Reconciliation

Be Reconciled to God
Luke 15:11-32

Introduction

Today we are going to be talking about reconciliation. We are going to be looking at a parable that Jesus told that is general considered to be his most well-known parable in all of Scripture: the prodigal son. It is a story that has been recognized as one of the greatest short stories ever written. It shows up in music, it shows up in movies, it shows up in art. But friends, Jesus’ purpose it telling it was very specific. Jesus told the parable as a calling for us to “Be Reconciled to God”

What does it mean to be reconciled to God? Reconciliation is a word that is relational. One thing to understand is that in the Bible there are a number of different words used to describe the gospel, and they come from different analogies. For example: Justification (comes from the legal world), salvation (which comes from the idea of being saved from danger and destruction), redemption (comes from the marketplace). But reconciliation is one that comes from the relational world.

Think about the relationship between two families. One family stabs the other family in the back. They start gossiping about each other. Eventually the whole thing breaks into a big feud. They vow never to speak to each other again. Months go by and finally one family reaches out to the other, they admit wrongdoing. They start spending time together again, and they are eventually reconciled.


Or, think about a husband and wife who have a big fight. Let’s say it gets so bad that the husband loses his temper and moves out. They spend a few months apart. Eventually they attend a good Christian counselor, they begin rebuilding that marriage. In time, the husband moves back home and they are reconciled.

One more, imagine a football player who blows up at his coach and accuses him of blowing the game. The coach sits his behind on the bench after that comment. Finally the kid walks out vows never to play for him again. After a couple of weeks go by he comes to the coach, admits he was wrong, and asks to join the team again. After about a 150 laps around the field and 20,000 pushups, he’s allowed to rejoin the team. They have been reconciled


Retelling the Story

Well Jesus tells the story about a son who is reconciled to his Father. In this story Jesus tells, the father represents God. The two sons represent us. Either we are like the younger son or the older son. Maybe we are sometimes like one and sometimes like the other.

"There was a man who had two sons. One day the younger one says to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' In other words, ‘Father let’s pretend you’re dead already so I can get my part of the inheritance.’ Not a very honoring thing to say. The father, with more generosity than anyone I know, divides up his property and gives the boy the money.” Not long after that, the greedy little brother takes the money and sets off for a distant country. Not surprisingly he spends all his wealth in wild living and ends up broke. Then to make matters even worse for the boy, a famine hits the land and he’s starving. He does find a job though, working for a citizen in that country. His job is perhaps the most lowly job a Jewish boy could have, he has to feed pigs. Pigs are an unclean animal according to the Torah. He’s so hungry that he longs to fill his stomach with the slop that the pigs are eating. Even in such a state of humility no one gives him anything. All the parties he’s thrown, all the money he’s given away to every passerby, and yet in his starvation no one gives him a thing.

Finally the boy starts to make some sense, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he leaves the pigs and heads back home to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father sees him and his heart melts for him; (was he outside looking for him, hoping he might just come home?) The father does what no respectable Jewish man should ever do, he runs to his son. For the father to run would mean lifting up his robe and showing his naked legs, a big taboo. When he reaches his smelly, dirty, grimy boy he throws his arms around him and kisses him. The son is flabbergasted, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father says to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.


Meanwhile, the older son was in the field, working like he’s done faithfully since he was a boy. When he comes near the house, he hears music and dancing. He calls one of the servants and asks him what’s going on. 'Your brother has come home and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ The older brother is furious. He won’t even go in to see him. His father comes out to talk to him. But he tells his father how it is, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours (notice, not ‘brother of mine’) who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'

Quite a story. But again, this isn’t just a great story. There is a command implicit in this parable. Jesus is calling us to be like the younger brother. He is saying, Be Reconciled to God! Repent and receive God’s grace.

There is one thing that must be assumed before we talk about how to be reconciled with God. And that is that we need to be reconciled with God. You don’t need reconciliation if you are already on good terms with someone. You don’t need to be alive again, unless you are dead. You don’t need to be found, unless you are lost. Jesus teaches we are dead to God. We are lost to God. Sin has separated us from God. We are at enmity with God. God and us are in a feud. Because of our sin, knowingly or not, we are rebels against God. We have treated God like a dishonored and disowned Father. Friends the sad fact is the natural state of human beings is not one of unity with God, it is one of rebellion. Outside of Christ, we don’t have to wonder whether or not we are right with God. Outside of Christ, we are not right with God. In our sin, we are desperately at odds with God.

