WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.440 The Father never gave up hope. He never stopped scanning the horizon, hoping that this day might 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:11.680 be the day his Son would come back. Maybe this day? No, not today. He'd wake up. Maybe it's this day, 3 00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:18.640 day after day after day. So the Father's waited, and He's waited, and He's waited for His Son's return. 4 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:24.960 So when He finally sees Him on the horizon, Jesus says He's filled with compassion and He runs to His 5 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:31.520 Son. Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's 6 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:37.280 Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light 7 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:46.560 Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his 8 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:52.880 team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you 9 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:58.560 listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by 10 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:07.600 His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. My name is James. I get the privilege 11 00:01:07.600 --> 00:01:12.080 of sharing with you today, and I wanted to talk to you about the prodigal son. How many of you 12 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:17.200 heard the story of the prodigal son? A few of you. A few hands are going up. It's so familiar 13 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.520 that even in pop culture, people who don't follow Christ, people that don't read the Bible from 14 00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:25.680 cover to cover, they've heard that story, right? They know about Moses, partying the Red Sea, 15 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:30.480 they know about the good Samaritan, they know about the prodigal son, they use these references, 16 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:35.600 usually out of context, but they know enough about it to mention it. And so I'm going to 17 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:39.920 assume today that you know enough about the story of the prodigal son, right? Every time we talk 18 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:44.480 about the prodigal son, what do we talk about? The prodigal son. So I'm going to assume you know 19 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.000 a lot about the prodigal son, and I want to spend a little bit of time diving a little deeper 20 00:01:48.720 --> 00:01:55.040 into the Father. We just got done singing about the love of our heavenly Father. And I thought it 21 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.960 would be interesting to kind of take a different spin on this. Look at a different angle in this 22 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:03.840 story. We know about the younger son, we know about the older son, these two kind of guys, but 23 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:09.440 let's talk about the Father. So that's what I wanted to spend my time with you here doing today. 24 00:02:09.440 --> 00:02:14.080 This guy, he had a going on. He was a wealthy guy who's probably one of the ones that, as Pastor 25 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:22.480 Rob pointed out, was on those tablets that had euths, euths, had a lot of wealth. He was a wealthy 26 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:27.360 landowner. He had lots of servants, lots of land, lots of livestock, a lot going on. He had a 27 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:32.560 place in the Hamptons, he had a penthouse in Manhattan. He had everything in between. He was very 28 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:36.720 comfortable and he had two sons. They helped him in the family business. And these two sons 29 00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:41.600 knew that one day this business would be theirs. They knew that a father's father's passing, 30 00:02:41.600 --> 00:02:46.240 this inheritance would be coming their way. So they were helping daddy in the family business 31 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:53.920 as they went on. So these two young boys grew up knowing great privilege. And I was just kind of 32 00:02:53.920 --> 00:02:58.000 wondering, did you know anybody like that growing up? Anybody that just kind of was operating at 33 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:02.400 kind of a different level than the rest of us? I mean, we were all kind of shopping at Sears and 34 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:07.680 K-Mart for our clothes and they were like at Macy's. I mean, they were like designer clothes. I 35 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.920 mean, anybody have a friend like that? I had a friend like that. Maybe it was you. They grew up 36 00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:15.360 a little more fluent that the rest of us were jealous about. We don't like you. 37 00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:22.800 No, we do. He's our impact there. But there was always somebody that just was at a different 38 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.200 level. I had a friend like that. His name was Jason growing up. And this guy, I wanted to be Jason 39 00:03:27.200 --> 00:03:31.840 so bad. His house was better than everybody else's house. It was nicer. It was fancier. When you 40 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:36.400 got to hang out at his house or having for bit, I mean, you get like invited to a sleepover, 41 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:41.280 like a growing up, like young sleepover with some friends at this house. It was like a five-star hotel. 42 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:47.200 He had everything going on at this house. He had motorcycles. He had four-wheelers. He had the 43 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:52.400 best bicycles. He had all the gaming consoles that you could think of. And with all the best games too. 44 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.560 Like I'm at home with a black and white TV playing pong. Bunk, bunk, bunk, bunk. Not him. He got 45 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:04.320 Sega Genesis. He got Atari. He got all the good gaming consoles. He wore designer clothes. He 46 00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:09.440 was a good looking kid. He had it going on. And as we got older, it only got worse. You know, 47 00:04:09.440 --> 00:04:12.640 you start to think, oh, maybe he's going to go through that awkward stage and we'll catch up. 48 00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:18.880 And then we can look down on Jason. No, it got worse. We all start driving. And it's not as 49 00:04:18.880 --> 00:04:22.560 big a thing here in New York because you get old enough and your parents just say go ride the train 50 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.600 and just don't die. In the rest of the country, you're longing to get your drivers license and you 51 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:32.320 get a car because that's freedom. Okay. Here, it's like terror. If you drive in New York, it's like, 52 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:37.600 in the rest of the country is like wide open. It's kind of normal. You get a car. You get a driver's 53 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.080 license. We start driving just whatever we can afford. Anything with four wheels and a steering 54 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:46.400 wheel. And we are happy, right? It