The One | Donovan Rillion | The One Who Is Willful

Amen. You know, something I love about that song,

we talked about it a few weeks ago in the songs

we sing Wednesday night Bible class, but that

song was actually written as a counter to the

Times Magazine cover that claimed God is dead.

And that song was written as a counter to say,

no, no, no. There is a God and he is alive. He

is more alive than you could imagine. He is active.

He is working and he is doing good things. And

we believe that to be true. That's why we're

here this morning. And so as we've gone through

Luke 15 the last couple of weeks, we've been

looking at different ways that people become

lost. And we clarified in the first lesson, and

I want to keep saying it, that to say someone

is lost is not an insult. It's actually a compliment

because to say someone is lost is to say that

they have value. You don't lose something you

don't care about. If it's gone and you don't

care about it, it's just gone. But if you care

about it, it's lost and it needs to be found.

So we've been talking about these different kinds

of lost people, these different kinds of distance

from God, if you will. You know, most of us can

find ourselves or someone we love somewhere in

these categories. We've been working through

this. The last couple of weeks, I guess I didn't

put this slide in this week, but it's there are

some that grew up in church, but they slowly

wandered from the faith. There's some that grew

up in church and maybe they were dropped. They

were hurt. And so there were people in the church,

maybe people in their lives, people in their

family that hurt them and maybe push them out.

There are some people that believe they found

a better way to live apart from God. And then

there are some that would call themselves Christians.

But they are trusting more in their own goodness,

their own self -righteousness than they are in

Jesus. And then there are some, and this is where

I hope we find ourselves. There are some that

are genuine followers of Christ. Genuine disciples,

still flawed people, not perfect, but faithfully

following. So he started with the one who wandered,

the sheep, who didn't necessarily... plan on

getting lost, maybe just kind of nibbled its

way into lostness. Then we looked at the one

who was lost by somebody else. That would be

the coin that didn't choose to maybe roll away,

but instead was dropped. Well, today we're going

to hear Jesus tell a story about someone who

absolutely chose to be lost. Someone who absolutely

chose to leave. The sheep didn't choose to leave.

It just kind of wandered. The coin didn't choose

to leave. It was dropped. But this person, One

hundred percent chose to leave on their own.

There's no confusion about it. There's no accident

here. There is no one to blame except for this

person. So this morning we're talking about the

one who is willful. Before we can go any further,

I want to define that word because I know when

I first heard a lesson on the one who was willful,

I was like, what in the world does willful mean?

I know I'm from Mississippi. Give me a break.

All right. So willful. Having or showing a stubborn

and determined intention to do what one wants,

regardless of the consequences. So that's our

definition that we're going to run with this

morning for willful. You know anybody like that?

Anybody that maybe is a little stubborn? I'm

thinking specifically about my three -year -old,

very willful kid. Do you know anybody that's

determined to do what they want to do regardless

of what consequences come from it? They're going

to be their own person. They're going to do what

they want. They're going to do what makes them

happy. And they don't care who it hurts, even

if it hurts themselves. Do you know anybody like

that? You know, we immediately, like I said,

think about how stubborn our kids are. Whether

our kids are three or 30, they can be pretty

stubborn. But I want you to think about your

friends, your willful friends, or maybe your

family members. Maybe it's a coworker. And if

we're honest, maybe we find ourselves as the

stubborn individual, the determined individual.

I'll go ahead and raise my hand. I got a head

as hard as a rock. I'm a little willful sometimes.

