Homecoming Part 2 | Ode to the older Son with Chris Schlotterbeck

He's glorious.

Behold the one who has come to life.

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Hey, good morning, everyone.

So good to see you.

So good to hear you.

Welcome to H-C-V.

If this is your first time checking us out,

we are so glad you are here.

Welcome.

Thank you for joining us.

If you're watching from home, thank you for welcoming us

into your space.

So today's message comes from the greatest story ever told.

And when I say that, I don't know what comes to your mind,

whether it's a movie you watched or a book you read.

For me, it's a story that Jesus told.

And in my opinion, it's the greatest of all

because it significantly changed my life.

Six short months after I gave my life to Jesus,

I found myself in Ecuador on a short tour missions trip,

at which time the pastor that was leading the trip

handed me a Bible on Thursday afternoon and said,

you're sharing today.

Go and prepare yourself.

To which I looked back and said, I haven't even

read that book yet.

What do you want me to say?

He goes, well, God will give you the words

and give you the text.

Just go and prepare.

So I quickly went back to my hotel room,

began reading through the book of Luke.

And God took me, of course, to the greatest story ever told.

And I read about a lost son coming home.

I went to the capital, to the Quito,

and we were in a local park.

We were doing a vacation Bible school with kids.

We were welcoming people in.

I shared.

I have no idea what I said.

But I do know that people responded.

People gave their life to Jesus.

We were praying for people.

And I felt and sensed God say to me at that very time,

Chris, this is what you're called to do.

Fast forward to today.

Here I am.

You're doing what I am called to do.

Now it's interesting in this story

that we're discussing this morning,

when the curtain falls on this story,

we don't know how it ends.

We don't know really what happened.

And for some of you, that creates tension, right?

But it's a certain, as the curtain drops,

we know there's a party going on inside.

The lost son had been found.

We know the older son was frustrated and mad.

And then we find the dad pleading with the older son.

Then it ends.

And we just don't know.

It's like the end of a current show

that you're streaming or watching on Netflix.

Of course you're watching these series.

And at the end of each episode,

there's always a cliffhanger.

And why do they have a cliffhanger?

Because they wanna suck you in.

They want you to start the next episode.

If I just watch it for five minutes,

I'll get the answers.

Then you watch the whole episode.

And then there's another cliffhanger.

And then you watch another one.

And then suddenly in a week, you've been watched them all.

And then you have to find another episode to watch.

In this story,

we don't know if the older son stormed off.

We don't know if the older son

turned his back on his family and said,

my younger brother has lost it.

Now my dad has lost his mind.

I am the only one in this family

that has any sense of discipline and sanity.

Or did the light bulb suddenly come on for the older son?

Did he realize that he's been grinding

and working and striving through life

when it's always been about the father's love for him?

Did he miss it?

Did he suddenly burst through the doors of the party

and join the celebration,

say not only is this party for the son that was lost,

but I am home as well?

See, we just don't know.

Now most of the time when we hear this story,

the focus is on the younger brother.

And we do wanna focus on him today,

but then at the very end of the story,

there's just three short sentences

about this older brother, older son.

And today I believe that God wants us

to focus on this older son.

He wants our talk to be about the older brother,

the older sister,

because I believe that God is still outside pleading today,

inviting someone inside.

Because listen, the music is already playing.

But you never chose to go in.

Now the context of this story of the prodigal son

is the do-gooders,

the professional religious leaders, the Pharisees

in the time of Jesus and the teachers of the law.

That is who this story was written for and told to.

It's not really written for you and me.

The story is aimed towards them.

They didn't like who Jesus was hanging around with,

so they began to mutter.

They began to mutter, mutter, mutter.

He claims to be from God,

he claims to perform miracles,

he claims to teach about the kingdom of God.

But look, he's spending his time with all the wrong people.

So Jesus says, hey, before you judge me,

before you make any conclusions about me,

can I tell you a few stories?

So he goes on to tell them three stories

about things that are lost.

A sheep, a coin, and a son.

And last week, if you missed it,

we learned that Jesus was trying to show them

the heart of God, which of course is to seek and save

those that are lost.