can have a hole in the floorboard like the Flintstones. You just 55 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:50.480 have to put your feet through to the cement. It's like stop. Like it's that bad. They're not 56 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:55.120 roadworthy. You never pass a state inspection. But you're just happy with whatever gelopy you can 57 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:03.040 afford. But not Jason. His first car was a fully restored muscle car. This thing was gorgeous. You 58 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:08.800 could see your reflection in the hood. The rest of us are oxidized, paints peeling off. Half of the 59 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:14.400 parts are missing. This thing was gorgeous. It could win like a car show, best of show. Any day of 60 00:05:14.400 --> 00:05:20.240 the week hands down. This thing is amazing. And to make it worse, he had a, anybody have vanity 61 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.880 plates in here? I don't want to make fun of you if you do. He had a vanity plate with his last 62 00:05:24.880 --> 00:05:33.520 name on his car. I mean, come on. That was amazing. This guy had it going on. I'm telling you, 63 00:05:33.520 --> 00:05:38.960 I wanted to be him so bad. I mean, he may as well have had like a soundtrack playing behind him 64 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:42.800 every time he'd enter a room. Do you know anybody like that? He just has this walk and like time 65 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:53.520 stands still. Wind starts blowing. He's like. He was smooth. So smooth. I wanted his life so 66 00:05:53.520 --> 00:06:00.960 badly. I mean, he even wore the best fragrances. Back in my day, if I wanted a little game, he'd 67 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:08.400 slap on a little old spice, okay? I get the gift set for Christmas. And that was my game, okay? 68 00:06:08.400 --> 00:06:13.840 Every now and then, some of my friends would spring for a bottle of Dracar Noir. Remember Dracar Noir? 69 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:19.200 Oh, that was a good time right there. I didn't have Dracar. My friends had Dracar. Every now and 70 00:06:19.200 --> 00:06:25.920 they're like, can I borrow some of your Dracar Noir right now? But not Jason. He had the designer 71 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:32.240 fragrances you could only get from the fragrance department in the mall. Yeah. The stuff that the 72 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.760 rest of us mortals would only every now and then sneak a spray from the sample bottle as we 73 00:06:37.760 --> 00:06:41.360 walked through to the department store on our way to the food court. But he's living the dream 74 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:48.080 every day of his life. Unreal this guy. Just like these two boys, they grew up knowing great privilege 75 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:52.800 and they had the love of their father to boot. They had everything their heart could desire. So much 76 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.880 so that the younger son, and you know the story, he decides he gets the wild idea. He's going to 77 00:06:56.880 --> 00:07:01.120 ask daddy if he could have his share of the inheritance even before his dad kicked the bucket. He 78 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:05.600 wants to get his money, go off and party like it's 1999, right? You remember that part of the story? 79 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.720 Some of you might be old enough like me. You've heard the saying, the old adage, 80 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:13.280 you've just wasted on the young. You ever heard that? As you get older, it makes a lot of sense. 81 00:07:13.280 --> 00:07:18.240 You look at young people like you are so stupid. If I were your age with this knowledge now, 82 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:22.960 I would rule the world. Yeah. I used to be so, you know, like, I know everything. You've 83 00:07:22.960 --> 00:07:25.680 wasted on the young people. He used to say it about me all the time and now I say it about other 84 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:30.000 people all the time. This kid decided he was going to live up to this saying you wasted on the young. 85 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.320 He was so dumb. He like, I have everything. The world on a silver platter, but I want more. 86 00:07:34.320 --> 00:07:38.560 Hey, daddy, give me my inheritance and I want to leave the family business and go live my life. 87 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:42.720 Even before the father dies. Look at what it says in Luke chapter 15, verse 12, just the beginning 88 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:49.520 of that verse. He says, Father, give me my share of the estate. Father, oh father dearest, 89 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:55.280 can I have my share of the estate, please? The younger son he acknowledges his dad as father. 90 00:07:55.280 --> 00:08:01.760 He does the right thing. Oh father, can I have the money? He doesn't just say, hey, oh man, 91 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:08.000 give me the cash. He knows better. He addresses him respectfully. But then what comes out of his mouth 92 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.880 is anything but respect, right? That's not a normal characteristic of a father's son relationship 93 00:08:12.880 --> 00:08:19.600 right there. And we do that with God sometimes. Oh father, Heavenly Father, daddy God. 94 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:24.880 But then we live life our own way. We treat him like a magic genie that's just there to give us 95 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:29.280 everything that our heart desires, right? Bless me, bless me, bless me, protect me, protect me, 96 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:35.760 help me, help me. It's all about me on the center of the universe. A little bit like this guy. 97 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.000 Jesus even calls it out, Matthew 15, verse 8. He says, these people honor me with their lips, 98 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:48.320 but their hearts, their what? Far from me. A little bit like the son. I think it's pretty interesting 99 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:52.400 that compared to the way we see the older brother, later in the story, addresses father. 100 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:57.920 Remember in the beginning of verse 28, the father is pleading with the older son to come into the 101 00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:01.840 party and he won't come in because he's mad, right? And this is the way he addresses his dad. He says, 102 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:08.880 look, all these years, I've been slaving for you, never disobeying your orders. The older son 103 00:09:08.880 --> 00:09:13.280 doesn't even give the courtesy that the younger son did and call him father, oh father dearest, he just 104 00:09:13.280 --> 00:09:23.520 says, look, that shows kind of the disdain he has for dad. We know that's not a way of showing respect. 