Class Lesson for March 8, 2020

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

My brother and I often went deer hunting with our dad. On one trip when I was a teenager, we drove into the woods about an hour before sunrise. It was extremely foggy. As we exited the truck, we took different paths to hunt for the day. The problem was, I chose the wrong path. I walked confidently for twenty minutes before I realized I was lost.

I’ve been lost in a wholly different—and far more serious—way. And you have too. We were born lost. Whether we realize it or not, we’re lost. Just because we think we’re on the right trail doesn’t mean we are. We’re lost when we’re not where we’re supposed to be.

But we don’t have to stay lost.

“Lostness”—our sin and rebellion against the holy God—is a key theme in Scripture, but God’s love for us is an even greater theme. Jesus told a parable that brings these two themes together. We are lost, but thankfully we can be found!

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Luke 15:11-14

11 He also said: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.”

My father loves to tell stories of the old days when he used paper maps. The folded pamphlet would open up to reveal an entire state, and he would have to study the map for himself to choose the best route to his desired ending location. Now we have GPS. Though GPS can help eliminate wrong turns and missteps, it can’t choose the right destination for us. We have to know where we want to go.

In Jesus’ parable, the younger son thought he knew where he wanted to go. It was a destination framed with lavish living and focused on money. The high life awaited him. Or so he thought. Far too often we make the same mistake. We have a picture in our minds of what life should look like, the destination where we want to go. Without God’s perspective, we don’t realize we’ve chosen the wrong route and the wrong destination.

The destination and plan the younger son had in mind must have felt like a slap in the face for the father. To those first hearing this parable, the son’s request for “the share of the estate I have coming to me” (v. 12) was a shocking request. He was not entitled to any inheritance while his father still lived. This was like wishing his father were dead, so that he could have now what he thought he deserved. His father graciously filled his request and gave the younger son his share, which would be at most one-third of the estate. According to Jewish law, the firstborn son was given a double portion of the estate, so the remaining inheritance was divided among the other children (Deut. 21:17).

Question 2: 

Why would someone choose to live apart from God?

With his portion in hand, the younger son liquidated his assets, “gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country” (v. 13). He didn’t stay close to home; he put distance between himself and his father.

He got what he wanted. He squandered his wealth on what he thought would satisfy, but when famine struck, he had nothing left. It can happen to us too. Our resources disappear; suddenly our chosen path is gone and we find ourselves lost.

Jesus’ story is pointing to an even greater danger: spiritual lostness. We are lost when we choose our own path. We choose to go our own way, to do our own thing apart from God. The root of this choice is sin. Our culture wants to downplay sin, but behind our efforts to please ourselves is self-centeredness, a choice to do what I want rather than what God wants. And that, plain and simple, is sin. A life apart from God the Father is sin.

Luke 15:17-19

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.”’

Without intent and purpose grounded in Christ, we are lost. The younger son came to that very realization. “He came to his senses” (v. 17). At one point, all his “wants” had been at his disposal, but now he realized he couldn’t even meet his “needs.” He had reached the absolute bottom; he landed work feeding pigs, and to the Jewish crowd hearing this story from Jesus, feeding unclean, forbidden pigs was about as low as a person could get. Yet as despised as the pigs were, even they ate better than this young man.

The younger son discovered just how lost he had become. He saw himself in his current state, filthy and starving, and came to his senses. Only then did he reach the point where he could admit he needed to return to his father’s house.

Question 3: 

How did you come to your senses spiritually?

Coming to his senses was more than just realizing he was lost; it led him to change his mind and change his direction. He was prompted to act. When we see our sin like God sees our sin, it should cause us to come to our senses too.

Coming to our senses and acknowledging our lost, sinful state is important, but it is not enough. Deciding to do something is not the same as actually doing it. Too many people know they’re sinners, but they do nothing about it. When we see our sin as God sees it, it should cause us to turn around and go in a new direction—toward God.

A lot of people know what it means to be spiritually lost, but they don’t know what it means to be found. The prodigal son knew he was lost, and he was about to discover what it means to be found.

Luke 15:20-24

20 “So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.”

The young man in Jesus’ parable was truly in a humbled state. He embraced that and decided to return to the father he had abandoned. He could not imagine being accepted as a son again, but he knew that, even if he were nothing more than a hired worker in his father’s employ, he would be treated decently.

