WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.400 Welcome to the Do Life Different Podcast by 1128 Community. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.599 Today you're listening to our most recent message. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:14.080 We are a church community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, led by co-pastors Mike and Colleen Francisco. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:20.800 1128 is about helping people do life different by setting rhythms and values with Jesus at the center. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:29.600 If you want to connect with us, text the word podcast to 414-441-1128. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:33.200 We hope today's message helps you in your faith journey. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.359 Well, hey, good morning, everybody. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.960 Hey, as you're taking your seats, let me just say it is great to see everybody here this morning. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.399 Uh, if we haven't yet met, uh, shame on me. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:51.119 Uh, but my name is Nick, and I've been coming to 1128 for uh quite some time in my day job. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:53.759 I get to do a lot of cool ministry things. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.600 And uh I actually get to serve on the board of 1128. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:00:58.640 How about that? 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.679 So uh where where are Mike and Colleen today? 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.239 That is the question everybody's wanting to know. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:18.000 Uh, if you remember, if you tuned in last week, whether you were here live or catching us on our YouTube channel um or social media, uh Mike was stressing out about what he was gonna wear to a wedding that he was invited to. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.200 And uh this weekend is that wedding. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:30.079 So they are out on assignments, stepping away from um uh 1128 for today, but uh they will be back. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:37.040 And um I we just hope that they're enjoying their time together and uh just taking a little bit of a break. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.120 But here's where we are as a church. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.560 It's hard to believe. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.879 Man, tomorrow's back to school. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.200 Next weekend's Labor Day weekend. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:50.079 All the kids are like, uh, and all the parents are like, yeah, thank gosh. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.799 Uh so glad the kids are going back to school. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:02:00.159 But we are in our final week of our summer sermon series, which is Divine Stories. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:07.920 What we're doing is we're talking about uh these stories that Jesus shared with us uh during his ministry. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:09.120 We call them parables. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:20.719 And by way of reminder, the parables are just really short stories that give us a glimpse as to uh what it's like to be a citizen of God's kingdom. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:26.719 Gives us a truth about spirituality or our moral lessons or our lives. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:34.639 Um and we've looked at a bunch of them, but today we're gonna look at one of the most famous ones that I think uh is in all the Bible. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.599 Um the name of it is the Prodigal Son. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:45.919 Even if you don't read the Bible, I know the Prodigal Son references are just in our everyday pop culture references. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.360 Um and and we're gonna sit with this today. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:58.879 And here's the thing uh the title Prodigal Son is the name of it, but I wonder if that is not necessarily an accurate title. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:11.199 Uh, because the story isn't just about one son that has been lost, it's about two sons that have been lost and an incredible father's reaction to it. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:21.840 We're gonna see today that one son becomes lost when he leaves his home, and the other becomes lost while staying at home. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:26.639 One's far away in distance, the other is far away in his heart. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.960 Uh one breaks the rules, the other keeps the rules, but loses a relationship. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:42.560 And I think if we're honest, when we read the Bible, one of the most effective ways to do that is put ourselves in the role of the antagonist. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:48.479 It's so easy for us to look at the bad guy in the story and say, what is this guy's problem? 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:57.919 But if we're being honest, the Bible, those stories were written with us in mind because we are so often the bad guys. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:04.080 And I wonder w which of us here today can relate to which brother? 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:10.000 And I honestly think different seasons of our lives, we can relate to both of them equally. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.159 Some of us have had seasons where we ran from God. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:25.040 Some of us have made choices that we knew were wrong, and we chased what looked exciting and learned that freedom without wisdom gets expensive. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.519 Others of us stayed close to the church and we did all the things, right? 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:39.120 We served and we worked and we gave and we showed up, and then we became quietly angry that God hasn't handled our lives the way that we expected him to. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:41.600 Not according to our spreadsheets, anyway. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.759 And I know some of us have spreadsheets keeping tabs on what God's doing, right? 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:53.680 We have we have pivot tables and and and formulas and a red tab marked, you know, prayers still pending. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:56.879 The jokes don't get funnier than that, guys. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:57.839 Sorry. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.560 But Jesus tells us this story. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:11.199 He tells us this story because it's in um he's he's responding to this criticism that he's getting from the religious elite of his day. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:16.639 The religious elite are criticizing Jesus because of the company that he's keeping. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:25.439 He's he's having dinner with those that have been cast aside, the marginalized, the what we would call in everyday language the sinners. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:31.360 Apparently, even, I don't know, 2,000 years ago, guest lists were really important. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:35.600 But Jesus answers this complaint with three different stories. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:44.319 Uh He talks about a sheep being lost, a coin being lost, and then the story that we're talking about today, the prodigal sons. