Thursday, October 8, 2009
Lost and Found, Part 27 of 78
TEXT: "Then He said, 'A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me." So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything'" (Luke 15:11-16).
IDEA: Freedom from the father can ultimately enslave us even when others think we are “free spirits.”
PURPOSE: To have listeners recognize that not all freedom necessarily makes us free.
New Hampshire license plates proclaim the state motto, “Live free or die.”
What do you think they have in mind?
Is all freedom necessarily good?
Is all freedom really freedom?
I. When this younger brother leaves home, he does so with the money gained from his father’s estate.
What did the estate consist of?
“Not many days later” the younger son turns his portion into cash. What do you think that tells us about the price he received for his part of his father’s assets?
How do you think the people in the community felt about this young man? In fact, he may have sold things quickly not only because he wanted to be gone but because wherever he turned, he felt the disgust and hatred of the people in the community.
II. The younger son is free to do whatever he wants. Can we imagine what that looked like?
Bachelor pad - friends of both sexes - learns to mix drinks - new wardrobe - he leases a chariot –
It all cost money. Something that he shouldn’t overlook (but he does): where did the resources for this new lifestyle come from?
III. Everything he had came from his father.
Yet he uses it all without taking the father into account.
His body bears his father’s image.
His possessions, money, clothes, food and drink.
These are all “good” things, but as he uses them, they contribute to his coming
misery.
When we use what God has given us without the Father, it leads to our undoing. Often, the more we have, the less we are. It is terrifying at times to live in a culture like ours that has lost the recognition of a Father’s care.
Do you think the Father loved his son who was living the high life in that far-off city?
Does Jesus have anything to say to men and women who live in penthouses rather than in poorhouses?
Slavery comes in many forms:
The young man set out to be free, but he is bound to his homesickness, so he must amuse himself
He is bound to his urges, so he must satisfy them.
He is bound to a high style of living, so he cannot let it go.
