Introduction:

We have all experienced the confusion of looking up and realizing that we don’t know where we are. Maybe while we are driving, we’ve gone to “auto-pilot” and don’t recognize our surroundings. Maybe we followed someone and lost track of where they went. Maybe we were trying to follow directions but somehow we ended up not where we were supposed to be.

Last summer we left Grand Rapids and were coming home over the UP of Michigan. I set my direction on my phone to do that since it wasn’t the fastest route. We stopped for gas, and without realizing it, the app changed my directions. After driving for 1.5hrs in the wrong direction, I looked up to see the ferry across Lake Michigan…that’s when I knew I had messed up. I specifically was avoiding the ferry, yet followed what I thought would take me to where I wanted to go and it let me down.

In the Lost Sons story that Jesus tells in , Jesus teaches us a 2nd lesson about finding OUR way home.

Our

We want our own house.

We may have chosen to leave God’s house.

Many of us have heard our parents say or have said ourselves, “this is my house, and you will do what you are told!” Although this phrase is often spoken out of frustration it does communicate something that we internally understand. That if you are going to live with someone in authority, then you should follow their rules. Since we all live in God’s world, then we ought to follow his rules.

Luke 15:12 CSB

The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.

Luke 15:

The younger son, commonly known as the Prodigal, asks the father to “die” prematurely.

The younger son wants to take his inheritance as far away as possible.

Luke 15:13 CSB

Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living.

c. The younger son wants to use the father’s wealth but lose the authority of the relationship.

We may have chosen to despise God’s house.

The older brother begrudgingly stays and waits for the father to die.

The older brother greedily obeyed as an investment in his future.

The older brother wants the father’s wealth & authority to rule.

Conclusion:

We all want to run our own lives how we see fit. We believe that we should have full rights to what we have and do what we want. We ultimately are saying that we will live as though God is dead.

We need to realize that we belong with God.

The younger brother “came to his senses”

Luke 15:17 CSB

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!

He was far away from home

He had nothing left to offer

2.

He had realized his error and was going back humbly.

2. The older brother would not go in.

Luke 15:28–32 CSB

“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ “ ‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Luke 15:

He was on the property

He thought all his goodness was enough to offer

He would not change his proud mind.

We must see OUR own need of God, and not be blinded by others’ need of God.

We have to recognize our own need for God. We can look around and see how other people need God. But it is often hard for us to admit that we need God. If we our to find our way home, then we must personally evaluate our surroundings to determine where we are. We have to see things for what they truly are.

We have to recognize our own need for God. We can look around and see how other people need God. But it is often hard for us to admit that we need God. If we our to find our way home, then we must personally evaluate our surroundings to determine where we are. We have to see things for what they truly are.

We have to admit that we like to draw our own lines for right and wrong.

We have to understand that why we have our problems with relationships is from our foolish choices.

We have to “come to our senses” when we see that we are lost and confused.

If we are not honest with ourselves, we will continue to look for a sense of “home” everywhere but with God.

We cannot fall into the trap the older brother did by comparing ourselves to others and making ourselves look “righteous”.

We have all been lost; But none of us are a lost cause.

But none of us are a lost cause.

Isaiah 53:6 CSB

We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

Romans 3:23 CSB

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Luke 15:22–23 CSB

“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. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast,

Luke 15:22