Scripture: Luke 15:1-3, 11,32

March 21, 2004

Rev. John W. Fowler

I have a great chapter of scripture for you this morning. It’s from the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke. People just didn’t understand why Jesus spent time with the worst sinners. He would even eat with them. Religious people of his time had been raised that you avoided those kind of people.

“Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And he proceeded to tell them what his Father was like. Let me begin with verse 1 of chapter 15.

One of my favorite hymns begins with the stanza,

The author of that hymn, John Newton, was referring to himself when he talked about a wretch that was lost. He was born in 1725 in England to a godly mother who taught him the scriptures, taught him to memorize the catechism, took him to Church, taught him to love the Lord. Unfortunately, she died when John was age seven. He became more and more under the influence of his father, who was a sea captain. He wanted to be like his father. He took him on, I think, five voyages between ages eleven and seventeen. When his father retired from the Navy, he took a job with the African Naval Company, a slave trading ship. It was considered a very prosperous way to make money at that time. He had the career for John already mapped out. He wanted him to get a job with his next voyage, make good money, buy a plantation, maybe a seat in parliament. The father was not as concerned about his Christian faith as he was of him making money, being successful in the world’s sight. Well, unfortunately, John didn’t cooperate because he fell in love and he missed the first voyage. He wanted to stay home and woo Mary Catlett. It made his father very angry, so he put him on a ship for about a month and thought it would teach him some discipline. Unfortunately, it taught him some other things, like cussing, and swearing and drinking, and lust and Venice, and so, early on, his desire to follow his mother’s Christian upbringing or to follow his earthly father’s approval. There was a battle there. Apparently his father’s desire for him, though, took over and John became employed on a slave trading ship. But that upbringing made a difference because you can see throughout his spiritual biography that several times, he almost would come back, but he wouldn’t, but finally he read The Imitation of Christ, one of the devotional classics, still today, but especially in that day, and during a storm, he had quite a conversion experience. His life was changed. It still took him awhile to realize that this business of his was wrong. It took him several years. You know, when people come to Christ they don’t always realize everything that is wrong in their life. It takes a while. But finally, he began to realize the sinfulness and the inhumanity of what he was doing and he heard God’s call to preach at age thirty-nine. In fact, when he died at age eighty-two, he was one of the most esteemed preachers in England.

One time when he was very old he said, “I don’t remember very much. But I do know that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior.” This was a man who knew what it was, that no matter how sinful you are, God never gives up on you and he heard his Heavenly Father’s voice reaching out to him, and he responded.

It is still happening today and needs to happen. There are those in a far off country who need to hear the Father’s voice of love, the one who has a heart and will run to the prodigal and welcome him home.

Do you have that kind of heart? Are you living in such a way that you are helping people to enter into the Kingdom? That they will be here on Easter morning and they will truly know that He has risen, He has risen, indeed, because He is living in their hearts?

First of all, when Jesus was answering the question, “Well, why do you eat with sinners? Why do you spend time with them?”

He said, “Well, it is like this….” and He told them two stories. First of all He talked about the lost sheep. God is like a good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. It is not just a job, punch the clock and go home. But he really loves the sheep. If there is one lost, he does not say, “Well, I’ve got ninety-nine. That’s pretty good. And, gosh, there are lions and bears out there…” No, he goes. And he looks for them until he finds them. And when he finds them he wants everyone else to celebrate with him because he loves his animal.

Do you love animals? How many have pets? Raise your hand. Well, if you lost your pet you would go looking, wouldn’t you? If you don’t like your pet, maybe you just hope that they won’t find you. But, I am assuming that you love your pet. I have lost two pets and found them. One of them was Peter, a cross between a Chihuahua and a terrier, and we found him on a family picnic down in South Carolina. I would tell people that I am sure Peter had a rough life for a little while but boy, he had a good life the next ten or twelve year. Well, he hated the Vet. He just didn’t like going. In fact, when he would go, he would put on this little “dead dog” act and you would just have to pick him up and carry him in like you were taking him to his death. I mean, the Vet was real nice. Well, when he was about ten years old he escaped and he didn’t have sense enough to go the two miles back to our house.

Two weeks later, someone from South Carolina called us and said, “I think we have your dog.”

Peter looked rough. Two weeks one the road—he was used to a cushy life in the suburbs—and so, he never escaped from the Vet’s again and he was glad that he was found.

Our cat, Sooty, was lost for awhile. We went on vacation; someone was feeding Sooty and he left. He had sense enough to hang out at the local barbeque place, but he didn’t have sense enough to get the mile back to the house, so he was gone for about three months. Finally someone called me from the Humane Society and said, “I think we’ve got your cat.” And, sure enough, it was him, and Sooty sticks close to home.

