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THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL PROVIDES FORGIVENESS

(Luke 15:11-24)
June 7

Purpose: To explain how the Gospel provides forgiveness

The good news of the Gospel provides forgiveness.  Forgiveness includes respecting autonomy, absolving blame and restoring relationships.  If the Gospel can provide us with these blessings, it’s truly good news.

    But how does it do that?

    A man said, “When I was 5 years old I spent part of my allowance for candy and lost the rest.  On Saturday our aunt took us to the carnival and I had no money to ride the Merry-Go-Round.  As I stood there with tears running down my cheeks, my aunt slipped me a dollar bill.

    “That’s not fair,” my sister screamed.  “We saved our money!”

    Auntie smiled, “No, it isn’t fair,” she admitted.

    “He doesn’t deserve it,” my brother complained.

    “That’s right,” my aunt replied.  “But haven’t you kids ever gotten something you don’t deserve?”

    The man continued, “That day I learned about forgiveness.

    Jesus taught such a lesson about forgiveness.  Let’s consider Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son.  “Jesus said, ‘A man had two sons.  The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the property.”  So the father divided the property between his two sons.  Then the younger son gathered up all that was his and left. He traveled far away to another country. There he wasted his money in foolish living.  He spent everything that he had. Soon after that, the land became very dry.  There was not enough food to eat.  The son was hungry and needed money.  So he got a job with one of the citizens there. The man sent him into the fields to feed pigs.  He was so hungry that he was willing to eat the food the pigs were eating.  But no one gave him anything.  The son realized that he had been very foolish. He thought, “All of my father's servants have plenty of food. But I am here, almost dying with hunger.  I will return to my father. I'll say, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you.  I am not good enough to be called your son. But let me be like one of your servants.'  So the son left and went to his father.

    While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. He felt sorry for his son, ran to him, and hugged and kissed him. The son said, “Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am not good enough to be called your son.”  But the father said to his servants, “Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  And get our fat calf and kill it. Then we can have a feast and celebrate!  My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!  So they began to celebrate.” ’ ” (Luke 15:11-24).

    Now, what happened in this story.

I.  FIRST, THE FATHER RESPECTED HIS SON’S AUTONOMY.

    He gave freedom to the wayward young man.  In the story, this father who represents God, allowed the boy to make his own decisions.  He provided resources with no strings attached.  He didn’t lecture or advise or limit or control his actions.  When the son chose a destructive path, his father loved him, but he let him go.

    However, when he got into trouble, the father didn’t send someone to get him or bail him out.  Instead, he practiced “tough love” by letting his acts bring their own consequences.

    Now the son did not have a deep, spiritual experience that made him repent.  He simply got hungry enough to realize what an idiot he had been.  He was willing to accept responsibility for his problems.  As a result, the story ends with a family reunion and the boy getting his life back on track.

    What if he had blamed God for abandoning him in his time of need?  What if he had blamed the government for the poverty and lack of jobs?  What if he had blamed his father with parental neglect for giving him all that money?  What if he had played the victim in order to avoid being responsible for his actions?

    If so, he’d still be in the hog-pen!

    It’s the same with us.  Paul said, “Each of us will have to answer to God for what he has done” (Rom. 14:12, edb).

    God doesn’t make robots out of us.  We are free to fail.  Like this father with the prodigal son, He lets us reject him and walk away, but He doesn’t promise to protect us from the effects of our mistakes.  We must take personal responsibility for our actions.

    The Gospel respects our autonomy.

II.  NEXT, THE FATHER ABSOLVED HIS SON OF BLAME

    When the son made the first move toward reconciliation, the father met him halfway.  He didn’t remain in his house and make the rebel fulfill a lot of requirements.  He didn’t insist upon a humiliating apology.  He didn’t demand payment for his escapades or retribution for his wasted resources.  He didn’t even make him promise future obedience.  He didn’t punish him at all.  Instead he welcomed him home with open arms and pardoned all his sins.