See, the heart of God is rescue,

the heart of God is mission,

the heart of God is movement towards people who need help.

And that is what Jesus is doing on planet Earth.

This is why he's hanging around the wrong people.

This is why he shares these stories.

So there's this crazy son,

and the shocker of the story when it's preached,

as many of you know,

the shocker of the story is Dad's response

to the lost son coming home,

which leads us to our first thought.

See, Jesus took on humanity's shame.

Luke 15, 20 to 24.

So he returned home to his father,

and while he was still a long way off,

his father saw him coming.

Now take notice of what Jesus shares next.

Filled with love and compassion,

he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

So here we find, dignified Dad,

lifting up his robe, holding it up,

showing his legs, and raising his head.

And running down the street after his son.

Now for many of you,

you don't care that the Dad lifted his robe

and showed his legs,

because many of us are comfortable wearing shorts.

Some of you are wearing them today.

But in that culture,

a dignified noble man would never show his legs.

But this Dad, he had to.

In this moment, he had to reach full speed,

running down the road towards his son.

See, he heard that his son was coming.

News was trickling into the house.

I think I saw your son.

I think it was the one that left,

and it looked like he was heading this way.

So Dad's been watching.

Dad's been waiting.

And when he sees him a long way off,

he takes action.

Now the text reads,

which means Jesus is saying, of course,

the Father was moved by his love for the son.

But see, the culture tells us

that he was moved by something else.

And this is called cultural shame.

Community shame.

See, in this town,

they could have voted on this child.

Not only has this son embarrassed his father,

he also had embarrassed all of them.

And they could have gotten together

in Jesus' time and voted to say,

this son is no longer welcome here.

This son cannot come home.

So the Dad takes action.

And this is why we read,

his son said to him,

Father, I sinned against both heaven and you,

and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But notice, his father said to the servants,

quick, everyone say quick.

In other words,

we have a few seconds here

to change the narrative of my son's life.

Notice what he says, quick,

bring the finest robe in the house,

put it on him,

get a ring for his finger

and sandals for his feet,

and kill the calf we have been fattening.

But do it quickly,

because as soon as news gets out to the community

that my son has come home,

they can gather, they can vote,

and they can place shame on my son,

which I would never allow to happen.

I want my son home.

In other words, the father is saying

we're gonna change the narrative

before they even arrive.

Put shoes on his feet,

which means he's not a servant,

means he's a dignified member of his family.

Put a ring on his finger,

which means he has a seal of authority.

And now he's wearing the best robe

so that people know who he is.

He's someone important

because he was wearing the father's robe.

So all of a sudden,

we find the son who was stumbling

just to get the words out of his mouth,

wearing shoes, giving him a position,

a ring that gives him status

and a robe that says he is loved

and important, then his father

puts his arm around his son,

and he says, we must celebrate with a feast.

For this son of mine was dead

and has now returned to life.

He was lost but is now found.

So the party began.

The father is saying to the community,

you may have thought you could shame him,

but you can't shame me,

and he is with me now.

And he is with me now.

And that's how they walked home.

He's with me now.

See the shoes?

See the ring?

He's wearing the robe.

He is with me now.

Now this morning's talk

is not focusing on the lost son,

but if you're here this morning

and you relate,

maybe you are watching online

or you've gathered with us

and you just feel lost.

You feel like you're not welcome home.

Maybe the enemy has been whispering

in your ear that,

man, you're just too far gone.

You can never go back to God.

Too much has happened in your life.

I'm telling you,

Jesus is telling you

a different story today.

He's encouraging you

that the very best thing you can do

is turn toward home

because your dad in heaven

is waiting for you.

Romans 8,

Romans 8-1 tells us

that now there is no condemnation,

no condemnation

for those who belong to Jesus.

And because you belong to him,

the power of the life-giving spirit

has freed you from the power of sin

that leads to death.

Community shame is over.

And if you're here this morning

and you're thinking in your mind

that your family will not accept you,

the people in the tri-state area

won't welcome you and love you.

Don't receive that shame.