105 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:29.120 Here's what's interesting and we've got to pay attention to these details. In Jesus' day, 106 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:35.760 the listener knew that showing that kind of disrespect to an elder in public was literally a matter 107 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:42.640 of life or death. Today, we see kids disrespecting mom dad all the time and they get a Nintendo switch 108 00:09:42.640 --> 00:09:51.920 as a reward. Oh, just be quiet. If you stop, I'll buy you something else. In this day, you disrespected 109 00:09:51.920 --> 00:10:02.240 an elder and they kill you. That's how they purge that sin from the land. I think we need to bring 110 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:07.920 that back and we think, you know, I think we'd have fewer kids. I don't know about that. But Jesus 111 00:10:08.880 --> 00:10:14.320 listeners knew that very clearly. His father has two sons, both whose hearts are far from him, 112 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:20.320 but he chases them both but in very different ways. I remember when I was in the seventh grade 113 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:26.160 and another friend, his name was Jeff and he decided one year for Halloween, he had this kind of 114 00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:30.400 shed kind of thing, this other building on the back of his property that he and his older brother 115 00:10:30.400 --> 00:10:34.800 had converted into a haunted house this particular year. They had put time and money into it. 116 00:10:34.800 --> 00:10:38.560 I don't know how he's great rich friends. I don't know why I didn't have this kind of. And Jason 117 00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:42.400 and Jeff, they had it going on. He had his own haunted house this year and he invited a group of 118 00:10:42.400 --> 00:10:47.600 us over. He said, this is going to be amazing. It is going to blow your mind. I was so excited. 119 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:51.920 So the morning of, hey, dad, can I go to Jeff's house for the haunted house? And so my dad's response 120 00:10:51.920 --> 00:11:00.160 was, we'll talk about it when you get home from school. Now most of you were young at one time. 121 00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:08.640 Do you remember back when your parents said, we'll talk about it or I'll think about it? You know 122 00:11:08.640 --> 00:11:14.480 what that's code for? No, it's not going to happen, right? So that's what I heard my seventh grade. 123 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:19.520 We'll talk about it when we get home like, no, oh my gosh. So all day, that's all we can talk about. 124 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:22.480 I hope we can get to go. I don't know why my dad won't let me go. I hope he's going to, how are we 125 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.920 going to convince him? We're writing speeches. We're not listening. We didn't learn anything that day. 126 00:11:25.920 --> 00:11:30.080 I feel bad. Sorry, teachers. All we're talking about is how cool this haunted house is going to be 127 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:35.280 and how we can scheme our way to all get to the haunted house. So really maybe about lunch time. 128 00:11:35.920 --> 00:11:41.360 Jeff has the brilliant idea. He says, James, look, if you just ride my bus home from school instead of 129 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.280 your bus, look how much time it'll save instead of you going home, talking to your dad, your dad 130 00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:49.600 bringing you home. Look, let's cut out the middle man. Just ride my bus home. We start having fun 131 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:54.240 right away. Jeff, you're a genius. Like, you're going to be president one day or something. That's 132 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:59.040 amazing. I said, that's what we're going to do. So every hour that's ticking by minutes, we're like, 133 00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:03.280 come on, come on, come on, come on. The bell finally rings. I make a beeline for the school office 134 00:12:03.280 --> 00:12:07.520 and I ask the secretary if I can use the school phone. Let me call. I call my dad's office. 135 00:12:07.520 --> 00:12:11.760 Hey, can I speak to my father? He's not here right now. Can you take down a message? 136 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.960 So I ask him to take a message. Hey, tell my dad when he gets back. I've taken Jeff's bus home 137 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:23.200 and I'm all good. Okay? So now I've left a message. In my seventh grade mind, I'm good to go. 138 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:28.640 I made the call. That's all you need to do, right? So I ride Jeff's bus home and it is everything 139 00:12:28.640 --> 00:12:33.440 he said it was. This haunted house was over the top. Scared the spit out of me. I had nightmares 140 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:40.720 for weeks. It was awesome. So we are having the time of our lives. What I didn't know was the reason 141 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:45.680 my dad wasn't at his office when I called was because he had left work early to come home and 142 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:54.080 surprise me and take me to Jeff's house as soon as I got home. Yeah. Oh, don't you wish you had a 143 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:02.800 time machine and you could kind of go back and do things over. Hmm. Now you got to remember 144 00:13:03.520 --> 00:13:08.800 this was before cell phones because I'm really old. This is before pages. We didn't have pages. 145 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:18.320 Remember beeper. This was before voicemail or caller ID. So my dad has no idea where I am. 146 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:25.120 All he knows is I didn't show up from school that day. So he's probably worried out of his mind. 147 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:36.880 But he also was probably a little hurt that I would disrespect him and dishonor him the way I did. 148 00:13:36.880 --> 00:13:44.160 Disregard his instructions. Think about that. Multiply it by maybe like a thousand and we start 149 00:13:44.160 --> 00:13:50.880 to maybe get a glimpse of what this father felt like when his son said, hey, oh man, give me my 150 00:13:50.880 --> 00:13:56.560 cash. I want to go off and party and live life my own way. We start to might get it a sense. 151 00:13:56.560 --> 00:13:59.840 We spend a lot of time thinking about the kid. What would I do with all that money and freedom? 152 00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:04.960 What about the dad? What do you think he was feeling heartbroken? 153 00:14:06.560 --> 00:14:12.160 And you have to understand in this day the traditional culture that Jesus listeners were speaking to, 154 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:19.200 it was not common at all for this father to act this way. 155 00:14:21.760 --> 00:14:26.400 The listeners were already probably a little upset and irritated. Remember Jesus is telling this 156 00:14:26.400 --> 00:14:30.640 story. So step back in some context. Jesus is preaching. He's telling. Let me tell you a little 157 00:14:30.640 --> 00:14:36.240 story about a family. His father has two sons. So the listeners, their listening is so this 158 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:43.840 son disrespects the dad. Ask him for the cash. Wait, the dad what is what? Like even at the request 159 00:14:44.640 --> 00:14:50.960 you should like beat him. Like disown him. Take him to the public square. Rip off his robe. 160 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:55.280 Make a big speech about how this kid is horrible. He acts more like his mother than you. It's got to be 161 00:14:55.280 --> 00:15:02.880 her fault. And then go on and regain some semblance of your honor. That's what they're listening to. 162 00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:08.800 Like why haven't you done that? There's already this kind of depth of mystery to the story, 163 00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:15.840 even at this point, as Jesus is telling the story. In our modern Western culture, it's not uncommon 164 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:22.960 for people that maybe grow up in a small town or out in the country to leave to the big city or 165 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:28.560 abroad, right? To go to school or to get a job or to find themselves. I'm going to go back, 166 00:15:28.560 --> 00:15:33.360 back through Europe. I'm going to move to New York. If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere. 167 00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:43.040 That's a very Western concept. In this culture and in many still today, that's very disrespectful. 