I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. Luke 15:18

Luke 15: 11-19

Recurrent Thought

Every person who comes to the knowledge of the Jesus, is welcomed back in the father’s home, where they are called (adopted) as Children of God

Believing in God and becoming born again is essentially coming back home. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cast away from the presence of God (and his garden) and from that time onwards human beings wandered away from God. Every person who receives Christ, they in essence returns to the father’s home. This is beautifully stated through the Parable of the Lost Son.

The third and main Parable Jesus presents in responding to the Pharisees who were offended by the fact that He (Jesus) entertained the riff-raffs of society is the story of the Lost Son. In this story we are introduced to a Son, who took advantage of his entitlement but abused it terribly. He asked the father to give to him his entitled share from the Father’s Estate.  Some scholars suppose that this in itself was an arrogant child who demanded, in a way, the death of his father; for such benefits were only awarded after the death of the owner of the estate. However, history shows that the Roman Society practiced this, therefore, there could have been a possibility that the Jewish society practiced it too.   

An entitlement is a right to benefits specified in a particular law or contract. This is rooted in the belief that one is deserving of certain privileges by virtue of their standing or qualification, in a particular discipline, profession, family, etc. Having a spirit of entitlement is a belief and attitudes that demand certain privileges and rights of their entitlement. An extreme spirit of entitlement demands the enjoyment and many times the wanton abuse of privileges one has never worked for.

The Younger son in this parable demonstrated this form of an extreme spirit of entitlement.

In this message we see four truths about the Human Conditions without God

1. The Demand for Our Entitlement is the Root of Failure 
   • God created us with the capacity to choose what we want despite his concerns.
   • This is the Moral Free Agency in us, the capacity to choose what we want without any determination from the All Powerful God.
   • The desire to use our rights and be on our own is what caused Adam fall in Sin and is what caused the Young man in the story to wander away from his father
   • When this free moral agency in us is not properly used, it becomes the sense of our failure. To this young man, his selfish and wicked life became the source of his failure. It was the germ of evil. His self will
   • This Young man decided to use his privilege to move away from the Father’s rule, government, management and oversight. He believed he would handle his life without his Father’s support.
   • When we use our moral right without the Father’s Grace we fall in Sin. This sinful state is a state of departure and distance from
   • Notice how he used his home privileges and Rights. He used his entitlement without wisdom and control and this led to his utter failure
   • The fall of the younger son dates from the moment when he claimed his rights—when he separated his interests from the interests of his father
   • Various Versions puts the title for this parable as the The Prodigal Son though the word is not in the parable. This word means the waster; it is derived from the phrase in Luke 15:13, “he squandered his property in reckless living (ESV).
2. Unchecked Entitlement Leads to selfish and wicked life
   • The story of humanity is seen in the life of this Young man who left his fathers home
   • Uncontrolled demand for rights and privileges blinds us to a demand for a responsible life
   • A demand for Rights without Responsibility is leading a life without controls.
   • Enjoying privilege, you have not labored for, does not give you capacity to establish boundaries that protects you from falling off the path of responsible living.
   • The Youngman enjoyed the entitlement in wanton living, in reckless spending. He was a waster of resources he never made.
   • A sinful state is life without controls and it is a spending state
   • Every time you reject the oversight be ready to spend: You will spend your peace, your resources and you life
   • A sinful state is a spending state: There he wasted his substance with riotous living (Luke 15:13), devoured it with harlots (15:30), and in a little time he had spent all, (15:1).. 
3. A Life without God leads to Brokenness and unrest
   • The results of the Fall of Human beings which is documented in history is now pictured in the life of this young man
   • People that wander far away from the father do not know and see the Guardrails and therefore, wander away and get into bad and dark places
   • Riotous or reckless living leads to a place of wanting; it is a wasted state. This is a place of perpetual dissatisfaction. That is what sin does. You labor for things that do not satisfy you. Isa. 55:2
   • The Father called him a Lost son, one who was once dead. The life without God is a terrible life. It has no peace
4. Peace is only in Alignment with the Father’s Care
   • Peace comes by repenting of our Sins, our selfish ambitions that we can make it by ourselves.
   • He came to himself. His Mind was awakened and he reflected. It was due to the things he went through, yet it was the voice of God Speaking to him.
   • Life experiences may be the source of our coming to our senses. God Speaks through various situations to make us aware.
   • Proper Repentance blames no one but self. The Prodigal did not blame another for his life.  He declared he had sinned and he was unworthy person. Repentance accepts responsibilities of the sin, failures and mistakes Don’t blame others
   • The way home begins with the confession: “I have sinned; I am unworthy.”
   • Notice that the lost son began by claiming his rights and wandered away. He is now found when he resigns the rights under the lordship of his father.
   • Don’t run away from but run to the Fathers home. We are all welcome at our Fathers House

Altar Time