I’ve blown it. Is there hope for me?
We all need hope. We’ve all made mistakes. We feel shame or regret over something in our present or past. We’ve all tried to fix things in our lives and we’ve failed. Even those among us who seem to have it all together have areas of hurt in their lives. If we’re not careful, we can be blinded by an onslaught of mistakes, shame, and regret. Face enough of that and we can lose sight of hope.
Let Hope In is a six-week study that doesn’t let us off the hook – it acknowledges that we’ve blown it and we do need hope – but it also shows us that we are never beyond hope. We can have a sure hope regardless of our past. When we let hope in, we can move beyond the regrets and shame. A hope-filled life is not a problem-free life. But we are no longer bound or hindered by the past.
For the next six weeks, we’ll consider how we can know and experience this kind of hope. We’ll also discover how this kind of hope can transform us on a daily basis.
Our third lesson in this series is entitled, "Hope Personified."
Who is your favorite TV dad and why?
Early television was full of honorable TV dads. Many times he was the centerpiece of the show, the staple of everything wholesome. It sent out a clear message: this is how a real dad acts. Similarly, one of the clearest messages in the Bible is that God is our Father. But to some of us, that does not sound like good news. All fathers are flawed, and some have caused great damage in their children’s lives. Consequently, experiences with our dads can shape how we see God as Father: * Dad was the provider, so you only go to God when you want something. * Dad was the nurturer, so you only go to God when you’re hurting. * Dad was the disciplinarian, so you only expect rebuke or correction from God. *Dad was absent, so you expect the same from God.
Jesus told a story in Luke 15 that shows just how great a Father God is. His story can change our whole understanding of what a father should be. But even more importantly, this story gives a face to what hope looks like. Everyone’s perception of God is colored to some degree by their attitude and relationship with their father - God alone is the example of what a perfect father is like.
God
welcomes us because of His deep love for us.
The religious leaders criticized Jesus because He welcomed the tax collectors and sinners who came to Him. He even ate with them, an act that indicated acceptance. Jesus told three parables in Luke 15 to illustrate being lost and the importance God places on recovering those who are lost. The parable about the prodigal son illustrates how the greatest loving Father welcomes any sinner who comes to Him.
Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:11-32 is perhaps the most well-known of all His parables. Besides its deep spiritual message, some consider it to be an unparalleled literary accomplishment as a short story. A few Bible interpreters seek to enlarge on its meaning by allegorizing the details. However, the story is powerful within itself. It is concise but complete, clear and captivating, simple but profound. It is a wonderful illustration of God’s gracious acceptance of any who rebel but return to Him.
I. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE – LUKE 15:11-12
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.
Through the prodigal son, Jesus revealed the heart of God in a story about a dad and his youngest son. The son came to his father and said, “I want my inheritance.” This may not seem like that big a deal, but the son wanted his inheritance right away. The only way for a son to get his inheritance was for his father to die. So the son was saying, “Your money means more to me than having a relationship with you.” To paraphrase: I wish you were dead. The amazing thing is how the father responded. He said, “OK.”
The father didn’t try to manipulate his son into staying. Neither did he resort to guilt tactics. The father loved his son so much that he didn’t encroach on his freedom. He let the son walk away.
Consider some of the gifts that often come to us from the hand of God: wealth, romance, and power. These things aren’t bad in and of themselves. But we often want these things more than we want God. Or we disobey God in the way we use them; we use them in ways that go against the character of God. When we make destructive choices, we move away from God’s heart for us. In His love, God doesn’t manipulate us or force us to stay. He gives us our freedom.
The younger son started his journey as a prince but made himself a slave. Everything he needed was provided by people who loved him. Due to his choice he ended up with no money, no friends, and no job. To illustrate how far a person can fall, the young man in Jesus’ story became a servant … to pigs. In Jewish culture handling pigs was forbidden, and yet this young man became so desperate he ate the leftover food the pigs didn’t want.
What counsel would you offer to a “prodigal son” in response to one of these statements they might make?
“My friends or family won’t take me back.” ____________________________
“I don’t think the damage can be undone.” ____________________________
“I’ve kept up the charade for so long that I don’t know how to stop.” ________
“How do I even begin to approach God after what I’ve done?” ______________
What are some of the implications behind the younger son’s request for his inheritance?