168 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:48.960 You're saying, I don't want your way of life. I'm turning my back and rejecting you, 169 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:53.840 everything you stand for. I'm saying, I'm not going to care for you in your old age. So your 170 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.480 social security, your Medicare plan was me. You got to figure something else out. Sorry. 171 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:06.960 I'm going to go live my life for myself. Huge slap in the face. That was ultimate dishonor and shame. 172 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.760 The younger son's abandoning every obligation that he has, their tradition, their way of life. 173 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:18.960 So this father's been shamed, disrespected, dishonored. But he still grants his son's request. 174 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:23.200 Isn't that crazy? He liquidates enough of his estate to pay out the one third that he was going to 175 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.240 give his son as the inheritance. So the son goes off and he parties hard. We know that part of the 176 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.840 story, right? Because we all think, what would I do? Where would I go first? 177 00:16:35.280 --> 00:16:42.640 But the story tells us that before long, all the money was gone. All the VIP tables at all the 178 00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:47.360 right restaurants gone. All the status, all the friends that he was paying the bill for gone. 179 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:53.600 All the food and drink he had become accustomed to gone. Gone, gone, gone. 180 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.720 So do you think all those people that were around him, his entourage, were there to help a brother out? 181 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:08.240 Some hard times here, you want me to spot you this time? No, they were gone. Like cockroaches when 182 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:16.560 you turn on the light. I know they were there a second ago. It just disappeared. Sky has nothing. 183 00:17:16.560 --> 00:17:22.240 So the story tells us that's when he's at his lowest. That's when he's getting a job as a Jewish 184 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:28.400 boy, mind you, feeding pigs. You know pigs are unclean to the Jewish people. So he's feeding pigs. 185 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.960 That's how desperate things are. He's fantasizing about stealing the food, the slop. He's giving the 186 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:38.640 pigs and filling his own stomach with it. Because the growl of his stomach is louder than his pride right 187 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:44.160 now. And he just can think about nothing else but eating that slop. And so he finally says, you know what? 188 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:51.760 The servants at my dad's house eat better than I do. I really messed up. Maybe I should go home and 189 00:17:51.760 --> 00:17:57.680 ask daddy for a job as a servant in this house. Maybe he'll give me a job. Not really qualified for 190 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:04.160 anything, but maybe some nepotism will help me at least get a job. I'll feed his pigs, his youths. 191 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.840 So he decides he writes this little speech. He's going to go home and he's going to ask dad for a job. 192 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.680 I think it's interesting that the story doesn't tell us how much time has passed in this story for 193 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:20.320 all this to take place. When you read the Bible, I would encourage you to do it. I've talked to so many 194 00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:25.360 of you. I said, get a get an archaeological study Bible. Get a Bible and journal and think about 195 00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:31.760 the context. Step outside of our 2024 world and think of what must it have been like when this 196 00:18:31.760 --> 00:18:38.080 was written, the culture, the context, the landscape. What did all these things really mean? 197 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:43.280 And so think about it. We just think, oh man, he got a whole bunch of money and he spent it. I mean, 198 00:18:43.280 --> 00:18:47.920 if I give you a bunch of cash, probably by tomorrow, you could spend it all. But that's not really 199 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:55.040 what happened here. He had a lot of money. I mean, this was a sizable estate and he liquidated all 200 00:18:55.040 --> 00:19:00.320 the cash. And the Bible says there was a big famine in the land, right? All the food was gone. 201 00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:06.080 That's why he's feeding pigs. It's the desperate time. Most of theologians believe that for a famine 202 00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:14.320 to have impacted the land, the way the Bible says, it had to have been years. Not weeks or months, 203 00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:20.320 years that this son has been away for everything in the story to have taken place. That's a long time. 204 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:29.280 So look at what happens. Let's look at Luke 15, starting in verse 28. So he decides to go home. 205 00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:34.800 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. 206 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:39.680 That's an interesting response. So we ran to his son through his arms around him and kissed him. 207 00:19:41.040 --> 00:19:47.040 After years of waiting, waiting and watching, the father never gave up hope that one day he might see 208 00:19:47.040 --> 00:19:55.680 his son again. Interesting response. Have you ever waited and wanted something so badly? 209 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:03.920 You waited and waited. I get impatient. Usually if there's something I want so much, I've given up 210 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:12.560 by lunch. Like, I didn't come. What else do I want? You have to want something and love something 211 00:20:12.560 --> 00:20:21.600 pretty badly to wait and hope for it year after year. That's what this father does. 212 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:28.240 The father never gave up hope. He never stopped scanning the horizon, hoping that this day might 213 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:36.160 be the day his son would come back. Maybe this day. No, not today. He'd wake up. Maybe it's this day, 214 00:20:36.800 --> 00:20:47.600 day after day after day. So the father's waited and he's waited and he's waited for his son's return. 