Luke 15:21–24

Luke 15:21-24 

English Standard Version 

  The son had a lengthy speech prepared.  

  Grace interrupted it, and the restoration is shocking in its totality.  The son was hoping to go to work and be recognized as an employee, not a treasured son.

  But grace overwhelms.  The transformation is complete -- from death to life.  God doesn't simply want us to be a little bit better than we were before... God wants to move us from death, ensnared by sin, into life, fully claimed by the Gospel.  That's what God intends for you.  That's what grace wants for you.  For you to be changed into something new.  You are a child of the living God, claimed in the waters of baptism and marked as Christ's own forever.  

  Grace has interrupted.  Thanks be to God.

Bear Spray and the Gospel

Luke 15:20

Luke 15:20 

English Standard Version 

  So the son is returning to the father, and what I love is that he's been gone for a while -- long enough for the son to squander his inheritance in reckless living and for a famine to arise -- and the Father is still watching.  All this time, the Father is looking out for the son.  He never gives up.

  I wish we could all remember that about God.  It's so easy to despair -- there are always plenty of reasons to do so.  I have vivid memories of certain days and times stamped in my mind, times when I received terrible news, but it's not only those... there are plenty of little defeats as well, and we suffer from discouragement.  Life is hard.  Faithfulness is hard.  

  But God doesn't give up.  Jesus is telling us this parable to remind us that God is watching out for us.  We have other images where God goes actively looking for those who are lost, but I think this moment is worth sitting with.  The Father doesn't give up on the children, no matter what.  

  There is an embrace for you.  No matter what.

Sermon on Luke 14 (7-26-2026)