    Leo Tolstoy tells about an old lady selling apples.  A boy in tattered clothes, snatched an apple and tried to run away; but the woman caught him.  He began to struggle and scream, but she held on.

    The cobbler, Martin, saw what had happened and rushed out.  The old woman was pulling the boy’s hair, and threatening call the police.  Martin separated them.  He hugged the boy and said, “Let him go, Granny.  Forgive him for Christ’s sake.”

    “No!  I’ll beat the rascal!”

    Martin tried again,“Let him go, Granny.  He won’t do it again.”

    Finally, the old woman let go, and the boy tried to run away, but Martin stopped him.  “Ask the Granny’s forgiveness!” he said.  “And don’t do this again.”

    The boy began to cry and beg pardon.

    Martin took an apple and gave it to the boy, saying, “I will pay you Granny.”

    “You’ll spoil him” said the old woman.  “He ought to be whipped.”

    “Oh, Granny, Granny,” said Martin.  “That’s our way, but it’s not God’s way.  If he should be whipped for taking an apple, what should be done to us for our many sins?”

    The Scriptures tell us that God is waiting for our decision to come home, and He won’t condemn us or punish us when we do.

    The gospel absolves us of blame

III.  FINALLY, THE FATHER RESTORED HIS SON’S RELATIONSHIP.

    He returned all the symbols of his status including the robe, the sandals and the ring that identified him as a son and heir.

    Now, this prodigal son didn’t deserve this kind of reception.  In fact, he didn’t return to his father because he was sorry for what he had done.  He returned because he was desperate.  But that didn’t matter, his father was there for him.

    Forgiveness is more than the remission of an imposed penalty.  It means the restoration of a broken fellowship.  Even Old Testament writers told of God’s willingness to accept us.  “If you will seek the Lord your God, you will find him, if you [truly] seek Him with all your heart (and mind) and soul and life” (Deut 4:29, amp).

    Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37).

    Now, this son represents all of us sinners who make a mess of our lives.  He was selfish and greedy.  He fell flat on his face.

    He rebelled and broke his father’s heart.  He suffered the effects of his poor choices, but he was still his father’s son.  In fact, he was his father’s son before he left, while he was away, and after he came home.

    The Gospel restores our spiritual relationship with God.

CONCLUSION:

    So, the good news of the Gospel provides forgiveness.  This prodigal son had abused his autonomy by making foolish decisions.  He deserved blame for his waste, but instead, he was restored.

    Once a father had saved money for years to buy the family a new car.  It was their prized possession.  His son, David Leroy, was only eleven, but he loved to get in that car.

    One morning, when his mother planned to run some errands, David Leroy yelled, “I’ll move the car around for you, Mom!”  Before Mom could protest, he was out the door.  David Leroy was so excited that he forgot to close the driver’s side door.  As he backed out of the garage, the open door was ripped completely off.

    Can you imagine?  David Leroy had knocked the door off of the family’s brand-new car!  His mother was frantic!  “Look what you’ve done, young man!  You just wait ’til your father gets home.  He is so proud of that car, and you’ve ruined it!

    Well, father arrived home for supper, but David Leroy wasn’t hungry.  He stood just outside the kitchen door and listened as his mother told his father what had happened.

    Astonishingly, a terrified little boy heard these words: “Well, you’re right, mother.  The car is very important to me, but not as important as David Leroy.  We can get the car fixed.  He’s our son, and he must feel awful right now.  We need to love him through this.”
    Then he called,“Come on in, son.  Let’s eat supper.”

    By the way, David Leroy survived that mishap and became a well known preacher.  Whenever he recalled the day he knocked the door off the car, and Dad forgave him, he would say, “I learned that day what God is like.”

    The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the greatest stories ever told.  And it’s our story.  The good news of the Gospel provides forgiveness.

(WC1652)

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Copyrighted 2009 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works.

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Miles E Wesner

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