Let Somebody Love You
Seeing the Sacred in the Secular

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Good morning church. Did you all miss me? It’s good to be back. I had a knee replacement three weeks ago and now I’m back. I haven’t preached in three Sundays, so get your seatbelts on.

We’re starting a new series today. It’s called, “Seeing the Sacred in the Secular.” It’s this idea of looking at secular songs. Maybe, you’ve never heard anybody do a secular song at church before. but it’s the idea that we would look for where God is at work and where people are far from God. Here’s what we believe; all truth is God’s truth. Even people far from God have a certain level of belief; some theologians call it, “General Revelation.”

The Apostle Paul talks about, in Romans, chapter one, that even people who haven’t got the scriptures still have the creation that reveals truth to them. Sometimes we’ll listen to a secular song, like “Desperado,” and we’ll think, Do you know what? They’re not talking about God, but there’s some truth in there. Let’s pull on that thread a little bit and then expound on it from the scripture.

Now, this song, “Desperado,” was made famous by the Eagles, right? In 1968, the drummer, Don Henley, had a song he was working on. He, in fact, didn’t call it, “Desperado.” He was going to name it, “Leo.” Leo, why don’t you come to your senses? I don’t think that would have made a big hit. He teamed up with his writing partner, Glenn Frye. They, together, were dynamic in songwriting. Glenn got with him and he said, You know, you’ve written a kind of country song. What if we made it more of a western? And so, he changed the song name from “Leo” to “Desperado.” If you will notice the last few words of the song, “Why don’t you come to your senses, come down from your fences and open the gate.” Then, it closes with, “You gotta let somebody love you.”

I used to hear that word when I was growing up, when I would watch those westerns on black and white TV. A “desperado” was the guy who robbed the bank. But if you look it up in Webster’s dictionary, it means, “one who is so desperate that they’re reckless.” It came to mean someone who’s a criminal, but it had more of the idea of being a rebel and being reckless with their life.

When I think of a desperado, I think about this story that many know as the prodigal son who was destined to live and waste his life recklessly. The prodigal son was kind of a desperado. We’re going to go to Luke, chapter 15, and look at that parable. It’s a very well known parable and it’s been called the parable of the prodigal son. I think a better title might be the parable of the two lost sons because they’re both really not understanding something about the love of their father.

Maybe that’s you today; you’re the rebel. You grew up, and you kind of felt like people were holding you back and you wanted to live life your way. Your whole life has been like a train wreck ever since, spiraling down. Maybe you’re here today because you are tired of being a rebel. You are tired of being the younger brother, the prodigal.

You could, also, miss God’s love by being the “goody two shoes” older brother. Maybe that’s you. You’ve been such a perfectionist that nobody is good enough for you, including yourself. “You gotta let somebody love you,” too.

Let’s look at this story. What we’re going to really find out is, maybe it’s not even about either of the sons. Maybe it’s about the father. The title, message today is entitled, “Let Somebody Love You.”

Luke 15:11-32 (ESV) 11 “And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put aring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” This is God’s Word. Amen.

Three Characters that Reveal the Father’s Gracious Love: 1. The licentious son.

Let’s look at the younger son first. I’m calling him the licentious son. We don’t use that word very often; “licentious.” It has the idea of desiring to have a license to go your own way. If you look it up in the dictionary, it means, “lacking legal or moral restraint.” This idea of being licentious says, I don’t want anybody telling me what to do. Give me my stuff and I’ll do it my way. That’s what he said to his father. Verse 12, “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.” Give me what’s mine now . Normally, when you ask for an inheritance, it’s after the death of your father. Essentially, here’s what the son was saying. I wish you were dead. I don’t want any part of you. I want your stuff. That’s what he said. He takes the stuff. The father actually gives him his portion.

Now imagine this; people in those days didn’t have a bank that had wealth setting somewhere like that. They had property. They had animals. So to give the portion he’d have to sell off part of what he had. He does, and he divides his property. The son, immediately, goes to a far country as it says in verse 13.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean a far distance, it could be far in terms of a cultural change. I kind of had it in my head that he might have been living on the west side of the Sea of Galilee over there in the Judean Province. Maybe he took a boat and went across the sea of Galilee to the east coast of Galilee, maybe, where Jesus delivered that demoniac of his demons. It was far from his father in Gentile country. Do you remember the story where Jesus commanded the demons to go into the pigs? The pigs ran off of the cliff. Apparently, this country had pigs because the son ended up feeding them. So, this far country might have been the Gentile country because, maybe, he thought, Let me get away from all these rules and regulations. Let me get to where I can live free.

