The Prodigal God
Minister: Rev. Olon M. Lindemood
The Prodigal God
Luke 15: 11-32
Lord, open our hearts and open our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you have to say to us today. Amen.
We are beginning a series on the Prodigal God… In these next seven (7) weeks we will be challenged and nurtured by the Biblical truths that emerge in this parable that Jesus tells.
As we begin, let me remind you of the old cowboy and the preacher … The preacher was doing a summer series on the Prodigal Son… 12 weeks of sermons on this boy who asked for is Father’s inheritance… It was the eleventh week of the summer and the old cowboy who never missed a Sunday in church paused this Sunday with the preacher… He said, “Reverend, some days I wish that boy had never come home!”
Well… Well… In these next few weeks, we will awaken some serious challenges, hopes and insights as we study the message that Jesus brought to us through this parable / story of a father who had two sons…
We may encounter spiritual truths focusing our hearts on:
Being Lost with or without stuff
Grace,
Love,
Love of Stuff,
More grace,
Entitlements,
Extravagant and reckless compassion,
And other really fine spiritual nourishment.
Grace: Not only is it amazing … but … it is a foundation of the Christian Faith. John Wesley would have named it as one of the core teachings of the Christian life.
Wesley believed that the Scriptures teach us that God provides us with Three Kinds of Grace:
- Prevenient (preparing) grace
- Accepting (justifying) grace
- Sustaining (sanctifying) grace
God’s prevenient (preparing) grace is with us from birth, preparing us for new life in Christ. “Prevenient” means “comes before.” Wesley did not believe that humanity was totally “depraved” but rather God places a little spark of divine grace within us which enables us to recognize and accept God’s justifying grace. Preparing grace is “free in all for all,” as Wesley used to say.
Justifying (accepting) grace is called by some, “conversion” or being “born again.” When we experience God’s justifying grace, we come into that new life in Christ. Wesley believed that people have freedom of choice. We are free to accept or reject God’s justifying grace. Wesley emphasized “Free Grace” saying:The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL…. It is free in all to whom it is given. It does not depend on any power or merit in man (or woman); no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor in part. It does not in anywise depend either on good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he (she) has done or anything he (she) is. It does not depend on his (her) endeavors. It does not depend on his (her) good tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions; for all these flow from the free grace of God; they are the streams only, not the fountain. They are the fruits of free grace, and not the root. They are not the cause, but the effects of it.”
Wesley believed that, after we have accepted God’s grace, we are to move on in God’s sustaining grace toward perfection. Wesley believed the people could “fall from grace” or “backslide.” We cannot just sit on our laurels, so to speak, and claim God’s salvation and then do nothing. We are to participate in the what Wesley called “the means of grace” and to continue to grow in the Christian life. Some Christians tend to focus on God’s justifying grace, but Wesley asserted that the Christian walk does not stop with acceptance of new life in Christ. Wesley said in his Sermon, “On Repentance of Believers”:
“ It is generally supposed, that repentance and faith are only the gate of religion; that they are necessary only at the beginning of our Christian course, when we are setting out in the way to the kingdom…. And this is undoubtedly true, that there is a repentance and a faith, which are, more especially, necessary at the beginning: a repentance, which is a conviction of our utter sinfulness, and guiltiness, and helplessness…. But, notwithstanding this, there is also a repentance and a faith (taking the words in another sense, a sense not quite the same, nor yet entirely different) which are requisite after we have “believed the gospel;” yea, and in every subsequent stage of our Christian course, or we cannot “run the race which is set before us.” And this repentance and faith are full as necessary, in order to our continuance and growth in grace, as the former faith and repentance were, in order to our entering into the kingdom of God.”
Wesley is the founder of the Methodist movement… We will find the way The Grace that Wesley preached and lived and taught can offer us hope for a new day…
(two illustrations: First … Sing “Amazing Grace” to the tune of Gilligan’s island tv show theme. Second, for the point of reaching Christian Perfection in this life time: Grandmother Lois Simonson.)
In the next few weeks there will be moments when we explore the Lost … In Luke chapter 15 You will read about the LOST SHEEP … LOST COIN … LOST SON.
These next few weeks we will discover that the story is not about the Lost as much as the Shepherd / the Woman / and the Father …
So dear friends, are you ready for the next few weeks? Can you be prepared to explore … not only being lost and found … but more importantly … hearing the good news of our God, Loving Father, who will be extravagant in reaching to us (you … me)…?
PRODIGAL:
Prod/i/gal - adjective
- recklessly extravagant
- having spent everything
This next week, Rev Kirsten will give us an over view of the Prodigal Parable …
If you are lost … if you know a person who might be lost … if you can hear the wisdom in Jesus challenging us to awaken to God’s love for us … then make plans to be present and be inviting others to come join us during this Series on the Prodigal…
Let’s pray:
Lord, We offer thanks and praise for the season ahead. Give us hope when we are lost, bring us ideas when we are stuck, and whisper truth when our hearts hunger for knowledge. I pray in Jesus name… Amen.
