4-25-2019

Good Morning All,

    Luke 15: 18-19; “I’ll go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you.  I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.”

    Have you ever felt sorry for doing something?  Did it help or did you feel just as bad?  We often realize that we have done something wrong and then we feel bad.  We have a hard time getting over it and often we don’t.  We continue to feel guilty with little, if any, sense of relieve or respite.

     Which brings up a question, if feeling sorry for your sins doesn’t make you feel better; then what does?  Many will tell you that repentance means to feel sorry for your sins.  That is only a small part of the story.  This is also why, when we feel sorry for our sins, that we still feel empty of forgiveness and still burdened by sin.

    It is always interesting to me that the younger son in the parable of The Prodigal Son eventually realizes that the cause of his problem is life is his sin.  He didn’t blame others; he knew that his pain was caused by his sin.  So, he decides to return to his father and ask for forgiveness but expected to be a servant from now on because he had squandered what his father had given him.

    Yet here is where the remarkable part of God’s love is revealed to us.  In the parable, the father (God) is looking for the son to return every day.  When the son comes to his senses and returns, the love of the father is revealed.  The father doesn’t wait for the apology, or confession, before he forgives the son.  The son is forgiven when the father begins to look for him on the road.  In other words, he is forgiven by the father before the son realizes, recognizes or confesses his sin.

    When you come to God in confession, your sins are already forgiven.  They were forgiven long before you realized that is what you should do.  The major part of repentance is when you realize you are going in the wrong direction and the suffering state in which you now exist is the result of your sin.  It is not your parent’s fault or your spouse’s or society’s; it is your fault, your own most grievous fault.  We do not deserve to be forgiven but the love of the Father is greater than anything we have ever experienced.  Return to the Father for He has already forgiven you and He desires that you may be made whole again and part of His eternal kingdom.

Dear Father, to you alone belong the glory.  We come to you as a broken people; we are broken by sin and its guilt.  Yet through all of our failures, you forgive us because of your love for us.  We pray for those in our community who have watched loved ones return to you.  Be with them and give them your comforting Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret