Sermon 3-6-16

The prodigal son is a story about a man that had two sons. The first son stayed with the father, the second left and squandered his inheritance. When the second son returned, the father accepted him with open arms. It’s a story about acceptace and forgiveness – a metaphor for how God rejoices when we return to him, but it’s also a story about the first son.

Pastor Zedick says that if you’ve been a Christian for a while, you are like the first son – already in God’s presence. Yet the first son was angry when the second son was accepted back into the father’s home. I get it – he had stayed, worked hard in the fields, and did what he was told, but in the end the celebration was for his brother, who turned his back on his family. And he only returned because he was starving after squandering his wealth. As Christians are we prone to that same anger?

There was a time in my life when I was bitter about my walk with God. I lost many relationships because of the commandments that I followed. I would look at people that weren’t held to the same moral standards, and they looked happy. I resented them. I thought I was taking the higher road – that I was better. Then I read this verse in the bible; Matthew 18:4 “Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

To approach God like a child doesn’t mean to approach with naivety. It means to come to God with trust, humility, forgiveness and love. Not a list of our burdens that we ensued from our walk, and certainly not with a lofty opinion of ourselves over others that we judge as less worthy. My negative attitude was turning people away from God. How did I get so resentful? I paid attention to following the commandments, but that was it. I looked at Christianity like a to-do list to get into heaven. I didn’t get it. God’s call to us as Christians is to believe, accept that Jesus died for us, and then to follow and share what we believe. If I had truly focused on God’s call, I would have lived everyday with a grateful heart set on helping others.

Pastor Zedick also stressed that you don’t have to live a crazy life with drugs, alcohol and prostitutes to be a prodigal son – it’s simply living away from the father. In fact, many people who don’t believe in God live very good lives. Many beliefs stress the importance of kindness to others, humility, faithfulness in what you say and do. Sound familiar? Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” When I was bitter, I did not show “fruits of the spirit” and the reason that was so destructive is people would probably look at me and think, “If that person’s Christian, I don’t want anything to do with Christianity.” I’m not perfect – far from it, but if I’m able to focus on the gifts and peace that I receive constantly from God, I’ll let go of all resentful feelings and stand next to the father, arms open, ready to welcome home my lost brother.

To hear the Pastor Zedick’s sermon, click here.