215 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:55.520 So when he finally sees him on the horizon, Jesus says he's filled with compassion and he runs to his son. 216 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:03.840 Pause right there. He runs to his son. Now again, step back out of where we are. Think of the first 217 00:21:03.840 --> 00:21:10.240 century. The audience Jesus is speaking to. No self-respecting man would be caught running. 218 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:18.880 Now today it's cool. It's like, I read a 5K today. From the couch to a 5K, I'm amazing. 219 00:21:20.080 --> 00:21:24.960 We got a peloton. We got an elliptical. We think it's cool to run. My dad used to make fun of me. 220 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:29.200 I go to the gym and he's like, why do you just do work? Why do you have to pretend to do stuff to 221 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:35.680 stay in shape? Just do stuff. I'm like, bro, because this is better. But in this day, 222 00:21:36.800 --> 00:21:40.320 no self-respecting man would run. You didn't run if you had any cloud or status. 223 00:21:41.120 --> 00:21:47.280 But the Bible says that he ran. They wore dresses. So you got to remember that too. He's not wearing 224 00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:53.200 his velvet tracksuit. He's not looking all fly. He's wearing an ankle-length dress. He has to pick 225 00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:00.320 up his dress and run. This looked weird. That's why they didn't do it. So the listeners just say, 226 00:22:00.320 --> 00:22:06.000 what? He gives him the money. He doesn't disown him. Then he sees him. He's filled with compassion. 227 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:17.680 Did you see runs? He runs? What? They are flabbergasted at this father. They're like, what are you 228 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:24.800 even talking about? And then he embraces and kisses him? You're nuts. This is not a way a dignified 229 00:22:24.800 --> 00:22:30.400 man would conduct himself in public. This father has been mortally offended by his evil son. 230 00:22:31.760 --> 00:22:37.120 And then he's sprinting towards him with compassion in his heart and love to receive him. Look at 231 00:22:37.120 --> 00:22:45.120 verse 22 through 24. Look what the father tells his servants. He says, quick, bring the best robe and 232 00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:49.600 put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill 233 00:22:49.600 --> 00:22:55.680 it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For the son of mine who was dead is alive again. He was lost 234 00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:04.000 and is found. What a response. He sees his son approaching and while he's still a long way off, 235 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:09.920 he recognizes that all familiar gate of his son. You got to really love somebody to know their gate, 236 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:16.880 to know their walk. But he knew his son's walk. Again, this is another detail that you have to 237 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.960 really dig in and understand the story. This was not like a little house on the prairie, 238 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.200 this little homestead out in the middle of nowhere and they never got visitors. This was a big, 239 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:30.160 important estate. There was a lot of traffic and a lot of people came to his land all the time. 240 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.960 So the fact that he saw someone in the distance was no big deal. That was nothing new. But he 241 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:41.040 recognized the walk of his son from a long way off. You got to really love somebody to know 242 00:23:41.040 --> 00:23:50.000 their walk. I know your walk. She knows my walk. I got that. I got this smooth glide. I know, 243 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:58.720 I look stupid. But if she loves me, she probably knows my stupid walk. So while he was a long way 244 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:05.760 off, he said, could I know that walk? That's my son. And his heart was filled with compassion. He 245 00:24:05.760 --> 00:24:14.320 picks up his skirt and he runs. That's his first response. Not anger. Not sit there and cross his 246 00:24:14.320 --> 00:24:18.960 arms and withhold himself from his son. That insulin boy. I don't see any bags of cash. Did he 247 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:24.000 spend it all? Oh my gosh. Did he say, you know what? I'm going to wait. I'm going to make sure he 248 00:24:24.080 --> 00:24:29.120 delivers a speech so I know he really knows that he messed up. I'm going to sit here and think 249 00:24:29.120 --> 00:24:37.600 of 101 ways to make sure he knows I told you so. He didn't do any of that. He was filled with 250 00:24:37.600 --> 00:24:49.120 compassion, ran to him and kissed him, shocking. Filled with compassion. Think about that word for 251 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:53.600 a minute. In Milan Kendra's book, the unbearable likeness of being, he says, for there's nothing 252 00:24:53.600 --> 00:24:58.720 heavier than compassion. I thought that was an interesting thought. He goes on to say, not even one's 253 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:06.080 own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels for someone and with someone. Think about that for 254 00:25:06.080 --> 00:25:12.560 a minute. It's intensified by the imagination and prolonged by 100 echoes. The word compassion 255 00:25:12.560 --> 00:25:18.480 literally means to suffer with another. So you can have your own pain, but when you have compassion 256 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:25.520 for someone else, you're taking on their pain and suffering as well as your own. That's what 257 00:25:25.520 --> 00:25:31.680 this father did. This son was tore up from the flow up. He had a rough time. He's coming beat up 258 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:37.280 and battered. This is not his finest hour. So he has nothing to offer the father, but the father 259 00:25:37.280 --> 00:25:43.840 takes on all of his pain, his misery, his suffering through his compassion. That's an important thing 260 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:47.360 to note. We just hear, oh, we had compassion on that's awesome. What happened next? They had a party. 261 00:25:48.320 --> 00:25:54.480 That's a big deal. To take on the suffering of someone, you didn't deserve the suffering. What 262 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:58.560 did the father do wrong? All he did was love his son. Did he deserve to take on the suffering 263 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:07.680 of his son's stupidity? No, but he did. Father was willing on to take his suffering and restore 264 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:14.080 him to a place of honor. He said, go get the best robe in the house and put it on him. 265 00:26:16.080 --> 00:26:23.680 Which robe in the house do you think was the best robe? Daddy's robe. He didn't say, oh, go get one of 266 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:28.960 those old robes in the lending closet on the side. Get one of those that we use to clean the floors. 