Starting Point: Foundation of Faith

During childhood, you may have been handed a faith framework through which you began to view the world. For a lot of us, that childhood framework didn’t survive the rigors of adulthood. It’s not enough to say, “The Bible says . . . ,” in the face of real-life tragedy. Adults often need a new starting point. But the starting point for Christian faith isn’t, “The Bible says . . . .” It’s better than that. It’s Jesus. What I used to believe isn’t what I believe today. Here’s what I mean. When I was younger, I used to believe that all police officers were alien creatures whose skins melted when you threw water on them. I also used to believe that when there was something strange in the neighborhood, I was gonna call, “Ghostbusters.” Something else I used to believe when I was younger but I don’t believe today: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. It was silly for me to believe that looking back at it now, but still, it was what I used to believe. I used to put my FAITH into those things that I believed. Then, as I grew up and became older, what we used to believe, seems less believable now and it’s because of life. For some of us, this happened to our belief God, or our Christian faith. There are small things that contribute to this: incredibly sad events, the fate of innocents (bad things for good people), prayers going unanswered, etc. But one thing is certain, it happens and when it happens, we need to figure out where to begin again. This sermon may be too hard for a lot of you, but I want you to take notes on some of the important things I’m going to say in this sermon because then you can use to keep yourself on track for not losing out on what’s important in what you believe. Let’s go to Luke 15:11-32. We’re going to look at this story in four chapters. Chapter 1: The Young and Thoughtless: ¹¹ Jesus went on to say, “There was once a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.’ So the man divided his property between his two sons. ¹³ After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. ¹⁴ He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. ¹⁵ So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. ¹⁶ He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat.  V12 says the “younger one” and here, Jesus wasn’t saying “younger” as in “baby”, he was saying, “younger” as in stupid and dumb. Let’s not get that confused. Jesus was saying that there are dumb people out there who dream about being the master of their own universe and go live their lives with faith in only themselves. You’re going to meet or you have met people who are so selfish and so conceited that they think their happiness comes from their so called freedom. In fact, they are so dumb and thoughtless that they ask their parents for their parents’ money thinking that it belongs to them. I have a lot of things to say about this – like it’s not your money, it’s your parents hard earned money, but that’s another story altogether. However, this is what I want you to know: God does NOT stop you from doing or believing whatever you want. If you are young and thoughtless, God will not stop you from being young and thoughtless. You see what verse 14 says, “he spent everything he had.” People lose their faith because they do whatever they want, but whatever they want is the dumbest thing to do. Some people believe that God doesn’t exist because He doesn’t stop you from leaving Him. I’m going to tell you that He loves you so much that He respects your decision to do whatever you want and think that makes you happy, even if it’s bad for you. Just look at this guy, he was so dumb that he preferred to eat what the pigs ate. Back then, I know this means nothing now because pork belly is a delicacy but back then pork belly was disgusting. It was considered unclean, worst of the worst. This brings us to chapter 2, verse 17. Chapter 2: Overwhelming Senses: ¹⁷ At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father’s hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you.¹⁹ I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and started back to his father. The only way to overcome our young and thoughtlessness is to come to our senses. Unless you come to your senses, you will have no reason to believe in anything. This is where a lot of people come to have faith as adults. People don’t believe in Jesus without having a reason to believe in Jesus. We talked about this last week, but believing just doesn’t happen. More than that, people have to realize that the reason they are at this point in their lives is because they have sinned. You can only believe in God when you’re willing to come to God. This is what repentance is. It’s coming to God after walking away from Him in the first place. We must understand our sin. Our sin is the sin of walking away from God. When we live our lives, we tend to stray away from God. Moreover, I want us to realize that this is your choice. We choose to believe or not believe. We choose to place our faith in places and in things. Chapter 3: Restoration: “He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. ²¹ ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’ ²² But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. ²³ Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’ And so the feasting began. When our foundation of faith is in Jesus who saves us from the penalty of sin and reconciles us to God through His blood, and when we believe in that and come to God as we are and begin to connect to God (it doesn’t take much to connect to God, it’s clear from verse 20b that the son only begins to speak before being kissed). “He was still a long way…” God loves doomed sinners coming back home. Jesus came to save the DOOMED. This means that at any time when we are doomed or if we know somebody who is doomed, that’s not where it ends—it’s where it begins. The DOOMED are able to receive what I want to call the RRS when they believe. The RRS or robe, ring and shoes, girls call this bling, Christians call this perfect reconciliation. This is symbol of acceptance. This is a symbol of restoration. This is a symbol of freedom. This is how our foundation of faith begins—in a moment knowing perfection. Chapter 4: See the Big Picture ²⁵ “In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him, ‘What’s going on?’ ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come back home,’ the servant answered, ‘and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.’²⁸ The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. ²⁹ But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! ³⁰ But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’ ³¹ ‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’” The older brother is mad. He is mad because he doesn’t see the perfection for what it is. It’s not about the party or the goat, it’s about coming home. He saw the party, which was temporary, and didn’t see the permanent—he got his brother back, he always had everything he ever wanted, and there was no reason to complain. We need to see the big picture when it comes to our faith. We have to know why we come to church and why we believe in Jesus. God doesn’t ask us to follow Him blindly or trust in Him blindly, He wants us to see that He is always with me and that everything God has is ours. This is the foundation of faith. This is where we need to start our faith journey. It is a starting point. Let’s go to our memory verse for today. It comes from Romans 3:23-24… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. – Romans 3:23-24 We are all redeemed by God’s grace. This is the starting point of the Christian Faith. Believe it and live in it. Let’s pray.