So, he “partied it up” in a far country and he squandered and spent everything as it says in verses 13 and 14. He spent it all on reckless living. One translation says “riotous living.” What kind of living is that? Well, you were a teenager. You might still be squandering your life. You might still be wasting your life. You’ve taken all the blessings the Father has given you, but you’ve not recognized the Father. You wanted to live in a far country, away from Him. You’re far from God.

This son spent it all. Verse 13 “…he squandered his property in reckless living.” What is “reckless living?” It’s living wildly wasteful and shamelessly immoral. He lived with no rules or regulations. Let’s try to live that way and see what that brings. He tried it and he ran out of all that he had. On top of that, a severe famine fell on the land. Isn’t it funny how things will time out like that. When things look like they can’t get any worse, they get worse. In a way, that was God’s grace to him because he needed to hit bottom .

Anybody here know that you had to hit bottom? That’s what it took; you had to get so far down that the only way you could look was up. That’s what happened to him. He got so far down. He started getting hungry. He didn’t have anything. He didn’t have any friends; when he ran out of money, you ran out of friends.

So, he hired himself out, in verse 15, as a servant to a pig farmer. He had been the son of a wealthy father, but now he’s the slave of a pig farmer, who gave him a job to feed the pigs. That would have been the most hateful thing for a young Jewish lad to do because, you see, eating pork is commanded against in the scriptures. Jews do not eat pork.

Here he is. He’s feeding pigs; that’s his job. He gets so hungry that the pig’s food looks good to him. Then, he comes to his senses. Look at verse 17, it says, “But when he came to himself.” In other words, when he remembered his father’s house and when he remembered what he’d been taught when he was younger. He remembered and he came to his senses. He said, You know what? My father’s servants eat better than this. The pig’s food had to start looking good to him before he would wake up.

The son started rehearsing what he was going to say to his father. Have you ever done that? Have you ever started planning what you’re going to say? You are “sideways” with your spouse and you are thinking about what you will say when you get home. You start practicing what you will say. The son starts practicing what he’s going to say to his dad. Okay, here’s what I’m gonna say, Father. I’ve sinned against heaven. And you. So he knew something. You know, he was brought up right? Because he knew that all sin is against God, “I have sinned against heaven.” And you see, you can sin against somebody or you can sin against yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you sin against someone else or yourself; it’s always a sin against God. This young man knew that. He said, in verse 18, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ I’ve sinned against heaven and against you and I’m not worthy to be your son anymore. Just let me be a slave. I’ll just sell myself back to you because I have nothing. I can’t repay you for all that you’ve given me, I can’t repay you. Even in this,he still doesn’t recognize his father’s love. He still thinks he can earn it. He still needs to be a servant, to somehow earn his way back in. Is that you? Are you the rebel? Are you the younger brother, the younger sister? Some wonder why God is so patient with these rebels, these rebellious ones who go and live life their own way and leave a trail of wreckage everywhere with broken hearts and broken relationships. Why is God so patient?

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Why is He so patient with you, when you’ve been out there running, in the wrong direction, from Him? He’s patiently waiting for you to finally turn and look back. He loves you.

I was reading in a book by Tim Keller, entitled, “The Prodigal God.” He writes this, “Both older brothers and younger brothers are with us today, in the same society and often in the very same family. Frequently the oldest sibling in a family is the parent-pleaser, the responsible one who obeys the parental standards. The younger sibling tends to be the rebel, a free spirit who prefers the company and admiration of peers. The first child grows up, takes a conventional job, and settles down near Mom and Dad, while the younger sibling goes off to live in the hip-shabby neighborhoods of New York and Los Angeles.”