And these people almost always have to fall flat

on their face before they'll listen. It takes

something kind of traumatic, something like a

punch upside the head to make them realize what

they're doing is not good for them or not good

for the people around them. It takes hitting

rock bottom before they can realize how far they've

fallen. And that's the son that Jesus introduces

us to in Luke 15 verses 11 through 24. Now we've,

Luke 15:11–24

I think since I've been here and just for six

months, I've already preached two different lessons

on this story. And guess what? We're going to

do it again. So Luke 15, 11 through 24, I want

you to just read along with me. It'll be on the

screen. And he said, there was a man who had

two sons and the younger of them said to his

father, father, give me the share of property

that's coming to me. And he divided his property

between them. Not many days later, the younger

son gathered all he had and took a journey into

a far country. And there he squandered his property

and reckless living. And when he had spent everything,

a severe famine arose in that country and he

began to be in need. So he went and hired himself

out to one of the citizens of that country who

sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he

was longing to be fed with the pods that the

pigs ate. And no one gave him anything. But when

he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's

hired servants have more than enough bread? But

I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go

to my father and I'll say to him, Father, I've

sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no

longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me

as one of your hired servants. And he arose and

he came to his father. But while he was still

a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion.

And he ran and embraced him and kissed him. And

the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against

heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy

to be called your son. But the father said to

his servants, bring quickly the best robe and

put it on him and put a ring on his hand and

shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf

and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For

this, my son was dead and now he's alive again.

He was lost. Now he's found. And they began to

celebrate. You know, this story kind of begins

with a really shocking line. The son says, Father,

give me the share of your property that's going

to be mine. And in that culture, asking for your

inheritance early was essentially saying, I wish

you were dead. Imagine your kid comes up to you

and says, hey, I wish you were dead. That wouldn't

be very nice, would it? And you might say, well,

why would you wish that? And they're like, oh,

I just want my inheritance now. You're like,

well, I can give it to you. I mean, I don't have

to die for you to get this little bit of money.

And so he's saying, I wish you were dead. This

is not just about impatience. This is a rejection.

This is the son saying, I don't care to live

under your roof anymore. I don't care to do what

you're asking me to do. I don't want to live

under your rules. I don't want to be in your

household anymore. I'm rejecting your way of

life for me. He's essentially severing the relationship.

And I want you to notice something crucial. The

father gives it to him. Could you imagine your

child comes in and says, hey, I wish you were

dead. And you're like, OK, well, here you go.

Here's all the money that you are going to get

when I die. But instead, you get it right now,

which, first of all, I mean, I don't have that

much to just hand over to my kid. I mean, I imagine

the father had to go like sell some some things

to get a little bit, maybe liquid assets to hand

over to his kid. But he just gives it to him.

He doesn't argue with them. Well, maybe he did.

But He doesn't stop him. He doesn't lecture him.

He doesn't restrain him. He doesn't lock him

in his room. He just gives it to him. And I can't

imagine doing that. And so I'm reading this and

I'm asking the question of why would you do that?

Your son just disrespected you in the most disrespectful

way I can think of and you're just going to hand

it over to him? That's insanity. But I look at

it through the Father's eyes. And when I say

Father, I mean God. Capital F, Father. And the

only answer I can think of is because love does

not force obedience. If I love you, it's not

me forcing you to do what I want you to do. It's

not me telling you, you have to operate this

way if you're going to be loved by me. But this

is just the father saying, I love you. I hope

you make it. I hope you do all right. I hope

everything you're looking for, you find. God

will let you choose your own way. He'll let you

choose. It may not be the right choice. It may

not be the good choice. It may not be the smartest

choice, but God will let you choose your way

even when he knows where it leads. Because God

doesn't desire robots. He doesn't desire slaves.

I don't know about y 'all, but I love just like

having, this is going to make me sound really

dumb, but I love having conversations with AI.

Sometimes I like to be mean to AI because I can't

be mean to real people. So like when the Terminator

situation happens, I'm going to be the first

one dead. I know it. AI is going to come kill

me. But I like to just have conversations with

AI. You know what the cool thing about AI is?

It will tell me exactly what I want it to say.