I'm standing in front of you

saying God loves you,

accepts you, and invites you.

And this community of faith

welcomes you home.

Jesus took on the shame

so that people who turn toward home

get shoes, get a ring,

get a robe becoming a son

and a daughter of God.

And listen,

it matters how you live your life.

God doesn't want you to make stupid choices.

Yes, there's consequences to our actions,

but that's not the point of this story.

See, God is calling to us

to live a life of abundance

to a higher standard, to be obedient,

but that's not the point of this story.

The point of this story

is if you fall short of that standard,

if you've missed opportunities,

if you've blown up your life

because of foolish decisions,

there's still a Father waiting for you.

And the shame bearer will meet you on the road

and walk with you all the way home.

And not only will he walk with you,

but he removes the shame,

protects you with love,

and throws a party in your honor.

I mean, if that's you today,

I want to encourage you,

come home.

We've been expecting you.

Then quickly,

Jesus flips the tables,

not literally,

and he turns his focus

towards the professional religious people,

which leads to our next thought.

See, humanity leans

towards a life of performance.

We all lean towards performance,

Luke 15, 25 to 30.

Meanwhile,

the older son was in the fields working.

And I just want to pause right there

a second before I continue.

And notice that Jesus addresses

the position of this man

as the older son.

And quite often,

when this story is told or is preached,

this man is addressed as the older brother,

right?

Not the son.

But God did not start

by addressing him as the older brother.

God addresses him as the older son,

which I believe is very, very important

because that's how Jesus sees him.

He's not just a brother,

he's not just a brother to a crazy kid.

He is the son to the father.

And then when he returned home,

the older son, he returns home,

he hears music and dancing in the house

and he asks one of the servants

what was going on.

What's happening?

Your brother is back, he was told.

And your father has killed the fattened calf.

We are celebrating because of his safe return.

The older brother was angry

and wouldn't go in.

And his father came out and begged him.

So think about this.

The father, he's already gone out

and pursued and spared the life

of his son from community shame.

Now he's going out again

to plead with his other son to come in.

But the son replies,

all these years I've slaved for you

and never once refused to do

a single thing you told me to do.

Does that hit home for anyone here this morning?

Like some of you, yeah, that's my story.

All my life, I've been the responsible one.

All my life, I've had to sacrifice.

All my life, I've given and given and given.

And then the son continues,

and in all that time,

you never gave me even one young goat

for a feast with my friends.

Yet, when the son of yours comes back

after squandering your money,

when the son of yours comes back

after squandering your money on prostitutes,

you celebrate by killing the fattened calf.

See, this character quickly went

from being the older son

to becoming the angry brother.

The angry, grumpy, old brother.

And while the mead is being carved

inside of the house,

what is he doing?

He's throwing a tantrum, counting all the years

that he had been slaving and working

and performing his whole life.

And all of a sudden,

this younger son is in the house

experiencing the blessing

of the extravagant, unconditional love of God.

Has anyone experienced

the extravagant, unconditional love of God?

Anyone?

A love that says,

I didn't earn it, I know I don't deserve it,

but I get it.

And I want to encourage you

that love is flowing down

and it doesn't ever seem to slow down.

And it's not based on anything

that I've done or will ever do.

It's God's love pouring down over me.

But the other brother,

he had been living his whole life where?

In the field.

He's grinding, he's working.

And his blessing is,

well, I'm doing good.

He is, his experience, his blessing is,

well, I'm doing good.

He's out there living under that blessing

of his own good efforts, his own good works.

While the younger son has figured out

there's a different kind of blessing,

it's the unconditional love of God.

And God is wanting all of us today

to get under that blessing

so that we can go and live the lives

that God is calling us to live.

But notice, because of his what?

His anger.

The older son was hearing the invitation

to come in to celebrate

that his brother was back.

When in reality,

the father is pleading with him,

no, this invitation to come in,

let's celebrate you

because you are also my son.

You have always been with me

and everything that I have is yours.

I'm pleading with you.

The party is not going to be the same

without you.

Everything is yours.

Unless both my sons are at the party,

it won't make the difference

that I want it to be.

