0922 – Come Home 浪子回家吧

Luke 15:12-15 (NKJV) And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

This parable not only shows forth God’s divine nature, His unmerited favour and unlimited compassion versus the great need of man, it also illustrates how God reacts to outright rebellion and the sins of man.

When the younger son asked for his inheritance before his father’s death, he was in reality asking his father to die. Sadly, many people also want their inheritance without a relationship with God, because they want to live their lives apart from God and be free from the Father’s care. They wish that God were dead or would just be a prosperity God who would bless them when they need but leave them alone otherwise.

Oftentimes, college students have moved away from home, their parents and accountability, only to find that enjoying their new-found freedom have landed them right on their faces. They had felt restrained at home and attracted by the world. The beginning of all sins is when we no longer enjoy God’s presence, His love, and His ways. We become restless when we can’t find satisfaction in God, but if we don’t attach ourselves to God, we will either attach to someone or something else, such as drugs, alcohol, money, sex, a sport, a hobby, TV shows, the computer, an employer or even a spouse.

Many of us want to be free and be our own lord. The prodigal son’s rebellion and downward course illustrate the terrible toll of sin in human lives. The son was totally humiliated by the people whom he worked for as pigs are considered unclean by the Jews, but he was at such a low point of his life that he was feeding pigs and desired to eat whatever was fed to them. However, this was not a punishment from the Father, because Scripture says a man reaps what he sows.

Galatians 6:7-8 (NKJV) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Unlike the prodigal son in the passage, many prodigals refuse to come home because they are concerned about what their parents, family or friends would say, but Jesus is using this parable to say, “Come home from sin, from a broken relationship, and from the sting of this world! Come Home!”

Sermon Series: The Love of the Father (The Compassionate Father and the Two Lost Sons)


浪子回家吧

路加福音 15:12-15 小儿子对父亲说:“父亲,请你把我应得的家业分给我。” 他父亲就把产业分给他们。过了不多几日,小儿子就把他一切所有的都收拾起来,往远方去了。在那里任意放荡,浪费资财。既耗尽了一切所有的,又遇着那地方大遭饥荒,就穷苦起来。于是去投靠那地方的一个人,那人打发他到田里去放猪。

这则寓言不仅显明了上帝的神性、祂赐给人所不配得的恩典 以及无限的怜悯,与人的巨大需要相对, 也显示了上帝如何回应和对待人的悖逆和罪愆。

当小儿子在父亲还没去世之前就要求分他应继承的家业时,他实际上是在要求父亲去死。可悲的是,许多人也想在不与上帝建立关系的前提下得到他们应继承的产业,因为他们想过远离 上帝 的生活,摆脱天父的照顾。他们希望 上帝 死了,或者仅仅是一位财神爷,在他们有需要之时祝福他们,而其他则一概放任。

很多时候,大学生离开了家,离开了父母和问责,却发现享受他们所谓的新自由让他们跌得七荤八素。他们之前在家里总觉得受约束,并被外面的世界深深吸引。当我们不再享受 神 的同在、神 的爱与 神 的真道时,也就是一切罪恶产生的开始。当我们不能从 神那得到满足,我们就会变得焦躁不安,可是我们若不依附于神,我们就会依附别人或其他东西,比如毒品、酒精、金钱、性交、体育运动、爱好、电视节目、电脑、雇主或者甚至是配偶。

我们很多人都向往自由,做自己的主。浪子的叛逆和堕落表明了罪在人生命中可怕的代价。浪子受尽了他所投靠之人的羞辱, 因为对犹太人来说,猪是不洁净的,可他正处于生命的低谷,沦落至被打发去放猪,并恨不得拿喂猪的任何饲料充饥。然而,这惩罚并不是来自父神,因为经上说,人种的是什么,收的也是什么。

加拉太书 6:7-8 不要自欺,神 是轻慢不得的;人种的是甚么,收的也是甚么。顺着情欲撒种的,必从情欲收败坏,顺着圣灵撒种的,必从圣灵收永生。

与经文中的浪子回头不同,许多浪子拒绝回家,因为他们担心父母、亲人或朋友会说什么; 然而 ,主耶稣 正用这则寓言对我们说,“离开罪,离开破裂的关系,离开这世界的毒钩,回家吧!“

讲章系列:天父的爱 (慈父和两个失丧的儿子)