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.040 His message is clear. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:47.839 He says this. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.839 He says, God's not embarrassed to search for the thing that's lost. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:58.480 And when it's found, heaven celebrates when those lost things are found. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:09.120 Now, just as an internal reflection as we're talking about this, you don't have to necessarily explain your answer, but uh by show of hands, all right? 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:13.600 Who here thinks that they can relate to the younger brother easily? 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.560 The one that walks away from homes, far in distance. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:20.160 Yeah. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.439 And how many think that we can relate better to the older brother? 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:28.480 The one that that we're gonna see is near in proximity but far in heart. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:29.839 Yeah. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.680 How many of us think that it could be both? 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:32.879 Are we ambidextrous? 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:34.480 We can do both. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:41.839 I think I think it really depends on our situation and the season in life, but I think we can really relay it to both. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:46.560 But before we explain the story, we start to peel back those layers. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:53.360 I'm gonna read this so that you can hear exactly um from the Bible itself. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:58.240 And when I read it, I want you to pay attention to the movements in the story. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:06.959 I want you to pay attention to who's leaving and who's running and who uh doesn't move at all. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:11.759 And notice what the Father's movement is in this story. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.000 So we're gonna be in the New Testament. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:16.879 It's the book of Luke, so it goes Matthew, Mark, Luke. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:27.279 If you have your Bibles or you want to follow along or turn power on your Bibles, as the case may be, we're gonna be in chapter 15, starting at verse 11. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.959 Once again, that's Luke, chapter 15, starting at verse 11. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.279 And it goes like this. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:38.720 He said, and he being Jesus in this case, he said, A certain man had two sons. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:43.839 The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me my share of your property. 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:46.560 He divided his livelihood between them. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:55.839 And now, not many days after, the youngest son gathered all of his things together and traveled into a far country. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.439 There he wasted his property with riotous living. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:10.000 And when he had spent all of it, he arose, uh, arose a severe famine in the country, and he began to be in need. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:19.759 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of the country and sent him into the fields to feed pigs. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:29.519 He wanted his belly, uh, he wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pig ate, but no one gave him anything. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:39.440 But when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger? 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:45.519 I know, I'll I'll get up, go to my father, I will tell him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.159 I'm no more worthy to be called your son. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:51.039 Make me one of your hired servants. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:09:02.720 So he arose and came to his father, but while he was still a far way off, the father saw him, and he was moved with compassion, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:08.879 The son said to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:15.919 But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.639 Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let's eat and celebrate. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.519 For this son was dead and is alive again. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.639 He was lost, and he's found. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.960 And they began to celebrate. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.000 Now his elder son was in the field. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:39.120 As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called to one of the servants and asked, Well, what's going on? 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:47.840 He said to him, Your brothers come and your fathers killed the fattened calf because he received him back safe and healthy. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:52.000 But he was angry and he didn't go in. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:59.440 And therefore, uh oh, I lost my spot. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.759 Uh he but he was angry and wouldn't go in. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.879 Therefore, his father came out and begged him. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:19.519 But he answered, his father, Behold, these many years I've served you, and I've never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:29.600 But when his when the when this son of yours comes back, who's devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf or him. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:37.039 He said to him, Son, you're always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.559 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.159 For this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:47.919 He was lost and has been found. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.120 It's interesting. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.480 Let's let's take a look at this. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:53.840 Let's dive into it. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:59.519 You know, the story begins with this younger son making this shocking question. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:03.600 He says, give me my share of the inheritance. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.360 And then in that culture, just like today, it's inheritance doesn't come until after the parents die. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:18.799 His request was essentially, hey, I want to give you, I want you to give me everything I want, but I don't want you. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.440 In other words, you're worth more to me dead than you are alive. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.399 He wants his father's resources without his father's relationship. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.840 And I think so many of us can relate to that at some point in our lives. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:48.559 We want God's provision without his presence, we want his blessings without surrender, we want uh direction without obedience, forgiveness without transformation. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:55.440 We want God to fund the trip, bless the itinerary, and then say, Don't ask me where I'm going. