***It's Never Too Late (Luke 15)
Notes
Transcript
Story a pastor told of being asked by a daughter / to go speak with an elderly lady dying of pancreatic cancer / time was short / hospice had been called in / daughter said her mother had not spoken with a pastor in over 60 years / but wanted someone to talk to her about Jesus / As he arrived / Here sat the lady / in wheelchair / to weak to walk / frail frame slouched over / as he walked over / husband left the room / he had no intention of listening / even hearing what he had to say / The pastor explained to the lady / we all have sinned / but she knew this already which is why she invited him over / He continued speaking of God’s love The lady began to cry / but they weren’t normal tears of someone wanting to repent / As the pastor inquired / She finally spoke up said “I just wish it wasn’t too late for me” “I’ve had my chances, but what can I do now, It’s too late”
I don’t think it’s an age thing / I think we have felt at this at some point / but this story offers us hope
English Standard Version (Chapter 15)
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
I. Defeatism
I. Defeatism
A. Many people hear the gospel same way that lady did
1. We know we’ve sinned / messed up / we hear we have been offered second chance / instead of taking action / we tell ourselves it’s too late!
a. Life can reach a point / where we feel we have gone to far / too many broken pieces to put back together
Kids are too old now / marriage is too far broken / friend is too angry with me / reputation too far gone / damage is done
Debt is too overwhelming / I’ve had this addiction far too long / life is too messed up
2. Prodigal Son probably felt this way / life was past fixing
a. No money / no friends /no physical strength / no options (although it doesn’t always have to get to this point)
Sometimes rock bottom is the best place to be
B. Thief on the cross (Antithesis)
1. Here is a man / who must have thought it was too late / both being crucified / but even in dying moments / one had a come to Jesus moment
a. Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
This only possible / because one man / was brutally honest with himself / admitted he was getting what he deserved / then took action
Action was crying out for help! / But how could he see beyond it being too late for him?
Maybe it was as he heard Jesus say / “My God My God, why have you forsaken me? “ / Why did Jesus feel forsaken?
For first time / since being on earth / He did not share perfect fellowship with the father /
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
a. Read it again / Jesus became sin / He was separated / so we can be re-united
2. Thief would have also heard Jesus speak to Mary / telling her John is now your son / telling John here is your mother
a. In midst of excruciating pain / He thought about his mother / make sure she was taken care of / protected
1. What selfless love / maybe that was the moment for the thief on cross
3. Maybe it was the moment / he heard Jesus pray for those crucifying Him
a. Not for their destruction / that God would forgive them
Thief going through same punishment / probably feeling anger / rage / toward those responsible / as Jesus forgave them
The rest of this sermon only makes sense if you truly understand God’s grace
It’s Gods grace that softened the heard of the criminal / as he changed his mind / said maybe it’s not too late for me after all
It’s that same grace / we are offered / never too late
Woman I spoke of at the beginning / began crying as she heard the words “it’s never too late with Jesus” The pastor prayed with her / even though still frail / weak / she wanted to get baptized / she was! / Along with her daughter / and grand daughter / It takes a lot of courage to get to the end of any road / not just end of your life / realize it’s a dead end / and then TURN AROUND
C. Prodigal Son reached his dead end / decided to take action / go home
1. How would he be received? Must have plagued his mind / he was humbling himself / but would that be enough?
a. Many of us think of God this way / like there is a quantitive calculator in heaven / word ENOUGH haunts many Christians
We look at out lives / tally up rights / wrongs / sure we can make up for a few of them / but some seem irreparable / so we bow our head / “it’s too late now”
2. Other thing we try to do / patch things up / go it alone
Story of a man asked to house sit for his friend / excited as they had a pool / slept there first night / woke up / above ground pool level looked lower than night before / husband examined pool / couldn’t find any leak / so got inside / put on goggles / swam around found small hole on bottom / no problem / went to pool store / was handed a patch / adhesive / told apply glue / then apply the patch / easy! / So he got the patch / got back in the pool / found the hole / push the patch agains the hole / then… the hole expanded / one second hole size of eraser / next softball sized vortex / sucking his hand down through the hole / pushed hard / escaped / something said grab towels / so he did / attempted to stuff them into the hole / ripped even wider / as he ended up watching 18,000 gallons of water fill his friends backyard / Staring into the situation / he asked himself / what just happened?
3. Some of us have tried patching things up before / didn’t end well
a. Maybe tried to mend relationship / words were said / just got worse
b. Maybe set boundaries / distanced self from temptations / to only find ourselves right back in it
We get back up / try harder / only to fall harder
Real Question is: Are you patching things up your way or God’s way?
When you attempt to start over / is it on your terms / or God’s terms?
When you move to action / do you skip the honesty / confession / or are you brutally honest about your situation?
18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
D. The Fathers Actions
1. Spirt of defeatism would be reasonable / if it all depended on us / if we had to make things right on our own / then yes it would be too late
a. Spirit of defeatism / doesn’t take into account Fathers response
20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him....
