On Sunday I spoke on the Parable of the Lost Son, from Luke 15, and asked the question of how loud do we let the voices of the world drown out the voice of God?
There are many voices in this world, and these voices can be loud! These voices can be full of promise, they tell us that we must go out and prove ourselves – they can be very seductive. I believe that when we let these voices dictate our lives, that we begin to live in a similar way to that of the Younger Son. A life where we are want to be in full control, where we turn to the Father and say ‘thanks, but i don’t need or want you anymore.’
But how harmful this can be. Turning away from a loving embrace, a voice that speaks love and joy in to our lives, that declares you to be a child of God. As I think of it, I am drawn to Jesus’ baptism, and his coming up out of the water to the spirit descending on him in the form of a dove, and that voice of the father coming from heaven, saying, ‘this is my son, with him I am well pleased.’
As soon as that had taken place, and Jesus had heard those words spoken over him, he went out in to the desert and was tempted three times by the Enemy. The voices challenged him, telling him he had to prove himself worthy of the Father’s love, that he needed to be successful, popular, and powerful. We need to watch out for these voices, and when we heard them whispering in our ear, we need to come against them with the unequivocal truth that this love given to us by the Father is a totally free gift – we don’t need to prove a thing. These voices need to be squashed in their infancy before they are allowed to grow into booming barrage of abuse.
Then there are the voices of this world which the older son hears. Voices which declare he has been wronged, he should hold a grudge, that his complaints are valid, and that he doesn’t need to ask for forgiveness, because he is better than his younger brother.
The older son, actually let’s this complaint of his heart paralyse him. He let’s the darkness that come with this engulf him, because these voices are given fuel to grow. In the end we see that in not being able to forgive his younger brother, he stops himself from being able to enter his Father’s house – entering place of great love and joy.
I think that both son’s in this parable wronged their father in different ways, and we can very easily follow either of their examples. Personally I think that it is easier to seek forgiveness when acting as the younger son did. He left, he did wrong, he wasted what was given to him, and then it hit him – how much of a idiot he had been. When we do stupid things, we know it, it is clear for others to see, and when we have accountable relationships it is easier for those people to speak into our lives and help us back on the path of reconciliation. But when we act as the older son, when we take being obedient, dutiful, self-sacrificing, dedicated, and hardworking, to and for the worshipping community to which we belong, as being the most important thing – then we allow ourselves to be caught up in complaints and resentments which have been caused by those God honouring attributes. We place ourselves outside the light, which his a place where sin cannot be confessed, forgiveness cannot be received, loves embrace cannot be met, and therefore communion with God becomes impossible.
The number one thing in our lives needs to be relationship with God. Those things which help us to draw close to him, and to serve him and the Church are great – but we need to guard our hearts from allowing the voice of the Enemy, tempting us away from the warm and living embrace in the Father’s arms.
We are all sinners. That should be our response whenever we come to the Lord. It doesn’t matter what role we play in the story – wether we act as the younger son, or older son – your response should be one of repentance, and turn gin around to start an new way of life, a life more in line with what God wants for us.
We have a choice to make, do we choose to listen to the voices of the world, allow them to grow inside of us, and bring us to a place of imprisonment and self-rejection, or do we turn to the Father and let his voice be the loudest we hear.
Dan Hetherington
Pastor