Read: Luke 15:11-32
Our son, Greg went away from home for college in Providence, Rhode Island. At orientation, we got him laundry service so he would have clean clothes and opened a checking account for him to buy school things like books. We thought we taught him almost everything to live away from home. Before Thanksgiving in his first year, he called home and told us he was in trouble.
The bank called and told him his checks were bouncing! Insufficient funds! Since he depended on bank statements that showed that he had money, he wasn’t aware that the checks he wrote were being cashed. The bank threatened to collect funds he didn’t pay up. By the time, he got up enough nerves to tell us, he had other students use his laundry service for a fee; he started selling his music cds; and borrowed money from his friends. He was both scared and ashamed that he messed up!
Jesus tells of a young man who also went away from home to start out on his own. He asked his father for his share of the inheritance and thought he could make it like our son. But before long, he wasted all that he had. He was so poor that he ate what the pigs ate. Yuck! He was afraid to call his father to tell him what had happened. Like our son, this prodigal son finally got up the nerves to return home. To his great surprise, the father welcomed him home with opened arms, gave him cleaned clothes, new shoes, and even a beautiful ring to wear. The father never gave up on his son.
Going to college whether it is far away from home or nearby usually means that you are on your own. You choose you own classes, meet new friends, decide how to spend your free time, and you manage your own money. Like our son or the prodigal son in Luke 15, we will no doubt make some mistakes. Then we might think that the mistake was so bad that we can’t come home or go to God for forgiveness. When that happens, some people are too ashamed to believe in God anymore. You might stay away from God in the four years of college and pretty soon, you stopped coming to church and praying to God, your Father.
The message in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and His Brother is that no mistake is ever too awful for God to forgive. You only need to come home and seek his grace and forgiveness. And like the father in the parable, God will welcome you with open arms and even throw you a “welcome home” party! Now you might think, I can avoid making mistakes by just staying home for college. That won’t prevent you from making mistakes. The older brother in the parable didn’t leave for a distant country and stayed home as the obedient son. But he was angry and jealous of his younger brother for getting so many party gifts. He didn’t believe that his father’s love was inexhaustible.
1. Share with God your mistakes. Ask God for his grace and forgiveness.
2. Think of ways that you can stay connected with God through church, campus ministries, Christian friends, etc.
By the way, after my initial surprise about what was happening to our son in his first year at college, I became more concerned for his welfare than his debt. I wanted to rebuild his confidence in himself. He asked me to help him learn how to budget. We mutually decided that I would send him money every two weeks showing him how every dollar should be used for his college expenses, including doing laundry! After a year, he gained back his confidence and he is now a successful graphic designer in Boston! I am glad that I never gave up on Greg.
Stay close to God when you are away for college or for work. Nothing that you can do would turn God away from you. You only need to seek God’s forgiveness and come home to him. God will never give up on you!
Closing Prayer:
Forgiving God, give me the courage to share my mistakes with you because like the prodigal son, I pray that you will welcome me home with opened arms. Lord, I know that you are always with me so I pray that I may give my life to you so that I can also be with you. Strengthen me in faith as I prepare for the coming year. In the name of Christ Jesus, I pray. Amen.
FCBC College Summer Retreat, July 29-31, 2005; Pastor Don Ng