The father had other plans, however. The father saw him from a distance, as if he had been eagerly watching for his son. He was filled with compassion. His love for his prodigal son was so intense, he shed all fatherly dignity and ran to his son. For the wayward son, the shock of his father’s action could only be surpassed by his words. Because the son he thought was dead had come home, the father made it a celebration. He called for the fanciest robe, a ring, and sandals. His dress was to reflect he was a son of his father. The father also called for a feast. This was to be a celebration.

When we awaken from our sin and return to our Father, He is ready to welcome us with open arms. His welcome has nothing to do with any wealth, abilities, or accomplishments we claim as assets. Any righteous acts on our part “are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6). We are as destitute as the prodigal son. At the same time, no amount of rebellion or sin in “the far country” diminishes the loving embrace of our heavenly Father.

But it doesn’t stop there! Just as the father did more than just let his wayward son back in the house, God the Father does more than just save us from death. He saves us for life—a full, rich, abundant life (John 10:10)!

Salvation is a one-time occurrence but it is also a daily experience. We are called to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). We are not working to gain salvation, but similar to a person who works out to strengthen his muscles, we are working to grow in the salvation we have in Christ. It’s a call to grow in Christ and move ever deeper into the abundant life in Christ.

The “far country” will still call to us. In those moments, we would be wise to remind ourselves just how lost we once were, and what we gained when Jesus saved us.

The Father is waiting for us to come to Him and live the abundant life in Christ. He desires to put a robe on our backs, place rings on our fingers, and hold a feast in our honor. He wants to celebrate with us that we were once lost but now we are found.

Question 4: 

What does this parable teach us about the heart of God?

Question 5: 

How can our group facilitate and celebrate people turning to God?

LIVE IT OUT

To move from “lost” to “found” is amazing. How will you let that truth be seen in your life? Choose one of the following applications: 

• Seek God. Perhaps you need to “come home” to God. Confess to God any destructive behaviors or thoughts and come to Christ.                                                                                                  
• Forgive. When was the last time you ran to forgive someone with reckless abandon? Maybe it’s time to forgive even if it seems strange and shocking to everyone else around. Remember to forgive others as God forgives.                                                                                                                    
• Reach out. Reach out to someone who is lost and at rock bottom. Point them to the loving, restoring arms of God. Let them see the love of the Father in you.

“Lost” doesn’t have to define our lives. A loving Father is waiting. Let’s continue to work out the salvation we have in Christ, choosing to live each day for the kingdom of God.

Hope to see everyone this Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan

Teacher's Notes:

LOST vs SPIRITUALLY LOST

Physical Lost: We’ve all lost something: our car keys; the TV remote; or our way while traveling to a destination in a strange city! Losing any of these things brings an even greater loss. Without keys, you can’t drive your car. Without the remote, you can’t watch the big game or your favorite show. Without having the right directions, you are prevented from reaching an event on time.

But as inconvenient as these things are, we are confronted with an even greater sense of being lost; that is in our relationship to God.

Spiritual Lost: That lostness is greater than any other for it has eternal implications. However, through Christ, God opened the way for all who will repent and believe, so that we can make our way back to Him. In Christ, the spiritually lost can be found!

THE POINT: Without Christ, we are hopelessly lost.

The Setting: The religious leaders criticized Jesus because He welcomed the tax collectors and sinners who came to Him and even ate with them, an act that they believed indicated acceptance. In response, Jesus told three parables to illustrate spiritual lostness and the importance God places on recovering the lost.

Parable of the

Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son.

“THE LOST SON”

Read Luke 15:11-31

Why was the younger son considered lost?

What do we learn from the story about why we are spiritually lost?

1.     We are lost because we choose to live apart from God. Why would someone choose to live apart from God?

We are lost when we choose our own path. We choose to go our own way, to do our own thing apart from God. The root of this choice is sin.

Our culture wants to downplay sin, but behind our efforts to please ourselves is self-centeredness, a choice to do what I want rather than what God wants. And that, plain and simple, is sin. A life apart from God the Father is sin. Without Christ, we are hopelessly lost.

·       God created humankind with the freedom to choose one’s course in life.

·       Because of our sin nature, we naturally live in a state of sin and separation from God.

