Prodigals and Their Children

Luke 15

Through the years we’ve all heard and read the story of the Man and His prodigal sons. We’ve heard humpteen sermons preached explaining the 2 sons and the Man, who they represented and all they did. We’ve heard and we’ve preached the picture of the young man down there in the distant country at the pig pen when suddenly the truth of life dawns on him and he “comes to his senses”. Yes, Dr. Luke’s story is a familiar, and all too often, a sobering one.

Did you ever pause to think that the story of the Man and His prodigal was given, not for someone else but FOR YOU . . . And for me???

Did you ever take the time to read the story realizing the Lord gave that parable in order to capture the attention of those unsuspecting followers who listened thinking “Yeah, boy do they need to hear this! Gosh, I sure wish old So-and-so could be here to hear this!”

Well, it occurred to me that this is the case with that story and me. It hit me this morning that the Prodigal is me . . . Today! When the young man stands there at the cross roads of his life and literally comes to his senses, all of what he knows of life changes. He goes from being one who is away from God to one headed home to be with God. The transformation that occurs in his life is telling. From self-centeredness to humility.

When he walks up on the old home place property with the prepared speech in his mouth, his Daddy cries out to “kill the fatted calf, for the son who was dead is now alive and let’s celebrate." That reunion is wonderful. I pray the sweet Lord Jesus will draw you and your heart to Himself today. To hear the words of the Lord instructing the folk to get ready to celebrate is almost more than one can fathom.

Listen! Do you hear it? There! That music! Do you hear the sound of laughter and joy? Listen and you’ll hear it too. All the angels of glory are singing and praising the Lamb that was slain for you and for me. Why?

Because he/she who was dead (away from home) is now alive; we will sing and celebrate his/her homecoming! I wrote this to you because I had it on my heart,

Your Friend,

Pastor Chip

Forgiveness

David is the king of Israel. He has known the blessings of God since he was but a wee child. He loved God with all his heart and was even described by the Lord as the apple of God’s eye. David was a great man, and he led a great nation under God.

The time came in 2 Samuel 11 when he crossed a line beyond which he could never return. You likely are very familiar with the entire story. If not, I will summarize it for you. David was walking on the roof of his palace when he saw a woman named Bathsheba bathing down below. He sent for her and had relations with her. Because of that experience Bathsheba suddenly discovered she was expecting a baby. David decided to deal with the entire matter in order to act like the child wasn’t his, so David sent for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite. At the time he was involved a battle in behalf of King David. David had him come home in order to cover for his sin. Uriah was a more righteous man than David. He refused to go home to his wife. The end result was that David had Uriah killed.

God told David the sword would never depart from his house (again read 2 Samuel 11 for the entire story). Some years later Absalom (that would be David’s rebellious son) led a coup on the kingdom. He ran his Father from his city and into the wilderness. In the process a great man (who had been a friend and a counselor of King David) named Ahithophel decided he would switch sides. He became a counselor to the new king, Absalom. When one reads the events in Scripture, and they realize how close David and Ahithophel really were, one is shocked and wonders what has happened to Ahithophel and the reasons for the apparent betrayal.

There is an incredible secret lurking behind the story. Ahithophel was Bathsheba’s Grandfather!

Since the events from that day when David called the young and beautiful Bathsheba to his chambers to have illicit relations with her, Ahithophel, her Grandfather, experienced a growing and vitriolic hatred toward the king. He, Ahithophel, would find himself moving from the innermost circles in the king’s kingdom to the end of a rope where he would take his own life.

Why? What in this world caused the great counselor of the king of Israel to go through such a horrible transition?

One word . . . unforgiveness.

I recently was reading an article in which the author shared a story. Here it is. “I was listening on the radio to someone who speaks to numerous groups on the subject of forgiveness. She said when she is with a new group she asks people to raise their hand if they have an ongoing problem with forgiving someone who has hurt them deeply. I can't recall with certainty the percentage of people whom she said had a problem with bitterness, but I do remember that the largeness of the number surprised me. It is safe to assume that the majority of people in any audience are struggling with bitterness.”

One doesn’t need a theological treatise on the subject of forgiveness. In most cases, believers just need to do all they can to practice the same. As shown by the life and death of Ahithophel, the one who suffers the most from unforgiveness is the one who refuses to forgive.