God is like the Good Shepherd; He loves the sheep. Then Jesus told another story about a lost coin. This woman had ten coins. It was probably a wedding dowry and it’s a big deal if you lose this coin. In fact, you look until you find it. You look, and you look, and you look, and you have other people help you look. And once you find it: Wonderful! Great!

If you lost a diamond ring, would you say, “Well, I’ll get another one.”? Well, if you had a lot of money maybe you would, but you would still look, wouldn’t you?

For all of two days I lost this (wedding) ring. Those were two long days. I had a preacher friend who used to be a mechanic. I didn’t know much about cars but wanted to save some money.

“I’ll teach you how to change the oil.”

“Great.”

So I went over to change the oil. I got the oil changed, but I came home… “Oh, it’s not on here.” I told Liz it was lost. That wasn’t a satisfactory answer to her. She thought I should go back and look for it. I went to a prayer meeting the next day. I asked for prayer. They did pray, because the next day I went, and there, the light, this beautiful sunshine hit this gold, and it was wonderful.

Jesus says that when something that is valuable is found, there is great rejoicing.

Then He tells the story of the lost son, and let me divide this up by talking about three parties. First of all, there is the wild party. There is the wild party. This man has two sons and the younger one wants his inheritance — and it wasn’t that unusual — and so the father divides his inheritance. The older got two-thirds and the younger got one-third. The older brother did get his inheritance but he decides to stay home and work with his father in the family business. But the younger son, well, enough of Dad, enough of his ways. I am going my way. I am going to do what I want to do and I have my money. And he lived wild. Drugs, alcohol, women, whiskey, you name it — he probably did it all — but, mainly I think, he wanted his own life. He rebelled.

Do you know anybody like that? Have you known anybody like that? They are in the far country. They are doing what they want to do. Life was great for this man, this young man. Finally, he is getting his own way. He had a lot of money. The only problem is, he is overdrawn at the bank. In fact, he is bankrupt. He didn’t know how to manage his money and it is gone. And then his friends are gone. And then there’s a famine. He realizes life is not so good. He gets a job doing the worst thing that a young Jew could possibly do — that is feeding pigs. And the pig slop starts looking very good to him. And then, this is great: He comes to himself. He comes to his senses. His eyes are opened. If you are praying for a prodigal today, that’s what you want to pray for. Pray that they will come to their senses. Pray that they will realize their need for a savior. Because people just simply are not going to come. You’re not going to nag them into the Kingdom. You’re not going to argue them into the Kingdom. You can’t force them into the Kingdom. Until they come to the point that they need the Savior, they will just keep on their own way. But the day is coming! It may not be next week. It may not be next month. It may not be next year. But the day will come. The need will come.

The doctor will tell them some news that is frightening. “You need to have an operation right away.”

Someone where you have been employed will say, “I am sorry. We have to lay you off.”

Of someone that you have loved for years tell you, “I just really don’t want to be with you anymore.” Something will happen and they will realize this need.

And then, what happened to him? Not only did he realize his need, but he comes to his senses. He says, `How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.

He remembers the father’s love. What has happened here is genuine repentance. He has changed his mind. He is not blaming the famine. He is not blaming his family. He is not blaming his friends for deserting him. He is taking responsibility for the choices he has made and he has changed. There is a change here. When someone repents and comes to Christ there is great rejoicing in Heaven. However you came to Christ, God and the angels rejoiced when it happened. There is great rejoicing in Heaven, whether it is a new Christian being birthed, or whether it is a Christian during the Lenten season realizing that a sinful attitude has just got to go, a sinful habit has got to be dealt with, and God I am asking for your help. It is genuine repentance. That’s the wild party.

But then, there is the Homecoming Party. When he gets there, the father has been waiting for a long time. He has lost sleep. He has been praying. He had been hoping for this day for a long time, and what does he do? He runs to him. Men in the Jewish culture, they didn’t run, especially over thirty. Now, you may think that applies to everybody, and it might, but it certainly did in that culture. So it was odd to see a Jewish man running, holding up his robe. And what does he do? He has a heart of compassion. This is what our Heavenly Father is like. He has a heart of compassion.

(Tape change)….. of the earth, with flashing lights, ambulances, police, whoever, you want them up in the mountains and the woods looking. It would be on television. You would have people praying. You would have people coming to prayer meetings who don’t go to prayer meeting, praying who don’t normally pray. Why? Because you are lost. And no one is going to be satisfied until you are found. It is a Homecoming Party and it is right to celebrate.

But then there is also the Pity Party here. It’s the older brother. The older brother hears the music and dancing. He hasn’t heard that since his little brother left.

He asked one of the servants, “What’s going on?”

“Oh, your brother has come home. Your father is excited. We are all excited. There is music and dancing, the fatted calf; we are celebrating.”