·       Selfish desire, disguised as freedom, deceives us and leads into the bondage of sin.

What does it mean in the story that, “he came to his senses”? (vs. 17)

·       To admit, confess, and repent of sin.

·       Repentance is a decision of the mind, an attitude of the heart, and an action that validates the sincerity of both.

2.     To turn toward God, we must acknowledge our lost condition and unworthiness.

What might prevent people from coming to their senses and turning to God?

Coming to his senses was more than just realizing he was lost; it led him to change his mind and change his direction.

When we see our sin like God sees our sin, it should cause us to come to our senses too.

A lot of people know what it means to be spiritually lost, but they don’t know what it means to be found.

The prodigal son knew he was lost, and he was about to discover what it means to be found.

Luke 15:20 “So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.”

What does the father do when the son returns?

3.     The Father restores us when we return to Him.

·       Every human being is either lost or found. We all belong to one of those two categories. The first step in becoming found is to admit that we are lost. We agree with God that our sin deserves punishment, and we acknowledge that the punishment Jesus suffered was sufficient to pay for it. We humbly receive that gift through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). In a divine exchange, God transfers our sin to the cross and transfers Christ’s righteousness to our account (Colossians 2:14). We then enter into a new relationship with God as His own beloved children. We are no longer lost. We have been found, forgiven, and given a fresh start (2 Corinthians 5:17). That’s why Christians can joyfully sing, “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”

What does this parable teach us about the heart of God?

·       God looks for the opportunity to lavish His love on those who come to Him.

·       The God of great grace accepts the repentant and restores them to right relationship with Him.

·       The return of a wayward one to the Father is cause for rejoicing, in heaven and earth.

Which son is the Prodigal Son?

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a story about a father who has two sons. The father is good and loving, but even still, the younger son rejects him. The younger son goes to the father, tells him he’s leaving home forever and asks for his share of the inheritance. The dad gives it to him, and the son goes off to see the world and blows all the money on sinful living. Eventually, he comes back and, to his surprise, his father welcomes him with open arms and a big welcome home party. During the festivities, the older brother shows up. He’s offended that his father has shown his brother grace. He yells at his dad, asserting that he’s always been faithful and is the one who deserves a party.

People call the story the “parable of the prodigal son” and they focus in on that younger child. Originally the idea was probably that the younger son was extravagantly wasteful with his father’s money. But when we call the younger the “prodigal” son, we think it means that he rejected his father’s love and ran from home. We think the word prodigal means something like rebellious. And, yes, he was. But…

The Other Prodigal Son

We need to be clear: The older son also rejected his father and his father’s love.

The younger son rejected his father through a journey of self-discovery. He thought there was a pleasure to be found, and it would mean he didn’t need his father. The older son rejected his father through self-sufficiency, through morality. He thought he was so good he didn’t need his father. He thought he deserved the father’s blessing. He was owed it. He also didn’t really want his father’s love, but instead wanted his stuff. And, really, the older brother and his rejection of the father is more the point of Jesus’ story. We’ve come to assume the parable is about the younger son, and think of it as good to share with people who are running from God. But Jesus told the story to religious people who felt like they deserved God’s love and sinful people did not.

Jesus didn’t tell this story to get rebellious people to repent; He told it to get religious people to repent.

The reason Jesus told this story was to address the objections of the religious legalists. They couldn’t understand why Jesus was teaching that God was for sinners who had rejected God. Jesus was trying to show them that they had also rejected God, just in a different way, and in a way that gave them the appearance of being good rather than bad.

We Are All In The Story: I think one of the truths we discover in Jesus’ story is that we have all rejected the love of our Father. Some of us run from home in outright rebellion. Others of us stay home and begin to think God owes us. We don’t need His grace because we deserve His love. We may even start wanting blessings from God more than we want a relationship with God. The day Jesus told this parable there were “sinners” gathered around him, and there were religious people. The sinners easily found themselves in the story, realizing that like the younger son they had rejected God. The religious people didn’t find themselves in the story; they didn’t see themselves in the older brother. My guess is that still today, religious people struggle to see the ways they’ve rejected God.

Which Child Are You?

And my guess is that one of the two sons in this story represents each of us.

What is the meaning of a Prodigal?

