Lost in the Pig Pen

All right, guys. We're gonna preach, and I saw Kuby back there, so that means we're gonna eat ribs here pretty soon. I'm glad that he showed up here. Kuby, come here for just a second, because I'm gonna preach on this today, but I want y'all to, I was gonna pick on him, and then he didn't think he was gonna be here for the sermon, but I want him to, I want him to show his arm up here, because I'm gonna be preaching on the prodigal son story, and I want you to, I want you to show this tattoo. All right. Now, get a close look at this later, because it's all about the prodigal son coming home, and you know why he wears it? He was one.

I'm telling you, this brother was a prodigal, and he came home to Jesus, and why not wear it on your arm, huh? You know, we were told in the Old Testament, put the blood on the doorpost, so when the Passover came through, it went around, didn't it, and brought healing to people. Amen? So this brother, amen. I'm gonna be here for just a little bit, and I'll be back with lunch. Okay, amen.

Amen, thank you. All right, guys, I want you to look at, we've been doing a sermon series, Lost, Found, and Rejoicing in Luke chapter 15, and so if you have a Bible or have your phones, you can go to Luke 15. We are gonna look at life in the pig pens today, Luke 15, 11 through 32, and I'll read that to you in a minute, but those of you who've been here regularly through this sermon series, can you remember what our summarizing verse was for this entire series? Luke 19, 10, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Now, do you know what that means? It means God loves you. If there's anything I hope you take home today from this place, it's the understanding that God loves you, and that He went the distance for you in atoning for your sins.

Now, it doesn't matter what geographical place you've been in, what spiritual place you've been in, what non-spiritual place you've been in, God went the distance for you, and so if you don't feel loved, well, you get close to me after the service, and I love you. We want to affirm you today. We want you to know that God loves you. In the first sermon series, and we went into a lot, first sermon, we went into a lot of detail on this. It was entitled Lost in the Wilderness. Out of a hundred sheep, one goes astray, and it gets lost. Now, I'm not going to repeat all that sermon to you.

Some of these guys here say amen. Thank God He's not going to do that all over again. I'm not going to read, but there was a quote that I quoted in that sermon, and I thought it's one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard, and some of you will identify this. A shepherd who was a practicing shepherd made this statement when he was talking about how sheep get lost, and this is what he said. That little lamb can nibble its way into being lost.

Isn't that profound? You can nibble your way. You get in that green pasture, and you get your head down, and you just go to nibbling. That lamb just goes to nibbling until he's, that lamb's nibbled its way all the way outside of the pasture into the wilderness. How many of you can say you've been there before? You've been in the green pasture, but you found yourself outside in the wilderness. The good news, and this is what I want you to hear here, and the good news about that is, and Kim, you may have a summary.

Did I put a summary for you online? If not, I've got it here, but the good news about that first sermon was simply this. Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd until our final breath, he is seeking us to save us. Do you hear what I'm saying there? Jesus is the good shepherd. If you're outside in the wilderness, the good shepherd is searching for you.

Raise your hand if you just heard that. The good shepherd is searching for you. If you've nibbled yourself away, and you think, oh, it's useless for me. You know what I found out about raising livestock growing up? They say that sheep are the dumbest animals on the earth. Now, I don't know about that, you know. I've seen my grandkids train sheep and show them, so I thought, well, they got a little bit of common sense, but I'll say this about sheep.

Sheep are defenseless. You ever seen a sign that said, beware of sheep?

Only on the church. Only on the church, yeah.

Sheep are defenseless. They get out in that wilderness. If wolves or wild dogs come around, they're done. They're done. Thank God that Jesus is the good shepherd, and he will walk outside that pasture into that wilderness, and he'll hook you with that hook of his, and he'll bring you back into the pasture. I want you to take that in mind. In the second sermon, we talked about lost in the house.

Not in the wilderness, not in the pig pens, but lost in the house. One silver coin out of 10 worth a day's wages has fallen from the headband of a wedding gift from the groom to the bride-to-be. Ten coins symbolize their completeness. You remember how I talked about that Jerry Maguire movie, You Complete Me? One of the coins has fallen. Unrelentingly, this lady in the house, lots of lamp, sweeps the floor carefully searching until she finds it. The coin is much more than just monetary value.

It symbolizes her sacred value of the coin, her sacred worth to the groom, to their marriage, and to the public. Once found, she throws a party. Now, we concluded that this woman was akin to the Holy Spirit, seeking the lost silver coin because of its sacred value and worth. She was unyielding until she redeemed it and restored it. Now, this is what I want you to hear here. I said this very loudly and clearly in that sermon, and if you've never heard it, I hope it sinks in. You are of sacred worth and value to God.

And the Holy Spirit will not yield. You know how we talked about there, the light, she turned on a light, illumination, revelation. And what else did she do? She took the broom and she swept, and she swept, and she swept. That's exactly what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. The Holy Spirit sweeps across our hearts. You ever been sitting there in church, not lost in the house?

