LUKE 15: 2 SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

Luke 15 is inviting,
it covers 3 Parables,
about lost things that are found.

Luke starts with a story
about a lost sheep,
who wanders off
and finds himself alone.

When his shepherd finds him,
he rejoices, and joyfully
carries him home.

The shepherd is so excited,
that he shouts to his neighbors, and his friends,
"Look and see, my lost sheep has been found."

In this Parable of the Lost Sheep,
Luke shares the story that Jesus spoke.
He says,
“Tax collectors
and other notorious sinners
often came to listen
to Jesus teach.
This made the Pharisees
and teachers of religious law
complain that he was associating
with such sinful people -
even eating with them!”
Luke 15:1-2

Jesus said,
“Rejoice with me
because I have found my lost sheep.”
In the same way,
there is more joy in heaven
over one lost sinner
who repents and returns to God
than over ninety-nine others
who are righteous
and haven’t strayed away!”
Luke 15:6-7

Then another analogy is shared,
​when Jesus compares
a lost coin to a repentant man.

He says,
“Or suppose a woman
has ten silver coins
and loses one.
Won’t she light a lamp
and sweep the entire house
and search carefully
until she finds it?
And when she finds it,
she will call in her friends
and neighbors
and say, ‘Rejoice with me
because I have found my lost coin.’
In the same way,
there is joy in the presence
of God’s angels
when even one sinner repents.”

You may think, “What’s the point?”
“Who cares about a lost sheep or a lost coin?”
But I say to you this,
If this is the thought in your mind,
then it reflects the intent in your heart,
which means it's time to repent,
and ask God to change your heart.

It’s a sign that pride has filled you up,
because everything lost,
and lonely, and without hope,
matters to Jesus.

Luke really wanted to hone in on this,
because his next statement says,
“To illustrate the point further,
Jesus told them this story;"

"A man had two sons.
The younger son told his father,
“I want my share of your estate now
before you die.”
So his father agreed to divide
his wealth between his sons.
“A few days later this younger son
packed all his belongings
and moved to a distant land,
and there he wasted all his money
in wild living.
About the time his money ran out,
a great famine swept over the land,
and he began to starve.
He persuaded a local farmer
to hire him,
and the man sent him into his fields
to feed the pigs.
The young man became so hungry
that even the pods
he was feeding the pigs
looked good to him.
But no one gave him anything.
When he finally came to his senses,
he said to himself,
At home even the hired servants
have food enough to spare,
and here I am dying of hunger!
I will go home to my father and say,
Father, I have sinned against
both heaven and you,
and I am no longer worthy
of being called your son.
Please take me on
as a hired servant.
So he returned home to his father.
And while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him coming.
Filled with love and compassion,
he ran to his son,
embraced him, and kissed him.
His son said to him,
Father, I have sinned against
both heaven and you,
and I am no longer worthy
of being called your son.
But his father said
to the servants,
Quick! Bring the finest robe
in the house and put it on him.
Get a ring for his finger
and sandals for his feet.
And kill the calf
we have been fattening.
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 the party began.

If you have ever had children,
or you even have loved,
then you know full well
what repentance does.

It softens your heart
when you the one that you love,
changes their mind
and does what’s good.

Forgiveness comes quick,
when the one that you love
finally comes home.
even though,
you may still need time to process it.

From far away,
you see your love coming home,
and the tears of sorrow
become tears of joy.

In the distance, you can see him clearly,
because love focuses in
on the apple of our eye.

Overwhelmed by emotion,
you can hardly believe
that the one that you lost
to captivity
has finally been set free.

What they could not see
when they first went away,
was only an illusion of  
“the grass is greener on the other side.”

Typically, their leaving has nothing to do with you,
but because you love them,
it's hard not too feel abused.
But the truth is,
they are stuck in sin - 
and so,
because we love them,
we must pray for them.

Whether its walking away, bound in captivity,
or being persuaded by act of adultery;
the result is still the same -
the one that you love has strayed away.