22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
1. Two parts of this story would shock 1st century listeners 1) asking for inheritance before father died
a. 2) Even more shocking would be the undeserved grace / extravagant love father showed upon sons return
But while he was still a long way off,
2. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t wait for you to make it home on your own? Before you even thought about taking action /He already acted (while we were yet sinners.... He died for us)
a. his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran
1. Culturally this should not happen / patriarch of family did not run / hiking up robe to run was not sophisticated / not distinguished
a. Father was making up lost ground
and ran and embraced him and kissed him....
b. Our spirit of defeatism says we have to get cleaned up first / get our life back together before we will be accepted
a. Father puts the best robe / on a dirty / stinky body / throws a party / kills fatted calf / celebration
1. This story shift from the action of the son / to action of the Father
a. Christianity has always been about the action of the Father / that’s why we call it grace! / All we have to do is make decision to come home
Story of young man / raised in Christian home / went off to college / joined a fraternity / got into drinking / partying took over / after 3 semesters sinking ship / failed 4 of 5 classes / He came to his senses / knew something had to change / yes needed to quit frat / get new friends / but really he knew he needed to make a change in his relationship with God / that is / if God would still have him / No privacy in a frat house /so in the bathroom / sitting on pile of por magazines / he called his parents to tell them he failed / not just in grades / in lots of areas including walk with God / They could have said / Turn things around / Get some help / Figure it out / We love you / What they said was better than all that / they said these simple words “Just come home”
II. Twisted Defeatism
II. Twisted Defeatism
As Jesus gets to the celebration in the story / I would guess most people listening / would think story is over / Like “they lived happily ever after” / story started with A man had two sons…
A. Older Sons Anger / Brother hears of the party 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
1. We see the Father once again going out to the son
a. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
Don’t miss this part / the older brother / never left / never broke rules / never went to distant country / but he also never really had that AHA moment
Whats more tragic ? Younger son ending up in pigpen
Or older son / living in Fathers house / miserable!
2. His words express his disappointment in the Father / he demands an explanation from the Father
B. Older Sons Quandary
To understand this parable completely / you can’t forget how chapter started
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
Now read Luke 15:2
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
1. Jesus uses this story to speak to both sinners / AND self righteous / he created a character representing the one who by all appearances is doing everything right
a. Pharisees were always in the temple / always at church / but their hearts were far from where should be
Their understanding of God was flawed / like he is the cosmic cop / patrolling the universe / looking to bust people / hand our eternal verdict
I have a brother who used to be a cop / in our conversations we talked about some terrible accidents / things he had to go to / at one point as we were talking / I said people must be relived when you arrive on the scene / he said not really / I show up to investigate / assign blame / he paused… but they they are always glad to see the paramedic!
2. Pharisees mastered what we often pick up
a. Faithful followers of Christ / aren’t on earth to assign blame
We are here to free the trapped / bandage the wounded / help the hurting / celebrate homecomings
Older son may have worked the fields / been faithful / but he too was a prodigal son
He had no awakening / no honesty / no action / he had a heart far from his Fathers / he too was lost / but could not see it
Tim Keller “The bad son was lost in his badness, but the good son was lost in his goodness”
b. You may have never been to distant country / might have religious resume / glad when we preach to people who are “lost”
But I wonder / are you the older brother Jesus has been trying to reach for some time?
C. The Signs You might be an Older Brother
1. Are you critical of other’s sins? / Always focusing on flaws of others
a. Can’t recognize repentance of prodigals / because you can’t see past the mistakes / hard to support / encourage / because “you know who they really are”
If it’s hard for you to celebrate / someone getting right / God using them / when you know better / you might just be more lost then they are
If your arms are crossed / just waiting for them to mess up again / waiting for them to make things straight / remember this
Nobody asked you :) This isn’t your house / It’s the Fathers house
Not up to you who gets to come home / be called Sons / Daughters
2. Confident in Your Goodness
a. 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command
a. Funny here / is SO oblivious! / I, I, I / He can’t even acknowledge Fathers generosity / his words show his heart
I bet resentment started / when father gave his brother the money / then threw him a party
That’s the problem with our “goodness” / we think we are going to earn something from Father
Fathers house is not a house of merit / but house of mercy!
One brother says I am not worthy / the other points to his own merit / one sulks in frustration / one celebrates in joy
D. Why is God so hard on older brothers? (glad you asked…)
1. People would see God based on how the Pharisee’s lived / behaved
Same way you can go into a restaurant / be treated rudely / hear foul language / be turned off to that entire chain of restaurants
a. People will come into a church / and look at PEOPLE in the church / as reference point to what the Father is like
One final thought.... The more I read this story / more I realize it’s not a story about prodigal son/ or either son / it’s about the Father
III. Look at the Father
III. Look at the Father
A. Father SEEKS out both sons
1. Both sons were in the wrong / both had responsibility to seek out the Father
a. Younger one went first / when the Father saw him coming / he ran to him
b. Older son / still out in the field / Father went to him
Tells us something about God / He longs for relationship with His children
I remember hearing of a family / father was getting older / had to be put into a nursing home / Every Sunday the children/ grandchildren would visit / The man would be sitting there waiting for them to visit / as years passed / he grew weaker / had a hard time remembering names / even hard time getting back to his room / But no matter what / every Sunday he was there waiting On one Sunday / daughter asked him / Dad, do you know what day it is? He had not idea / She said how did you know to wait for us today? He replied “Honey I wait for you everyday”
2. God is waiting each day for us to come home / in story Father saw him / how? Because each day he is waiting / watching for us to return
B. Father is LOVING & GRACIOUS toward both sons
1. Father had every right to be mad / harsh punishment to both / but he kissed one / explained everything to the other (patience and grace)
a. He is not an angry Father / but one of love / grace / even when we don’t deserve it
Story is not about 2 sons who disobey
About a Father who loves children unconditionally!
Aren’t you glad / when we get funky / God still cares / speaks into our lives / brings clarity / reminds us we have a great inheritance