I said that for a reason. Billy Graham said that the largest place of evangelism today ought to be in the church. You ever been in the house and been lost? I spent many, many years in the house and I was lost, but the Holy Spirit was actively lighting my path and sweeping my heart. You know, people are always asking me, man, do you come to that point where you cross the line and the Holy Spirit is not lighting and sweeping? And I said, and I'll be honest, not until that last dying breath. That's grace.

You may give up on yourself, hear me, but God will never give up. He wants you to be found in the house, not just lost in the house, but found in the house. All right, so let's look at lost in the pig pens. Verse 11 says, and Jesus said, a certain man had two sons. Now let me give you a quick summary of these two sons and their father. First is a story about a younger son who wallowed in the mire of pig slop. He had disrespected his father by asking for the part of his inheritance before the father's death.

This kind of disrespect, according to Jewish culture, should have demanded the stoning of this son. Did you know that? But his father would have none of it. He ignored his own traditions and gave him his part of the inheritance, which was one third of the estate. Within days, the Bible tells us that he had packed his bags, moved into another country, lived wildly, and lost all of his wealth. He had fallen so deeply into carnality that he got a job feeding hogs, which no Jewish boy would ever do in his right mind. Hitting bottom, he came to his senses.

How many of you have hit bottom in your life before? I'm going to tell you, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to our senses. He recognized that he was lost. It was more than just being sorry. It was full-blown repentance. In verse 18, he said, I will get up and go to my father and I will say to him, I have sinned against heaven. Now, you hear that?

I've sinned against heaven. In your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants. He's not asking to be positioned even as a slave. There were sons, there were slaves, and there were servants.

Slaves were purchased. And many times, oftentimes, slaves would become part of the family. But there is the hired servant. That's the day laborer. You may have a job one day, they may release you the next day. You just show up at the welfare line and a guy comes by and hires you for labor that day. He's requesting that he just be a day laborer in the father's house.

Secondly, is the story of the elder son. The one who received two-thirds of the estate when the younger son had received a third. Now, when most people read this, you know what they think? Well, he just gave the estate to his younger son and the elder got nothing. He gave two-thirds of the estate to the elder son. He didn't have any reason to gripe. He gave two-thirds of the estate to him.

The father was very fair and very just to both of these boys. It would have been totally not fair to bless one and bless the other. So he followed their traditions of division with one change. He gave both of them their inheritance, listen to this, before he died. On the surface level, the son looked to be a perfect son, but he was far from it. He had his own pig pens he wallowed in. While the younger son was lost in rebellious action, the elder son was lost through the attitudes of the heart.

He, too, had disrespected the father by refusing to come in and join the party. His heart was angry. How many of you have ever been angry? You know, I got to thinking about Prodigal Church. We don't have a lot of drug addicts and alcoholics and sexaholics and, you know, I got thinking about the dynamics of our church right now. And I thought, we don't have a lot of folks with those addictions, those outward action sins. We don't have a lot of that.

We have some that have been there, and they'll tell you today, I lived in that pig pen out there. I know what that's all about. But what we might have, and every church has, is elder sons, those that have a problem with the heart. But while the younger son was lost to rebellious actions, hear that, the elder son was lost through attitudes of the heart. It's out of the heart evil things come, isn't it? He, too, had disrespected the father by refusing to come in and join the party. He was angry.

Now, he didn't have to go to a far country to wallow in the physical pig pens. He stayed home and wallowed in the pig pens of a rotten heart. You know, I have to say, I've been the prodigal into physical pig pens in my life. I've been there. But you know, one thing I noticed once I finally came to Christ, and I got so far inside the church, then I might look out to those that are outside the church and go, I can't believe they're doing that. I can't believe they're living like that. I became the elder son.

So full of pride and self-righteousness. So here's my position, you'll find this out if you get to know me as a pastor. Here's my position, I stand by the door. I'm not gonna get too far inside, but I'm not going way out there. I'll stand by the door and say, come on in here. Come on in here. I don't want a rotten heart.

I don't want an angry heart. I don't want a judgmental heart. I don't want to be self-righteous. And yet, that happens. You know, I can understand sometimes why people say the church hurt me. If you've been in a church and you've been hurt, let me just say, I'm sorry for the body of Christ. Because there are those in the church that would judge and judge and judge, and I want to shake them and say, quit doing that.

You just love people. You just love people.

Accept them where they're at in their journey. Don't give up on them. Don't become an elder brother. Does that make sense to you? We've seen this, and some of us have even experienced it. Now, both boys, most sermons you ever heard on was about the younger son. But I'm telling you, both boys were prodigals.

They were a way. But you know, it's interesting that the term prodigal was never used in this story. Did you, have you ever heard it in this story? But it's applicable there. The younger son is wasteful and extravagant in rebellion, loose, righteous, sinful lifestyle. He was wicked and evil and separated from the father's love. The elder son was just as wasteful and extravagant in nourishing and preserving the rotten attitudes of his heart, things that defiled him and separated him from his father's love.

But I want you to notice one other prodigal here. There's the third prodigal in this story. Did you see it?

