C (4:34)

Well, thanks for having me. I know you just read our story. It was really good for me to hear Red again. As you know, I got these two boys. They're like night and day, like polar opposites as far as personality type goes. Anybody else have kids like that? My youngest is one of those creative types like enneagram 7. Flaming extrovert, paint your body blue and white, take off your shirt at a cowboys game kind of guy. Some of y' all have that same personality type. But my boy is really super outgoing. He's really fun to be around. I mean, just a party waiting to assemble. I mean, that kid has more talent in his little finger than most people have in their entire body, but he struggles to reach his full potential. You know, people like that where you just think to yourself, man, if you would just apply yourself, you would accomplish unbelievable things with your life. He really is an amazing kid with so much potential. But like every personality type, there's a flip side, a shadow side. If any of you have that personality type, then you know the flip side of your charming, fun loving, spontaneous ways. My youngest boy is, how you say, undisciplined, really unorganized. He procrastinates a lot, likes the spotlight, can sometimes be a show off, even a little self centered. Honestly, sometimes a lot self centered. And you could see those tendencies when he was just a little kid. It was always, look at me, look at me, look at me. He was always like putting on little skits in the family room and he had to be the lead character. He would make his older brother be like the cow in the story, which was fine with him because he didn't want to speak in part anyway. But my youngest was always colorful and fun, funny and articulate and loud and the center of attention. And he was always a bit unpredictable, very impulsive. And as he grew, he became a free spirit without any thought for long term consequences. You know, it's been my experience that sometimes those types of people get easily seduced by instant gratification. Their desire seems so strong to them that they could even become like addicted to a lot of stuff. And it just kills me to watch anybody battle that. See, my boy has a tendency to let his impulses and his appetites jerk him around. Or as he puts it, I just follow my heart. Doesn't always think things through. He's made all kinds of questionable decisions, Some really, really unwise decisions. Even Travis, tragic choices. But still, he's my boy and I can't help but love him. That smile, the charisma, the charm. There's an authenticity about him that people, frankly, I find attractive. I mean, even when he's bad, he's authentically bad. Now I got this other boy. He too is an awesome kid and I love him with all my heart as well. But again, they are like polar opposites. My older boy is more of a thinker, he's more analytical. Anybody else like that? He's a bit introverted, doesn't mind working on a project all by himself. He actually prefers it that way. Likes to tackle a challenge. He's a problem solver. Type. And he never, ever, ever got in trouble growing up like a really good kid. Unlike his younger brother, he wasn't much of a risk taker. Always hated going off the high dive. Didn't like roller coasters whatsoever. While his brother was out surfing with his buddies, he was back at the beach by himself, making elaborate sandcastles. Always organizing things. Super. And you know what? That's a great way to be. And I just love who he is. He is such a reliable, predictable, trustworthy kid. Went to school to pursue an engineering degree, but switched to agriculture just so he could come home and help me run the family farm. He's a hard worker. He tries to do the right thing. He is such a good boy, A really good boy. Sometimes a little too good, if you know what I mean. You see, he can get so full of his own rightness that he thinks everybody else is wrong. He can be more than just a little opinionated. He's told me a bunch of times how I ought to run my business. Thinks I'm way too soft, that I extend way too much grace. Doesn't understand the leadership principle of putting people before profits. He has a really hard time extending a second chance to anybody. And just like my youngest, he has so much potential. If I could just get him to loosen up, if I could get him to embrace the fact that I'm his dad, not his boss. If he would try to watch me how I run my life and my business and just let me coach him, then he'd be able to enjoy life and other people so much more. See, I'm not sure he really knows how much I love him. And I long for him to slow down long enough to realize that now, I would be less than honest if I didn't tell you how much it broke my heart when my youngest said he was leaving. No plans, no itinerary, just out of here. Wanted to see the world. Wanted to experience life. Said he was feeling kind of fenced in. And I tried to tell him that the best life had to offer was at home with me. But when he gets something in his head, even if it makes no sense whatsoever. Cause that's just what he was feeling in the moment. Said he was gonna throw himself to the wind and just see where it blew him. All he needed was some cash. And I knew what that meant. You