How many of you identify with the younger son? How many of you would say, I’ve been the rebel. Maybe, some of you would say, I’m still there. Or, maybe you have “sewed your seeds.” You’ve lived a life of license. You’ve tried it all, but for some reason, either somebody dragged you here this morning, somebody made you watch it online or you’re here because you’re finally looking up. This was the licentious son. He still doesn’t understand the father’s love.

How about the second son? Can we talk about him for a minute?

Three Characters that Reveal the Father’s Gracious Love: 2. The legalistic son.

I’m calling the older brother the “legalistic son.” He’s the “goody two shoes” in the family. If you were to look at his life, you would think that he does everything right. He follows all the rules we pick up and are introduced to him. In verse 25, the older son was in the field; he was out there working. They’re in the house partying; he’s working late. He’s the “good son;” he’s working. As he came near to the house, he heard a party of music and dancing. He calls over to a servant and asks what is going on in the house. The servant asked him, Haven’t you heard that your brother’s home and your father has killed the fatted calf?

Now, the “fatted” calf is the one that you put in the small stall and you’ve been feeding him special food, waiting for a special occasion. In those days, people they didn’t eat meat at every meal . This act was considered an extravagance to kill the “fatted” calf.

The father has invited the whole village; Your brother is home. He’s received him back, safe and sound. How does the older brother react? Look at verse 28; he was angry. Wouldn’t you be angry? You’ve never left home. You’re the “good child.” You’re still working on the family farm. You’ve done everything the father wanted you to do. He’s angry and he refused to go in. I’m not partying with him; he is not celebrating the fact that his brother came back home. He’s angry.

Who is he angry at? I say, he is more angry at the father. How do I know that? Let’s see how he talks to his father. First, his father comes out to him. His father hears that the other son is outside; he’s not coming into the party, even though the servants have told him to come in. He’s not coming in. His father goes out to him.

Here is how he answers his father in verse 29, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’”

Married couples, “never say never and always avoid always.” Now I know that’s paradoxical. Don’t use “never or always” in a conversation; these are fighting words. Here’s what’s going to happen to you, wife, if you say, You never make the bed. He didn’t hear bed; he heard, “never,” and he’s thinking of that time, five years ago, when he made that bed. He’s going to say to you, Sweet wife, what are you talking about? I’ve made the bed before. He’s right. He made it one time, five years ago. He doesn’t care about what you’re saying because what you’ve done is you’ve lied. You tried to overstate it because your feelings were hurt. What you should have said is, It hurts my feelings that you don’t seem to care that I’m the one doing this job. It would make it feel better to me if you’d share that task with me from time to time. But no, that’s not what you did. You failed. You said, You never…

I’m getting back to the story. The other son is mad at his dad, and he’s throwing out hyperbole. He’s overstating it, and he says, “I’ve served you all these years and I never disobeyed your command.” Well, he’s lying right there because the father sent the servant out to invite him in, and he refused. I know of at least one place he’s disobeyed and there it was, right in the story. He was saying that he is perfect. He follows all of the commands. He has never disobeyed him.

He’s not finished with his “nevers.” He’s got a double “never” in this sentence. He says, You never even gave me a baby goat. You gave him a “fatted” calf but you never threw any parties for me or my friends. I don’t know for a fact, because it doesn’t reveal the story, but I suspect that was a lie, too. He’s just mad.

Then he says, in verse 30, “But when this son of yours…” It’s not his brother, it’s your son. Now, here is a confession from your pastor. There have been times when I’ve said to my sweet wife, That boy of yours… Have you ever done that? Can I get a witness on that one? If my wife is honest with you, she’ll say that she’s done the same thing to me. That girl of yours, that brown eyed girl of yours… She has said that to me before. I don’t know why we do that. I think, at that point, we’re sort of disowning their behavior.

He doesn’t accept him as a brother. That son of yours that you show this favoritism. He’s yours. He’s not my brother, That son of yours. He doesn’t want to call him his brother. He has rejected him. Verse 30, “But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes…” Now, I don’t see how he knows that; maybe, he imagined that’s what he would have done if he went out there. Sometimes, people who look really good on the outside have got a lot of evil on the inside.

Maybe, he imagined that’s what he would have done if he had gone reckless. You killed the fattened calf for him. Now, look, this is the elder brother. I think this speaks to our church more than the younger brother. We have more of a tendency as believers to be like him, don’t we? Let’s just be honest. Let’s look in the mirror for a second .

