Defining Moments
Cornered
Luke 15: 11-32 tells us the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The youngest son demands that his father give him his inheritance immediately rather than waiting for the father’s passing. The father does so and that son then squanders all his wealth on wild living. Poor and starving, the young son takes a lowly job feeding pigs and is very tempted to eat the pig slop because he is so hungry. Just then he has his defining moment while being cornered by his self inflicted situation. It is like being “checked” in the chess game of life. It is a sign that you are in danger of being “checkmated” if you do not make the right life altering decision. The son realizes that even his father’s servants have more food than him. He decides that he will apologize to his father and beg for forgiveness. The father, however, sees him in the distance, runs to him, kisses and hugs him before the young son could apologize! The father then quickly orders a celebration for the son’s return. The older son, upon discovering the news and party becomes angry and jealous. He refuses to come in and so the father pleads with him to join the party.
Every single one of us reaches a defining moment in our lives where we need to make a major life altering decision. Ever been cornered? Ever had to make a decision?
Sometimes our decision is forced by the secrets we hide. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was a noted practical joker in his day. As a gag, he sent a hand delivered anonymous telegram to each of twelve English politicians which simply read, “All has been discovered. Flee at once.” Shortly afterwards though, seven out of the twelve did just that and left the country! You could say that those seven had their defining moment and were cornered and checkmated by the truth.
A little girl asked her mom how the human race began. Her mother answered that God created Adam and Eve and then they had children and their children had children and so on and so forth. Later, the little girl asked her dad, who was an atheist, how the human race began. He told her that billions of years ago humans descended from monkeys. She was confused at the different answer so she asked her mom whether the answer was God or monkeys. The mother answered that she had explained where her side had come from and that the dad had explained where his side came from!
Sometimes we can be cornered by pranks, errors or the truth. Today we are going to talk about the Parable of the Prodigal son. Parables contain very important truths and though sometimes we can be cornered by those truths that God reveals to us, we have to remember that God never condemns us. As the Bible says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
There is a big difference between condemnation and conviction.
1. CONDEMNATION DRIVES YOU AWAY.
2. CONVICTION DRAWS YOU NEARER.
Parables yield up truth gradually and gently so that believers will receive a very important message. Non believers will simply hear a nice story. God will not force His message on you. He usually will let the truth be seen by you gradually and gently and so the ball is in your court. It is up to you to make the decision.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father did not lose only one son. He lost both sons.
3. YOU CAN MESS YOU LIFE UP OUTSIDE THE FATHER’S HOUSE OR INSIDE.
The Prodigal Son is more than the story of one lost son. It is the story of two lost sons. But even more than that, it is mainly the story of a father’s unceasing passion for finding his lost children. The two stories or parables before that are about the shepherd that never gave up looking for his lost sheep and the search and passion for finding a lost coin. The Prodigal Son is about the grief of the father more than about the son. It is more than just a story about a wayward young son or an angry older son. It is the story of a grieving father.
The youngest son wanted his inheritance now. In a way he wanted his father to be legally dead so he could get the money. The father had money and property so the young son received the money and the older son got the farm. The younger son squandered the money sowing his wild oats. Sowing your wild oats will cost you a thousand times more than you think. It will cost you your time, family and relationships.
The young son spent all his inheritance and then found himself cornered. He was so desperate that he took a job feeding pigs and was so hungry that he considered eating the pig slop. He had his defining moment when he realized that his father’s servants had more money than he did. He felt that he was no longer worthy to be his father’s son. The two sons were cornered; one by his error and the other by truth.
God answers prayers in interesting ways – not necessarily in the way you ask. If you pray for direction God may not give you direction but He may put you in a place where you will have to find direction. If you pray for forgiveness, He may put you in a place where you need to forgive. If you pray for patience, He may put you in a place where you need patience.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the elder son was a workaholic and so had a lesson to learn. In the story, the father was sitting on his porch on the farm he no longer owned because he had given it to his eldest son. He sees his youngest son in the distance and immediately rushes to hug and kiss him without a word to him before the son has a chance to confess his sins. Though the boy had an eloquent confession already rehearsed, he did not get a chance to say it because his father wanted to celebrate first. His father had already long been waiting with ready forgiveness. Likewise, we might wonder about God’s forgiveness of our sins, but rest assured, God has already made the decision to forgive us.
4. THE TRUEST CONFESSION IS WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FORGIVENESS.
The important part to God is what you do after you are forgiven.
The father calls his servants and they start to celebrate because he felt that his son was dead but now alive and lost but now found. God’s message is that we should celebrate homecomings more. We need to celebrate when people are checked, cornered and make a move to come home to Christ.
The older brother was not a part of the party. He was angry, jealous and refused to come in. Though he was amidst the celebrants, he refused to join. We sometimes are like that too. We can be keeping track of everybody else instead of celebrating what God is doing in their lives. The father knew that something was desperately wrong and so he went after the son outside the house and the one inside of the house. He explained to the older son that that son could have always had it all but he was too busy keeping track of everybody else to enjoy himself. The son could not even see the joy because he was too busy watching everybody else. The father wanted to tell him to kiss his younger brother and to shut up because they had to celebrate. There was no option!
We probably do have people, though inside the church, that are missing life’s party, right now.
If we pray that we need more joy in our lives then God will put us in a situation where we need to celebrate. Let us hear that little “check” in our minds and not let it become “checkmate”.
The younger son had a happy ending to his side of the story. Did the older brother have an unhappy ending to his side? Not exactly. God did not reveal an ending. The father is left pleading with the older brother and the story just stops because the ending is up to us.
Aren’t we glad that we have a Father in God that never gives up on us? So which sons are we? We are both sons. Sometimes we waste the gifts God has given us and sometimes we are too busy keeping score on what He has given others.
But which son is worse? Whether you are lost outside or inside the Father’s house, it is equally tragic. But the second situation is more difficult to detect because inside the Father’s house you can appear to be doing all the right things for God but yet be missing out on the joy of Christ.
5. HOW DOES THE STORY END? IT’S UP TO YOU AND ME.
So God is saying that the best and truest confessions and actions come after the forgiveness. He also wants us to celebrate homecomings more. We should focus more on celebrating what the Lord is doing in other people’s lives rather than our own. Remember, we write our own life story and ending, so make it good.
God does not condemn. Condemnation drives you away. Conviction draws you nearer. You can mess up your life outside the father’s house or inside. The truest confession is what you do after the forgiveness. The story’s ending is up to you and me. We write our own life story and ending, so make it good.
Questions to Ponder
1. What is the difference between condemnation and conviction?
2. Share about a time when you were condemned versus convicted. How did that affect you?
3. Share about a time when you were convicted versus condemned. How did that affect you?
4. Tell of a time when your life was messed up. Were you a Prodigal Son or an Older Brother? Explain.
5. In the question above, what were you convicted of and how did you reconcile that?
6. Did the father forgive the Prodigal Son just because he apologized? What does that suggest to us about forgiveness?