know, it's hard on a parent when your kids see you only as an ATM machine. And I thought he might want a couple hundred bucks. But he asked for his inheritance early, which was pretty much telling Me, Dad, I need you to hurry up and die. And honestly, that was tough to hear. It hurt. All I could do to choke back the tears. But I gave him the money and let him go. I'm telling you, it's one of the saddest days of my life to watch him. To watch my boy get in that car and drive away. Knowing how badly he was going to mess up his life just about killed me. Now, as your kids are growing up, you need to set loving boundaries and you need to protect them from things that are gonna hurt them. But when they get old enough to leave home, sometimes the most loving thing you can do is let them go. See, love really isn't love without the freedom to choose. And that's just what he chose. And I knew. I knew he was gonna get hurt. I knew he would experience things that he shouldn't experience. I knew he was going to walk into some really dark places. I knew that he was going to use his charm to hook up with people that would only leave him abused and empty. I knew he'd be lied to. I knew he'd be manipulated. I knew he'd be used and chewed up and spit out. And I knew the money wasn't going to last. Because if you don't know this by now, no amount of money can buy happiness. I tried to talk him out of it. He was raised in a loving environment. He knows right from wrong. But I had to let him go. It was his choice. And, man, it is so hard to watch your kids make terrible choices. And I'm guessing some of you have made some terrible choices, haven't you? Probably even making them now. So I just want to encourage you to come out of the dark and choose to walk in the light. Because if my boy was here today, he would tell you the same thing. There is nothing, absolutely nothing for you out there. I know it seems exciting and lots of people are doing it, but it will just leave you wounded and empty and full of shame and regret. And you're gonna start to feel like a worthless nobody, which is so far from the truth. And I know some people who, like, have read this story about my youngest son. And they say, see? See, right there. You have to hit rock bottom before you look up. Let me just lovingly say. No, you don't. No, you don't. You can choose to see the light now. You can choose to humble yourself before you crash and burn, before you hurt a whole lot of people, including yourself. The last thing I want to see is for any of you to Hit rock bottom. Realize the direction you're walking. Turn around and come home now before the damage is too great. And if you'll do that like my youngest, you'll find the love of the father waiting for you. Man, my boy smelled so bad. But he smelled so good. Talking about that day he came home, he was absolutely filthy. Hadn't shaven in weeks. Had breath that could just knock you over. But I didn't care. I kissed him. Yeah, I saw him coming up the road. Because I've been standing at the gate every single day looking for him. And when I saw him, I'm telling you, I ran. I mean, sprint it, and I still got it. I ran like a 4540 in college. And when I saw how broken and contrite he was, I'm talking really broken, not faking it. Broken. I just lost it. Cried like a baby. So did he. We just stood there, just blubbering all over each other. I cannot tell you how great it was to have him home and how great it was for him to want to be home. I loved that kid and missed him so much. Now he thought he was probably going to get kicked out of the family. Not even close. He's my kid. All was forgiven. My boy was home. And, man, how we partied that night. We pulled out all the stops. We had so much fun. So much music and dancing, tons of food. I got a bunch of pictures on my phone. I will never, ever forget that night. But I gotta tell you, it broke my heart when my other son, you know, the good boy, he wouldn't come to the party. He was so angry, so filled with disdain, that he wouldn't even call him his brother. Refer to him as this son of yours. He couldn't believe that this rebel had the nerve to ever show his face around here again. And the thing is, he was mad at me. He was upset about the way that I accepted and I embraced and expressed my joy at his brother's return. He was jealous. Can you believe it? He wasn't happy at all to see his little brother. I mean, you could see the disgust in his eyes. It was almost hate. It was like he wished that his brother would have died because he sees his little brother as a huge embarrassment to our family. He wouldn't even speak to him. Still won't. Not a handshake, not a hug, nothing. Broke my heart. Still does. You see, his heart has gotten to the place where it's like I owed him. Like he had never captured the fact that I love him. Unconditionally as well. Started living with this sense of entitlement. Forgot about all that he had received, all I had done for him his whole life, he lost his heart of gratitude. It was like. Well, he actually said it. What about me? Huh? What about me? I'm the good son. I'm the good son. You never threw a party for me. I can't tell you how many parties these boys had growing up. Chuck E. Cheese, Disney