What about the one who seeks to do what the Lord instructs us to do? What about them? Are there any in our day who practice the selfless act of forgiveness?

Desmond Tutu is a bishop in South Africa who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work against apartheid. In his book No Future Without Forgiveness, he shares stories and insights from his leadership role in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. South Africa had been plagued for generations by terrible violence between the white ruling minority and the black majority. Once the whites relinquished power and Nelson Mandela become president, the question in need of an answer was clear: How does a country with so much pain and violence and division in its past move forward? Tutu and others established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a way forward. The goal was for those who had committed atrocities in the past to come forward and tell the truth—both blacks and whites. But it didn't end there. After confessing the truth, the goal was to bring reconciliation and forgiveness—to break the cycle of hate so the entire country could move forward.

In one chapter of the book, Tutu recounts testimony after testimony of people, both black and white, who came before the commission to confess to torturing and murdering others. It was horrific—terrible stories in graphic detail. It's almost impossible to believe that human beings are capable of such evil. The horrors of the crimes makes one particular story especially moving.

Two people who came before the commission were Mrs. Calata and her daughter. Mrs. Calata's husband had been an advocate for black South Africans in rural communities. Because of his work, he'd been arrested, detained, and tortured by the police numerous times. But one day he disappeared. On the front page of the newspaper, Mrs. Calata saw a photograph of her husband's car on fire. She cried so loudly during the hearing, describing the autopsy's report about his torture, that the commission had to be adjourned.

When they reconvened, Mrs. Calata's daughter testified. Years had gone by, and she was now a young lady. She pleaded with the commission to discover who had killed her father. But she was not crying out because she wanted vengeance or justice. Instead she said to the commission, "We want to forgive, but we don't know whom to forgive."

Eventually members of the police confessed to the crime. Rather than continue the endless cycle of hatred, Mrs. Calata and her daughter forgave the men who tortured and killed their husband and father—because that's what Christ's people do.

Does forgiveness mean we don't care about justice? Does forgiveness mean there is no consequence for evil? No! What it means is that we leave justice and vengeance in God's hands. He alone can judge rightly. Our job, as agents of his kingdom on earth, is to break the cycles of hate—to move from a people of exclusion to a people of embrace, forgiving others just as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.

Let’s begin today, what do you say? Let’s begin to practice what our Lord told us to do in the model prayer. “Forgive us our debts even as we have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

I wrote this to you because I had it on my heart. Your friend,

Chip

15 Years Is A Long Time To Wait
2 Samuel 5:4

Maybe you’ve noticed ours is an impatient society. I know when I drive down the road on my way to work, I’m cautious about those pushing their cars really hard through the traffic (no I don’t mean the guys who can’t get their car to start). It doesn’t affect just the male gender. Gosh, I was diving to work yesterday and looked in my mirror and discovered my car had grown a huge black tumor. I managed to move myself over into the right hand lane to let said tumor pass. When I looked in the mirror I saw a woman pushing her way through the traffic. I just wanted to get out of her way! Yes, ours is an impatient society:

• microwave ovens
• instant grits
• frozen biscuits (what heresy)
• drive by surgery
• drive through eateries (I didn’t say I didn’t like it)
• sermonettes for Christianettes
  

You may have heard that Gladys and Rhonda walked along the sidewalk after church. They were on their way home, thinking about meals planned for later that afternoon and casually discussing the morning service.

"That was a great sermon on patience," remarked Rhonda.

Gladys replied, "Yeah, but he went five minutes long."

Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

Can you imagine waiting 15 years to get a promotion, or for your mate to return from war, or for that broken friendship to heal? Can you imagine what it would be like to wait for 15 years for something you’d been promised? Now many of you are thinking, “Absolutely, I’m waiting right now and have been waiting for 15 years already!”

It’s to you that I’m writing this piece this morning.

David was just a small teenaged shepherd when the call came that day. He had been minding his own business and tending to his sheep when someone came and called him to “hurry and get in the house! The man of God is calling for you!” He had asked for nothing, and he expected even less. You can hear the conversation if you’ll just listen.

