“Welcome Back Home” In Luke chapter 15, Jesus told 3 parables about lost things. He told of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son...And it’s important that we understand that these arenot just stories of lost things, they are more about “found” things! These are the storieswhich Jesus chose to share, near the close of His earthly ministry. Probably some of the most important principles Jesus ever gave to His disciples. We begin with the order in which the scripture presents the three parables. Remember that parables are principles which share a spiritual truth, that are taken from real life events. Our lives are either telling a story of what not to do, or they are an example to follow which ....Paulsaid, “Follow me as I follow Christ”.... In the story of the lost sheep, we see a Shepherd at the end of the day, counting his sheep and there are 99 safely in fold but one is missing. That Shepherd then goes out and searches until he finds the lost sheep. He is persistent, just as the shepherd of our souls, never gives up searching.... and when he finds it, the Shepherd will put the sheep on his shoulders and carry it back to be in the fold with the other sheep. The Shepherd will then call all of his friends and neighbors and have a great celebration. The sheep that was lost is found. Jesus said that there is great celebration in heaven for every person that comes back home to the Father. Jesus puts great value on each person who has lost their way.He feels our anguish when any family member, or close friend is not in the fold. In the story of the Lost Coin, a woman had ten coins and lost one. she searched every inch of her house until she found it. It says she lit a lamp and searched the place. When she finds it, she will gather her neighborhood friends to celebrate her discovery. Just as this woman experiences joy at finding her lost coin, so there is joy in heaven when eachperson of great value to God finds their way back to God.Heaven throws a party! Let me give you some insight into that lost coin. I am told that when a man took a bride in the Middle East in that day, he would give her a tiara with ten coins placed evenly upon it. The woman would wear this token of love as a crown on her head as many women in the Middle East do today. Like a wedding band these ten coins represented the marital relationship. If a woman was caught being unfaithful to her husband, one of the coins would be taken out leaving a gap to show that she had been unfaithful to her marriage vows and she would be cast out. For the woman to find the one coin meant her reputation and marriage could be restored. No wonder the woman had such a great celebration when she found the one lost coin. The Lord wants to welcome those back who have broken marriages and broken relationships. Then there is the story of the Lost Son. It might be said that this is not just the story of the lost Son, but the story of The Father’s undying love. The story illustrates how a person’s life can be transformed by the power and grace of God. It is always possible for a person who rebels against God, their parents and society to experience a turn around. There comes a time when you must draw that line in the sand.... Deciding what we will not be doing any longer....Allows for Him to accomplish what He IS DOING!
The story of the lost son illustrates that God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness, can overcome any obstacle and any circumstance If we will just step over into it. The Father of the Prodigal Son illustrates the compassion and love of God. God is always ready to meet us more than half way. He started running towards his son while he was a great way off. His great heart longs to welcome us home, no matter what pig pen we find ourselves in. A father was reading the story of the Prodigal Son to his 6 year old daughter. When he finished the story he asked his daughter what she had learned from the story . After thinking for a moment, she shouted out, “Never leave home without your credit card!” Thank God for the credit card of grace and mercy! Luke 15:20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him and welcomed him back home.”
We know the story of mankind’s beginnings in the beautiful garden, where God provided for all of their needs as well as walking and talking with them daily and sharing intimate fellowship as He imparted wisdom and knowledge concerning his purpose and mission. We know how Satan was allowed to enter this special place where man had been given dominion and special relationship, and it brought a great divide between man and God which resulted in his being evicted from the garden. Before Adam and Eve, there was no sickness, no pain, no death, but all that changed and for nearly 4 thousand years, God was putting together a plan to bring mankind back to the place of relationship and dominion which had been lost.
2000 years ago God was able to put up a Welcome Home Banner that said in capital letters, “Welcome Back Home”...and it was in the shape of a cross, upon which the crucified son of God hung, for all the world to see the extent to which God was willing to go to, to bring us back. Why don’t you tell someone today..... WELCOME HOME!! Years agothere was a popular song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” The song tells about a man who’s been sent to prison. He’s served his time and is now coming home on a bus. But he admits that his wife who once loved him had every right to now reject him. He made a mess of his life. He wrote to his wife asking for her forgiveness. If she forgives him she was to tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree. If there’s no yellow ribbon, he would just stay on the bus and keep on riding. As the miles roll by, all the man thinks about is that oak tree. His mind is racing, as he wonders, “Will there be a yellow ribbon waving from the tree?” His heart was pounding and his eyes were straining to see as far down the road as he could.... The song ends in triumph with the entire busload of people cheering as the man sees not one, but a hundred yellow ribbons on that old oak tree! His wife not only forgives him, but she exuberantly welcomes him home, to forgiveness and restoration.
Luke 15:22-24 “The father said “Bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” So let the party began.
A pastor was preaching his sermon based on this timeless story of the prodigal son. When he got to the point where the father sees his son returning and races out to meet him... the minister said, "Throwing wide his arms, the father said..." and right at that point (his son who was sitting on the front row with his friend) said loudly “You’re grounded”!!
Let’s notice that the The prodigal son was immediately given 4 things when he returned home... and I want us to look at that for a moment. He was given, a robe, a ring, shoes for his feet, and a fatted calf....So let’s look at this.....
The father said "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him" In having the best robe placed on him, the Father was telling the Prodigal as well as all observers that his position as son was being restored and elevated.
John 19:2 says, “And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;” What a tragic sight. The King of Kings was mocked with a false crown and robe. How can we now stand in God’s robe of righteousness? Because Jesus took the robe of shame and mockery that we deserved, we can now freely receive His perfect robe of right standing. We’re no longer subjects of shame, guilt or condemnation. Because we accept Christ as our savior, He does just that. He saves us from ourselves. He covers us from our past because we don’t livethere anymore... (Even The smell of smoke from our past life isn’t on us because he covered us with His robe of righteousness) Isaiah 61:10 “For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” The prodigal’s torn clothes, the dirt that covered his body, and the scars from the hard life of rebellion, would be instantly covered up, the moment the robe was placed over his shoulders. Just like that, in an instant, the past is gone and he is restored to his rightful place.– It was an immediate demonstration of complete approval, love and mercy as well as protection. In an instant, he became a person who had been given royalty and rulership.
In addition, everyone was witnessing the Father's transfer of the prime inheritance from the eldest son to the youngest son.He gave the BEST ROBE, to this young man. The same thing occurred in Genesis 27:15 when Rebekah took the choice clothes of the eldest son Esau and put them on the younger son Jacob. In Hebrew culture the eldest son, the firstborn in the family, received the best inheritance/distribution of property, goods, etcetera. In the account of the Prodigal as with Jacob, the inheritance was transferred to the youngest son. God is taking that which others have, but they have done nothing with it and He’s transferring to you. It should have been theirs but they haven’t honored God with it, so there is a shift in plans and it’s on it’s way to you...
Sons often wore family rings that had the family seal engraved upon it. Stamping the ring in wax was the same as a signature. The prodigal rebelled and left with his ring; but sold it when he ran out of money. His father put a new ring on his finger symbolizing that his son was again part of the family and had the right to transact the family business. The ring represented restored authority.. When Joseph was given the rank of second in charge of Egypt, the Pharaoh gave his own ring to Joseph. God today has given us as believer in Christ His own ring of authority and power. We have been made heirs of God in Christ.
The next gift given the prodigal, was sandals on his feet. These weren’t something you picked up at Keno’s. These were shoes worn by royalty....The path of rebellion, the self life, the wrong company, the wrong priorities, and the wrong places, have been taken off, and a new way of walking, on the path of faith, peace, obedience and surrender are represented by the new shoes placed on the once/ Prodigal’s feet... He has been humbled, and given a soft, pliable heart of trust in the Father..The sandals were also a sign that he was no longer a slave but a free man. He whom the Lord sets free is free indeed!
To celebrate his son’s homecoming he had a great Outback Steakhouse Barbecue Welcome Back Home party. It’s interesting that the father said, “Kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen…” He was prepared for the return, before the return. Likewise, the heavenly father already has what we need, so that we can be fully restored, even before we asked.