If you’ve come back to the father, sometimes you start getting judgmental of those who haven’t come back. If you’ve never left him, if you grew up in the church, you’ve never really done anything bad, have you? You know, you are really a good person. Well now, you’re the older brother, aren’t you? You’re thinking like the older brother.

Have you been angry a lot in the last year over the pandemic? Have you been angry with the people who are wearing masks? Have you been mad at the people who won’t wear a mask? Have you been mad about politics and about who people voted for in the media? Don’t sit there and act like you haven’t been angry, almost nonstop, because I’ve seen your posts on Facebook. Anger and judgmental behavior is the behavior of the older son’s heart.

Friends, this is what’s wrong with our church today. Not just this local church, but churches all across the country. We’re known for what we’re against rather than what we’re for. We need to be known for our love and our grace rather than our judgment. Judgment has run so many people off.

Did you watch the testimony from my brother, Wayne Potente? I hope he’s watching at home right now. He told me that he got the first inoculation and he’s waiting to get the second. He’s had a lot of health problems. We’re hoping he’ll be back in person when he feels it’s possible. He was that younger brother; he ran from God for 50 years because he saw God as being the one who was all about religion and regulations. He ran from that. He was a desperado, wasn’t he? He built fences, but he’s come to his senses now. A lot of churches wouldn’t have let somebody like Wayne in. After all, he’s from New Jersey. Southern people, he still has an accent.

We’ve got this invitation; did you hear it from our worship, pastor? Our invitation to everyone is, “Come, just as you are, and be forever changed by the love of Jesus.” Listen, you’ll make a liar out of us if you become the older brother. In fact, if you’ve made a decision, I’m going to be the older brother, I wish you’d leave. I wish you’d either get right or leave. If you don’t get right and stay, you’re going to hurt the people we are trying to bring in that are far from God. Neither one of these boys are right; both are lost. “The rebel” and “the goody two shoes” are both lost. Both of them think they can somehow earn the father’s love. The older brother thought he could do it out of being good, dutiful and working hard. He doesn’t recognize his brother; legalistic people are judgmental. But yet, God is patient with them . .

Romans 2:1-4 (NLT) 1 “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. 2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? 4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” He’s talking to the older brother now in the Romans two. He’s talking about the Pharisee; the one who keeps the rules, the religious church person. He’s talking to you. Don’t you see that God’s having to be patient with you, too, because you don’t understand His love either? You think you’ve been good enough. The truth is, you need the gracious love of God just as much. Don’t make liars of His church. Many will come in and they don’t look like us because they have a different skin color, a different hair color, they have tattoos, they have no tattoos, they wear a mask, they don’t wear a mask, they voted Republican, they voted Democrat, they’re gay or they are straight. He is your brother. He is your sister. They may be far from God when they arrive, but we’re to love them. Come away from your anger. Come away from your frustration and your fear. Come down from your fences. Quit building walls around yourself. Open the gate.

Three Characters that Reveal the Father’s Gracious Love: 3. The loving Father.

Let’s get to this third character. I hope, if you are the younger son or the older son, you’ll hear this. I’ve been waiting to get here. You’ve been waiting for me to get here to the father. We have to go through the whole parable and kind of pick up the little revelations here because there’s a lot to learn about the father in this.

In this parable, he’s the loving father. We have the licentious younger son and the legalistic older son. But this is the loving father; the gracious, loving father. He surprised us by dividing his property when his crazy younger son asked him to do so.. What kind of father does a thing like that?

That’s why Tim Keller calls him “the prodigal God.” Rather than calling this parable, the prodigal son, Pastor Tim Keller calls it, “the prodigal God.” Prodigal doesn’t mean bad. It means wasteful or extravagant. It means reckless with what you have. Well, the younger son certainly was reckless, but the father was, too. What kind of father says, Oh, do you want me to sell half of what I have or one third of what I have? He’s the younger son. The Jewish law said if a father had two sons, the oldest son would get two thirds and the younger son would get one third, referring back to that. So he probably got a third. What kind of father would have done that? It seems like a good father would have said, Shut up. Go back to work. Help your older brother; he’s the good brother. Not this father; this father said, I’ve given you everything. I’ve blessed you with everything. If you want to go your own way, I’ll let you. That’s what this father said. I love you, but I’m not going to tell you to choose me or not. I’m going to give you free will. I love you. He divides his property.