And that's why today's message is called

Let God Love You.

Let God Love You.

Because see, some of us have been

performing practically our whole lives.

Maybe it started with our relationship

with our earthly father.

Maybe it started while you were in a relationship

with another person.

Maybe it started, unfortunately, forgive me,

in religion.

You grew up in a strict Christian home

that was based on following the rules.

And now we find ourselves working

and striving, trying to get it right

so that we can be someone

or become something for someone else.

And friends, that life of performance

has suddenly, it's become woven

into your relationship with God.

And today, God wants to unravel

that performance spirit

and set us free to be who we created us to be.

And look, I get it.

I want to achieve.

I want to win.

I want to be the best.

I want to be part of the best.

I want to be a history maker.

I want to be a game changer.

I want to do whatever it takes

to make a difference.

I want to win.

And it doesn't necessarily mean

that I want to win as in winning or losing.

It means that if there's an option,

I want to win.

If there's a choice, I want to come in first.

And if there's a podium, I want to be on top.

Like I take Paul's challenge, right,

to run the race to win.

Seriously, I want to win.

I want to win.

Now throughout my life though,

I have the ability to put an enormous amount

of pressure on myself.

In fact, there's no one in this place,

there's no one watching online

that puts more pressure on me than myself.

Can anyone relate to that?

Shoot, every hand should be a hug.

And listen, it doesn't necessarily

have to be a big thing.

Like many of you don't know this, right,

but my church softball experience,

okay, I love church softball, right,

I'm excited that we have three teams this spring.

I'm thankful that all of you

that are playing are playing.

But several years ago,

when we were back on Bauer Avenue,

I had to do a Sunday morning sermon

where I threw away my cleats.

And some of you may remember me throwing away my cleats

because I'm competitive,

because I want to win.

I want to win.

And it got to the point

where the other churches in the church league were like,

hey, we need to talk to your pastor,

that guy on church stops out of control.

To which they look back and say,

he's our pastor.

How do you know it's time to retire?

So from that point on,

I've never played slow pitch softball again.

God bless you for doing it,

it's just not my thing because I just take it too far.

Or maybe it's weddings and funerals.

You know, many of you don't know this,

I do a lot of weddings and funerals.

There's times when I'm doing a wedding or a funeral,

not all the time, but there's times

that I put so much pressure on myself

that it's got to be just right,

it's got to be perfect,

that I overwhelm myself with stress.

And I start sweating profusely

and I'm worried and I'm worried about letting people down

and it's not gonna be good enough.

You know, just even the small things

can suddenly become about performance.

I mean, listen to these statistics.

At the end of 2023,

nearly two out of five Americans,

that's 37%,

rated their mental health as only fair or poor.

Up 31% from the beginning of 2020.

When asked what the sources of anxiety was,

Americans indicated that it first was personal finances.

64% of those polled said personal finances,

up from 58% at the end of the pandemic

was the number one reason for stress.

Then it was uncertainty in the world,

their physical health, their mental health

and relationships with friends and family,

according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Most Americans are suffering from moderate to high stress,

with 44% reporting their stress levels

have increased over the last three years.

And it's not just the adults,

stress is also taking a toll on the kids.

Almost a third of the children reported

that in the last month,

that's just several months ago,

they had experienced a physical health symptom

of associated,

such as headaches, stomach aches,

or trouble falling or standing,

or falling or staying asleep,

and that's all stress related.

In addition, for many of us parents,

we don't even realize that our own stress affects our kids.

In America, self care is no longer a priority,

and the lack of willpower has become a problem

in our culture since the pandemic.

It's as if Americans are stuck,

and they can't move forward.

And I wanna encourage you next month,

we're gonna be doing a series called Stretched Thin,

and we're gonna do a whole month in April

focused on mental health.

And I wanna encourage you,

if you know people that are struggling,

stressed, overwhelmed,

that's a series they don't want to miss.

Now I believe a big reason for this

is because we know what it's like

to live under the weight of performing toward perfection.

Right, we think we have to perform to be perfect,

but in the church,

so many people have now allowed that

to impact their relationship with God.