267 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:35.920 Get one of his old clothes that we just haven't taken to good will yet. No, get the best one. Get my 268 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:44.560 best one and put it on him. Another interesting detail, if you read between the lines, it doesn't say 269 00:26:44.560 --> 00:26:48.640 that from the time he was feeding the pigs to the time he came and daddy saw him on the horizon and 270 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:54.160 then he embraced him and put the robe on him that he had time to take a bath. He's been rolling 271 00:26:54.160 --> 00:27:00.720 around with the pigs. Who knows the last time he had a nice hot bath? Would you put your best 272 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:10.000 jacket on somebody who had been rolling around with pigs? I wouldn't. Sometimes I'm making a 273 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:13.600 b-line for the hand sanitizer station after just like spending a little bit of time with someone 274 00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:20.400 you ain't gonna say. I'm not putting my jacket on. But he puts his best robe on him without 275 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:25.200 even a second thought. And then he says, put a ring on his finger. You know what that meant? 276 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:32.480 The Signet Ring. It says, I'm restoring his sonship. I'm giving him access to the family fortune. 277 00:27:33.520 --> 00:27:39.200 You remember what he did the first time, right? Do you think that's smart? He's making him a sign or 278 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:46.240 on the checking account. The one that blew all the money. That's like hiring a banker up the 279 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:53.360 accountant. It's not smart in case you're doing it. But he does it. He says, I'm making you a son 280 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:59.840 again. I'm giving you access to the family fortune. Then he says, bring some sandals, put some sandals 281 00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:07.920 on his feet. You know why that's important? Because the servants and the hired hands, they didn't 282 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:14.960 wear sandals and shoes. Couldn't afford it. And you remember the son's plan? He had his whole 283 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:20.000 speech. He was going to come back and ask daddy if he could have a job as a servant on his estate. 284 00:28:21.840 --> 00:28:25.520 So by putting sandals on his feet, the dad's saying, you're not a servant. You're my son. 285 00:28:28.080 --> 00:28:33.760 You got to look at these little details. He is speaking volumes with each one of these things. He 286 00:28:33.760 --> 00:28:40.640 did with the robe, with the ring, with the sandals. He's restoring him to a place of honor. How crazy 287 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:46.480 is that? Now these listeners listening to Jesus, they're thinking, this dad is absolutely nuts. He's 288 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:54.000 lost his mind. First, he gives the cash to this insubordinate, ridiculous son. And then this 289 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:00.320 in-great comes back. And then he treats him with compassion and love. It almost seems reckless. 290 00:29:00.320 --> 00:29:13.760 I kind of think that was Jesus's point. He was showing us the extravagant, reckless love of a father. 291 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:25.360 Defies all logic. Defies all reason. Now we hear stories like that and I know in a room this size, 292 00:29:25.360 --> 00:29:29.360 some of you may kind of bristle and struggle at hearing some of that. You think, 293 00:29:30.320 --> 00:29:34.400 talking a lot about dad, that's great. Maybe you didn't have the best relationship with your dad. 294 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:40.000 Maybe you didn't have a great dad. Maybe he wasn't around. Maybe he was emotionally abusive. Maybe 295 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:46.560 physically abusive or worse. I get that. But what I want to tell you today, I want to make sure you 296 00:29:46.560 --> 00:29:56.640 understand is God's father ship is lacking nothing. Everything you're kind of superimposing on 297 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:04.560 father God because of an inadequacy from your earthly dad, it's inaccurate. So just free yourself 298 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:10.400 from it. Throw it off. Say, let me start from scratch. That's why Jesus told this story. I want to 299 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:18.080 show you about a father that loves unconditionally, makes no mistakes, doesn't harm you, has only the 300 00:30:18.080 --> 00:30:25.200 best for you so that you had a comparison now. You didn't have to spend all your energy comparing 301 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:31.200 him to your earthly father that might not have measured up. God's fatherhood is perfect. 302 00:30:31.280 --> 00:30:39.120 All he wants from us is for us to choose to love him back. 303 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:47.840 That's what he wants. Here's a little secret. Even when we don't choose to love him back, 304 00:30:48.640 --> 00:31:02.480 he still has compassion for us. That's why God gives us freedom. You ever wonder? I do all the time. 305 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:08.320 I watch the news and I say, why? Why do you even let us have free will? We're stupid. 306 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:15.520 If I were God, I'd make us all mindless robots. The hive mind all comes down. We all march and lock 307 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:24.000 and we do what we're supposed to do and make this world a better place. But no, we have free will. 308 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:29.040 We mess up. We hurt each other. We do damage. Why does God give us that freedom? 309 00:31:31.360 --> 00:31:37.120 He gives us the freedom so we have the freedom to choose him. That's the whole point. 310 00:31:37.600 --> 00:31:44.640 The freedom to choose him. He wants our unforced, uncoerced love. That's all he wants. 311 00:31:47.520 --> 00:31:50.640 Funny thing is that all we have to offer the Father is shame. 312 00:31:52.800 --> 00:31:58.320 Think about it. What do you really have to offer a perfect Holy God? Nothing is shame. 313 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:08.480 He still gives us honor and unconditional love. Just like this loving Father waited and watched day 314 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:13.840 after day for His Son's return. That Halloween back in the seventh grade, I had a Father who was 315 00:32:13.840 --> 00:32:19.280 watching and waiting for my return. I kept looking out the window wondering if I'd come back. But 316 00:32:19.280 --> 00:32:22.640 unlike this Father after a few hours, my dad went out looking for me. 317 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:30.400 And here's the interesting thing. This again, you got to think of the day. This is way back when 318 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:35.280 he didn't know Jeff's last name. He didn't know Jeff's address. He didn't know Jeff's parents names. 