Aspects of Loneliness
Away from Home and All Alone - Luke Chapter 15 Verses 1 to 24
The world is full of lonely people! There are as many lonely young people as older ones. Young people at college, or in the armed forces, or working away from home, or perhaps they've just got fed up with the strictness of home-life and have gone off to "do their own thing." Yet it hasn't worked out as they planned and hoped, and now they are desperately lonely. If you're in that situation right now, read carefully, because this message may be just for you!
Jesus told a story in Luke chapter 15, and that is as up to date as tomorrow's newspaper. It can be summarised in three words, Reckless, Friendless and Gladness.
Reckless
A well-to-do father had two sons, and the younger one told him that he was fed up waiting for his share of the family fortune and he wanted it now! The father was very sympathetic, divided up the estate, and gave the younger son his fair share. As he looked at all the money he was really excited. Now he could go places - do things - make his own way in the world without always looking over his shoulder. Perhaps that is how you're feeling today. You would just love to be able to kick off the restraints that are holding you back.
It wasn't long before this young man had made his plans and he was away to a distant country where he was sure the sun would always shine and the grass would always be green. Well, as long as his money lasted that was just how it worked out; plenty of friends helped him to spend it, and they had a jolly good time.
The story changes at this point and we see him ...
Friendless
At last the day came when his money ran out, his cheques began to bounce, and he looked around for all his so-called-friends but there wasn't one standing by him! They had all left him in the lurch! Imagine his loneliness! In a foreign country, with strange customs, an unknown language, no money and no friends! To make matters worse there was no social help from the government and the only work he could find was feeding pigs, which was socially unacceptable in his own country.
If he was lonely before, he felt absolutely terrible now. No-one to turn to, and no-one to talk to! He was desperate! Perhaps that is where you are today! If you are, I've good news for you. As this young man sat looking at the pigs' food and feeling so hungry that he wished he could eat it without being caught, his mind turned to his father, and his father's servants with a good home, good clothes and good food. "What a fool I've been", he thought. "This loneliness is really all my own fault. I will go back home and confess my sin to my father and ask him to take me back as one of his servants."
As Jesus told the story He said, "So he got up and went to his father." It was the first sensible thing he had done for a long time. It may be that the lonely feeling gripping your heart is partly of your own making. There may be some action that you should be taking. Someone whose forgiveness you should be seeking. A long road home which you should be treading. Don't delay act today!
This part of the story has a really happy ending for next we see ...
Gladness
As the young man travelled along the familiar road leading to his home his thoughts must have been very mixed. How would his father receive him? And what about his elder brother? And how would the servants like the thought of having the boss's son working with them? He had a lot of unanswered questions, but at least he was on his way home.
Then the story takes an exciting twist! It goes on to say, "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." What love; what a welcome! Before the son could finish the little piece that he had rehearsed so carefully, asking to be made a servant, the father said to his servants "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
What joy! What gladness! Why did he ever doubt his father's love? Although we are thinking of loneliness, there is an even deeper message in this story for Christians who have wandered away from God. There was a day in your experience when you trusted Christ as your Saviour, and you knew the security that comes from a personal relationship with God. He was your Heavenly Father and you were His son, but things have changed. Like the son in our story, you became dissatisfied with life; wanted your own way instead of going God's way, and in a sense you are now living in a "far country." You are well away from God.
Perhaps you are even wondering if God would ever welcome you back into His family. Remember who told the story; it was God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He was giving a beautiful picture of God's love for those in His family who have wandered away from Him. Just as we have seen how the young man repented and asked his father's forgiveness, and that forgiveness was given freely and willingly, so you, too, must come back to God in real repentance. There can be no half-measures; the return must be complete and the repentance must be real. There must be a desire for a real change of life-style.
Can you imagine the young man in our story, usually known as The Prodigal Son, going out into his father's fields the next morning to do the menial work he had been doing when he was away from home? Not at all! He had been welcomed back and he took his place once more as a son. Nevertheless his changed life would show everyone just how much he appreciated his father's love and care, in welcoming him back so freely and so fully.
As we close this little study, think for a moment of those in the Bible who did wander away from God, yet came back in true repentance, and were given a Royal Welcome. There was King David, after his sin with Bathsheba; Elijah who gave up and asked God to take his life away from him; Peter who denied his Lord three times, and many others. Will you add your name to that list by returning to God today?