Is there some item you own (keys, glasses, wallet, paperwork, etc.) that you tend to lose more often than others? How do you go about relocating the item when you realize it’s missing?

Lost from Home

Luke 15:11-13, 17-20

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

 

Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son

“I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found…As long as we live within the world’s delusions, our addictions [of sex, money, food and power] condemn us to futile quests in the “distant country”, leaving us to face an endless series of disappointments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled. In these days of increasing addictions, we have wandered far away from father’s home; [it is] a life lived “in a distant country”. It is from there that our cry for deliverance rises up.”

What do you think the younger son really wanted when he demanded his share of his father’s inheritance?

Have you ever gotten what you thought you wanted but then found it didn’t do for you what you had hoped it would?

If you could go back to a time when you felt lost from home (physically or metaphorically), what would you say to encourage and console yourself?

Lost from the Father

Luke 15:28-30

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

The older son became lost from his father despite staying with his father. We. too, can become lost from God if we remain with God but allow resentment and unforgiveness to remain within us.

Lysa Terkheurst, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way

And let’s be honest, if we weren’t ever disappointed, we’d settle for the shallow pleasures of this world rather than addressing the spiritual desperation of our souls. We don’t think about fixing things until we realize they are broken. And even then we don’t call in the experts until we surrender to the realization we cannot fix things on our own. If our souls never ached with disappointments and disillusionment, we’d never full admit and submit to our need for God. If we weren’t shattered we’d never know the glorious touch of the Potter making something glorious out of dust, out of us.

 

How does comparison play into the “lostness” of these brothers in Luke 15?

How can the father’s generosity toward both sons encourage us to trust God with our deepest needs and hurts? 

If you could go back to a time in your life when you felt lost from God, what would you say to yourself??