Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, June 7, 2015 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: Graduation Life Lessons For Graduates Luke 15:11-24 (NKJV) First of all, on behalf of all of us at Christian Hope Church of Christ, let me congratulate each of our graduates on a job well done. We know you have worked very hard for many years to achieve this goal in your life and we want you to know we are proud of all of you. But while graduation is the end of one chapter in your life, it is actually the beginning of a whole new chapter. That is why the graduation ceremony is called a commencement. Joanna and Tracy, you are about to commence life as college students. Brett and Kayla, you are about to commence your careers in the medical profession. You are about to discover that process of learning never comes to an end. In fact, the greatest lessons you will ever learn are not found in a book, but in life itself. I have entitled my message this morning: Life Lessons For Graduates. But as you are about to see, these are some valuable life lessons we all need to learn. Please turn with me if you have your Bibles to a very familiar passage in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel. And let's read verses 11-24.
LUKE 15:11-24 (NKJV) 11 Then He said: A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. 20 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. ********************************************************* Now this might seem like a rather unusual scripture text for a graduation message, but as you are about to see, there are three valuable Life Lessons For Graduates in this parable; and I might add, they are valuable lessons for the rest of us also.
Life Lesson #1: Don't Leave Your Heavenly Father Behind! (vs. 11-13) 11 Then He said: A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 1. In this parable we find a young man in pursuit of freedom from his father. 2. You can almost hear him talking to himself: If only I could go any where I want to go, and do anything I want to do, and come in as late as I want; if only I could not have to live by my father's rules, and be my own boss, and answer to no one but me, life would be great! 3. And the more this young man thought about it, he thought to himself, Why should I have to wait until I'm older to live this kind of life when I can have it now? 4. So the young man went to his father and said, Father, you know I soon will be of age. You have already told me that when I become of age you will give me a share of your property. Well, I would like for you to go ahead and give it to me now. 5. No doubt the father tried to reason with his son. Perhaps he said, Son, are things really so bad here with me? Don't you see how much freedom you now have? I have given you lots of responsibility and you have the freedom to enjoy all that I have.
6. But there was no reasoning with his young son. The boy had made up his mind he needed to get as far away from his father as he could get if he was ever going to be free. So the father gives his son his share of the inheritance, the boy packs up his earthly belongings and takes off for the far country. 7. If you are familiar with this parable you know the FATHER in the parable represents GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. And the young rebellious son represents the child of God who lives in rebellion against the heavenly Father. 8. Graduates, right now you have your whole life ahead of you. You are about to experience a new level of freedom you have never experienced before. But let me be quick to caution you that you are also at a very dangerous crossroads in your life. Fifty percent (50%) of all young people raised in Christian homes and have grown up in the Church, leave their Christian faith after they graduate from High School. 9. Think about that! One out of every two Christian young people who go off to college leave GOD out of their lives. Some of them eventually come back to GOD when they are in their mid-30's and are married and have some children of their own. But most of those who walk away from GOD once they graduate from High School never come back to the LORD.
10. Graduates, your Christian faith is about to be tested in a way it has never been tested before. Once you are on your own, you will find it very easy to just lay in bed on Sundays instead of going to Church. You will find it very easy to fill your Sundays with worldly activities and leave GOD out of your life. Some of you adults here this morning are struggling with this very issue in your own life. 11. Now you can tell yourself, Man this is great! I don't have to go to Church on Sundays if I don't want to. I am free to do anything I want on Sundays. But young people, and older ones alike, listen very carefully to me: LIFE WITHOUT YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS NOT A LIFE OF FREEDOM, IT IS A LIFE OF SLAVERY OF THE WORST KIND AND THAT IS SLAVERY TO SATAN. 12. Graduates, as you prepare to go out into the world DON'T LEAVE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER BEHIND! **********************************************************
Now here is... Life Lesson #2: Don't Be Seduced By The World's Allure (vs.13-16) 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 1. This young prodigal soon found himself being seduced by the world's allure. Having a bag full of money and no father around to stop him, he throws off all restraint and starts pursuing a party lifestyle filled with lots of booze and wild women and every kind of sinful behavior imaginable. 2. He gets sucked in by the world's lie that if you drink as much booze as you want, and have sex with as many partners as you can as often as want...and live with total reckless abandon with no rules or moral values...you will find true happiness. 3. At first this young prodigal thought he had died and gone to heaven, but soon he began to realize his life was spiraling out of control. After partying hard each night, he finds himself waking up with a hangover the next morning, lying next to some sleazy woman who's name he doesn't even know.