319 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:42.960 Where's the guy going to start? We didn't have find my phone or track my kid. He wasn't slipping air 320 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:51.360 tags in their lunch box. I know where my kid is. He has no idea where to start. But that didn't stop him. 321 00:32:52.800 --> 00:32:57.440 So I'm out living it up, having the time of my life with my friends, scaring each other over and over 322 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:04.080 in this haunted house, thinking this is the best thing ever. We even were having so much fun. We 323 00:33:04.080 --> 00:33:08.160 all decided in our seventh grade wisdom when our parents did finally arrive. We were going to ask 324 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:13.120 him if we could spend the night and let the party just keep on going all night long. Because that's how 325 00:33:13.120 --> 00:33:19.920 smart we were. So somehow by sheer will and determination, my dad finds Jeff's house. I still don't 326 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:25.520 know how. I need to call him today and ask him, Dad, how did you find me that day? God must have 327 00:33:25.520 --> 00:33:34.320 just led him there. He pulls up front and Jeff's driveway to collect his son. And in all my wisdom, 328 00:33:34.320 --> 00:33:37.760 the first thing out of my mouth, Dad, can I spend the night so we can hang out and keep having fun? 329 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:48.240 I still remember my father's response like it was yesterday. He just so calmly looked at me and 330 00:33:48.240 --> 00:34:01.120 said, not this time. And we started our drive home. Now I'm furious. I'm in the back seat. I can't 331 00:34:01.120 --> 00:34:04.880 believe it. I've got the only dad that's not cool. It's not letting me spend the night. I'm sure 332 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.280 everyone else is going to get to spend the night. They're going to have stories. I'm not going to 333 00:34:07.280 --> 00:34:12.000 have the stories. I'm going to be out of the cool kid group. How come my dad doesn't get it? 334 00:34:12.080 --> 00:34:20.640 Oh, my dad. So I'm ranting and fuming in the back seat. But after a while, 335 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:33.440 my stupidity, my frustration, it turned a humility and gratitude. 336 00:34:34.160 --> 00:34:42.400 Because I started to understand that the way I was being treated didn't match what I deserved. 337 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:50.880 You see, my father wasn't yelling at me the whole way home. He was eerily silent, 338 00:34:52.080 --> 00:34:56.640 which is worse. Parenting tip 101, if you really want to scare him, just be quiet. 339 00:34:56.800 --> 00:35:03.120 They hate that way more than yelling. He wasn't driving with one hand, 340 00:35:03.120 --> 00:35:07.680 reaching back, smacking me and beating me with the other. We didn't get home and he grounded 341 00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:13.680 me for the rest of my life. He didn't do any of that. I wouldn't have deserved all of it, 342 00:35:13.680 --> 00:35:21.120 by the way. But he didn't do any of it. What I realized that day 343 00:35:21.680 --> 00:35:26.320 was just how grateful my father was to have a son back. 344 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:39.200 Exactly. It was just the love of a father. 345 00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:49.040 His son, who was lost, was now found. I still remember that to this day. I was over 35 346 00:35:49.040 --> 00:35:55.520 years ago and I think of that and it still brings me to tears because I realized just how much my 347 00:35:55.520 --> 00:36:08.480 father loves me. That's what this father shows his son, unconditional love. Didn't matter the mistakes 348 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:17.280 he had made. He was just happy to have his son back. But then look at the older son. Now we're 349 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:25.040 celebrating the return of the younger son and the older son is so upset and has anything but 350 00:36:25.040 --> 00:36:31.360 unconditional love for his father. Now he's showing his father disrespect. Everything he has for 351 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:37.680 his father is performance based. It's conditional. If I do this, I expect that. I stay here and work 352 00:36:37.680 --> 00:36:45.600 for you. I expect this from you. So the father celebrating the return of the younger son, 353 00:36:45.680 --> 00:36:50.240 the older son doesn't want to come in, disrespects the dad. So what does the dad do with now 354 00:36:50.240 --> 00:36:58.000 another son's disrespect? He chases him too. He leaves the party to go talk to his son. Again, 355 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:05.600 context. A host would never leave the party. That's unheard of. Right now the host is like bopping 356 00:37:05.600 --> 00:37:11.600 around, taking codes, working the room. That's not how it was back in this day. You sat in a prominent 357 00:37:11.600 --> 00:37:17.200 place. Everybody came and greeted you. You didn't leave that place of position and prominence. 358 00:37:18.240 --> 00:37:21.840 He leaves the party to go chase after his older son now. 359 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:31.280 Jesus guy. How does he deal with this son's disgrace? Let's look beginning of verse 29. 360 00:37:32.240 --> 00:37:36.320 Here's the son talking to his father, but he answered his father. He said, look, all these years, 361 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:41.120 I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never even gave me a young goat 362 00:37:41.120 --> 00:37:45.920 so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property 363 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:52.880 with prostitutes comes home, you killed a fat and calf for him. Not even a shred of grace or 364 00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:59.120 understanding for what the father's done. I think it's interesting that this older son tells the 365 00:37:59.120 --> 00:38:06.400 dad that the younger son spent all the money on prostitutes. Isn't that interesting? Because the 366 00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:13.200 passage never tells us that's what the son spent his money on. We just assume this guy went out 367 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:19.920 food, drink, and women. We don't know that. The people that assume that are the ones that are 368 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:26.880 more like the older brother. This gives us a little insight into his heart. He says he went out 369 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:32.160 spending his money on prostitutes because that's what he would have done. I think he was just upset. 370 00:38:32.160 --> 00:38:37.840 The younger son went out and did what he wishes he could have done. It's telling. 371 00:38:41.600 --> 00:38:46.080 So once again, being dishonored and disrespected by a son, what does the father do? Look at verse 31 372 00:38:46.080 --> 00:38:52.160 and 32, my son, the father said, you were always with me and everything I have is yours. 373 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:58.160 But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. 374 00:38:58.160 --> 00:39:06.400 He was lost and is found. He is alive again. Worship team can come up. 375 00:39:07.200 --> 00:39:12.000 Well-known author and pastor Max Locato, he tells the story of a Brazilian girl named Christina. 376 00:39:12.560 --> 00:39:16.480 She grew up in a little shanty town. Maybe you've been on a mission trip or you've seen 377 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:21.040 documentaries where these people, these towns, they're literally made out of cardboard boxes. 378 00:39:21.040 --> 00:39:27.040 These people live in no amenities or creature comforts. Their bed is literally a palette on like a 379 00:39:27.040 --> 00:39:33.280 dirt floor. And that's the way Christina lived in this small Brazilian little town, this little village. 380 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.080 But she longed for so much more. She would often think about and fantasize how much better life 381 00:39:38.080 --> 00:39:43.520 would be in the big city. So one day her discontentment got the bed better of her and she decided to 382 00:39:43.520 --> 00:39:49.680 run away. Well, her mother, Maria, was completely distraught at her young daughter's decision to run 383 00:39:49.680 --> 00:39:54.640 away. She knew she was going to the big city. She knew her daughter had no way of making any money. 