Oh, yes, He’s got a fatted calf for you. This represents more than we expect, or deserve. Here’s where we move into abundance, and more than enough. We know the son who stayed at home was upset over all this and One pastor asked the congregation who was it, that was the most upset when the Prodigal returned home, and one little boy yelled out, “The fatted calf”!! You see, eating the fatted calf, means that He doesn’t just take care of the outside, but He takes care of the inside. What you eat, becomes who you are. He replaces what we have been taking into the inner man, with something far better. Eat the living bread, drink the living water.... Come and dine the master calleth, come and dine. Folks may see the outside but God looks on our inside need. He knows what we need before we ask or think.
In the classic film titled, “Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy spent the first part of the movie trying to find a means to get away from home as she sings “Somewhere over the rainbow”. When she finally winds up in Oz, she spends the rest of the movie trying to find a way back home to Kansas. When folks taste the sourness of rebellion, a longing comes, to be back in the place of the sweetness of obedience and surrender. Finally, she learns the truth that she had always had the ability to go home anytime she wanted to. All she had to do was click the heals of her ruby slippers together three times and say, “There’s no place like home.” When she did this, she went home again!The choice always was and is ours. We get to write the end of our story. Like the prodigal, who came to himself and said, I will arise and go back to my father’s house. While we were in our own pig pen, He saw our needs, not just our wants.
Charles Hodges, wrote....”The fatted calf, the shoes, the robe, the ring-- for me, an unworthy son. But sweeter to me, the most beautiful thing --God ran to meet me. I saw God run." He rushes to our call, not to give us what we desire, but to impart what He has been planning for usfrom the beginning of our lives... The father had been saving the fatted calf for such a time as this! And He’s saving one for you. The name that God gave us to call, Yeshua, means “The God Who Saves”. God specializes in recovering lost things.... Lost hope, lost health, lost dreams, lost resources, lost direction, lost relations and lost souls... Jesus is touching the heart of redemption. Health recovered, relationships recovered, dreams, resources, direction and the souls of men and women, recovered by the power of God. Toscanini, the late, famous conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, received a brief, crumpled letter from a lonely sheepherder in the remote mountain area of Wyoming: it said, “Mr. Conductor: I have only two possessions—a radio and an old violin. The batteries in my radio are getting low and will soon die. My violin is so out of tune I can’t use it.. Next Sunday when you begin your radio concert, sound a loud ‘F’ key, so I can tune that string, then I can tune the other strings with it. At the beginning of his next nationwide radio concert from Carnegie Hall, Toscanini announced: “For a dear friend and listener back in the mountains of Wyoming I will now sound an ‘F key’. With that, the entire orchestra all joined together in sounding an “F key”. That lonely sheepherder only needed one note, just a little help to get back in tune; . . . he needed someone who cared enough to assist him with just one string; after that the others would be easy. Thank God Jesus came to sound the “F” key” of forgiveness for all mankind, so we could find our way home again!
For some, it is welcome back to the fruit of the spirit, for others it is welcome back to the gifts of the spirit, or welcome back to your calling and anointing....Welcome back to fervent praise and worship, and to praying in the spirit, welcome back to prophecy, and healing, and bringing souls into the kingdom, and revival, and welcome back to signs and wonders.
We never know, what word, or gesture, perhaps a touch will stir a heart, and say to them “Welcome Back Home”...Would you say to someone, one more time, “Welcome Home”.....
Prayer..... “Lord, I rejoice at your word as one that has found great treasure, and I feast on your word because I know it is my life, my sustenance and my power. I pray and receive the self-control and patience to keep myself in the path of the fulfillment of Your word. I pray also and receive the grace and discipline to guard my mouth, so I don’t talk myself out of its promises or postpone it’s fulfilment. I choose to stay in faith, walk in faith and talk faith each day, all day, by the power of the Holy Spirit. I know that to every word You have spoken, there is a set time for its fulfillment, so that You may show yourself strong in my behalf. Help me to believe and trust You, so I can see Your power and glory, in Jesus’ name. Lord, breathe on me again, with fresh breath from heaven; anoint me afresh with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, for in the atmosphere of the Spirit, there is faith, peace, joy and confidence. Let your power work through me to bring about the manifestation of your promises, to my generation. Let your will be done in my life Lord, let your counsel prevail, let your wisdom and your knowledge stand against all odds and opposition in the path to fulfilment of your good and perfect plan and purpose, in Jesus’ name, amen”.