What questions does this story ask each of us?
Is there something in your life right now that you want more than God? How might you want wealth or romance or power right now in your life more than you want God?
Have you ever had a “younger son” moment where God let you go your own way even though it took you further away from Him? Why would a loving God give us this level of freedom?
Why do you think God allows us to make destructive choices?
Recall the first time when your parents allowed you to choose your own path instead of instructing you what to do. How well did you fare?
II. FREEDOM TO BONDAGE – LUKE 15:13-21
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. 15 Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands 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 hands.’ 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.’
The prodigal son earned his Ph.D. from the school of hard knocks with an emphasis on consequences. He, like we sometimes are, was determined to make choices that would ruin his life. Jesus didn’t go into detail regarding those choices; He just referred to it a “foolish living.” This phrase may mean “without restraint,” meaning he indulged wherever his appetites took him, whenever they took him there, and without the wisdom of God.
Living this way never ends well for anyone. “Foolish living” brings less living and more pain. This pain is totally avoidable.
He had hit rock bottom.
Rock bottom is where our guilt and shame are likely to be strongest. Surrounded by pigs, the younger son was the Jewish picture of rock bottom. It was time he reached out for true help.
He was in financial need, he was in physical need, and he was in spiritual need. The young man knew he needed help. He chose the one good option he had left to get up and go home.
In what ways did the younger son’s freedom soon become his bondage?
What did he eventually decide to do about it?
What did he expect at best by returning home?
At the beginning of the story the young son wanted his freedom; his father gave him the choice. The son’s freedom soon became his bondage. He finally came to a place to take steps toward true freedom; the freedom that comes with repentance and confession of sin. He was yet to learn just how free he would be, because his father would set him immeasurably free.
How does this prodigal son represent you?
How does Galatians 5:1 reflect the freedom of God’s love? How have you experienced this freedom? How is your perception of God as Father wrong concerning freedom and rules?
How well do you think the son knew his father? Why?
How did the father show his love?
In this story the emphasis is on the father’s love. He wasn’t interested in speeches; neither did he want to rehearse the son’s sins. This was not the time to say “I told you so.” It was time to say, “I love you.”
Some other questions to consider:
What consequences have you experienced that helped you grow spiritually?
Have you ever tried to help someone avoid “wild living”? Explain what happened.
What keeps us from admitting we need to return to our Heavenly Father?
Why do we usually have to hit rock bottom before we look to God for help?
Have you ever experienced the consequences of your choices that made you want to change your life?
Whose “wild living” affected your family? How did your family respond to it?
What seasons of your life were marked as “living without restraint or wisdom?” What brought you out of that season?
Have you ever experienced the consequences of your choices that made you want to change your life?
Are you currently making choices that might be described as “wild living” or “living without restraint or wisdom”?
What would your “rock bottom” look like?
When and how have you been welcomed home from a long journey?
When we read about the prodigal’s father here, what do we learn about God?
When have we made choices that we knew went against the will of God for our lives and we suffered the consequences?
What was it that made the younger son finally realize that his choices weren’t leading him into the kind of life that he wanted?
It is also surprising that God does not hold our past against us.
III. BONDAGE TO FREEDOM – LUKE 15:22-24
22 “But the father told his slaves, ‘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.
Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:11-32 is perhaps the most well-known of all His parables. Besides its deep spiritual message, some consider it to be an unparalleled literary accomplishment as a short story. A few Bible interpreters seek to enlarge on its meaning by allegorizing the details. However, the story is powerful within itself. It is concise but complete, clear and captivating, simple but profound. It is a wonderful illustration of God’s gracious acceptance of any who rebel but return to Him.
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One surprising action of God, our loving Father, is that He lets us choose our own course.
I. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE – LUKE 15:11-12
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.
Through the prodigal son, Jesus revealed the heart of God in a story about a dad and his youngest son. The son came to his father and said, “I want my inheritance.” This may not seem like that big a deal, but the son wanted his inheritance right away. The only way for a son to get his inheritance was for his father to die. So the son was saying, “Your money means more to me than having a relationship with you.” To paraphrase: I wish you were dead. The amazing thing is how the father responded. He said, “OK.”
The father didn’t try to manipulate his son into staying. Neither did he resort to guilt tactics. The father loved his son so much that he didn’t encroach on his freedom. He let the son walk away.