384 00:39:55.600 --> 00:39:58.320 She also knew her daughter was way too stubborn to give up. 385 00:40:01.600 --> 00:40:07.840 When pride and desperation collide, it's amazing what a human will do that before you 386 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:13.360 might have thought unthinkable. And that's exactly what Maria knew. So she decided to go chase after 387 00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:19.520 her daughter. She went to the bus stop and before she hopped on the bus to the big city, she stopped 388 00:40:19.520 --> 00:40:23.600 by a little drugstore and she got in with those little photo booths where you get in, you pull the 389 00:40:23.600 --> 00:40:27.680 curtain, put in your quarters and take a bunch of pictures. She took as many pictures as she could 390 00:40:27.680 --> 00:40:32.160 afford. Little bunch of black and whites of herself. And then she got on the bus headed to Rio 391 00:40:32.160 --> 00:40:38.640 de Janeiro. While she knew that again, her daughter had no way of making money. So her first thought 392 00:40:38.640 --> 00:40:43.680 was to go to places that were known for prostitution and street walkers. So she started going and 393 00:40:43.680 --> 00:40:51.280 everywhere she went, she left a picture of herself. Little phone booth, lobby bulletin board, mirrors 394 00:40:51.280 --> 00:40:58.960 at a bar or a restaurant. Each one had a little note from her on the back. Well she went from place 395 00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:05.760 to place to place. And before long, all the pictures and her money had run out. She had to go back 396 00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:14.560 home. So weeping, she boards the bus. She says one final prayer for her daughter as she heads back 397 00:41:14.560 --> 00:41:20.720 to her small village. Well a few weeks later, Christina descends the stairs of a hotel. 398 00:41:23.200 --> 00:41:30.240 Her brown eyes that once danced with joy and promise spoke of fear, horror and pain. 399 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:41.200 Her dream had become a nightmare. She would trade these hundreds of beds for one more night 400 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:47.040 in her safe little palette, in her shanty and her little little village. 401 00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:55.840 She's descended the stairs. She looked across the lobby and she saw familiar face looking back at her. 402 00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:01.520 It was a picture of her mom. Her eyes started to burn, her throat started to tighten. 403 00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:06.160 She slowly made her way across the lobby to that picture. 404 00:42:06.160 --> 00:42:12.240 Her, she pulled the picture from its spot and she looked and on the back wasn't 405 00:42:12.240 --> 00:42:21.600 known from her mom. And it simply said, whatever you've done, whatever you've become, 406 00:42:25.120 --> 00:42:34.000 come home, come home. So she did. 407 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:41.200 And I've got to think that's what our Heavenly Father is telling each one of us. 408 00:42:43.040 --> 00:42:46.560 He's looking at you lovingly saying, whatever you've done, 409 00:42:49.520 --> 00:42:50.640 whatever you've become, 410 00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:59.040 doesn't matter if you've run as far away from me as you possibly can to live life on your own terms, 411 00:42:59.040 --> 00:43:03.120 you think you know better, making a mockery of everything that I hold dear. 412 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:08.880 Or maybe you sit in church on Sunday and you think you're all right and you're living a good life 413 00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:13.440 and you're holding on to your holiness and your piety. Whatever you've become, 414 00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:26.080 come home. We have a loving Father who's always scanning at the horizon, waiting for you to come 415 00:43:26.080 --> 00:43:33.280 home from whatever it is that's keeping you from his loving embrace. For some of us it's in, 416 00:43:34.240 --> 00:43:35.360 some of us it's pride. 417 00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:48.560 But he says it doesn't matter. I'm waiting to bring you back, to call you my son, to call you my 418 00:43:48.560 --> 00:43:51.120 daughter. I want to put my best robe on you. 419 00:43:54.960 --> 00:44:01.440 Come home, let's celebrate. Father, thank you for not leaving us, not for saking us. 420 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.840 No matter what we do, no matter how far we've run, how much we break your heart. Father, thank you 421 00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:14.720 that you're always there with compassion and love. And you don't just look and wait for us to 422 00:44:14.720 --> 00:44:22.240 approach you but you run to us. You pursue us with reckless abandon. Thank you for that kind of love. 423 00:44:27.680 --> 00:44:33.040 Thank you that whatever we've become, whatever we've made of ourselves, we've never gone so far 424 00:44:34.720 --> 00:44:40.480 that you can't reach us. Thank you for that kind of love. 425 00:44:45.600 --> 00:44:48.880 So while we're here, which for their eyes closed, just take the next moment. 426 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:56.000 And if there is something that you feel like is keeping you from the intimate relationship with 427 00:44:56.000 --> 00:45:00.400 your Heavenly Father, maybe you're a Christian, you're a Christ follower, you come to church, you 428 00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:06.080 try and do good, but there is something that you know is just keeping you from that true intimacy. 429 00:45:06.080 --> 00:45:10.080 Something you're holding back, something in your life that you've said, I'm going to keep this 430 00:45:10.080 --> 00:45:17.360 for myself. You say, oh, Father, I love you, but this one area, I'm going to keep 431 00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:28.880 because I want it for me. Maybe today is the day that you put it down. You give him everything, 432 00:45:30.240 --> 00:45:37.920 make him Lord of all. So nothing is between you and him and you truly feel the embrace 433 00:45:38.640 --> 00:45:45.520 of your loving Father. So my hope for you is that you'll ask him what it is and that you'll have 434 00:45:45.520 --> 00:45:51.680 the courage to lay it down at his feet. So I surrender it all. This is yours. Everything I am, 435 00:45:51.680 --> 00:45:58.240 everything I hope to be. I'm not pretending that I'm good enough. I'm super Christian. 436 00:45:59.040 --> 00:46:10.160 I'm going to just be honest. He knows already. He wants you to choose to be honest 437 00:46:12.400 --> 00:46:17.760 and then give it to him. Maybe you're here and you've never accepted him. Maybe someone invited 438 00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:20.640 you here. Maybe you've found us. Maybe you just wandered in. Maybe you've been listening, 439 00:46:20.640 --> 00:46:24.880 checking it out for a while. You say, all that's great, but I know I'm not a son. I know I'm not a 440 00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:31.840 daughter. Sounds cool. I'd like to be in that family. There's an easy way to do it. 441 00:46:33.520 --> 00:46:39.760 You just have to give up and come home. All you have to do is confess with your mouth that Jesus 442 00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:43.680 is who we said he was. He died for your sins and you accept him as your Lord. Now give 443 00:46:43.680 --> 00:46:48.000 you a chance to do it. Just write where you are. You just say, Heavenly Father, I need you. 444 00:46:48.640 --> 00:46:57.680 I know I'm a sinner. I know Jesus died for my sins. I accept his forgiveness. 445 00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:07.520 Come into my life. Make me yours. Thank you for bringing me into your family. 446 00:47:07.520 --> 00:47:14.240 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen.