost and possibly even dead, (there’s no Life 360 or find my iphone, he has no idea what’s happened to his son) the son comes home and they celebrate. And what an example for the church-the lost sons and daughters who have been found, who have been shown mercy and grace by God, who have been welcomed back from our rebellion and fully restored by our God. You see, we as the church are called to..

a. We follow His example.

We follow the example of God our Father and Jesus our Savior and we welcome people home. God calls us to look at the community around us, full of people who are lost without Jesus and say “you are welcome here.” With open arms as the people of God, to say “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or are doing, God’s grace and mercy is greater than all of it.” And there’s no greater privilege or calling that we can have on our lives than being used by God to bring people into the Kingdom of God following the example set by Jesus.

And as we follow His example,...

b. We celebrate every transformation.

There is no greater reason we have as the people of God to celebrate than seeing lost people come to Jesus. Seeing God transform lives is the greatest reason for us to celebrate. Because that is why we’re here, to do our part to make heaven crowded. To unashamedly take the Gospel of Jesus to everyone we come into contact with and see hearts and lives transformed forever, joining in with the celebration of heaven.

When someone gives their life to Jesus, we ought to go crazy; when someone is baptized, we ought to be as loud as we can be; when people join our church, we should cheer and shout. Every time someone makes a decision for Jesus, that is cause for celebration. And why do we celebrate? Because people are coming from death to life. People, who were on their way to an eternity in hell, are now going to spend eternity in heaven. And people, who once thought their life was meaningless, now have become part of the mission we are called to as the church to make disciples of Jesus.

Church, as followers of Jesus, this is our mission. Just as someone welcomed us into the family of God, we are called to do the same.

Closing

You know, it’s easy to look at the story of the lost son and think of someone else. And there’s no doubt that some of us are thinking of someone else right now who needs Jesus. But the truth is we’ve all been lost sons and daughters. We’ve all wandered. We’ve all needed the grace and mercy of God. And every time, God runs to us, He throws His arms around us, and He restores us as His children. And He is calling us as the church to do the same-for our lives and our church to reflect His open arms of grace. Because when we do, the world doesn’t just see us, they see the heart of God the Father who is still saying “welcome home.”

So, with heads bowed and eyes closed, this morning if you find yourself identifying with this son. Running from God, doing life your own way and realizing today that you need to come home. Don’t wait. God is here and He is ready to welcome you with His arms of grace. All you have to do is call out to God. Telling Him you repent of the way you’re living your life, that you surrender to Him as Savior and Lord, Ask Him to come into your heart and forgive you of your sin and save you. If you made that decision, in just a moment we want you to come...

Maybe you’ve already taken that step in your life, you’re a follower of Jesus but today God has convicted you of the fact that you are not sharing that grace and mercy that you’ve experienced with others. And today, you want to ask God to give you the courage and the passion to share the Gospel.