Finding Grace in troubled times

Finding Grace in troubled times.

Luke 15:11-38

1 Cor 5:16-21

With Peter Veysie

George Methodist Church

27th March 2022

8am and 10am

Luke 15:11-38

15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.

15:2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

15:3 So he told them this parable:

15:11b “There was a man who had two sons.

15:12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.

15:13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.

15:14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

15:15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

15:16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

15:17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!

15:18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”‘

15:20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

15:21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

15:22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe–the best one–and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

15:23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

15:24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

15:25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

15:26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.

15:27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’

15:28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.

15:29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.

15:30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

15:31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

15:32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

Tim Keller at Rosebank Union Church where I hear this humble man speak on Grace for the first time. Presby Church in the heart of new york became a haven for young people working in the city – community/meeting place/ safety/ mission and outreach. A beacon for the prodigals/sisters/brother, fathers mothers and older brothers and sisters too.

So as we dive into the story today, I want to unpack it through the lens of finding Grace in times of trouble and you will probably find yourself identifiying with the different characters at different time of your lives as well as being those and maybe more than one of them at the same time.

It’s interesting to start out seeing the people in the story that Jesus is talking to – sinners and tax collectors and also to see that the pharisees and teachers of the law were watching always with their critical eye and I know that Jesus would have been addressing both groups at the same time even if they weren’t really taking it all in.

There are three parables/stories here – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son – all pointing to Grace.I am only going to focus on the last one but would like you to see that there are four narratives in one here and they all tell us a lot about the heart of God.

• The youngest son/daughter – give me, sets off, spent everything on reckless living then recognises his failure,comes to his senses and comes back asking for forgiveness. This is key as it’s easier to offer grace when you have someone acknowledging that they’ve failed and we’ve all been there so how much must we be able to identify with this young person. It also tells the story of the Israelites in Egypt hired out to people of another land and God’s grace allowing them to be led out and protected on the night of the Passover. 
• The Father/ mother – the father mother in the story has been watching for a long time waiting to see if the son will return. He possibly knows exactly the struggle and the wrestle having been young himself once. His grace filled heart sits and watches and waits and it would definitely not been the that he knew when the son was returning. He had probably gone out every day to sit on top of the mountaing and watching for his son to return.His response – dead and alive/lost and found. We find the prodigal God here who is reckless with his love for the child in accepting them despite their failure and restoring them back to the way they should be. The father was probably not so concerned about the loss of the inheritence but rather he was more concerned about the relationship he would restore with the son and their would be consequences – Paul talks about a Father disciplining a child because of his love. You may see yourself as the father or mother in the picture, you may have had to deal with a wayward child who is possibly still far off and how does God want you to respond to them?
• The older brother/sister – in the field at the beck and call of the father, never left the house and has every right to be angry when he hears the party going on – he heard music and dancing !!! The older brother /sister is the critic who now is disturbed at the reckless /prodigal grace that his father is dealing out with great generosity – fatted calves and best robes, ring on the finger and sandals on the feet – just by the by all symbolic and Jesus knew that the listeners would know this.Jacob and Joseph the youngest son – Gen 41:41-43 The ring – authority – covenant restored (wedding ring). Sandals were not worn by servants – he restores him as a son and he is the one whose feet would bring good news to others. The robe a sign of royalty – a member of the house. The sacrificial calf is symbolic of forgiveness and restoration and takes us to the temple and also to the foot of the cross.This is hard for the older son to take in and you can understand it as we may have all been there but it is God’s business to restore and who are we to be critical. The older brother in a sense also becomes the prodigal – spent reckless in his critical heart that needs to be restored by the father. 
• Finally the fourth person is the narrator Luke who points out the profoundness of all of this to change the world. To enable others to find grace in times of trouble and so in conclusion we are now ready to read and possibly understand what Paul was saying and that he had found grace in his own troubled life. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.

5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;

5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

5:20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

• See people the way Jesus sees them; recognise that we are a work in progress UC27 – but He sees that the old has gone and the new has come; we are reconciled to offer reconciliation to others – ministry; we are ambassadors of this truth wear love and deal with your won heart wherever you may be in the equation. Reckless extravagant love. Identify where you are and mayybe who are in the story – the prodigal son/daughter spent and in need of forgiveness; the prodigal older brother sister spent and in need of grace;the prodigal father reckless and spent in his overwhelming desire to love aus and draw us back into relationship or the narrator – Luke reckless in our telling of who Jesus really is and what he came to show us. Oh the overwhelming neverending reckless love of God.