And let's not lie. 
At least one time, sin has entangled us.
Since we are human,
living under God's curse,
it's not a surprise that we fall prey to Satan.

And this is why Jesus says,
that unless we forgive others,
He will not forgive us.
Matthew 6:14-15

The typical emotion if someone has hurt you,
is to put up a wall and protect yourself.

Then there's anger that accompanies it,
when the thought is, "How could they do this to me?"

The the accusations, and the blame
begins to surface from the angry heart.
This is what happens
when the roots of bitterness grow,
we find ourselves tripping
into anxiety and depression.

And if you're the one who went astray,
then guilt and shame can take over the heart.

This is when we have to trust and believe,
that Jesus came to set ALL the captives free.

God came out of heaven,
to be born of a man 
just so that we could be brought
back into relationship with Him.

He laid upon the altar as the final sacrifice,
so that His blood could wash the sin away from us.

He freed us from eternal death,
He declared the blessing to cover the curse.

When the union of love
has truly been formed,
Repentance and Forgiveness
become two sides of the same coin.

Repent comes from the heart
of the one who does wrong,
and Forgive fills the heart
of the one who has been wronged.

Both are halves 
that make a whole heart,
and when we are operating in love,
they do not come apart.

We see this theme
with God's mercy and grace,
where both characteristics
reflect God's heart.

Mercy is given to sinners
through forgiveness and unfailing love.
Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
we shall fear no evil because God is with us. 

Grace is given as a free gift,
a blessing to reverse the curse that He placed.
Through His Son Jesus, God has given us
the Key that opens Heaven's door.

But in this 3rd story we soon see,
what happens to humanity -
when they see another human receiving
God's loving mercy and grace.

Jesus says,
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working.
When he returned home,
he heard music and dancing in the house,
and he asked one of the servants what was going on.
“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.
His father came out and begged him,
but he replied,
“All these years I’ve slaved for you, and never refused 
to do a single thing you told me to.
And in all that time you never gave me
even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
Yet when this son of yours comes back
after squandering your money on prostitutes,
you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!”

Come on!
I know we’ve all been there!
Wondering, “How is that even fair?”

This brother did everything right.
He followed the rules
and helped his family out.
He worked hard
and showed responsibility,
and he never once
refused to do a single thing!
So why in the world
should the other son,
the one who went wrong,
the one who was misled,
the one who squandered his money,
and emotionally hurt his family,
be celebrated?

Perhaps we should
continue to read
the rest of the Parable of the Lost Son
to understand, and gain Godly wisdom.

“His father said 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 now he is found!”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:1-32‬ Parable of the Lost Son

And there it is!
God’s glorious wisdom!
The one who was dead was resurrected.
The one who was lost has been found.
The celebration was all about LIFE!
It's God's Mercy and Grace
offered freely to a dead man!

Humanity puts expectations on what is right
and what is wrong,
but Jesus focuses on the lost and the found.

Perhaps this why He only spoke of
the Kingdom of God
between the time he resurrected from the dead
and the time He ascended into Heaven.

Let me ask you, How can you “Go,
and make disciples of men”
if you don’t repent and you can’t forgive?

Look at what Jesus did,
he forgave BEFORE the repentant heart.
Wow!
How do we top this?
Is it even possible to forgive out of love,
when someone has seriously hurt us?

Sometimes, we must repent,
not because of what did,
but because someone else sinned against us.

Life.
It must be celebrated.
There are times when we need to forgive,
and there are times when we need to repent.

Remember,
it's only God's light that penetrates the dark.
So I ask you, what is the condition of your heart?

Where is Holy Spirit?
What kind of fruit is growing in your heart?
Is it rooted in love, or in bitterness?
Do you need to repent, or do you need to forgive?
Both are needed to show the love of God.
Both are needed to extend a hand of hope.
Repentance and Forgiveness
they are two sides of the same coin,
they both represent God's faithfulness
and unfailing love.