- We all can be like the younger son. Our younger-son moments happen when we want the gifts God offers more than we want a relationship with Him.
- Or our younger-son moments happen when we take the gifts God gives us and use them selfishly. Selfishness brings results that damage us and those around us.
Consider some of the gifts that often come to us from the hand of God: wealth, romance, and power. These things aren’t bad in and of themselves. But we often want these things more than we want God. Or we disobey God in the way we use them; we use them in ways that go against the character of God. When we make destructive choices, we move away from God’s heart for us. In His love, God doesn’t manipulate us or force us to stay. He gives us our freedom.
Since God is good, why do we often choose our own course instead of His?
The younger son started his journey as a prince but made himself a slave. Everything he needed was provided by people who loved him. Due to his choice he ended up with no money, no friends, and no job. To illustrate how far a person can fall, the young man in Jesus’ story became a servant … to pigs. In Jewish culture handling pigs was forbidden, and yet this young man became so desperate he ate the leftover food the pigs didn’t want.
COME HOME
What counsel would you offer to a “prodigal son” in response to one of these statements they might make?
“My friends or family won’t take me back.” ____________________________
“I don’t think the damage can be undone.” ____________________________
“I’ve kept up the charade for so long that I don’t know how to stop.” ________
“How do I even begin to approach God after what I’ve done?” ______________
What are some of the implications behind the younger son’s request for his inheritance?
- The story begins with a bold and unusual, selfish and disrespectful request by the younger son - Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.
- According to the Mosaic law, at the death of the father, the estate would have been divided between the two sons, with the older son getting twice the portion of the younger. The elder son would receive two-thirds and the younger son one-third. The younger son wanted his share now; he did not want to wait.
- Unusual though the father honored his son’s request and distributed the assets to both sons – both sons received their share.
- A few days later the younger son apparently converted property and goods into traveling money and left. Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country...
- He left nothing to come back to, for he had no plans to come back. A distant country probably meant a Gentile area. He probably sought out a place that was very different than home.
What questions does this story ask each of us?
Is there something in your life right now that you want more than God? How might you want wealth or romance or power right now in your life more than you want God?
Have you ever had a “younger son” moment where God let you go your own way even though it took you further away from Him? Why would a loving God give us this level of freedom?
Why do you think God allows us to make destructive choices?
Recall the first time when your parents allowed you to choose your own path instead of instructing you what to do. How well did you fare?
II. FREEDOM TO BONDAGE – LUKE 15:13-21
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. 15 Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands 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 hands.’ 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.’
What do these verses teach us about God as our Father?
The prodigal son earned his Ph.D. from the school of hard knocks with an emphasis on consequences. He, like we sometimes are, was determined to make choices that would ruin his life. Jesus didn’t go into detail regarding those choices; He just referred to it a “foolish living.” This phrase may mean “without restraint,” meaning he indulged wherever his appetites took him, whenever they took him there, and without the wisdom of God.
Living this way never ends well for anyone. “Foolish living” brings less living and more pain. This pain is totally avoidable.
He had hit rock bottom.
- People who hit rock bottom feel like they have gone as low as they can possible go and have no way to go but up.
- Rock bottom is the place we know we cannot stay.
- Rock bottom isn’t limited to being almost dead, lying in a gutter, rotting from disease, and with a wallet full of debt. Rock bottom is the point you become willing to ask for help.
- Unfortunately when some people hit rock bottom they stay there. Why? Because they’ve lost hope.
Rock bottom is where our guilt and shame are likely to be strongest. Surrounded by pigs, the younger son was the Jewish picture of rock bottom. It was time he reached out for true help.
He was in financial need, he was in physical need, and he was in spiritual need. The young man knew he needed help. He chose the one good option he had left to get up and go home.
In what ways did the younger son’s freedom soon become his bondage?
- The story turns quickly. The son mistook freedom for license. Wherever it was he went - he squandered his estate in foolish living. Wasted is another word that’s used here – also means to scatter like throwing grain high into the air so it might be separated from the chaff. In other words, the young man threw his money to the wind. Foolish living is also referred to as riotous or to live to excess, to be wildly extravagant and grossly self-indulgent. There are no details given but later in verse 30, the older son would express his view of the younger son’s lifestyle.
- God created human beings with the freedom to choose their course in life.