Let’s look when the younger son comes back in verse 20. Here’s how the son comes back. “…But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Here’s how I imagine this: his father had been sitting out on the front porch of that old farmhouse, every day after a long day’s work, right before the sun went down. He’s sitting out there and he looks down that long dirt road, past where his old vision barely could work. He is squinting his eyes, hoping and praying everyday that his boy would come home. He is looking for him. He sees him in the distance. A father or mother knows their baby. They know how that baby walks. They know how they talk. They recognize their voice. You can’t hide from your mom and dad. They know you. This father knew his son’s gait. He knew the way he walked. The son might have been wearing tattered clothes, walking barefoot and smelling like a pig farm. The father recognized him. The father had been looking for him. He had been looking for him for a long time.

God is looking for you. Do you think you’ve found God? You didn’t find God. He found you. The father saw his son and he felt compassion. He wasn’t angry. All he was waiting for was for the son to come in the right direction and he made up the difference and ran to him.

A lot of us think we need to clean up our lives. I need to get my stinking pig clothes off, get some shoes and get my life straight before I can come back to God. Well, you’ll never come back to God because you can’t. You are broken; you’ve hit bottom. You won’t be able to come back on your own but just start back. Just start back like this son. God is looking for you; He’ll run to you.

Can you see the old man? He felt compassion and he ran to his son. He probably hadn’t ran in years. I can’t run anymore; that’s why I have a stool up here. I just had a knee replacement three weeks ago. I’m doing good to stand up here, so I can relate to this old father. I bet you, though, if I had a “prodigal son” that had left for a while, I would get this old leg going, even if I had to hop on one leg.

I love my kids, but it is nothing like the way the Father loves us. This father ran to his son. I bet he grabbed the back of his robe, pulled it up and tucked it into his belt and made himself a pair of shorts to run. Can you see him running down that dusty road? He got to his son. The son had rehearsed what he’s going to say. Hey, First of all, he wasn’t expecting that old man to come running like that. I guarantee that. The father come running up and, it says, he embraced him. The Greek actually says he fell on his neck and kissed him. I believe he kissed him on the neck. He kissed him on the face. That son didn’t wipe it off like he used when he was a kid. He let it stick. They are both crying. And then, the son cued up his rehearsed lines and tried to say them. He said, “father, I have sinned against heaven and sinned against you. I’m no longer worthy to be your son. Let me be your servant.” The father has already turned and started yelling to his servants. My son is home. Bring the best robe. It’s hanging in the father’s closet. It’s his robe. Bring the ring that says, that’s my son. Bring his shoes. Bring his robe. Bring it out here. My son was dead, but now he’s alive. He’s lost. But now he’s found. Kill the fattened calf . We’re going to have a celebration.

The son thought he could come back and earn his way back into his father’s house by being a slave. He still didn’t understand his father’s love until that moment. You can’t get better than this. Come on, people, come on. This is the father’s love we’re talking about, but not just to this rebel; let’s not forget the older brother. The older brother is angry, remember he won’t come into the party. He’s outside. His father came out . He left the party just like Jesus left heaven for us. He came out and he entreated him. In other words, he begged him. He called to him to come on in. The son said that I’ve served you, I’ve never disobeyed you and you never even gave me a goat. But this son of yours. His goodness is keeping him out of the kingdom. But his goodness is not good enough. He needs love. He needs grace. He needs forgiveness. He needs a new heart. He’s just as lost as the younger brother was. Do you see it?

I’ve had people come to me who claim to be an atheist and an agnostic. They say, I’ve never done anything to cause Jesus to have to die for me. I’ve never killed anybody. I’m not a thief. Is that you? Is that you watching from home? You think you’re good enough. You’re the older brother. You don’t understand the Father’s love, do you? No one’s good enough . But what matters is He is your father.

This father comes out to him and he entreats him. After the sun talks to him like dirt, with no respect, look at verse 31 and 32, “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” It was appropriate because he had lost him. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this. He’s your brother, not just my son. It’s fitting that we celebrate because he was dead. Now he’s alive. He was lost but now he’s found.