And God, He wants to invite us in.

He's inviting us in to allow Him to love us.

Author Henry Nowen wrote the classic,

The Return of the Prodigal Son.

You can find this book by finding the Rembrandt painting

of the Prodigal Son on the cover.

And Nowen writes this,

For most of my life I've struggled to find God,

to know God, to love God.

I've tried hard to follow the guidelines of spiritual life,

pray always, work for others, read the scriptures,

and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself.

I have failed many times, but always tried again,

even when I was so close to despair.

Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized

that during all this time, God has been trying to find me,

to know me, to love me.

The question is not, how am I to find God,

but how am I to let myself be found by God?

The question is not, how am I to know God,

but how am I to let myself be known by God?

And finally, the question is not, how am I to love God,

but how am I to let myself be loved by God?

See, God is looking into the distance for you and me.

He's trying to find us, and he's longing to bring us home.

See friends, the music is playing.

The question is, can you dance?

Can you dance?

I need some people to join me up on stage.

Who's willing to get out of their seats?

Come on up, you don't have to put your hand up, just come up.

Come on up, join me on stage, let's go.

Come on, don't be bashful, let's go.

Come on, get up here.

Come on, oh look at this, not too many now, that's good, that's good.

All right, the stage is only so big.

Come on, okay, two rows, two rows.

Let me move my table, I don't want anybody to trip.

Let's go.

All right, two rows, two rows, Tracy out in front.

Tracy's out in front.

Tracy's out in front.

Here we go, Tracy right here.

Oh, Charlie and Tracy, yeah, here we go.

All right, you guys ready?

Let's go, come on, get in there, get in there.

All right, Donnie, you ready?

You ready?

All right, drop it.

So keep that mental image, because that leads us to thought three.

God is challenging you to get over yourself and join the party.

Will you change the performance mindset and can you dance?

I mean, here's the reality, listen, many of you personally now know I can't dance.

I don't even necessarily enjoy dancing, but the biggest reason I don't dance is myself.

It's my pride and my focus on what other people think, but I have to learn to get over myself.

And when God challenges you to dance in front of the church, that my friends is getting over yourself.

Because it actually is fun and it's enjoying and God is inviting someone in this room watching online

who have been living under the sense that my acceptance with God comes from my performance.

God is saying the music is playing.

Donnie has dropped the bass.

It's not when you think you're ready, the music is already playing.

Luke 15 tells us the older brother was angry.

Remember, older brother, he's not referenced as the older son now.

His father comes out and he begs him, but he replied, all these years, I've slaved my brother.

I've slaved and notice these excuses.

I've slaved, I've worked, you've never given me anything.

And his father says to him, look, dear son, you have always stayed by me and everything I have is yours.

We had to celebrate this happy day for your brother was dead and has come back to life,

he was lost, but is now found.

And this morning, God is saying to you, I love you.

Not because of your performance, not because of your works, not because you're a good person.

I love you because I love you.

Which leads us to our final thought.

God loves us.

God loves you just as you are.

See, there's a blessing that God wants to release on your life

that's not contingent on your performance.

Does God want us to live a great life, an abundant life?

Of course he does.

Does he want you to be your best?

Of course he does.

Does he want you to adopt the attitude that whatever you do be the best in the class?

Yes, he does.

But the blessing that each one of us came out of the womb searching for

was the blessing of a father to simply say, I love you, son.

I believe in you, daughter.

I will show up for you, son.

The blessing coming from the heavenly father is not based on our performance.

How do I know that?

Go ahead and blow up your life.

And by the way, I'm not recommending that by any way.

But if you want proof that God's love is not tied to your performance, fail.

And when you fail, get ready when you turn away from your failure

to see a father blazing a trail of grace, mercy, and forgiveness towards you.

Are there consequences? Of course.

But remember, that's not the point of this story.

Are things going to change? Yes.

But again, it's not the point of this story.

This story is about a father whose love cannot be trumped by our best effort or our worst effort.

It's about God's great love for us.

It's an invitation to see that he makes the first move on both of these circumstances.

And we see it in Jesus's life.

