Preaching Our Purpose: 

Part 2 Accepting: 

Regaining God's Perspective 

Luke 15:11-22

PSBC 1/16/2000

In a nutshell: We have a Savior who understands the ugliness of sin. We have a Savior who also understands the vortex of sin and how it can suck you down. And we have a Savior who knows how to reconcile the two through searching out sinful people, showing compassion to each one, and restores them to a place of honor in the family. We dare do nothing less if we intend to be His church in this valley!

I. Introduction

I have never known a time in my 48 years here on earth, where Christian men and women have been more angry about more things, than right now. Particularly, over the past 30 years, or so, an overwhelming feeling of righteous indignation has swept over north American Christians.

You see, since the beginning of modern civilization in Canada and the United States–which is a period of literally hundreds of years–we have had societies built of Judeo-Christian truth. But in the last 30 years, everything has changed. We are no longer Christian nations. Instead of Christians being at the center of setting the values and being the moral compass for our nations, we find our selves on the outside, looking in. In fact, instead of being revered, we have been marginalized, under classed and ridiculed.

And, we're ticked off. We're angry. We're angry about values, about politics, about television, about movies, about the Internet, about condoms, about STD's, about un-wed mothers, about the divorce rate, about the homosexual agenda, about lack of commitment to marriage vows, about abortion, and about the criminal justice system.

This anger has given rise to a warrior mentality in the Body of Christ that has allowed media moguls to paint us as radical, hate-filled, intolerant, and mean-spirited people. Joseph Stowell (president of Moody Bible Institute) recently said, (front of bulletin) "Publicly we are perceived to be long on madness and short on mercy, to be more committed to our consternation than we are to compassion."

Friends, we have to be honest, here. That's not a description of Christ-likeness. So, we are faced with a dilemma. How do we reconcile these legitimate feelings of anger at the sin in the world, with the Christ-like sentiment that is expressed in the second part of our church purpose statement which says, "We will accept each person who wants a relationship with God."? With that question in mind, I'd like you to turn in your Bibles to Luke 15.

II. Christ in the Middle of the Crowd

A. A description of Luke 15

Luke 15 has three of the most famous parables Jesus ever taught. It begins with the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to search for the one who was lost. The second, is the parable about the widow who had 10 coins and lost one. She searched and searched the whole house, from top to bottom, until she found the lost coin. Then Jesus teaches about the "Lost Son", or the Prodigal Son.

B. Why?

Have you ever wondered why? What was going on at this moment that caused Jesus to tell these three stories of losing something and finding it again?

The answer is found in the first two verses of chapter 15...

Luke 15:1-2 1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Jesus is in the center of a crowd, hanging out with sinful people, while the religious people are on the outskirts of the crowd, upset because Jesus was hanging out with these rotten people. These tax collectors and sinners were the worst people that the religious leaders knew in their day.

Tax Collectors were Jews who had sold out to the Romans. They collected exorbitant taxes from their fellow countrymen on behalf of Rome, and along the way they had full permission to add in some nice tax bonuses for themselves. There was no single people-group more despised than tax collectors in Jesus' day.

Sinners were people who did whatever they wanted with no regard for the law that the Pharisees held to be so important.

So, here we have Jesus in the middle of this group of unsavory characters, while the good religious people are on the outer fringes, criticizing Him. That's why Jesus told these three parables. There was an angry polarization taking place between the followers of God and the people who needed God. And Jesus is in the middle.

But should that surprise us? After all, Jesus, Himself, said...

Luke 19:10 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

But that doesn't mean that Jesus belittles the sin of the sinners. Because He doesn't. He views it very seriously. In fact, that's what the Parable of the Lost Son, is all about. Take a look at verses 11 thru 13...

III. Reaching Out to the Religious Faithful

Luke 15:11-13 11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, `Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

In these verses, Jesus reaches out from the middle of the crowd, to the religious faithful. He does this by making a clear point about the weight of sin. He does this when He points out how the prodigal son offends his father.