Like the rebellious younger brother who with his actions said to his Father, “I wish you were dead”, we have by our sinful actions said to God, “I wish you were dead”. Relationally speaking, and again reconciliation is a relational term, sin is saying to God, “I don’t love you, I don’t honor you, I don’t wish to please you, I don’t want to live with you, I don’t care about you.” The choice to live in sin is a choice to continue to wallow in the pig pen and envy the slop.

Until we understand the reality of the broken relationship we have with God, we cannot understand the amazing miracle it is that we can be reconciled to God. But friends, that is the good news of the gospel. We can be reconciled with Him! What blessing could be greater than this? What else in all of life could compare to this? According to Jesus parable, how does it happen?


Application

First, seek repentance to be Reconciled to God

One of the necessary components of reconciliation is repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is a word that comes from the Greek word metanoia which means ‘to change one’s mind’. Repentance is to admit yourself to be in the wrong, and admit that God is in the right. But it is more than admitting sin, it is rejecting sin. Behind the Greek word is the Hebrew word shuv, meaning to ‘turn.’ To repent means to turn from sin, to leave it.

The person who feels guilty, has only come half way. If they go the next day and do it again they have not repented. Let me give you a specific example. Let’s say a guy steals a hundred dollars from his company. Afterwards he feels guilty. His guilt turns to remorse. And finally he asks God for forgiveness. Has he repented? Not yet, repentance would also require him to go return that $100 bill. So long as that money is in his possession he is still a thief. Repentance requires going back to his employer, explaining what he did, and accepting the consequences. That is repentance.

One question people ask a lot is, “Doesn’t the Bible teach that if I am a Christian, I can go and murder people and then say a prayer to Jesus and be forgiven.” Have you ever heard that? Let me give you the very subtle, gentle, and compassionate answer to that question: “No!” That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that when accept Christ we repent of sin, we turn away from it, we leave it. To continue to live in unrepentant sin is a sign that we have never truly accepted the Christ. This doesn’t mean that Christians don’t sin, it means that when we do fall into sin, we leave it. Though we will struggle with sin until the day we die, we don’t continue to live in unrepentant sin. The purpose of repentance is to be reconciled.

When it comes to repentance, if both parties are in the wrong, then both need to repent, if one party is in the wrong then the guilty party needs to repent. Just like we mentioned earlier, if the two families are both gossiping about each other, then they both need to repent. Or in the case of the husband and wife, whichever one is in the wrong needs to repent. In the player-coach situation, it is most likely the player who needs to repent.

In Jesus’ parable it is clear that the son is in the wrong. He asked for his inheritance early, a dishonoring thing to do. He goes and spends all his money on wild living, an immoral thing to do. The broken relationship with his father is his fault. It is not his father’s fault, it is his fault. In order for reconciliation to occur, it is not the father who needs to repent, but the son. This is important because remember the father represents God. God is not in the wrong. Sin is what separates us from God, and sin is our doing. God is holy. He is perfect. Like it or not, that is the reality. It is we who are in the wrong. So when we talk about repentance being necessary for reconciliation, remember this is not a two way street. God has nothing to repent of even as the father has nothing to repent of.

The son in the story realizes his sin and repents. It is interesting to note that he has to hit the lowest of low before he does so. Matthew Henry:

Note, Afflictions, when they are sanctified by divine grace, prove happy means of turning sinners from the error of their ways.

He says to himself, I will say to my father, “I have sinned against heaven and against you.” And his words are followed by his actions. He goes home to face his father and the consequences for his sin. In his mind, the consequences are that he will no longer be accepted as a son. He goes back begging merely to be a hired worker, and even that he thinks he doesn’t deserve. He’s dirty, dejected, smelly, a total failure, and he must face his father who is completely innocent. That is not an easy thing to do!

That is what repentance is for us too. We need to change our mind about our sin. Recognize that God is right about sin, we are wrong. To say, “I have done what is evil, what God says about sin is right.” But again it is more than that. It is turning away from sin and to God. We not only recognize sin to be wrong, we leave it. “No longer will I continue in this sin. No longer will I wallow with the smelly pig filled mud.” “I will return to God. He is innocent and perfect and holy and pure.”

Now, to be clear, this doesn’t mean we have to remember every sin we have committed. No one could do that even if they wanted to. Martin Luther used to attend confession daily and try to confess every sin he committed. The problem was that as soon as he left the confessional he realized that he had missed some.” Finally the priest told him to stop coming, and come back when you have committed a real sin. We can never remember every sin, nor do we need to. Repentance is to admit ourselves to be in sin, and leave those sins we are aware of.