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:01.919 The father gives him this inheritance, and the son leaves for this distant country. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:06.399 And at first, the distant country feels amazing. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.639 He's partying all the time. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.159 He has money in the bank and gas in the tank. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.480 He's thinking, I'm the man. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:26.879 You may have felt that you know I can go anywhere, but what he learns real quickly is that the crowd that helps you spend your money is rarely the crowd that helps you survive in a famine. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:35.360 And the money disappears and the famine comes, and the young man ends up feeding pigs. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:43.919 Now, if you're a Jewish person 2,000 years ago and you're listening to this story, this would be just shocking. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:46.480 It would be humiliating. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:54.080 Uh pigs would be like um uh uh eating the same stuff as sewer rats. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:57.840 He's hungry enough to envy the pig food. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.919 Not simply, this isn't simply a bad weekend for him. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:05.440 This is a monumental collapse in his life. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.480 If you still have your Bibles open, look at look back at verse 17 with me. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:15.919 I think this contains one of the most hopeful lines in all of Scripture. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:26.159 He says to himself, he says, when he came to himself, when he came to himself. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:34.320 See, repentance, it's not about becoming someone God never intended you to be. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:40.320 It's waking up and realizing who you are and whose you really are. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:53.120 I think sin tells us that leaving the Father will make us free, but grace helps us come to ourselves and realize that home is where freedom really begins. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:01.679 The son rehearses the speech and he's gonna admit his son, and he's gonna surrender his status. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.039 He's gonna become a servant. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.080 That's what genuine repentance looks like. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.559 No excuses, no blame, no demands. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.440 He gets up and turns towards home. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.080 Repentance is more than just feeling bad in a pig pen. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:27.840 Repentance is taking the next step towards the Father. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:32.000 And I'd just like us to take just a minute at our tables. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:33.440 Just reflect on this. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:40.320 You can either do it in a small group discussion or or just for your own meditation. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:48.960 What distant country are you tempted to believe will give you only what God can truly offer? 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.120 You don't need to say it out loud. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.879 Just simply call it out before God. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:47.679 Think about that. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:48.960 What does that mean? 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:51.919 It means the father was on the lookout. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:57.679 The father didn't meet him with crossed arms and sound like my grandma. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.240 Well, look who finally remembered my address. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.720 He was moved with compassion, right? 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:05.679 He ran. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:12.559 And in that culture, a dignified old man with servants and means, he didn't run. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:17.279 Running meant that he had to lift up his robe and show off his legs. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:19.519 It looked undignified. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:26.720 But love is willing to look undignified when a child is coming home. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:33.519 The father absorbs the shame so that that son could be restored. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.360 Even begins this prepared speech. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.360 He says, Yeah, I've sinned. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:48.960 But before he can even finish negotiating the terms of returning, the father interrupts him with this restoration. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:55.279 He says, Bring the best robe, put a ring on his finger, put sandals on his feet, kill the fatted calf. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.000 The father's not minimizing the son's sin. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:03.919 He's declaring that the sin will not have the final word over the son's identity. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:09.440 The robe that he offers him covers him in, covers his shame. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:17.680 And the ring on his finger shows family authority, that he belongs to this family. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:27.440 And the sandals that he puts on his feet mark him as a son, not as a household slave. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:32.400 And the meal announces to the community he belongs here. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:38.480 God doesn't merely open up the back door and let us sleep in the garage. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.680 He brings grace, and grace brings us back to the table. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:52.160 I wonder if any of us imagine God tolerating our return but will remain disappointed in us. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:58.000 I'm saying something like, hey, sure, come on in, but you don't touch anything. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:04.240 I think Jesus gives us a different idea of who the Father is. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:05.920 He's watching. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:07.359 He's watching for us. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.759 He's moved with compassion. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:11.599 He's He's running towards us. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.640 He's embracing us. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.240 He's restoring us. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.240 He's celebrating us. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:26.240 And it doesn't mean consequences vanish or trust is instantly rebuilt, especially with every human relationship. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:31.279 Forgiveness and healthy boundaries, I think, can live in the same house. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:38.559 But it does mean that when we turn towards God, we aren't moving toward humiliation. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.960 Rather, we're moving towards mercy. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.480 And so the celebration begins. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.279 And that music begins and the food's served. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.799 And the older son comes from the field and he hears the celebration. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:58.000 And he learns that his older brother's at home and he becomes angry. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:01.519 He refuses to go inside. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.240 Look at that contrast, right? 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:08.240 The younger brother is outside of the house because of rebellion. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.920 The older son is outside because of resentment. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:19.920 One ran away from the father's rules, the other obeyed the rules, but never learned the father's heart. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.839 The older son says, Look, all these years I've served you. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.160 Doesn't it sound more like a transactional relationship? 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:34.240 It sounded like he he's he didn't learn how to enjoy being with his father. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.039 Sounds like an employee trying to build a case for a merit increase. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.839 His obedience is transactional. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:45.200 I did this for you, now you owe me that. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:52.319 I think that's how people can be physically close in God's house but emotionally far from him. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:01.759 We serve, we secretly keep score, we obey, but we become bitter when grace is shown to somebody else that we don't think deserves it. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:06.960 We sing about amazing grace until it becomes amazing for that person. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.880 Then we would prefer moderately impressive grace with strict approval processes. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:19.119 The older brother will not even say my brother. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.000 Resentment turns people into categories. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.079 The father gently corrects him. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.200 He goes, No, this is your brother. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:38.640 Because grace restores not only a child to the father, but if we allow it, brother to brother. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:42.720 The father says, Look, kid, you're always with me. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:45.599 Everything that I have is yours. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:56.319 The real tragedy is that the older brother, the older son has lived beside abundance with a heart of an orphan. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:01.039 He has access to the father, but no joy to enjoy him. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:07.920 He has confused proximity with intimacy. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.759 I know many of us formed a picture of faith when we were young. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:14.319 Right? 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:22.640 Good people do well, bad people struggle, and if we perform correctly, life will be predictable, and then life happens. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.359 Faithful people suffer. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.880 Messy people receive mercy. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.920 God refuses to fit inside our formulas. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:42.160 The question becomes: do we want the father or only the life we believe the father owes us? 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:50.079 The older son's pride also depends on repentance. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.680 He wants to be the man. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.759 He wants to be the dependable one, the strong one, the one who never needs. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.279 To be rescued. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.480 But both of them need the same thing. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:08.640 They need the father's love. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:13.519 The younger son must release his rebellion. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:18.559 The older son must release his self-righteousness. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:24.720 I'm going to ask you guys at your tables to do a little interaction here for the next couple minutes. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.119 If I could have uh some background music, that would be amazing. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:38.240 Um but we're gonna take about five minutes or so, and we're just gonna have a discussion in a brief uh response to a few questions here. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:43.839 Question number one is what is easier for you to recognize in yourself? 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.559 Distance through rebellion or distance through resentment? 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:56.000 The second question is what does the Father do in this story that changes how you see God? 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.119 Or does it? 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:10.079 And the third thing that I'd love for you to talk about briefly at your tables is this what is one step towards the celebration that God may be inviting you to take? 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:19.119 You don't have to share this in detail if you don't want, but let's just discuss a little bit for the next few minutes at our tables. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:33.599 All right, so as we wrap up our discussions this morning, as we wrap up our discussions this morning, let's focus on the back end of the story. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.720 Here's the center of this whole thing. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.480 The father goes towards both sons. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:50.079 He runs down the road to the younger son, he leaves the party, and he goes into the yard towards the older son. 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:54.960 He doesn't say, hey, if you want to sulk, then go ahead and sulk. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.240 He comes out and he pleads with him to come back in. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:03.519 The father seeks the obvious sinner and the respectable sinner. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.279 He seeks the person who blew up his life. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:16.000 And he seeks the person who quietly built their identity on being better than the person that blew up their life. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:22.000 He seeks those far in distance, and he seeks those that are far in heart. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.200 And Jesus leaves this opening. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:30.559 We never hear whether the older son actually comes back in to the celebration. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:32.880 And that's intentional. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:47.680 You see, Jesus, remember, he's speaking to the religious elite, the religious eliters of the day standing outside the gate that is filled with joy of grace. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.240 I think the unfinished ending makes us an invitation. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:54.799 Will you go in? 