World, birthday parties, spring break, graduation parties, senior trips, family vacations, you name it. Not to mention all the sacrifices I had made for each of them. But in this moment, he forgot all of that. He was envious that I was gracious toward his brother. Couldn't believe that we would throw a party in honor of this loser. And it kills me. Because when your heart gets to the point where you can't hear the music, or worse than that, you can hear the music, but you can't stand it. You can't bear to watch the dancing, the sheer celebration of grace, that's when your heart gets to a dangerous place. And that's where my oldest is. Man, I love him, too. I just wish he could see that. I wish he could embrace grace. I wish he could understand the heartbeat of heaven. I wish that he could see that we had to celebrate. Because that's just what you do when lost things get found. I just want both my boys to grasp how wide, how deep, how long, how wide my love is for them. Now, listen, I don't know which one of my boys you're like or where you find yourself in our story, but I want to say to you, wherever you are, wherever you are, need to come home and live and breathe and move in the unfailing love of the Father. So, okay, I probably confused some of you. My name is Bro, and I am a dad. And I do have two boys and a daughter. And they are amazing people. And of course, I am not the dad in Jesus story, but I wanted to do it this way so that we might see ourselves somewhere in this story. And I can't pretend to completely know all the inner workings of the heart of God. But, gang, Jesus clearly intended for you and me to get a glimpse into God's heart through the Father in this story. Did you catch why Jesus told his story in the first place? Let's go Back to Luke 15, verse 1. Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teachers. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people. Even Eating with them. So Jesus told them this story. The religious leaders had become the older brother, full of disdain for those people. They put people in categories, ranked them in order of importance, with themselves always at the top. You ever been there, man? I have. In fact, Mike Breaux has been both sons. The one boy out there chasing his appetites, doing his own rebellious, self destructive thing. Then tragically, for a while, I became the other boy. Self righteously offended by God's grace toward other people who weren't nearly as good as me. I stand in such desperate need of the forgiveness and grace of God. And these days I'm becoming more and more captured by the Father's heart. And I want to spend my days searching and pursuing and praying and loving and longing for the one to come home. Because I've had the prodigal heart and I've had the older brother heart. And I never want to go back to either for the rest of my days. I want to embrace the heart of the Father. Because he's the shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes after the one. He's the one who sweeps the house, turns over heaven and earth, searching for that priceless one. He's the Father who stands by the gate, watching, waiting, longing every day for a glimpse of that one coming up over the horizon. He's the one who explodes with joy every time a lost one is found. And he's our Creator who wants everyone to come home. And when you're captured by the heart of the Father you care about, the one you search for, the one you sweep, you watch, you share, you love, you care, you rescue, you find ways to point them home. 2nd Corinthians 5:17. And following is kind of a famous verse. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person, a new creation. The old life is gone and a new life has begun. And all this, all this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ. And now God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. He's saying as new creations made new only by the gift of God's grace, we are now called to be Jesus witnesses, his ambassadors, grateful people who see life and people through his eyes. And we partner with him to bring people home. I took a road trip one time to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and I toured a few of those, the old life saving stations. It started back in 1874. There were seven shacks up and down the East Coast. They were the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard. And that little Stretch of barrier islands on the east coast was prone to shipwrecks. In fact, it was nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic. So trained but unpaid volunteers, men and women, would take shifts. They would man lighthouses, they would walk the beach, they would ride horseback up and down the coastline, watching for ships and people who might be in distress. And when a rescue was needed, they would brave all kinds of riptides and rocks and swirling currents. It was so cool reading about these people and I was super moved by their motto. Their motto was this. Although we may not come back, we will always go out. Although we may not come back, we will always go out. And so I'm standing there, the Outer Banks, and it struck me that the church we're called to be a life saving station, not an exclusive members only kind of