I can control it. I can make it say what I want

to say. It has this algorithm in it that it kind

of watches our conversation so it knows the answers

that I'm looking for. That's a robot. That's

something that I can control. God doesn't want

something he can control. He wants people that

want to be with him, people that love to be with

him, people that desire to be in relationship

with him. So if all we are is his robots that

do what he says because we have no other choice,

that's not the relationship he wants. And that's

what we see here with the son and the father

in Luke 15 is the father says, go ahead. Do what

you need to do. He lets him go. But another why

question that I have in this story is why would

the son want to leave? You know, the son has

it. He's got it made. I mean, if the father has

enough resources to just go ahead and hand him

what's going to be his and still keep going,

he must have a lot of money. He must have a lot

of property. And so he's got security in this

household and he's got a job. He's got some things

he can do. So, you know, he's got purpose. I

mean, he's being provided for. He has everything

he needs. He's got an identity as a part of this

family. He's got a community around him. He has

everything he could want. Why would he want to

leave? Why would he want to go somewhere else?

You know, I was thinking about, it's funny, you

know, I wrote this lesson on Wednesday, Thursday,

kind of both days. And then yesterday, I'm sitting

at home and Easton comes in, my four -year -old,

and he asked me, he says, Dad, how come we can't

have a dog? I was like, buddy, because I don't

like dogs. Just being honest. He said, well,

that's not cool. I was like, I don't care. He's

like, but could we get a dog? No, I don't like

dogs. And he said, well, when I have my own house,

you ever heard that one? I think this is my first

time hearing that as a parent. I thought it would

come at like 15, but instead it's at four. And

he said, when I have my own house, I'm getting

a dog. I said, that's great. Just keep them away

from me. He said, well, my house is going to

be in our backyard. So, okay, keep it on your

side of the yard. But Easton has everything he

wants in my household. Well, except the dog.

He's got juice boxes. He's got TV. He's got toys.

He's got clothes. He's got he he's got water.

He's got everything he could need, everything

he could want. But for some reason, he wants

something else, something that I'm not going

to allow. And so his mind starts to tell him

when I have my own house. Another way to put

that is when I have my own way or when my will

be done. And, you know, the son here in Luke

15. The only answer I can think of as to why

he would want to leave his father's house is

because he wants his own will. He wants his own

way. He wants his own control. This isn't about

money. It's not about power. It's about having

the control over your own life to have the dog

if you want it, to have whatever you want to

do. If you want to eat chocolate for dinner,

you can eat chocolate for dinner because you

don't have mom and dad telling you no. And the

son here says, I don't want your will for my

life. I want my own. Any willful person knows

this tension. You know, when you live under someone

else's authority, when you live under someone

else's rules, when it's not your will being done,

but it's someone else's, you know exactly what

that feels like. And eventually, if you're willful

enough, you'll want to change it. And if you

can't change it where you are, this is the most

common result. We run. We go away. We go do our

own thing. You know, I think of assistant coaches.

An assistant coach, they are exactly what their

title says. The assistant to the coach being

the head coach. The head coach makes the rules.

The head coach develops the program. The head

coach sets the standard. The assistant coach

is at the mercy of the head coach. But if the

assistant coach starts thinking, man, if I were

the head coach, we'd do it my way. You know,

if I was the head coach, we'd do things a little

bit differently. We'd have a different culture.

We'd be a little bit more aggressive or maybe

we'd be a little more calculated. Maybe the assistant

coach starts thinking that way. And it's that

if I were in charge and eventually the assistant

coach says, why don't I just go be a head coach

somewhere else and do my own thing? And then

I get to have control of it. You see, a willful

person can't live long under authority that they

don't believe in. And this isn't about trust.

I'm sure the son trusted his father. But maybe

he didn't agree with the father's rules for him.

Maybe he didn't like what the father said. No,

you can't have women just come spend the night.

We ain't doing that. Y 'all got to get married

first. Maybe he didn't like the father saying,

no, we're not just going to eat junk food for

dinner. We've got to eat a pretty kosher meal.

Maybe he didn't like the father saying, we can't

just blow money on bulls because you want to

go ride bulls. We need some cows that we can

actually get some meat from and make some money.

Maybe he didn't like the way the father was running

things. He didn't believe in that way of doing

things. And so the son says, I want to go do

my own thing. So your choices are either you

try to overthrow it. Or you just walk away. And

that's exactly what he does. He thinks he's got

a better way of doing things. Maybe he thinks

he's got a better way of living life. So he walks

away to give it a go. And the son gets exactly

what he wants. He gets to have his will. He gets

to have his way. And it feels like, maybe it

looks like freedom for a while. I'm sure he had

a lot of fun. I mean, I can imagine if my father

had a lot of money to just hand me and he gave

it to me and I could just go and do what I want

to. And as the scripture says, he lived recklessly.