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.799 And if not, can I change your mind? 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:13.119 Maybe today you identify with a younger son, or maybe you're tired and ashamed and rehearsing the speech that explains why you no longer deserve a blessing. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:20.160 But here's the good news the Father sees you while you're still far off. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:25.279 He invites us to get up and take the next step home towards him. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:29.119 Maybe today you identify with that older son. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:36.720 You've been faithful and you've been responsible, you've been present, but joy has drained away. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:43.359 You're angry about those who receive grace, or that your life isn't going the way that you thought it was. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.599 You're angry at those who are celebrating, or what God has not done for you. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:53.119 This is the good news for you. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.599 Father has come outside for you, too. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:03.440 You don't have to earn what has always been offered in relationship. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.799 Maybe today you identify with the Father. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.960 You love someone who's far away from you. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:18.720 You watch and you pray and you hope and you wonder when to run and when to wait. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.000 Doesn't give us control over another person's return. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:30.079 It gives us a picture of what faithful love looks like. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:43.039 Open-hearted and truthful and compassionate, ready to restore and willing to move towards both the rebellious and the resentful. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.759 So who are you today? 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:46.880 Who are you? 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.200 Are you on the road away from home? 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:59.200 Are you in the pig pen, coming to yourself, closing your eyes and imagining a place you used to live when you were young? 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:12.319 Walking back to a rehearsed speech, already in the father's embrace, standing outside the party with your arms crossed, or maybe watching the road for someone you love. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.160 Wherever you are, the father's heart isn't hidden. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:22.319 He moves towards the lost, he restores the identity, he invites the resentful. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:28.799 He celebrates life where there was death and belonging where there was lost. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:34.480 The younger son thought he had lost the right to be called the son. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.839 The older son had forgotten that he was the son. 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:40.000 And the father addresses both. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:46.000 The gospel is not that reckless people finally become respectable enough to reproach God. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:50.319 The gospel is that in Jesus, God has come down the road towards us. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:54.720 Christ entered our distance, he carries our shame. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:58.319 He defeated death and opened the way home. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:04.240 We need to be clear here that Jesus is not like the resentful older brother in this parallel. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:08.880 Jesus is the greater and truer older brother. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:14.400 He does what either one of the brothers in the story would not do. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.359 Jesus doesn't remain safely at the Father's house while we're lost in a distant country. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.400 He comes to seek and save the lost. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.799 He doesn't complain about the cost of the restoration. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:29.279 He bears that cost himself. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:33.359 At the cross, Jesus takes our sin, he takes our shame. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:38.000 Through his resurrection, he defeats death that has kept us from home. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.759 He shares his place with us. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.519 He calls us brothers and sisters. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:48.880 He brings us into the Father's family, not reluctantly, but purely joyfully. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:53.839 The younger brother returned with nothing to offer except repentance. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.079 We come to God with empty hands. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:01.680 Our welcome isn't purchased by a performance. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.480 It's made possible by Jesus. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:12.720 Because of him, the Father's embrace is open, the family name restored, and the place at the table is prepared. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:14.880 We can be far from God in distance. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:22.079 We can be far from God in heart, but no distance is greater than the Father's mercy. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:28.480 The road home begins with one of our honest, with one of an honest turn. 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:32.079 The door to celebration is open. 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:35.440 Let me pray for us. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:36.960 Father, thank you. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:42.079 Thank you that you see us while we're still so far off. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:48.480 That you move towards us when we are far in distance and when we are far in heart. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:59.680 Thank you, Jesus, our greater and truer oldest brother, who came to seek us, carried our sin and shame, defeated death, and opened the way home. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:05.039 Give us the courage to come to ourselves and humility. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:11.519 Release our scorekeeping and faith to take the next step towards you. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.039 Restore what shame has covered. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.359 Heal what resentment has hardened. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:27.680 Teach us to celebrate when the lost are found and make us a church that reflects your open-hearted, truthful running of love. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:30.720 In the name of Jesus we pray. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:31.680 Amen. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.599 Thank you for listening to today's message. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.359 We hope you had a meaningful moment with Jesus. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.440 You can join us on Sundays at Oak Creek High School at 10 a.m. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:45.440 for our in person gatherings. 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:46.960 Hope to see you soon.