Not The Way It's Suppose To Be

-Controlling Thought-

The world we experience and how we experience it is not the way it’s suppose to be. Sin not only destroys, but distracts us from the reality of walking in Jesus’s Kingdom. Sin is individual, sin is corporate, sin is death not because God runs from sin but because sin runs from God.

Read Luke 15:11-24

The New International Version (Chapter 15)

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.13 “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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.17 “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! 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.’ 20 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.21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 “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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Introduction: Shalom

Today’s sermon might be a little heavy.

What do you think about when you hear the word “Sin”?

I don’t want to answer that just yet. 1st I want to explore a concept really quick that might help us today

Shalom, we think of Peace

More thank that, it is wholeness.

“In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight--a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.”- Cornelius Plantinga Jr

When Jesus begins his ministry in Luke 4:16-20

Year of Jubilee, we don’t have time on this, but it is profound and I could talk about this for 4 hours haha!

Good reminder as we read through Mark, Jesus makes people whole

God’s response all throughout scripture isn’t just individual forgiveness, this is an Individualized response to our cultural understanding of sin and forgiveness in light of our hyper individualistic society that puts the self before all others, which is the exact opposite of Jesus’s vision for humanity.

Surprised by Hope: N.T. Wright

A Breviary of Sin: Cornelius Plantinga

Bible Project: Word studies on Sin and Shalom

Luke 15:1 Read

If Jesus were to come to Elkins (in his earthly ministry), where would he go to be surrounded by “tax collectors and sinners?”

Story

girl shot

She was in a critical situation that needed to be dealt with. No bandaid could fix the wound she created. She needed a Doctor to fix her wound.

The story of the prodigal son is about the situation of humanity as much it is about the love of the father.

Body:

Luke 15:12-16

This son wishes his dad dead, leaves home and parties hard. He lives a life that he has defined as God, rather than his father, and for a while he feels full…until that life runs dry and he finds himself empty.

Sin & brokenness is more than what we do.

Mom and Dad getting divorce. Remember when my mom confronted my dad. I knew that this world was broken, I just didn't know why. This is why...

Like that girl we all have a wound called sin

Clarify sin, missing the mark, not just the bad things we do

Sin definition -Plantinga

“Sin is the missing of a target, a wandering from the path, a straying from the fold. Sin is a hard heart and stiff neck. Sin is blindness and unwillingness to listen. It is both the overstepping of a line and the failure to reach it – both transgression and shortcoming. Sin is a beast crouching at the door. In sin, people attack or evade or neglect their divine calling. These and other images suggest deviance; even when it is familiar, sin is never normal…Above all, sin disrupts and resists the vital human relation to God”

Romans 1:20-25- They heart of sin is rebellion and the great exchange

Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fallen short of the glory

Romans 6:23 "For the Wages of Sin is Death"

Not just telling you to do better

It isn't just our actions, it's our heart condition, it is the destruction of the way it is suppose to be, God’s shalom within our own life and the world. Perpetuated by a cycle so unbreakable that we are left wondering why God won’t do something as we experience the mess we... not just you, but all of humanity has made.

Just like the girl who shot herself, we have a wound that can't be fixed by bandaids and a quick fix.

We need a perfectly sinless, all loving, all powerful mediator to reach in and save us from this mess we have created. We are helpless within our own power, but not hopeless.

We see that within the story- who Jesus is telling.

Luke 15: 20-24

The son isn’t alive because he returned, but because the father accepts him back. The son has no power to become a son again.

The death we die isn't just here and now, but for eternity. God created us so that we could be in an eternal relationship with him.

This is not the way it’s suppose to be

Sin tears our relationship with God and others.

He hasn't turned his backs on us. we have turned our backs on him.

Yeah, but Jesus!…I know, but...

I was so angry when i first hear this. I grew up my whole life knowing “god loves me” while no one explaining to me why I never felt or experienced God’s love in my current condition.

Y’all if you feel this way, it isn’t because God has run away from you. This isn’t the way it is suppose to be.

I never knew the power of the cross until i understood the brokeness of my life. Not Just individual forgiveness, but wholeness

*Sin separates us from God and causes us to lose our purpose and meaning.

We have built our own kingdoms and replaced God as king with us as King. We are usurper in rebellion.

THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSE TO BE

But Thanks be to Jesus.

The faithfulness and lovingkindness of God isn’t contained within a theological concept or church doctrine. It is revealed by the person and work of Jesus found within the Incarnation.

Enter the crowd

The Good news of Jesus

vs 20: But while he was still a long way off...

-HE RAN TO HIS SON-

God’s response to sin and the destruction of the goodness of this world is not to run, but to rush in. Take on skin and dwell among us.

The fathers creates a way through Jesus to redeem creation and humanity.

Let's pray