- Selfish desire, disguised as freedom, deceives us and leads into the bondage of sin.
- After he had spent everything – he found himself without, penniless and then there came dire economic circumstances. “a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing”
- He finds a job, but certainly not what he imagined he’d be doing or would have wanted his family and friends back home to know about. He took a job with a farmer feeding the pigs – something abhorrent to the Jews because pigs were considered ceremonially unclean animals (Lev. 11:7). Even worse, the pay was apparently less than enough for him to survive. The young man was so hungry that he envied the pigs. What a picture of desperation! Hungry enough to eat pig food – he had sunk so low that the pigs were better off than he was.
What did he eventually decide to do about it?
- The story says that he came to his senses,
- He would go back home to his father in a spirit of repentance, he would confess. He acknowledged that his behavior, both the disrespect he had shown his father and the lifestyle he had lived, were affronts to God, in violation of God’s law and moral standard. His attitude and action toward his father had been a sin against him, certainly a violation of the Fifth Commandment (Ex. 20:12). True repentance requires humility of spirit – he said he was no longer worthy to be called his father’s son. He had broken that relationship when he decided to take his possessions and leave home with no thought for caring for his father. Therefore, he knew he could not expect or did not deserve to be reinstated to any of the benefits of that relationship.
- The path to true freedom begins with admission, confession, and repentance of sin.
- Repentance is a decision of the mind, and attitude of the heart, and an action that validates the sincerity of both.
What did he expect at best by returning home?
- He would be pleased if his father would just make him one of the hired servants. To be hired like one of his father’s hired hands.
At the beginning of the story the young son wanted his freedom; his father gave him the choice. The son’s freedom soon became his bondage. He finally came to a place to take steps toward true freedom; the freedom that comes with repentance and confession of sin. He was yet to learn just how free he would be, because his father would set him immeasurably free.
How does this prodigal son represent you?
- Can you remember a time when God let you live your life and do things you knew violated His will for your life?
- What are some things we want from God that He hasn’t given us yet that may tempt us to take it for ourselves?
- In light of this story, how does God respond when we take our inheritance prematurely?
How does Galatians 5:1 reflect the freedom of God’s love? How have you experienced this freedom? How is your perception of God as Father wrong concerning freedom and rules?
How well do you think the son knew his father? Why?
- The kind of reception a wandering child can expect depends on the kind of father he has back at home.
How did the father show his love?
- The father was waiting, longing, and looking – 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.
- What a scene! One that surely stirs the soul of any who read the story and see it replayed in the mind.
In this story the emphasis is on the father’s love. He wasn’t interested in speeches; neither did he want to rehearse the son’s sins. This was not the time to say “I told you so.” It was time to say, “I love you.”
Some other questions to consider:
What consequences have you experienced that helped you grow spiritually?
Have you ever tried to help someone avoid “wild living”? Explain what happened.
What keeps us from admitting we need to return to our Heavenly Father?
Why do we usually have to hit rock bottom before we look to God for help?
Have you ever experienced the consequences of your choices that made you want to change your life?
Whose “wild living” affected your family? How did your family respond to it?
What seasons of your life were marked as “living without restraint or wisdom?” What brought you out of that season?
Have you ever experienced the consequences of your choices that made you want to change your life?
Are you currently making choices that might be described as “wild living” or “living without restraint or wisdom”?
What would your “rock bottom” look like?
When and how have you been welcomed home from a long journey?
When we read about the prodigal’s father here, what do we learn about God?
When have we made choices that we knew went against the will of God for our lives and we suffered the consequences?
What was it that made the younger son finally realize that his choices weren’t leading him into the kind of life that he wanted?
It is also surprising that God does not hold our past against us.
III. BONDAGE TO FREEDOM – LUKE 15:22-24
22 “But the father told his slaves, ‘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.
When have you been extravagantly loved or forgiven?
The younger son headed home with a humble plan. He recognized that being a slave under his gracious father was far better than being a slave under anyone else. The son even prepared a little speech. It was not a grand speech, but it was an honest one.
How would his father respond? The younger son knew something of his father’s character, but he failed to grasp how deep the father’s love was for him. To fully appreciate just how loving this father was, consider that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was part of Jewish law and culture (Matt. 5:38). Punishment was not to exceed the crime, but punishment was still expected to be apportioned.