Some people don’t like the word repentance. It sounds very negative, old fashioned, judgmental. Repentance is a blessing. The real negative situation would be if there were no repentance. That would mean we are stuck in our sin forever. Imagine if the parable went “The son was feeding pigs, and decided to stay in the pig pen the rest of his life eating the pods along with the swine.” That would be horrible. Repentance is a gift that God grants us to leave sin.

One more point about repentance that needs to be explicit. Our repentance does not earn reconciliation. Just because someone is sorry and turns away from it, doesn’t mean the offended party must therefore be reconciled. The guy who stole the $100 bill may very justly be fired, even if he returns it. The football coach may say, sorry I don’t accept quitters. The father has no obligation to forgive his son, regardless of whether or not he repents. He would still be right to say to his son “Young man, I will take you back as a hired worker, but you have forfeited your right as a son.” Or even, “Young man, I have plenty of hired workers. You have disowned me as your father, you must find work elsewhere.” That would be cold, but it would be fair. Repentance must come before reconciliation with God, but it does not in any sense earn our reconciliation with God.


Receive grace and be Reconciled to God

Even though the father had no obligation to forgive the boy, he does so: over and abundantly. He runs to him, he hugs him, he gets a robe for him, a ring for his finger, sandals for his feet. He kills the fattened calf for him. The father absolutely pours out grace on the boy. And that Jesus is saying, is what the Heavenly Father desires to do for us.

The boy could not earn his father’s forgiveness. If he had worked for the father for a hundred years, he could not repair the hurt he had down to his father. But his father could offer it to him by his own grace. The same is true of us. We cannot earn God’s forgiveness. Even if we could live perfect sinless lives from this point forward, which we couldn’t do, we could not earn forgiveness from Him. But God can offer to us by his own grace.

God is offering reconciliation to you. He is running to you, baring his legs. He is got a robe for you, a ring for you, sandals for you. He has party ready for your return. He offers this to you by grace. What will you do? Receive it!
Don’t work for it. Don’t say to him, “God, hold on, let me try to do this myself. No no, don’t bring out that robe, forget the ring, I’m going to become a hired worker. I’m going to try to earn this from you. Forget the fattened calf. I got this one by myself. Receive grace.

There is one thing that needs some explanation. How can the Father do this? How can he just end the feud? How can he simply overlook the rejection, and the dishonor, and the immorality? How can he simply forgive the boy? This is hinted at by the older brother: How can you do this? Yeah he repented, but still that doesn’t make all of it go away? What makes the Father able to simply look over our sins?

To find the answer, we need to look beyond the words of the story, to the story-teller himself. What gives Jesus the right to tell this story about God? I mean, I can imagine the people listening saying, “Who are you? How dare you say this about God? What makes you the bearer of this news? I mean sure, it is a great story, but what qualifies you do say these things about God? How do you know this is true?”

Here is the most striking part of the story. The story-teller is the one who makes this reconciliation possible. Jesus! We read this explicitly in Romans 5:11 “we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”. And again in 2 Cor 5:18 “God…reconciled us to himself through Christ.” The reconciliation comes through Jesus.

How does he do it? Jesus knew as he told this story, how costly this reconciliation would be. He knew what it would mean. It would mean the cross. It would mean the agony of his death in our behalf. It would mean there must be a sin-bearer who takes upon himself the punishment.

God cannot be fair and not punish sin. What kind of father rewards his kids for rebellion? What kind of father blesses his kids with the greatest of blessings when they have mockingly dishonored and disowned him as their father by their sin? It would not only be foolish of a father to do so, it would be wrong. It would be unfair. And one thing God cannot be is wrong and unfair!

So Christ does what only he could do: he is the faithful child for us. He becomes the perfect son for us. He becomes the obedient one for us. And he calls us to hide ourselves in him. Jesus calls us to be in Christ, to be clothed in His perfection, so that we can be reconciled to God.

The Prodigal Son may seem like a great story. But it is much more than just a great story. It is a calling for us to be reconciled to God: to repent of our sins, to change our mind about sin, and to turn from them towards God. It is a calling to receive God’s grace, not as a hired worker, who tries earn his Father’s favor back, but as a son who is welcomed home with open arms. And it is a calling to recognize the story-teller as the one that makes this reconciliation possible.

If this is the case, the prodigal son becomes not the story of some Jewish boy who ran away from home and eventually returns to his dad with a nice happy ending. Instead it becomes the story of you and I, who in our sin have left God. But in Christ are reconciled to God. So that The Father in Heaven might celebrate that we who were dead are alive again; we who were lost, are now found.