If I could do that, I'm sure it'd be fun for

a couple of days. I mean, you've gone on vacation

without your kids before. It's a lot of fun.

There's some freedom there. And instead of paying

for a Happy Meal, now you get to have the appetizer

that you want. The son gets his way and it probably

feels good for a little while. But what happens

next? Well, we find out that freedom apart from

God always has a shelf life. Freedom apart from

God always expires. Eventually, the money runs

out. Eventually, the friends that were with you

for a little while, they disappear. You know,

the consequences of those actions, they start

to pop up. Sin always, always. It's never failed.

And if you want to check it. Do some math on

your own. Sin always over promises and under

delivers because it promises good life. It promises

fun. It promises freedom. But eventually you

find yourself like the sun did sleeping with

pigs, feeding the pigs, wishing that you could

just have the scraps of what the pigs are eating.

And so you got to think about this for a Jewish

audience, which is who Jesus is talking to. This

is like the definition of rock bottom. This is

the son finding himself in ragged clothes, no

food, bunch of weight loss, scraggly hair, bugs

all around him sleeping under a bridge. Because

for the Jews, a pig is not just physically gross

because pigs are gross, right? They're disgusting.

Pigs aren't just physically gross. They are spiritually

unclean. So for the son, he's not just broke

now. He is spiritually, socially and morally

bankrupt. All that stuff his dad gave him, gone.

All the spiritual enrichment that his father

probably raised him in, gone. The social status

he had from being a part of this family, gone.

The purpose he had from having a family that

he could live with and work with and serve with

and enjoy, gone. He is bankrupt. You don't end

up in the pig pen. Because your way was better.

You don't end up socially, morally, spiritually

bankrupt because your way was better. That's

not how it works. That's not how walking away

works. You get there because your way could not

sustain you. Like I said, it's fun for a little

while. I've gone on vacation before. And I've

spent a weekend or a couple days without my kids.

Guess what? Days one and two, I'm good. Day three,

I'm ready to go home. Day four, packing the bags,

let's get going. And then I get home and I'm

like, man, we can go back on a vacation, right?

The son gets out there. He gets to have his way.

He gets to do his own thing. But after a while,

it grows old. And you find yourself in a place

that really stinks. And this is who we're talking

about today. We're not talking about the people

who drifted. We're not talking about the people

that they grew up in church and life just kind

of pulled them away and they just kind of, you

know, wandered. We're not talking about the people

that were hurt by life, the people that were

hurt by the church, the people that were hurt

by friends and family. And they started asking

themselves, what kind of God would allow me to

do this? So they just kind of step away. We're

talking about the people that they sat there

and they thought, I'll just be happier. If I

go and do fill in the blank, I'll be freer if

I can walk away and do fill in the blank. I'll

finally get to be myself if I just we're not

talking. We're talking about those people. And

some of us may be those people. And for you,

if you're that person or for those people out

there, you may find that that is the case that

you are a little bit freer, that you are having

the time of your life, that you are feeling like

yourself. For a little while. But eventually.

Everyone. Not some. Not most. Not many. Everyone.

Finds themselves saying. This isn't what I thought

it would be. This isn't how I thought it would

go. This isn't what I planned for my life. That

was your first mistake. Planning for your life.

You ever heard the phrase. Make plans. God laughs.

I don't think God laughs. I think God kind of

just like sits back in amazement. That that's

what we would think our life should be. That

that's what we would think a fulfilling life

would be. A life apart from God. God probably

sits back and thinks, are you crazy? I mean,

think about Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve

exactly what to do. They doubted. They did their

own thing. And I can only imagine God sitting

there thinking, don't you remember when I told

you that that would lead to death? Or the Israelites,

every time God gave them a command and God told

them not to do this one thing and then they do

the one thing and then they end up in slavery

or they end up getting ransacked by another country.

