I will go home

Background to the Prodigal and His Needs/Wants

Care: I WILL GO HOME WHERE I CAN FIND SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT ME AND I WILL RECEIVE SOMETHING (LUKE 15:20-,22)

Synopsis

A practical outworking of loving vigilance, efforts and tenderness. Care is perfectly shown by God. People should imitate God’s care, but human care is often limited, faulty or misplaced in self-centred ways.

CARING AS A PART OF GOD’S CHARACTER

God’s care for his children

Psalm 121:3 (NKJV) — 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber

Psalm 8:4 (NKJV) — 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

Psalm 23:1 (NKJV) — 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 65:9 (NKJV) — 9 You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.

Psalm 115:12 (NKJV) — 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.

Matthew 6:32 (NKJV) — 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Matthew 10:30–31 (NKJV) — 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

CONTRAST WITH WHAT GOD EXPECTS FROM US IN OUR CARING FOR EACH OTHER

God’s care contrasted with human care

Is 49:15

Isaiah 49:15 (NKJV) — 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you

Psalm 118:9 (NKJV) — 9 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes

Human care should reflect God’s nature

Jn 15:12

John 15:12 (NKJV) — 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Genesis 37:14 (NKJV) — 14 Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

Luke 10:34–35 (NKJV) — 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.

Spirituality as a secular concept: Spiritualties are those ideas, practices and commitments that nurture, sustain and shape the fabric of human lives, whether as individuals or communities (King, 2011: p21).

Spirituality as a search for meaning with or without God: Spirituality recognises the human need for ultimate meaning in life, whether this is fulfilled through a relationship with God or some sense of another, or whether some other sense of meaning becomes the guiding force within the individual's life. Human spirituality can also involve relationships with other people.

'Spirituality encompasses wide ranging attitudes and practices which focus on the search for meaning in human lives, particularly in terms of relationships, values and the arts.

The contemporary use of the word 'spirituality': Spirituality refers to the deepest values and meanings by which people seek to live... it implies some kind of vision of the human spirit and of what will assist it to achieve full potential (Sheldrake, 2007: p2).

SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL DISTRESS

The following is not an exhaustive list but does show some common symptoms:

Tearfulness or weeping

Withdrawal of lack of interest

Restlessness or being unable to settle or sleep at night

Anger

Sudden religious leanings or abandonment of previously held beliefs

Fear (of being alone or falling asleep)

POTENTIAL TRIGGERS

After a trauma (such as an accident or assault)

When bad news is broken

When a lengthy stay is envisaged

When situation becomes life-threatening or terminal

When a bereavement is being experienced

When a person is isolated and receiving no visitors

When a person is long way from home (emotionally distanced)

When treatment is being withdrawn (end of curative and only palliative or comfort care)

On a significant anniversary (memorial)

How do we know if someone is being targeted by extremists/users? Factors Might Make Individuals at Risk of Exploitation?

We very rarely know ‘for sure’. Most of the signs that may indicate that someone may be at risk to radicalisation or abused also occur in people who are not becoming radicalised – particularly in young people who are looking for a sense of identity. meaning and belonging.

But if several signs are present, or if any sign is present in an exaggerated way, there may be reason to worry.

The New King James Version (Chapter 15)

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.

Characteristics of Those Feeling Rejected

The teenage years can be replete with life’s most painful rejections. Because of severe insecurity, young people crave acceptance from others … and often overreact to any rejection

If your sense of self-worth is based on the approval of others, you are on a run-away roller coaster with no ability to control when you are up or down. Your feeling of value is at the mercy of what others think about you. Your sense of identity is determined by how others respond to you. To get off this uncontrollable roller coaster and conquer your fear of rejection, allow the Lord to control your life. He created you and established your worth when He made you in His image. As you put your trust in Him, He will turn your fear into faith because

Biblical Counseling Keys on Rejection - Rejecting the Father, his home, way of life and authority

Nothing can ravage your heart like rejection. The most penetrating wound is the painful rejection of a loved one. Even death itself does not pierce your heart as deeply as when you know you have been abandoned. You feel devastated when someone dear to your heart deserts you

Hunt, J. (2008). Biblical Counseling Keys on Rejection: Healing a Wounded Heart (p. 1). Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart.

Application

Is your heart broken? Is your spirit crushed? Nothing is more healing than to know that the Lord loves you unconditionally.… He accepts you eternally. When your pain seems endless and your heart is tender to the touch, continue to put yourself into His compassionate hands. He will hold you with His heart of love until there is true healing … for,

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”(Psalm 34:18)

14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.

15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

The young man experiencing REJECTION. Now he knows what it is like to be rejected, to be abandoned.

Rejection chips away at your self-image … chisels down your confidence … and challenges your hope. Meanwhile, the memory of your loved one lingers on and on in the recesses of your mind, repeating—through whispers and shouts—those haunting messages: “You are unwelcome.… You are unworthy.”

Hunt, J. (2008). Biblical Counseling Keys on Rejection: Healing a Wounded Heart (p. 1). Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

ACTION ILLUSTRATED BY THE FATHER

The Gospel of Luke (iv. The Lost Son 15:11–32)

VERSES 22-24 The first set of instructions is concerned with the decking out of the youth in the garments appropriate to a son. No time is to be wasted (ταχύ*, ‘quickly’). They are to bring the best robe for him to wear. For στολή, cf. note on 20:46 (par. Mk. 12:38).

The second item is a ring (δακτύλιον**); the use of δίδωμι, ‘to place’, and εἰς (for Classical περί; BD 2071) is Semitic. Here again it is not simply an ornament, but a symbol of authority, especially of royal authority (1 Mac. 6:15; Jos. Ant. 12:360; Est. 3:10; 8:8; fuller evidence in K. H. Rengstorf*, 30–39).

Third, the shoes were a sign that a person was a freeman, not a slave; at the same time, they were worn in the house by the master, and not by the guests, who took them off on arrival. Hence they indicated authority and possession as well as freedom (K. H. Rengstorf*, 28f., 45–51)

NOTE ENJOYMENT MEAL

The second set of instructions leads to the celebration of the son’s return at a feast—the inevitable accompaniment of rejoicing. μόσχος is a ‘calf’ (15:27, 30; Heb. 9:12, 19; Rev. 4:7**), and σιτευτός is ‘fattened’ (15:27, 30**

VERSE 25- UNCARING-SELFISHNESS- ME AND MY CHARACTERISTICS

But now the ‘elder brother’ theme, familiar from other literature (Derrett, 116–119) makes its appearance in order to drive the lesson home: the Pharisaic audience may perhaps approve of the story as a story, but their own attitude to returning prodigals must be clarified. The elder son was out at work while all this was going on. It is strange that nobody went to tell him