·       a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. In the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son, a son receives his inheritance and travels to a distant country, wastes all his money in wild extravagance, becomes desperately poor, returns to his father, and is received with open arms. Prodigal, here and elsewhere, means rashly or wastefully extravagant.

I want you to think about the word “prodigal.” You’ve probably read that word in Jesus’ story of the “prodigal son”, maybe you’ve even said that word, but, in the words of the famous line from The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” A few times I’ve asked people what they think the word prodigal means. The most common answers are “rebellious” or “a runaway.” Nope. The word prodigal means “wastefully extravagant.”

How could you see the father as being The True Prodigal?

I said I wanted you to think about “prodigal,” but I still haven’t gotten us to focus on the prodigal in the parable. Because the real prodigal in the story is … the father. Remember, prodigal means extravagantly wasteful, and the father in the story is the most extravagantly wasteful character of all. The younger son wished him dead, but the father gave to him anyway. The older son completely disrespected him, but the father tells him, “Everything I have is yours.” The father in this story is the prodigal father. He is extravagantly wasteful with his love. The father in this story represents our Heavenly Father.

What should Christian parents do if they have a prodigal son (or daughter)?

There is inherent in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) several principles that believing parents can use to react to and deal with children who walk contrary to the way in which the parents have raised them. Parents need to remember that once their children have reached adulthood, they are no longer under the authority of their parents.

In the story of the prodigal son, the younger son takes his inheritance and goes into a far country and wastes it. In the case of a child who is not a born-again believer, this is just doing what comes naturally. In the case of a child who at one time made a clear profession of faith in Christ, we call this child a “prodigal.” The meaning of this word is “a person who has spent his resources wastefully,” a good description of a child who leaves home and wastes the spiritual inheritance that his parents have invested in him. All the years of nurture, teaching, love, and care are forgotten as this child rebels against God. For all rebellion is against God first, and is manifested in a rebellion against parents and their authority.

Notice that the father in the parable does not stop his child from leaving. Nor does he follow after his child to try to protect him. Rather, this parent faithfully stays at home and prays, and when that child “comes to his senses” and turns around and heads back, the parent is waiting and watching and runs to greet that child even when he is a “long way off.”

When our sons and daughters go off on their own—assuming they are of legal age to do so—and make choices that we know will bring hard consequences, parents must let go and allow them to leave. The parent does not follow after, and the parent does not interfere with the consequences that will come. Rather, the parent stays at home, keeps faithfully praying and watching for the signs of repentance and a change of direction. Until that comes, parents keep to their own counsel, do not support the rebellion, and do not interfere (1 Peter 4:15).

Once children are of an age of legal adulthood, they are subject only to the authority of God and the delegated authority of government (Romans 13:1-7). As parents, we can support our prodigals with love and prayer and be ready to come alongside once they have made their move toward God. God often uses self-inflicted misery to bring us to wisdom, and it is up to each individual to respond correctly. As parents, we cannot save our children—only God can do that. Until that time comes, we must watch, pray, and leave the matter in the hands of God. This may be a painful process, but when carried out biblically, it will bring peace of mind and heart. We cannot judge our children, only God can. In this there is a great comfort: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25b).

Conclusion: Jesus says, “Forgive one another as I have forgiven you.”

Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story called “The Capital of the World.”  In this story, Hemingway told the story of a father and his teenage son.  The son had sinned against his father and in his shame he ran away from home.  The father searched all over Spain for him, but still he could not find the boy.  Finally, in the city of Madrid, in a last desperate attempt to find his son, the father placed an ad in the daily newspaper.  The ad read:

“PACO MEET AT HOTEL MONTANA NOON TUESDAY ALL IS FORGIVEN. – PAPA.”

The father prayed that maybe the boy would see the ad and maybe, just maybe, he would come to the Hotel Montana.

On Tuesday, the father in Ernest Hemingway’s story arrived at the Hotel Montana and he could not believe his eyes.  A squadron of police officers had been called out to keep order among the eight hundred young boys named “Paco” who had come to meet their father in front of the Hotel Montana.  Eight hundred boys named Paco read the ad in the newspaper and hoped it was for them.  Eight hundred “Pacos” came to receive the forgiveness they so desperately needed.

Who do you need to forgive?  Seek out that person while there is time.