4. His eyes are dark and puffy. His face is gaunt and thin. He feels numb and lifeless. Realizing his money is dwindling fast and can no longer keep up with the crowd he's been hanging out with, he seeks companionship with an even sleazier crowd. Then one day he wakes up and realizes it is ALL GONE...every dime of his money is gone...and he has nothing to show for it. Like a rigged carnival game the world sucked him in and in the end there was no prize to be had. ILLUSTRATION In May of 1973, I graduated from Granville Wells High School in Jamestown, Indiana. The valedictorian of our graduating class was a guy named Jay Jarrell. Jay Jarrell made straight A's all through High School, and by his senior year, Jay had received a number of scholarships. After graduation Jay chose to attend Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana. All of us knew Jay Jarrell would do great in college and go on to a successful career in any field he chose. Sadly, those great expectations never materialized. When I came home from Johnson Bible College at the end of my freshman year, an underclassman I had gone to high school with told me Jay Jarrell had gotten in with beer drinking, dope smoking crowd, and had dropped out of school. Jay Jarrell was seduced by the world's allure and it left him in a pit of despair.
5. Graduates, listen to me very carefully. As you prepare to go out into the world, you need to do so with your eyes wide open! You are going to get hit with all kinds of temptations you have never had to deal with before. Try this...try that...drink this...drink that...smoke this...smoke that...watch this...watch that...go to this club...go to that bar...! You are going to meet new friends who are going to tempt you to throw away all the Christian values you have been taught and pursue a life of sinful pleasure with the promise it will make you happy! 6. But it is all a BIG FAT LIE! It doesn't lead to a life of happiness... it leads to a life of brokenness and emptiness and guilt and shame. Life Lesson #1: Don't Leave Your Heavenly Father Behind Life Lesson #2: Don't Be Seduced By The World's Allure Now here's...
Lesson 3: Don't Give Up, But Get Up When You Fail (vs. 20-24) 20 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. 1. The prodigal son made some really terrible mistakes. He messed his life up big time. He hurt the people who loved him most. He squandered away all his wealth. And he did a lot of sinful things that left him saddled with a ton of guilt and shame. 2. And as he looks at his reflection in the muddy water of that pig sty, he sees the word failure written all over his face. 3. He was faced with a decision: He could either GIVE UP...or he could GET UP! Well, he chose to GET UP...and GO HOME TO HIS FATHER. 4. He knew he had no right to ask for his father's forgiveness or even for a place to stay. But he could ask his father for a job and become one of his slaves. In his mind, he reasoned, it would be far better to be one of his father's slaves, than to be a slave to the life of sin he had been living.
5. And in the most touching scene of this parable, the father sees his son coming in the distance...he runs out to meet him...and with open arms he lovingly embraces the filthy, rail-thin boy and kisses him. 6. The son utters the speech he has been rehearsing all the way home: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son. 7. And the father is so filled with so much grace and mercy its almost as if he didn't even hear what his son said. Instead, the father tells his servants to prepare a big celebration to welcome his wayward son home. The love of the Father was greater than the sin of the child! 8. To all you graduates, and to everyone else here this morning, listen carefully. You will make mistakes! There will be times when you make some choices you will live to regret. There may be some times when you make a royal mess out of your life. Don't give up! DON'T GIVE UP! Instead, GET UP and come home to your heavenly Father who will be waiting for you with open arms of love and forgiveness!
C O N C L U S I O N The late Alex Hayley was one of the most famous writers of our day and time. He is most remembered for his classic book entitled: ROOTS. Throughout his illustrious career, Alex Hayley kept a rather unusual poster on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle sitting on top of a fence post. And the caption beneath the picture read: If you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you can be sure he had help getting there. Graduates, right now you are sitting on top of the fence post. Don't forget those who helped you get there! Your parents and grandparents helped you get there. Your teachers and professors helped you get there. Your friends and the members of your church family helped you get there. But most importantly, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER HELPED YOU TO GET THERE...AND DON'T EVER FORGET THAT!