As the younger son approached, you could imagine his shock when he saw his dad running to him.
How would his father respond? The younger son knew something of his father’s character, but he failed to grasp how deep the father’s love was for him. To fully appreciate just how loving this father was, consider that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was part of Jewish law and culture (Matt. 5:38). Punishment was not to exceed the crime, but punishment was still expected to be apportioned.
As the younger son approached, you could imagine his shock when he saw his dad running to him.
When a heart is ready to come home, God doesn’t walk to meet us; He runs to meet us.
Before the son could voice his little speech, this jubilant father threw the family cloak over his son’s starving frame. The son started his speech, but the father began preparations for a party - one gigantic “Welcome Home” party.
When we repent in any area of our lives, we can always find our hope in God. He is willing to forgive and to redeem. The love and grace of our Father are shocking. They should serve as a reminder that our God is like no other. There is none like Him. None.
How can we celebrate someone who embraces hope and comes back to the Father?
How do the robe, the ring, and the sandals represent the fathers’ acceptance of the younger son?
- The best robe distinguishes it from just any robe. It was the finest in the house.
- The ring was a sign of father’s passing on his authority.
- Sandals were worn by family not servants. The one who came back only to be a servant would be accepted and restored like the son he was.
What is the significance of the fattened calf?
- The fatted calf was that one animal kept in reserve for special feasts or banquets. Meat was not part of the daily diet, but it would be on this day, for it was not an ordinary day.
- The son who had been in the trough of despair in a faraway place would this day dine at a table of delight in his father’s house!
How do the words dead and alive again, and lost and found describe the young man’s situation? How can they be applied spiritually?
- How often had the father wondered if his son were dead? But that did not matter now, for he was alive again. How often had he wept that his son was lost to him and the family? But no more tears, for he had been found.
How does this illustrate your experience with God through Christ?
- 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.
Other Questions:
Have your guilt and shame ever been so strong that you could not muster enough strength to ask God for forgiveness? Explain what happened.
Can you imagine God “running” to you after you hit rock bottom and decided to ask His forgiveness?
When have you sensed the thrill of having God run towards you?
Is there any area of your life where you need to “come home,” to repent and to receive God’s celebration and restoration?
Who do you know that needs to learn and believe this aspect of God’s character so they will return to Him?
When we come to our senses, when we’re ready to apologize and come back to God, what is His response?
What social taboos does the father break as he sees his son off in the distance?
What would you say is your greatest need right now in your life? What is the area of your life that is in most need of God running towards you? What are the areas of your life that you’re too embarrassed to ask for help?
What might God’s welcome look like in your life and mine?
The glorious gospel is the story of God’s willingness to accept the unacceptable. We choose a way that rejects the Father and puts us on a path of destruction. However, when we repent, He welcomes us back with His loving embrace and the blessings that come with being His children. By His grace He restores us to a right relationship with Him, a place of celebration and joy. “Once Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally defeated and had returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, ‘I will treat them as if they had never been away.’ It is a wonder of the love of God that He treats us like that.” Think about an experience in your life when your pursuit of what you thought was freedom only led you into a life of sin and despair. What was the turning point for you to come back to the Father?
Live it Out
We don’t have to wait until we hit rock bottom to decide “I’ll get up, go to my father”. Choose one of these actions today to let God welcome you home.
- Go home. If you’ve been keeping your distance from God, return to Him. Begin praying daily and reading your Bible, too. God will show you the way back.
- Forgive generously. When was the last time you ran to forgive someone? Forgive even if it seems strange and shocking to everyone else around. Forgive as God has forgiven you. Let that someone know you’ve forgiven him or her.
- Invite someone home. Engage in an honest – but loving – conversation with “a prodigal.” Patiently walk with this person as he or she finds the way to the Father.
Prayer of Commitment
O God, I know You to be a Father to whom I can always return home. Thank You for Your love that reaches out to me and Your grace that restores me. For that I am ready to celebrate. Amen.
O God, I know You to be a Father to whom I can always return home. Thank You for Your love that reaches out to me and Your grace that restores me. For that I am ready to celebrate. Amen.
Well, we continue this week with a very familiar story that Jesus tells us in the Bible - the story of the prodigal son. Be thinking this week how you too are just like the prodigal son and how God has waited on your return home.
See you this Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