club where we are comfortable and we are safe and we're glad that we're in. But people who know that they have been rescued, so with the same kind of resolve, they go after the one who needs to be rescued. And so we build authentic relationships. We generally serve other people in practical ways. We pull up close, we listen well, we offer hope, and we point them to Jesus, the one who rescues. I want to be a part of a life saving station because that's what people on Team Jesus do. They go after the one. And we all do it in different ways. That's what's cool about being on a team. Some of you are wired up as bold intellectuals, school, maybe in theology, maybe in apologetics, and you can just lovingly engage a skeptic in a very effective way. I think of my buddies like Jeff Bynes and Lee Strobel, guys like Cliff Nechtol, Josh and Sean McDowell, our own pastor Josh is really, really good at that. Just people who have an ability have a gift to answer question and then humbly and respectfully, dialogue about truth. Some of you have that gift. Some of you are like, you're just extroverts who never meet a stranger. You strike up conversations with people in line at the grocery store, at a restaurant. I mean, you're on an airplane and you're talking to the person right next to you, and the next thing you know, you've got the tray table down, you've got a napkin and you're drawing a diagram on the napkin. And when you're making your final descent over that lake that's close to dfw, that if that person turns to you and says, look, there's water. Why can't I be baptized? Some of you just have the gift of evangelism. You just do. Some of you are more testimonial. Maybe you're walking out your 12th step. These days you just share the story of how God reached down and pulled you out of a pit. And you say, listen, I don't have an answer for all your questions, but I do know this. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Some of you are more invitational. You're always dropping an invite, man. I'd love for you to come check out our group sometime. I'd love you to check out students sometimes. It's super awesome. I'd love for you to come to our church. I think you really like our church. I'll pick you up, man. I'll meet you in the lobby. I'll save you a seat. Some of you are more like those praying grandmas. Every morning you're just lifting up men and women that you care about. You got a list, you got a list of prodigals and prideful older brothers that you long to see Come home. So you, you just pray. Some of you are so passionate about your friends meeting Jesus, you'll do just about anything to get them to him. Sort of. Sort of like those four guys. That story is told over in Mark, chapter two and Matthew nine, Luke five, about the four guys that bring their friend to Jesus. The paralyzed guy. They can't get in the house, they rip open the roof and they drop their friend right in front of Jesus. Don't you love that story? But I've often thought, who fixed that roof? Who stayed behind and fixed that roof? The answer is my brother in law, Danny. He's a roof patcher. Unbelievable. Carpenter. I don't know anybody as good as him, man. A few words. Minimalist just serves people. Years ago, I took his truck to a good old boy mechanic named Ricky who worked out of his farm in the middle of nowhere. I'm talking middle of nowhere. They got talking about his shop and mechanics and stuff and his land. And he said he needed somebody to do a project on his barn. It was falling apart. Well, the next week Danny just showed up and did it. And like most of the time, did it out of his own pocket. They developed a friendship. Ricky had lived a pretty rough life, made a lot of bad decisions. Then a couple of years ago, he started getting really sick. And he asked Danny about that Jesus that Danny obviously knew. He got him to start watching a church online. And then he started picking him up and they would go together. And one day he Called me up, he says, hey, Ricky wants to be baptized. You think you could get us into that church this afternoon? It was so moving to see Ricky go down in that water and come up with his hands in the air. I got a rubber bracelet around the gear shift of my truck. It's got a scripture from Romans 12 printed on it. Ricky gave it to Danny to give it to me. Ricky passed away just three weeks ago. But in the last year of his life, he handed out those scripture bracelets to everybody he met. He said, I just want to do the Lord's work. You want a simple crash course in evangelism, Here you go. Love them till they ask why. Love them till they ask why. Now, of course, there is a time to boldly speak truth. I mean, Jesus talking about his Word, said, and the truth will set you free. So according to Jesus, truth is a key that unlocks prison cells. Truth is a key. Truth is not a hammer. When you see truth as a hammer, then you will see people only as nails that need to be pounded. People need to know the truth, but we always have to speak it wrapped in grace, like it says in 1st Peter 3:15. But in your hearts, revere Christ as lor. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, gang. Our tone matters. Our tone matters. Let me show you a picture of our dog, Cricket. We inherited this dog from my mother in law who passed away this year. He's a great dog. He's a cab, a doodle, something like that. I can smile and sweetly say, you are the dumbest dog. You're so ugly. You're so stupid. I wish we'd never brought you home. Yes, you are. He'll wag his tail, but I can scowl and yell. You're such a good boy. Hey, you're the best dog in the world. Come here, you smart thing. You're the best and I love you so much. He's just cowering in the corner. Cause all he hears is the tone. And my tone cancels out everything. Listen. Nobody's argued into the kingdom. Nobody has shouted down into the kingdom. Nobody is demeaned or devalued or dehumanized into following Jesus. And sarcasm is not a gift of the Holy Spirit. I'm not sure where she got it, but I love this quote that Debbie has hanging on her fridge these days just so our grandkids can see. Says we do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it. You see, you and I have never locked eyes with somebody that Jesus didn't die for. Every person is made in the image of God. And I believe living in these highly charged, divisive times, keeping that truth in our hearts is essential. Because when we quickly dismiss people and we throw them into categories, we become like those religious Pharisees who labeled those people with terms like notorious sinner and scum. The kind of people Jesus ate with, the kind of people Jesus cared about. The kind of people Jesus came to save. Jesus heart for those people was the reason he told the story. And I just never want my heart to grow cold and entitled and judgmental and superior and arrogant and ungrateful like the older brother. Because when I do, I stop caring about the one. When you and I see someone struggling, we see somebody making bad decisions. We see someone barely treading water or choosing a lifestyle that is contrary to what God would have for them. Our first instinct, Our first instinct should be a deep longing for them to know Jesus Christ, to be able to say in our heart, you know what? That's a priceless human being who is made in the image of God. And I want them to experience his love like I have. I sincerely want them to come home. See, you can care deeply about right and wrong, and we should. You can stand for truth and justice, and we should. You can even hold firmly to your political convictions and at the same time, just refuse to embrace the callous heart of the older brother. Because. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me like me. My wife Debbie, started working in a ministry called Refuge for Women. It's a ministry for girls that have come out of prostitution and porn industry and bad decisions that they made. Even a lot of them have been trafficked in her life. And as she started working with the group, she said, I just prayed God. My life's been pretty safe. I've had great parents, I've had a great life, and what do I have in common? It's going to be hard for me to relate to these girls because I don't have a whole lot in common with them. She says she felt like God said back to her, when you see yourself needing my grace every bit as much as they do, you'll be fine. Go be a light. Go be a light. We've talked for six weeks now. About how. What it means to really follow Jesus. Jesus, the one who came to seek and save the lost one. The One who eats with sinners like us. The one who pursues lost sheep like us. The One who turns the world upside down searching for the priceless one like us. The Father who stands by the gate, watching, waiting, longing for people like us to come home. That's what he does. That's what his followers do as well. I've had this quote from Ian Watson in my office for years now. I love it. He writes, we live on a contaminated planet. It's contaminated on every level. It should have been quarantined from heaven. No reasonable God would go near it with a ten foot pole. But Jesus is no reasonable God. He became a human being and took on your uncleanness and mind. But instead of the world infecting him, he infected the world with his immaculate infection. It's still spreading. What do you say we go infect our world? Let's embrace the heart of the Father and let's go after the One and just love them till they ask, why Jesus? Thank you for telling the story. I don't know where any of us are in that story, but I know I've been all over the place trying to embrace the heart of the Father every day now. Lord, I know there are probably some that are kind of more identifying with the prodigal or they know people that are. And I just pray that maybe even right now they just come to their senses and come home. Know that the love of the Father waits for them, that you're ready to embrace them and celebrate their return home. And God, maybe some of us have drifted and we forgot that we were recipients of Amazing Grace too. We've started kind of embracing the heart of the older brother. And we see people in different ways. We want to see people through your eyes, Jesus, through your eyes. Thank you for choosing us to be your witnesses, to be your ambassadors. And I pray that even as we leave this place today and all week long, we'll be that. Be that person that really cares. And I pray it all in your name. Amen.