A. Asks for inheritance early

First of all, the son asks for his inheritance early. In the culture of Palestine, and even in our culture today, you just don't do that. Because that is something like wishing that your parents were dead. And when you think about it, that's about the deepest and most serious offense a child can impose on his or her parents. And the Pharisees understood this.

B. He got together all he had

The second terrible offense against the father that the son makes is when the text says in verse 13, that "he got together all he had."

In other words, the son cashed out his portion of the family estate. Today our estates are measured in assets like money market accounts, stock portfolios, bonds, and cash. But back then, the estate was measured in land and flocks. In order to cash out his inheritance, this young son had to sell a portion of the land. In Palestine culture, you didn't do this. That land belongs to your family. It was something divinely given to you when your descended tribe came into the Promised Land. Land was part of the family heritage. You didn't sell it–but the young son did!

C. Squandered his wealth

The third offence against the father was that he squandered his inheritance in wild living. The land and the flocks were his families social security system. Aging parents made it to the end of their lives by living off of the estate. So, not only does the young son cash out part of the family inheritance, but he squanders a significant portion of the family's social security in a distant country.

Friends, make no mistake about it, when we cut our independence from God, by disobeying His commands–no matter how private or safe or secret that sin may be–it is a terrible offence to God–always. Jesus made it clear to the religious leaders on the fringe, that He understands the terrible weight of sin.

IV. The Vortex of Sin

Illustration: Most, if not all of you, have pulled the plug on a sink or tub full of water. As you watched the water go down the drain, you saw a vortex form–a swirling mass of water gathering speed in a funnel-like spin as the contents of the sink or tub get sucked down the drain. That's the picture of what Jesus describes in the next verses about the sin-condition of the prodigal son. It is a vortex that sucks the sinner down.

Do you see what He's doing, now? He's just related to the religious faithful, and now He turns and He reaches His hand out to the sinful crowd who has been listening to Him teach. And in the next verses Jesus shows them that He understands their sinful condition.

A. Self-Indulgence

Look at verse 13 again...

Luke 15:13 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

A wild beast is a loose beast–one that's not tied down. A person involved in wild living is someone who is not tied down–in other words, someone who does anything he or she wants to do. That person is accountable to no one, and does what he or she pleases. This self-indulgence is the beginning of the vortex of sin.

B. Expense

Luke 15:14 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

After self-indulgence comes the expense. Everything he depended on was now used up. His sin had cost him, dearly. And all sin eventually costs the sinner. It could be in health, it could be through broken relationships, it could be in shame, it could be through estrangement from society, but don't kid yourself–sin will cost you.

C. Degradation

Luke 15:15 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.

Now, here's the third step down the vortex of sin–degradation. Think of how degradingly this young man of means and affluence was forced to stoop because of his sin. The next verse tells us that this guy who was used to eating steak and lamb chops was forced to eat carob pods along with the pigs he was taking care of.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt the degradation of sin? I have. When I resigned from the pastoral staff of Scottsdale Bible Church, because I had stolen money from the church, I spent almost a year in this state of degradation. I struggled with my worthiness to continue living, or being a husband to Diane or a father to Jori. I had to come to grips with the fact that after serving at one of the largest evangelical churches in the southwest, and being a much requested speaker at Sunday School Conventions, and a much sought after writer of Christian Education articles, the only job I could get was spraying houses for bugs. 4 years later, when God called me back in the ministry, I struggled with the degradation of having to dredge up my forgiven past, and explain it all to search committees.

And friends, I read verses 15 and 16, and I can tell you from experience, that Jesus knew about the degradation of sin. And the self-degradation that the sinner pins on himself. Jesus nails it here. HE knows!

D. Repentance

Then we come to the bottom of the vortex of sin. Look at verse 17...

Luke 15:17 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!

Then he practices a little speech for the benefit of his father. Look at verses 18-19...

Luke 15:18-19 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'

And that's the place where every sinner needs to come. A person whose life has been ruled by sin needs to come to his or her senses, and turn from that sin. They must come to realize the terrible consequences of a sinful lifestyle, come to the place of feeling unworthy before a holy God, stop the sin, swallow the pride, and turn back to God.