Look, Jesus comes down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, Matthew 3,

as soon as Jesus was baptized, came up out of the water at that moment.

Heaven was opened.

The Spirit of God descending like a dove, landing on him.

And a voice from heaven says, this is my son whom I love.

That part makes sense.

He is your son. Of course, you love him.

But this next statement, not really sure, with him, I am well pleased.

Well, if dad is well pleased, if his father is well pleased,

if his father is well pleased, this kid had to do something great.

What has he done at this point?

Nothing.

Well, he did do something amazing.

He stepped down out of heaven, came through a virgin womb onto the planet Earth,

as savior of the world, God in human skin.

So that's something.

But Jesus had not yet walked on water.

He had not healed one person.

He had not raised the dead.

He had not touched a leper.

He did not feed 5,000.

He has not preached a sermon, did not cast out a demon.

He had not called him to storm.

Yet we see the father saying, that's my son.

I love him.

I am pleased with him.

And then Jesus goes on to perform many miracles.

In fact, we read in John 21, Jesus did many other things as well.

If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world

would not have room for the books that would be written.

See, ultimately, Jesus did what only he could do.

With determination, with grit, with unwavering focus and obedience, he paid the price.

He beat death, hell, sin, sickness, darkness in the grave.

But he didn't do it so he could get his father's approval.

He did it because he already had his father's approval.

And God is inviting you to experience this kind of radical love.

And hear me out.

There's a blessing that goes along with doing good.

You might be recognized as someone that does good, even in your own eyes.

You may view yourself as someone that does good.

And there's a blessing that comes with that.

But it's not anything close to knowing that there's a waterfall of God's love.

His unconditional love that moves you to live a life not so you can be accepted

but because you love him.

And it's interesting that his older son is outside comparing,

well, I did all this, Dad.

I haven't gotten any recognition.

And one of the ways we know we live under a performance-based mentality

in our relationship with God is comparison.

Comparing ourselves to others, how spiritual we are, how we do good,

looking down on others.

Friends, that's a performance works mindset, and that's a core concept.

And that's a closed mindset.

God wants a growth mindset for his church.

A mindset that I'm a love son, a love daughter of God.

And that is causing me to want to do the best I can for God.

And this is the natural outcome of knowing who we are.

That's a different driver inside of us.

Because we know we're valued.

We know our position.

Right?

We know we're loved.

So this morning, look in the mirror and reflect on how you act.

What is your attitude when others come home?

What's your attitude when others get restored?

When people stumble, when they fall, when they make mistakes,

do you welcome them back?

Or when they're restored, do you question their motives?

Do you judge them?

Do you have an attitude?

Because friends, look around social media.

The church has a reputation for destroying their own.

And unfortunately, that's a big reason

why people don't come to church anymore.

And we need to change that narrative, HCV.

This past Friday, we did the story tour.

And I tell you, now listen, let me finish.

Let me finish.

I made it for one song.

Sorry, we had the marriage chorus going on at the same time.

And this place was packed.

There was people sitting in the aisles, standing everywhere.

We counted probably with all the volunteers and people here,

over 600 people in this place.

And now listen, the crazy thing is people were touched,

people were saved, people were prayed for, people were set free.

But then you learn that they're having problems

finding places to share their stories

because churches don't welcome them anymore.

They don't want to welcome people home.

And friends, we welcome people home.

And we will continue to welcome people home.

Are you basing your relationship with Jesus on your performance?

Well, God wants to set you free today.

Because I know that God bought people here this morning

or you're watching online.

And He's desiring to break those chains of performance off of you.

Not to celebrate your little brother, but to celebrate you.

This isn't just a party for a kid that came home.

It's just as much a party for the kid that stayed home.

Not just a party for the kid that messed it all up.

This is a party for the kid that already was wearing the same shoes,

had on the same ring, had on the same robe.

It's waking up to the reality that I've been living like a slave this whole time.

Not like a son, not like a daughter.

I've been counting the days instead of enjoying Jesus.

The music is playing.

The music is playing.

And I want to share with you that God loves you

and desires that you come into that relationship.