Or did you miss it? Biblical scholars have said the story is much more about the waiting father than the prodigal sons. Do you hear that? It's true that there is a third prodigal in this story. It's the prodigal father. When I was praying about naming this church, the term prodigal kept coming to me. And I remember talking with Kurt and I told Kurt, Kurt, I think the Lord wants us to name our church Prodigal Church.

And Kurt said to me, and he's a scholar, he said to me, dad, you know what prodigal means? Reckless, wasteful, extravagant. You know what that means, right? I told him, I did, but without any explanation. But I had an explanation, Romans 5, 8, listen to this. But God shows his love for us. And while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

With the younger son, the reckless love of God was seen when the father saw his son at a distance, had compassion and ran and embraced him. Now, if you go back to Jewish tradition, no older Jewish man would ever have been seen running. This is the day God ran. And he covered him with kisses. And then he commanded his slaves to put the best robe on him. His father's robe was the best robe. So the father took his own robe that he wore on special occasions and put on this son, a robe of righteousness.

And he put a ring on his hand, the ring of authority. Everything the father had, the son had also. He put shoes on his feet. Shoes were a sign of sonship. You know, I love that old Negro spiritual that says, all God's children got shoes on their feet. You hear that? All God's children got shoes on their feet.

He killed the fatted calf and he threw a party. But listen to this. With the elder son, the reckless love of God was seen when the father left the party, came outside and pleaded with the elder son to come in and participate with the family.

That blow your mind? He left the party and came outside. Now that's God in movement through the Holy Spirit. Came outside and pleaded with the elder son to come in, to come in and party with them. It even says in verse 31, listen to this. My child, you have always been with me and all that is mine is yours. You see what he's saying there?

I'm not gonna take away your inheritance. I gave you two thirds. I'm not gonna take that away. And when I die, if there's more, you're gonna get it too. You are my child. He didn't say you're my son, you're the other son. He said, you're my child.

You know, I got three kids, Kurt, Cassie, and Kelsey. And they're just not a son and a daughter to me. If you can hear the affection I'm saying here, they are my children. They are my children. The father's love was as reckless for the elder son as it was for the younger son. Let me ask you a couple of questions and then we'll conclude. Who does the younger son represent here?

When he started telling these three stories, who did he tell these to? Tax collectors and sinners. The younger son is those who live on the edges in action against God. Who's the elder son? He also told the stories to the scribes and Pharisees. Religious people.

You know, I hate that term. When somebody tell me, well, they got religion. I wanna shout, well, did they get Jesus? I don't care about religion. I don't care about religiosity. See, I wanna know if they came to Jesus, if they got Jesus. Leon Morris, and I'm gonna read this to you and I'm gonna quit.

Leon Morris is a good biblical scholar. And in his commentary on Luke 15, he wrote these words. Jesus does not tell us whether the elder son responded or not.

He didn't, did he? He left the story open-ended. Nor does he say how the younger son lived in response to the father's welcoming love. He came home, but he doesn't say he followed up, does he? In leaving these points unresolved, he throws out, listen to this, a challenge to all his hearers. Be they elder or younger, we can still do the right thing. We can still do the right thing.

Here's what I wanna say to you. Maybe you've wandered away, and you got lost in the wilderness. Amen, Todd? Amen. Maybe you've been in the house all your life, but you're as lost as a goose. I said that last week, and Bill said, there's more to that expression than that. Why would he not say lost as a duck?

So he researched it this week. The expression really is lost as a goose in a snowstorm. You get up in those clouds, and that snow's coming so rapidly that it's all white. And you can't see that next goose in front of you. Lost as a goose in a snowstorm. Thank you, scholar. No charge. Amen. But maybe you've been lost in the pig pens.

If you wanna talk about sin, I and these brothers of mine, the Hearst boys, we can tell you about sin. There were six of us boys, and we did it 100%. But we finally all came to Jesus. But if you wanna talk about the elder son, I have to repent that I've slipped my foot into that circle before, where I looked down my long, self-righteous nose on others.

God have mercy on my soul. That I never live as an elder son. So what am I saying? I'm saying I appreciate your journey, wherever you're at. I appreciate that. Because I know a God who loves you. And I know a Savior who died for you.

And I know the Holy Spirit that will come and live inside of you. You're not a lost cause. You'll never be a lost cause. Because He'll always be seeking you out. That's good preaching, isn't it? Huh? It doesn't matter if you're on the inside or the outside.

We all need to hear that. Let's bow together. Lord, we've had a good time here this morning. Looking at the story of the prodigal son. I was supposed to read it, and I didn't even read it. I just talked about it today. Because most folks have heard this story.

And so, Lord, I pray today, that if it be a challenging word to us, or a convicting word, that it also might be a word of confirmation and cleansing. That it might be a word that affirms us in knowing that you're a God of grace and mercy. And that you will never give up in pursuing us to have a relationship with you. So, Lord, just help us say, well, here I am, God. You know me better than I know myself.

I'll just yield to you. And even if I can't live it out perfectly, I'm still going to yield to you. And pray that you help me love myself, love you, and love others. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.