And at this the religious faithful on the outskirts of the crowd are shouting, "Exactly. These people you're talking to are sinners. They've offended God, and that offends us. They are degraded human beings. Preach it Jesus. Turn or burn! Forsake or bake! We love this kind of stuff."

But Jesus doesn't stop there. He's just shown that He understands both the religious faithful that are standing on the outskirts of the crowd, and He understands the sinful people who are at the center of the crowd. Now he connects the two...

V. Father's Acceptance

Now friends, our purpose statement says, "We will accept each person who wants a relationship with God." Do you want to see what this looks like? Then look at the next verses...

Luke 15:20 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Here's what it means to ACCEPT...

A. Anticipate that God is going to bring some sinful people here

First of all, anticipate... anticipate that if you're going to show the love of God to people, like we spoke about last week, then you're going to meet some people involved in sinful lifestyles here at church, looking for that love that you're expressing. Friends, the only way that this father could have seen this boy coming while he was still a long way off, was because he was anticipating seeing him.

Think about it... that's exactly what God does with sinful people. He looks for them. He seeks them out. He wants them to repent and be re-united with Him.

Jesus makes an incredible statement–irrespective of a person's past, present or future sin. He says...

John 6:37b 37b ...whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

So the first part of acceptance is to take in, not turn away, sinful people, or people involved in sinful lifestyles, when they desire a relationship with God.

B. Heals

The second thing the father does is he takes the initiative to heal the relationship. He runs to his son and throws his arms around him and kisses him. The father is doing exactly what is necessary to bring healing to that broken relationship.

Illustration: One day a student asked anthropologist Margaret Mead for the earliest sign of civilization in a given culture. He expected the answer to be a clay pot or perhaps a fish hook or grinding stone. Her answer was "a healed femur." Mead explained that no healed femurs are found where the law of the jungle, and survival of the fittest, reigns. A healed femur shows that someone cared. Someone had to do that injured person's hunting and gathering until the leg healed.

I submit to you, friends, that when a church is involved in healing sinful people, that is the first sign that that church can be used by God to advance His Kingdom. Someone has to care about people caught in the vortex of sin. And that someone starts with you, and you and me.

C. Restore

Finally, look at verse 22...

Luke 15:22 22 "But the father said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Give him a robe–a sign of family-ship. Give him a ring–a sign of family authority. Give him sandals for his feet–a sign of a free man, not a slave.

The young sinner has been fully restored as a family member. His worth was recognized; he was totally forgiven; he was not put on probation; but he was grafted back into the family with no conditions–He was fully restored. That's the third facet of acceptance–fully restored.

Friends, we do this as a church when we accept someone from out of a sinful lifestyle or sinful condition, and grant them membership in Palm Springs Baptist Church, based on their new relationship with God–period.

So there you have it–acceptance means: 1. We anticipate sinners to come through those doors, every week. 2. We do what is necessary to bring healing in their lives. 3. And finally, we restore them into a family relationship with this church family.

VI. Conclusion

Illustration: In the United States, we have a nickname for tow trucks. We call them "wreckers". However, I'm told that in England they're not called wreckers, but they have one big name on the side of each truck–Recovery.

Isn't that interesting. The same vehicle, the same function, but a totally different perspective. We say, "There goes a wrecker." They say, "Here comes recovery."

Friends, a lot of people in the churches of Palm Springs and this area, are moving like a wrecker in this society. They are on a "search and destroy mission", not a "seek and save mission". They want to stand on the fringe, like the religious faithful of Jesus' day, and point out every sin and wrong they can name.

But if we're going to be useful in sharing God's truth and being God's light, then we have to change our perspective. We need to join Jesus Christ on a recovery mission of sinful people. We go a long way in doing this when we... accept each person into this church who desires a relationship with God.

Isn't it wonderful... We have a Savior who understands the terrible weight of the wrong of sin. AND, we have a Savior who also understands the awful vortex of sin and how it can suck you down. AND we have a Savior who knows how to reconcile the two through searching out sinful people, healing each one, and restoring them to a place of honor in the family. We dare do nothing less if we intend to be our Savior's church in this valley!

Amen.