Notice the love of the father towards both sons. Do you see it? They were both going in different directions, but both equally lost. It was appropriate; i t was fitting that they celebrate.

Ironically, Luke arranges these three lost parables in chapter 15. Together, he’s got the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then, some call it the prodigal son. I think it really should be called “the prodigal sons.”

Jesus had finished His previous Parable of the Lost Coin with: Luke 15:10 (ESV) “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” In other words, it is fitting; Jesus is making a point here. There’s a celebration in heaven when one of “rebels” comes home. Now He ended this parable with “it was fitting to celebrate.” Luke 15:32 (ESV) It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” There’s a celebration in heaven, and so, it’s fitting.

Jesus constantly depicts salvation as a kind of feast. Matthew 8:11 (NLT) “And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.” He’s always talking about this feast in the kingdom of Heaven, this wedding supper, this table that you’ll be invited to, and people will come from East and West. They’ll sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and we’ll all be one family, the family of God, but we will all come from different places and different cultures. He’s always talking about this. In fact, he left us a meal of celebration for the church to gather around. It is called the Lord’s Supper, which is an emblem of his sacrifice for our salvation. He’s always talking about this feast and this grace and it’s appropriate.

One day, we will all celebrate. Revelation 19:9 (NLT) “And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” You’re invited if you are a son of the father, if you’re a daughter of the father.

I told you about Wayne Potente, who gave his testimony a moment ago. I met him five years ago at the Whirligig Festival. It’s a festival we do downtown annually in Wilson. We have booths; our church sets up booths there. He came to our booth five years ago. He had just moved into town. Some of our Hispanic brothers and sisters were serving chicharones in one of the booths next to us on that day. He was picking on him, saying that they were not real chicharones. One of them asked for me to come over and talk to him because they thought he was serious. He was just kidding with him. They thought he was serious (you know that New Jersey sense of humor). They brought me over and he said, you’re the pastor? I said, I am and what’s your name? He says, I’m an agnostic from New Jersey. He says, You probably don’t want to talk to me. I’m an agnostic from New Jersey. I said , No, you’re wrong. I would love to talk to an agnostic. I’m not sure about the New Jersey part. I picked up from him right away that he liked to joke; he liked that kind of humor. I gave him some back. We became friends pretty quickly. We spent weeks and even a few months together, talking about the difference between earning your way with legalism and the love of God. Did you hear his testimony? He ran from that kind of religion for fifty years. He was a prodigal. He was a desperado, but not anymore. He’s a son, Wayne, you are a son of the Father. He finally got it. It’s the Father’s love.

Have you got it yet? Come down from your fences, from your walls you’ve built up and open the gate. Come on down. Come on down to where the Father is waiting. All you have to do is take one step toward Him and He’ll run and make up the difference. Oh, that matter. If you’re a rebel or a goody two shoes, if you’re a rebel or a religious person, if you are licentious or legalistic, turn to the Father’s love. Let Him give you a new heart. Will you do it?

Let’s pray, Father, we thank You for this parable. We thank you, Jesus, for telling this parable, because we all see ourselves in this story. I pray right now for the one that has yet to receive Your love. They’ve yet to let You love them. Is that you, my friend? Right where you are, in your seat, whether you’re watching at home or in person today, would you say this, Father, I have sinned against You. I’m not worthy, but Jesus has made me worthy. He died on the cross for me. I believe He’s been raised from the grave and that He lives today. I believe that. Come into my life by Your spirit. Come into my life, Lord Jesus, and make me a child of God. Forgive me my sins. I want to be a child of God. I want You to be my Lord and Savior. If you’re praying that right now, believing, it doesn’t matter which direction that you’re coming from. It doesn’t matter who you are or how far away you’ve been. He will make you right with Him. He loves you. He’s been looking for you. Others are here today and you know the Father. You love Him. But you’ve been struggling with anger. You have been struggling, wondering why God doesn’t punish some of what’s going on in our country today. You’ve been looking for God to send down some lightning bolts. Lord, we confess to you our tendency, as believers, to start thinking like the older brother. Forgive us, Lord. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.