And God's looking at them like, hey, don't you

remember I warned you about this? And think about

the kids that grew up in the church and they

heard all the stories, they heard all the warnings.

And then when they turned 18 or they turned 20,

they just decided I'm going to walk away and

do my own thing because my way is better. And

you're looking at them like you. You have no

clue what you're asking for. And you just kind

of sit back, terrified for what might happen.

Because they think you think your way is better.

And we always ask the question or say, this isn't

what I thought it'd be. Or how did I get to this

point? But I don't want you to miss what the

son does next. Verse 17 says he came to himself.

Another way of putting that is he came to his

senses. You ever look at somebody and you're

like, I was wondering when you were going to

figure it out. Sometimes when my kids are having

issues, like, you know, putting their shoes on

or finding something, finding something is the

worst because they'll like, they'll stand up

from their position and just look. And they're

like, dad, where'd it go? And I'm like, what?

And they're like, I can't find my monster truck.

I'm like, did you look for it? Yeah. I'm like,

try again. So they do this. I can't find it.

Can you help me? I'm like, dude, look for it.

And then finally, it kind of makes sense to them.

So they start walking around and they start looking

for stuff and they look under things and they

actually look for it and they find it. And it's

like they had that, aha, I'm capable of doing

more than the bare minimum. They come to their

senses. And so for the son, he's sleeping in

the pig pen, wishing for scraps from the pig's

troughs. And he's thinking, huh, life really

stinks right now, doesn't it? This isn't what

I had planned. This isn't what I thought it would

be. How did I get to this point? And finally,

he goes, I got it figured out. I know what to

do. I'm just going to go home. I'm going to ask

my dad to let me be one of his servants. See,

there's a lot of hope in this phrase. He came

to his senses. He came to himself. Because the

truth is, when we're lost, our reality gets kind

of distorted. You ever walk through the woods

and people tell you to mark where you're walking?

Because if you're not careful, you'll find yourself

just going in circles. And you'll keep walking.

And you'll think, huh, did not pass that rock

10 minutes ago? And then you'll think, okay,

let me go a different way. And you'll keep walking.

You'll keep walking. And you'll come back to

the rock and you're like, hmm. And you keep walking

and you finally realize my reality is distorted.

I have no clue where I'm at. I have no clue where

I'm going. I have no clue what I'm doing. And

you realize that all of this time being lost.

Being away from truth, being away from where

you were supposed to be has only distorted your

reality. It's like the people that they find

themselves and they haven't been to church in

a while. They haven't read the scriptures in

a while. They haven't done any type of spiritual

disciplines in a while. And they look up and

they say, how did I get here? Because I feel

like I'm in a rut and I feel like I've just been

going in circles and all I keep getting out of

it is pain. All I get out of it is disappointment

and I feel empty. And you look at them and you

say, if you could just open your eyes and see

what you're doing is wrong, maybe you could get

out of the rut that you're in. Lostness distorts

our reality. Sin clouds our judgment. Willfulness

convinces us that we're fine until we finally

realize that we aren't. But repentance begins

when reality breaks through all the junk, when

it breaks through all the delusion, when reality

becomes clear to us. When our circumstances.

Become clear when the actions that led to those

circumstances become clear. When we stop fooling

ourselves and stop letting Satan cloud our judgment.

You see, the son realizes that his life in rebellion

is far worse than the life that he had in submission

in his father's home. He gets that. He comes

to his senses. His father's house was never the

prison. His father's house was a place of abundance,

a place of provision. What was a prison? Was

the son's pride, was the son's mindset of if

I can just have my own way, if I can just have

my will be done. You know, before Easton was

born, Eliza tasked me with putting the crib together.

Now, mind you, she'd been asking me for a couple

of weeks to put the crib together. But, you know,

men, right? We'll get to it. It won't take long.

Probably super simple. All the parts are there.

