FOUNDATION STORY
Luke 15:11-32
March 21, 2004  Year C, Lent 3

     When I was a little boy my grand daddy built the house where I was raised in Hamlet NC.  I remember, even though I was only 4 or 5 at the time, my Papa with a spirit level and a chalk line making sure every thing was plumb and true.  I even remember when he laid the foundation.  It seemed like Papa took a long time to lay that foundation, but you know, I didn’t realize how important it was till I got much older.  Though the family has moved away the house still stands - the house that Papa built.  It was laid on a solid foundation.  Foundations aren’t flashy – but they are vital.

Like that house, a church has to be built on a solid foundation if it is to endure.  Not a foundation of the pastor’s personality or pastoral leadership - that’s a cult.  Not on a mere foundation of denominational tradition for that is having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof.  It must be built on the Rock, on the Chief Cornerstone, on the great GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. 

As we approach a time of transition in our churches life, let’s make sure we are built on that foundation!  The sweetest presentation of the simple message of the Gospel that I know is found in Luke 15:11-32.  It was the Scripture I preached from on October 14, 1995 – the night we started worshiping as Cornerstone United Methodist Church. In this story, this parable Jesus really describes the human condition.  The Lord Jesus is telling your story and he’s telling my story in this passage.

I.   JESUS DESCRIBES THE LIFE APART FROM GOD

A.     The life apart from God is summed up by that little word “sin.” Do you know what sin is? Lots of people think sin is all those bad things we do.  Those are “sins” not “Sin”.  SIN IS THE ATTITUDE OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS.  It is being wrapped up in self, concerned only with “ME”.

In Luke 15:12 the younger son displayed this attitude of selfishness, he didn’t care about his father, all he wanted was what was his!  'Father, give me my share of the estate.'  That’s the same attitude we have toward God.  I want MY WAY, MY FUN, MY RIGHTS, MY MONEY, MY TIME -- with hardly a thought to what God wants.

Just as the father gave him freedom to make this choice, to leave home, God gives us the freedom to be absorbed by our own selfishness.  Sin is just plain old living for yourself.  Centering the world around yourself.

When we live life apart from God we throw our lives away. We were created for fellowship with God, and without God at the very center of our being, we squander our relationships, our talents, our health, our money.  That’s what the son did in Luke 15:13, ...the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.  Some of us have lived wild lives!

B.    The life apart from God does not satisfy.  Luke 15:14 tells us that the boy’s money ran out and he began to be in need.  Life apart from God brings us to a dead end.  The party is finally over and those we thought were our friends leave when the money and the good times run out.  We run and run and play and play -- but finally we realize that we are in need.  We feel empty.  Lonely.  Life doesn’t satisfy, it has no meaning!

C.    (Luke 15:15-16)  The boy’s first thought was not to return to the father, but to be self-sufficient.  So he got a job.  “I’ll pull myself up by my own boot straps.”  Maybe he was ashamed to come back. 

Even before he was converted, John Wesley was very pious. He got up at 4 o'clock in the morning and prayed for two hours.  He would then read the Bible for an hour before going to the jails, prison, and hospitals to minister to all manner of people. He would teach, and pray for, and help others until late at night.  He did this for years.  In fact, the Methodist Church gets its name from the methodical life of piety that Wesley and his friends lived.

At one point he even went as a missionary to Georgia. On the way back from America there was a great storm at sea. The little ship upon which they were sailing was about to sink. Wesley feared he was going to die that night and he was terrified.  He had no assurance of what would happen to him when he died.  Despite all of his efforts to be good, death now for him was just a big black question mark.  On one side of the ship was a group of men who were singing hymns.  He asked them, "How can you sing when this very night you are going to die?"  They replied, "If this ship goes down we will go up to be with the Lord forever."  Wesley went away shaking his head, thinking to himself, "How can they know that?  What have they done that I have not done?"  Then he added, "I came to convert the heathen, but who shall convert me?"