The older brother is angry. He refuses to have any part of it. All he can remember is what his younger brother has done. All he can remember is the pain he has given to his family. He cannot believe that he has changed. The father comes out. He wants him to come in and celebrate with him. Listen to what he says:

He is mad. He is not happy. The father tries to tell him:

The older brother’s heart is one of self pity. He feels sorry for himself. He is self-righteous. He is hard hearted and it is a heart that God simply has a hard time using to help other people come to the Kingdom.

Jesus talked about, in Luke Chapter 18, two men who went up to pray. One a Pharisee and the other one a tax collector. The Pharisee knew the scriptures and prayed, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like other men, especially this man who is praying here with me. I fast. I tithe. I am a good man. You are lucky to have me.” That’s a paraphrase there, but it is essentially what he was saying. He prayed with himself. But then the tax collector wouldn’t even look up to Heaven. He said, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And Jesus said it was the tax collector who indeed prayed. Why? Because he had a humility in his heart. He had gratitude. That is what God needs. When we have the Father’s heart, we have a humility about what God is doing in our life. We have a gratitude for what He has done in our hearts.

John Ortberg talks about two brothers. One he calls Crabby Ned. Crabby Ned gives no evidence of uncertainty in his faith, believes the Bible from cover to cover. He believes the cover is genuine leather and there doesn’t seem to be any record over the last forty years, though, of Ned ever changing his disposition, his mind, his expression, or his pew. He has been a Christian for forty years but he is still cranky and crabby. He has a hard heart, especially toward people who aren’t in the Church. And then there is his brother in Christ, called Harold. Harold, on the other hand, has done it all wrong. He has messed up his marriage, messed with drugs, ended up without a job. His multiplied disasters finally though drove him to the Church. He didn’t go far at first, just to the back row. But then he began to read his Bible early in the morning. He began to embrace the Savior. His life was changed. His family noticed it. The community noticed it. He had a heart that had heard the Father’s voice.

How do we have the Father’s heart in these next three Lenten weeks? First of all, we pray for prodigals. We don’t judge them. We don’t hate them. We don’t avoid them. We pray for them and we love them. We pray for them and love them. I think of those two years that I wandered away from the Gospel that I was raised with. I am so eternally grateful for the godly people in my family who prayed for me to come back home. I know, especially, that I had some godly grandmothers who prayed for their grandson to come back home. And I am glad.

Did you have someone who was praying for you to come back home? We pray for prodigals. We love them. Then we pray also for the Father’s heart. We pray to have a heart of compassion. We pray to have a heart that runs and welcomes people and forgives. And third, we pray that when the older brother, the elder brother’s heart, seeks to get hold, we ask God to remove it. It is easy for me to pick on the older brother because I am the youngest in my family and I have two older brothers. But I have been an older brother, spiritually, at times. I forget what it is like not to know Christ and I need to be reminded that I need the Father’s heart.

Let me close with this example of someone who truly, under difficult circumstances, heard the Father’s voice, developed the Father’s heart and the world certainly greatly benefited from him. His name was Patrick and as a teenager he was a nominal Christian in a nominal Christian family. Life was pretty good until one day the Irish came raiding and he was taken captive. He was taken and sold as a slave. Three things happened to Patrick out of this trauma. First of all, he became a Christian. He was put to herding. He was out in the fields. That is why Celtic Christianity has a great deal to do with seeing God in the out doors, and God as our Creator, because that is how it happened for Patrick. Second, he began to understand the Irish people. All he had ever heard was what barbarians they were because they were emotional and illiterate. But he learned to see past that and think they were not such barbarians, they are real people. And third, over those six years, he actually came to care and love his captors.

He heard a voice say, “Your ship is waiting for you. Go.” And one morning he left early and sure enough, there was a ship and he got on board and he left. We don’t know a great deal of what happened except that he was a priest. I don’t know about the shamrock and the snakes; if he could get the snakes out, that is great, but we do know that he served Christ faithfully. We also know that he had a heart of forgiveness because at age forty-eight, he heard a voice, like Paul who heard the call in Macedonia, “Come, servant boy and share the Gospel with us.”

So he was made the first missionary bishop in the Church and went back to Ireland, the place where he had been taken captive, and for the next twenty-six years lived the Gospel and served Christ in a magnificent way. Was he well received? Yes. Of the hundred and fifty tribes in Ireland, at the time of his death, some twenty-six years later, thirty to forty of them were predominately Christian. Why? Because of the impact of one man’s life who heard the Heavenly Father’s heart and voice and embraced it and lived it.

Will you embrace that voice today? Will you embrace His heart so that others may enter the Kingdom?

Let us pray: Father, we thank You for that grace that goes before us, that seeks those in a distant country. Lord, we thank You for the good news of forgiveness of sins. We thank You for the words, “Behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears My voice I will come in and sup with him and he with Me.” Lord, we thank You for the invitation to follow You and serve You. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.