The instructions are there. Right. So open the

box. I'm ready to put this thing together, but

I don't know if y 'all know this, but modern

technology really stinks because in the box was

not a booklet for instructions. It was like a

card. It had a QR code on it. You're supposed

to scan the QR code. It would lead you to a website

that you have to register to get into, and then

it would give you a PDF of the instructions.

Sounds like a lot of junk, doesn't it? Yeah.

So instead, I did what any man does. I get the

tools. I get the box open. I get all the pieces

to the crib out and I look at the picture on

the box because that works. So I start putting

this thing together. A couple, maybe a little

over an hour. We're not going to make myself

sound too dumb today. Some time goes by. I'm

frustrated. I'm annoyed. I don't have a crib.

I've got a bunch of crib pieces kind of put together.

It's close. Like, it looks like you could maybe

put a baby in there if you didn't really care

about the child's well -being. And so, like,

I'm really frustrated at this point. So finally,

I break down. I take the crib apart. Well, I

take what should be a crib apart. I do all the

steps to get into the instructions. About 20

minutes later, we've got a crib. Isn't that so

annoying? But isn't that so true? You know, sometimes

we try to go through life without the instructions.

We try to go through life with just looking at

the picture on the box and saying, this is what

it should be. This is this is the model, right?

This is the the ideal picture of what life should

be. So I'm going to look at the picture. I've

got the tools that I think necessary and I'm

going to go at it on my own mind. And then life

goes by and we realize, man, I've wasted 20 years

and I've got nothing that I thought my life was

supposed to be. It's not exactly what the picture

showed. It's actually quite. different. It's

far off from what the picture showed. And then

we give our lives to Christ and we start following

his teachings. And we realize that while it may

not be like the abundant model life that has

just all kinds of money and success, it's a whole

lot better than what we had when we were trying

to do it with our own feeble minds. You ever

been there? You ever get to the point where you

realize you've got to stop trying to do it with

your own understanding? I think there's some

scripture about that, right? Lean not on your

own understanding. You know, even Jesus, the

son of God, God in the flesh, he's sitting in

the garden knowing what's about to happen to

him. And he knows he's going to be captured.

He knows he's going to be beaten. He knows he's

going to be killed. He sits there in the garden

and he begs God, if there's any other way, let

it be. But your will be done. Because the son

of God knows something that we don't understand

sometimes. And that is that God's way is so much

better than our own way. And only God's way will

lead to the life that we thought we wanted. It's

only God's way. You see, that's the willful son.

That's a lot of people we love. And maybe that's

you. Where you're leaning on your own wisdom.

You're leaning on your own understanding. You're

leaning on your own brain. And it leads you to

walking away from the truth. From the instructions.

So the son comes to his senses and he goes back

to the place he should have been all along. He

goes back to the instruction manual. And before

he can even finish his apology, before he can

negotiate this new servant status, the father

runs to him, embraces him, restores him. And

here's another key word, celebrates him. You

see, the son had rehearsed this speech. But I

just imagine this whole time that the son was

gone, the father was planning the party for when

the son came home. Can you imagine you're sitting

on the porch and you're thinking, when I see

my son walk down that driveway, We're going to

kill the fattened calf. When I see my son walk

down that driveway, I'm bringing him the robe.

I'm bringing him the ring. I'm bringing him the

crown. When I see my son walk down that driveway,

we are throwing a party. And the son does. And

the father does. Because he was ready. Why? Why

does he throw a party? Why does he cut the son

off? I never noticed that until the other day.

It's funny. Again, I told you I preach the sermon

or preach on this passion like two times since

I've been here. It's my favorite passage to preach

on. But I've never noticed this until this week.

The father actually cuts the son off. The son

had this speech planned. Right. And he gets through

about half of the speech. And the father says,

go get the calf, go get the robe, go get the

ring. We're throwing a party because my son who

was dead is home. He's alive. He's found. We

are going to celebrate. He cuts the son off.

He doesn't let him talk about earning his way

back into the family. And here's why. Because

grace is not earned in our regret. It is simply

given in love. The father loved his son enough.

He didn't care what the son had to say about

paying it back. He didn't care what the son had

to say about working it off. All he knew was

my son is home. We're going to throw a party.