In fact when we try to fix ourselves we end up worse off than before.  We end up in the pigpen.  Bootstrap theology doesn’t work!  Jesus told this story to his people, the Jewish people.  The worst thing a Jew could do was to feed pigs!  It was a cursed profession!   We just get emptier and emptier till even the pig slop looks appetizing.

II.  JESUS DESCRIBES COMING HOME TO GOD.

 

A.    (Luke 15:17-19)  It was at the lowest point that he came to his senses!  That happens to a lot of people.  The addict rarely seeks help until they are forced to realize they have lost everything dear to them.  The person who has sought satisfaction by going from one sexual experience to another doesn’t turn away from that until they realize they have never experienced true love and intimacy.  The person who lives for money doesn’t come to their senses until they have finally made it to the top and found out they were still at the bottom.

B.    God is always seeking to speak to our hearts, to show us the way home.  At his lowest point this boy had a brainwave!  “I can go home!  Even the slaves in my father’s house have it better than this!  What am I doing here?!”  So he changed his mind and changed his direction!

C.    The road back to the Father’s house leads through repentance. 

Perhaps you remember the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that." Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her." Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution." [Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company, 1997.]

We look for less obvious solutions to heal our brokenness – but you can’t get around repentance.  Repentance means to change your mind and change your direction.  Instead of going away from God we decide to set out and go back to God.  Like this boy we say, “I will arise and go to my Father!”

III. JESUS DESCRIBES GOD’S RESPONSE TO THOSE WHO COME HOME

 

A.    What do you think this young man thought would be his father’s reaction?  Maybe he thought dad would be mad...  Thought his father would have forgotten about him...  Out minding his own business. 

·        But where was the father?  He was out looking for the son! (Luke 15:20) Jesus said, “while he was still a long way off his father saw him...” 

·        When you decide to come home to God you don’t have to go far to find him.  O you may have traveled far.  You may have gone into a distant country.  You may have been gone a long time.  But while you still are a long way off God sees you and comes running to meet you.  God is out scanning the horizon, looking for his runaway kids.  Straining into the distance for the sign that just one has decided to come home.

·        And when he sees us does he come out with a baseball bat to beat us up?  NO!!!  Like the father in the story God is filled with compassion, not anger towards those who return!  He runs to meet us, throws his arms around us and kisses us, wraps us up with mercy and lovingkindness and acceptance!

B.    Is God ready to forgive and bring you back to his family?  Listen to story!  The boy’s made up a speech that he hopes will make his dad accept him.  Luke 15:21, “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you...” but before he can get it all out the father has forgiven him.  God is more ready to forgive than you are to ask for forgiveness.

·        Jesus says the father RAN out to meet his son, that he threw his arms around him and kissed him.  GOD WANTS TO RUN OUT AND MEET YOU, KISS AND HUG YOU!

C.    NO MATTER WHAT PIG STYE YOU’VE BEEN IN GOD WANTS YOU BACK, YOUR WELCOME IN HIS FAMILY.  ALL PEOPLE, EVERYBODY, NO EXCEPTIONS.

CONCLUSION:  (Luke 15:22) And when God forgives he doesn’t put us on the bottom rung of the ladder.  The father in the story told his servants to get:

 

·        a robe (symbol of honor, and the stink of the pig pen is taken away!),

·        a ring (a symbol of authority)

·        and sandals (to show he was a son, not a slave).

(Luke 15:23-24)  When we return God has a party!  A celebration!  You’re lost and dead till you come back to God.  When you come home, you’re raised from the dead. People are raised from the dead every day!

(Luke 15:25-31)  Not everybody was happy the son came home.  The older brother thought he was minding the family business – but if he had truly wanted to be about his Father’s business, he would have been searching for his brother.  He was busy minding the farm when the real priority was seeking the lost.  In fact, he was resentful at all the energy that was going into seeking and welcoming the lost!  I want Cornerstone United Methodist Church to always have the Father’s heart and never to adopt the attitude of the older brother.

The Father reminds us this morning to join him in seeking the lost, welcoming them home, and joining the celebration. 

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Luke 15:11-32

11 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 men 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 men.' 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.
25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
NIV

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