Jump Start # 1166

Luke 15:17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger.’”

  There are several moments in life when we realize this is it. A young man dating a girl realizes this is the one that I want to marry. He has that moment. A couple is out house hunting. House after house. Nothing seems right. The price isn’t right. The yard isn’t right. The neighborhood isn’t right. Then they find that one house. It hits them. This is it. Sometimes that moment is painful and hard. A person has been sticking it out at work. The conditions are terrible. The stress is off the charts. He hangs on. Finally it hits him, he must leave. The search begins for another job.

Our verse today surrounds that reality moment. It finally all came together in the mind. He finally got it. Our passage is from our Lord’s great parable, the prodigal son. The young man has been away from home. He left with a pocket full of money and a head full of ideas and dreams. He was finally going to be free and do what he wanted to do. It didn’t take long for his dreams to turn into nightmares. He spent through the money. A serve famine came. Now broke, hopeless and alone, he finds work feeding pigs. Not the work for a Jewish young man. Not a picture of success. How embarrassed his father would be to see him now. Back home, there were servants to feed the animals. Back home the servants had food. He was so hungry that he thought about eating the pig food. Empty. Crashed. Physically wrecked. The prodigal started thinking. That was a major problem earlier, he just didn’t think. Now he does. He remembers. He wants what the servants back home have. Life as a servant back home was better than what he had now. What a failure. What a loser. It was those thoughts, that driving moment that made him come to his senses. It was then that the process of returning home began.

Coming to our senses is the key. It didn’t happen when he was walking away from home with money in his pocket. It didn’t happen when he was free living and spending as if there was no tomorrow. He crashed physically and that opened his eyes spiritually.

There are many prodigals who never come to their senses. They never sink to the depth that our prodigal in this story did. Parents, government and others keep a safety net about him so that he never gets too bad off. We do things like this because we care. But sometimes those safety nets keep a person from their senses. Always having an answer, always ready with a check, always ready to step in, may be the very thing that keeps some from ever coming back home.

This prodigal would never have changed had he not came to his senses. He saw what a mistake he made. He realized that his plans and dreams were selfish, dumb and not thought out. He never planned for a famine. He never thought beyond the moment. Impulsive, indifferent and careless, he now sees what a big mistake he made. The money was gone. The reputation ruined. His only avenue was home. He knew he could go home.

His emptiness made him see his father for the first time as he really was. His father was a good man. His father took care of the servants. His father would take him back, even if it meant earning his way as a servant. His father was industrious. His father provided and shared. His father was a better man than he was. He saw his father for the first time.

I fear that some don’t have that picture. They’ve lived without God for so long that they have no home to return to. The emptiness and hopelessness of their choices leads them to giving up all together. Drugs and alcohol are chosen to numb the feeling and forget what a failure they are. Deeper and deeper they plunge. It takes more drugs and more alcohol to lessen the pain. In time, even the drugs and booze won’t work. Disconnected from family and God, suicide becomes the only option. Just end the sorrow and pain. They just want rest. Not fearing God, because they have given up on Him years ago, death seems the only way out of this miserable life.

The death of Robin Williams is opening the world’s eyes to topics such as mental illness, suicide and depression. There are hundreds of Robin Williams every day who look into the barrel of a gun or fondle a bottle of sleeping pills and wonder. Their minds are toiling with the idea. This is the only option that they see.

It hurts to think that the pain some have caused have led families and churches to close their doors and backs to them. They do not feel that they can go back home. And living without God, they do not even consider the Almighty any longer.

The homosexual who is estranged from his family. The teenager who got pregnant and left. The addict who stole from family to keep himself supplied. The habitual liar who has ruined relationships. The man who has destroyed his marriage by his affairs. The embezzler. The cheat. The gossip. The sins are deep and destructive. The heartache has been severe. The only option has been to draw a line. When it was crossed, they had to go. This is understood. This is right at the time. This is the best option for all involved. However, that way home must still be allowed. The porch light must remain on. The door to the heart cannot be locked.

Our God never gives up on us. The story of the prodigal is not about families, depression or suicide. It is about us coming home to God. We are still loved by God. We are still wanted by God. After all that we have done, He has not given up on us. Broke, ruined and messed up, God is still looking for us. We can go home. We can always go home to God. That is the Gospel message. It is affective upon those who have lost it all. It appeals to those who are without answers. It fits those who are hurting.

That’s the message we need to spread. God wants you. God loves you. God hasn’t given up. It is important for God’s people to act that way. Some can’t see God for all the closed hearts standing in front of Him. If God loves, so must we. If God welcomes back, so must we. Through us, the prodigals feel welcome. By us, the prodigals begin that journey home.

Can you share this with someone? Is there that person in your family that has spent time with pigs? Understand they are messy, dirty and mistake ridden. They have guilt. They don’t need you to give them more. They see where they went wrong. What they need is love. What they need is to be shown that they are welcome. Will you let them sit beside you in church? Will you let them come home and sit at the table? Hopeless—they need to talk. Helpless—they need support. Broken– they need assurance. Will God forgive them? They wonder that. Are they too far gone for even God to help them? Then want to know. Can they start over? How?

Coming to the senses is where all of this begins. They must know that the porch light remains on for them.

Roger