We're going to celebrate. Here's the real question.

When the willful, when the stubborn, when the

determined, when the lost sons and daughters

come home, what are they going to find? Are they

going to find a church that looks at them and

says, You have to do a lot of work to get back

in the good graces of God. You have to do a lot

of work to get back in the good grace of the

church. Are they going to find cold shoulders?

Are they going to find people that meet them

with suspicion? Are they going to hear the I

told you so? Or hey, about time you learned.

Or will they be received with open arms that

embrace them? Will they be gladly clothed in

the finest robes? Will they get a ring put on

their fingers? And will all of heaven and all

of earth hear a loud celebration? When the lost

come home, what are they going to find? And if

that doesn't make sense to you, I'm going to

simplify it. When the lost walk in those doors,

what will they find in this church? Will they

be met with hugs? And love and grace and forgiveness

and restoration? Or will they be met with people

saying, hey, I told you so. Jesus makes it clear.

And so we're going to make it clear that heaven

celebrates repentance. Heaven celebrates the

loss coming to their senses, coming home and

giving their lives back to the father. Heaven

celebrates and the church should sound like heaven.

The church should sound like heaven. I don't

know how else to make that clear. When the lost

come to Jesus, when they bury their old flesh

in that water, when they rise to a new life,

what will they find? It better be a church that

sounds like the angels. And my God says the angels

go crazy when someone gives their life to him.

And so I don't want to hear any of that's cool,

but. No, all I want to hear is an amen, a hallelujah

and some hands clapping in excitement because

a lost son and daughter has come to know Christ.

So let me leave you with three things. The first

one is those who walk away willfully, they are

still lost, but they're also still findable.

There's still a chance for them. God's not done.

He's still working. He's still waiting. They're

still findable. The second thing is, is their

way will eventually reveal its limits. It will

eventually reveal its flaws. But God's will always

leads to life. And we've got to tell them, we've

got to show them that when we walk in accordance

with God's will, life is so much better. You

know, I grew up thinking that being a Christian

was hard because, you know, life on earth is

still hard. And, you know, God's promise was

for eternal life. And I don't think I heard enough

people talk about God's promise for abundant

life. I don't think I heard enough people talk

about how when Jesus said, Father, let your kingdom

come. He meant like right now, like you can have

that full abundant life now. And so what I'm

saying is, is we've got to show the world outside.

that while life may still stink sometimes, while

the circumstances aren't ideal, while it can

really rain down on us, and when it rains, sometimes

it pours, we can show them that even in the midst

of all of that junk, God is still good and it

is evident in our lives. And the third thing

is, when the lost come home, the church has one

choice. We have one response. And if you're not

ready to respond in that way, we need to have

a conversation because I am. So when someone

comes out of that water, if y 'all don't want

me clapping, hooting, hollering, I'm sorry. Put

some duct tape on my mouth and tie me up because

we're going to celebrate when the loss come home.

We're going to throw a party. We're going to

rejoice with heaven. Verse 24 says it so clear

for this. My son was dead. He's alive again.

He was lost, but now he's found. See, that is

not supposed to be just the father's heart. That

is the church's calling. And so we're called

to be like Jesus. And if Jesus celebrates, we

celebrate. If Jesus goes to find the lost, we

find the lost. If Jesus says when the lost come

home, we don't question them. We don't dog them.

We just say, welcome home. Let's party. If that's

what we see from God, if that's what we see from

Jesus, that's what we do. So this morning, if

you've walked away, if you feel like you maybe

could find a better way, but you realize that

you couldn't, that there was no way out there

that could really give you the abundant and full

life that God wants. If you feel lost or if you

know somebody that you know is out there wandering,

if you know somebody that you know is sleeping

with the pigs because they've trusted in their

own understanding or if that's you. Wherever

you sit today, whatever part of the spectrum

that you're on this morning, the invitation is

the same. Come home. And when you come home,

know that this church is going to celebrate you.

Not because of you, but because of what you mean

to God and what you mean to us. So wherever you're

at this morning, we invite you to come as we

stand and as we sing.