“Hurry David!” came the cry from on the hill behind the house.
“What’s the matter?” asked the teenaged David.
“The man of God is here and he’s calling for you!” came the response.
“What does he want? Here Josh, you watch the sheep while I go see what he wants.” David would say.
“How long will you be gone, David? Mom asked me to be home for dinner.” Josh responds.
“I shouldn’t be long. I have no idea what the man of God wants, but I’ll be right back.” David would say.

In the house the young red haired blue eyed boy would go. He’s a stunningly handsome young man; in the house he goes and finds the unexpected. It was the surprise party of surprise parties. All eyes were on him as he walked in the door.

There he stood. Tall and with deep wrinkles in his face. His eyes . . . they flashed like lightening as he turned his gaze toward the young shepherd. He was standing there right in the middle of the room. He looked ancient. His hair receding and his white beard flowing. He held a small glass flask filled with fresh anointing oil.

“I wonder what he wants.” thinks the young shepherd boy.

“Young man, come here.” resonates the baritone voice of the prophet of God.

“Yes sir.” David sheepishly responds.

Now, with all eyes fixed on the young shepherd boy, the man of God takes the small flask and pours the oil over the young man’s head while saying, “I anoint you the king of Israel, saith the Lord.” Then with minimal fanfare, Samuel, the man of God, stepped back from young David and bows his head to the ground while saying, “Long live the king . . . Long live the king!”

Confusion must have abounded.

What in the world does this mean?

But David didn’t climb up on a throne that day. No, as a matter of fact, at least 15 years would pass before the elders of Israel would come to officially complete what the Lord, Samuel, the elders of Bethlehem and the family of David had already witnessed.

The anointing often comes long before the coronation!

A thought often occurs in the mind and heart of God long before it is actually fulfilled here on terra firma.

In the mean time, David would be attacked, rejected, despondent, alone, and very often accused of sedition and disloyalty.

I can imagine David musing by thinking “What is going on? I distinctly remember the day when Samuel anointed me the king of Israel,”

“What’s God doing?”

Have you ever thought like that? Have you ever wondered why the Lord’s not fulfilling some promise He’d made to you?

• Why is my marriage so difficult?
• Why are my kiddoes acting this way? We didn’t raise them to act this way!
• This is just not the way I thought life was going to go!
  

What are you to do?

If you listen to your friends, more than likely they’ll tell you something wrong. Divorce, quit, baloney, fooey. “You’d better look after yourself!

You know, friends don’t let friends drive drunk. Friends ought not interfere with what God’s doing in the life of a brother or sister. Friends ought to let the Spirit of God work His ministry into the lives of His people.

Well, if you read 2 Samuel 4:5, you’ll find it written in black and white.

2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Why did God wait so long to fulfill what he’d promised David so long ago in that room in Bethlehem?

Why does God wait so long about doing anything? The answer to that question stems from the very nature and character of God. Love is the answer. The very character and nature of God both proves and clarifies that. The fact that God is love at His very core and character is enough. Everything the Father does He does because He IS love.

Remember those sweet words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13! Interchange the name of the Lord for the word love in that discourse. Listen to how it could read:

4 God is patient, God is kind and He is not jealous; He does not brag, and He is not arrogant,

5 He does not act unbecomingly; He does not seek His own, and He is not provoked, He does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 He does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but He rejoices with the truth;

7 He bears all things, and he believes all things, and he hopes all things, and He endures all things.

8 He never fails;

One of the great saints of Southern Baptist life was Dr. Vance Havner. Dr. Havner’s gone on to be with the Lord today, but before he did, he wrote:

“Simply wait on him.
So doing, we shall be directed,
supplied, protected, corrected, and rewarded.”

There’s great truth there. Let’s just follow the young man David’s lead. He waited patiently for 15 years. Both the wait and the reward were worth it. He waited on the Lord whether he was running from Saul or wiping slobber on the gate of his neighbor; David patiently waited on the Lord.

Let’s do the same. Whether we are selling our house or wiping slobber on the gate of our neighbor, let’s wait on the Lord. Listen carefully now! You can hear me praying, “Lord, I’m being patient, but can you just hurry this one up for me?” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I just had this one on my heart. May the sweet Lord Jesus bless you this day!

Your friend,

Chip