weekend Broadcast

When You Hit Rock Bottom, Part 1

Are you in need of hope today? Are you longing to find that sense of purpose, or experience the joy you once knew? Chip begins this series with a message designed with you in mind. We all need to be reminded the Jesus Offers Hope!

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Message Transcript

We’re going to talk about hope.  Someone I think rightly said hope is the oxygen of the soul.  I want to begin with a visual image but I have a candle here that I want to light and I want you to think of this candle as the hope in your life; the hope in your heart.

Everybody puts their hope in something or someone.  For some, that light is a job; it’s money; it’s your looks; it’s finding that person someday and for others that hope is your family.

I mean, we all have different things that we put hope in.  You always know where your hope really is placed when it gets removed and how you respond.

People can endure pain, adversity, trauma, difficulty, relational chaos, depressions, but as long as there’s hope -- as long as there’s a, in their mind or in their heart—a probability it will get better tomorrow.

Something’s going to happen. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s hope.

When hope is gone what you find is light begins to go low and it’s burning the oxygen out of that little spot - little by little by little.  What you find is that candle goes out because it’s sucking the oxygen out of the little tube.

How it happens, little by little by little, and then it gets to the very bottom. As it gets to the bottom, people say, you know something? I give up. I’m out of this marriage.  I’m tired of helping this kid; my boyfriend/girlfriend left me.  I’ve tried.  I’ve been to rehab, twice. I can’t lick this. Just forget it.  When they give up, devastating things happen.

Jesus Offers Hope.  We’re going to look at four different times where Jesus offers hope.

Tonight, we’re going to look at when you hit rock bottom.

Hope, as defined by Webster, is that feeling that what is really wanted is likely to happen. It’s that sense inside that what you really want to happen, is going to happen.

We hit rock bottom when what or who we hoped in cannot or will not come through for us. You hope to have a family and you can’t have kids. You hope to get married and you find yourself single or single again. You hope for a job and you lost yours. And, you’ve tried and tried and tried and you still don’t have.  You don’t get into this school. You don’t make the team. That person or that thing that you were trusting to come through for you doesn’t, and then you lose hope.  You get discouraged.  You get despairing.  You get despondent.

When we hit rock bottom usually it happens in two predictable places. We hit rock bottom in the pit and also in the peak.

In the pit, you know, you’re in an addiction; you’re in the middle of a divorce; you’re in the ICU; you get cut from the team; you lose your job. I mean, you just start going down, down, down.

The other time is when people peak.  Their hope is in the “if I ever”.  If I ever married this person; if I ever became a star; if I ever….then, I am successful.  There’s an emptiness that goes with that.  Some of the most successful, pretty, well-paid people in the world are among the most hopeless.

Who has the highest percentage of divorce; the highest percentage of drug addictions and rehabs?  Entertainment Tonight or whatever one of the shows that come on all at the same time tells us who is breaking up with whom or what rehab center they’re coming out of.

This is Sports Illustrated. It’s the last one in this last year.  They did a little article on people we lost. You know, great sports heroes that died. Some were ninety-nine years old; some were seventy-two years old and some were just twenty-three in age.

A number of people died this last year in the article I was just reading.  I noticed there was a number of younger people who died.

The first one was Antonio Pettigrew. He was a gold medalist on the 400 meter in 2000. He won the World’s in May of 2008. He later confessed that he used performance enhancing drugs.  He became the assistant coach of track in North Carolina and in August, he committed suicide. Forty-two years old.

I kept going and turned the page.  Erica Blasberg, twenty-five years old, two time All-American at Arizona in her freshman year went directly to the LPGA. Now, she’s only twenty-five. She got completely discouraged because she only made the top ten in one tournament.  She struggled with her golf; struggled with her personal life, and in her home in Henderson, Nevada, she committed suicide.

Andy Irons is from this part of the country, you know, surfer.  Two great surfers, he and Kelly Slater, have a big-time rivalry.  Slater retires and Andy, sort of the young buck, does wild, crazy stuff.  Slater comes out of retirement and we have these amazing challenges from the two for about eight or ten years.  In a 2004 documentary, Andy Irons says, my whole driving force right now is to take this little pretty picture--it’s a photography of Slater--and crush it.

He won the world championships in 2003 and again in 2004.  It went back and forth. He left the tour in 2009; burned out; his wife pregnant. They found him in a Dallas hotel room dead.   They found Xanax, Methadone, and Ambien. Xanax is for panic attacks. Methadone is what you use when you’re trying to get off of heroine, and Ambien is for trying to get some sleep.

So, he rides the biggest waves and he’s on top of the world. His wife’s ready to have a baby, but his hope’s gone.

Some of you older guys remember Mel Turpin.  He’s a forty-nine year old, big Kentucky star with about six years in the NBA.  He averages about fourteen points a game--huge guy.  Well, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in July shortly after his wife suffered a stroke.  He’s got money. He’s got fame, but the person he put his hope in is gone.

The last one, listed in the article, was from Venezuela.  Edwin Volero, 28-years-old.  In his first seventeen fights, he won in the first round with knockouts. How’d you like to fight that guy? Six seconds and - Boom! - you’re gone.

In his first 27 fights, they were all knockouts.  He was undefeated, a fiery competitor. He won one world championship; has his belt; and was ready to fight the number one fighter in the world, but he had this problem with anger.  He took out his anger on his wife.  He stabbed her to death, and then hung himself in jail.

A lot of people would probably say, you know something, if I could ever be famous or pretty or be the greatest surfer in the world or be on the LPGA, I’d have it made.

When you hit rock bottom, the only direction you can look is up.  Some people get there because their life falls apart and some people get there because they hit it on top; they realize there’s not enough money or looks or fame or people or stuff to fill the gaping hole that God made.  The place God made and designed for him.

So the question I want to ask and answer is:  “Where is God when you hit rock bottom?” Where is God when in your personal life the flame for whatever reason, whatever relationship, whatever job, whatever difficulty, and whatever peak is going down?  When you feel like you can’t take one more day; when things are never going to change; when you think they’ll never change in this marriage; or you are never going to get a good job again or into the right school. You worked all this time and never quite made to…you fill it in.

Where’s God?

Jesus answers that question in Luke chapter 15.

It says, now the tax collectors and the sinners were all gathering around to hear him, Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and even eats with them.

Jesus welcomes those who had hit rock bottom; those who had failed morally; those who were the outcasts; those that no one cared about. All of a sudden this itinerant preacher without any formal training begins to teach and heal people and raise people from the dead.  They’re attracted to him.

He offers them forgiveness and he looks them in the eye and he doesn’t say they’re second-class citizens. He doesn’t approve of their behavior.  He knows they’re very, very far from God, but it’s like, if you’ve ever watched moths at night where they try and find the light, these broken people have hit rock bottom.

Some of them were wealthy tax collectors that had lots of money and lots of success that were empty inside.

They found that he was easy to be around because of the words that he spoke and the care that he had and the reality of who he was.

They start hanging out with him and he would even go to their house and hang out in some places that “good religious people” should never hang out.

The religious establishment, that’s the Pharisees, are thinking this guy could not be from God. He’s not credible.

There is no way this could be a man sent from God because no one that really loves God and who is holy would hang around with prostitutes and sinners and drug-addicts and people who have been through a marriage or two or had an abortion or abandoned someone.

That couldn’t be from God.

We pick up the story in verse 3.  It says, then Jesus told them this parable. Notice its singular.

He’s telling them this parable, why? The occasion is because he’s hanging out with people that are lost and irreligious and immoral.  He’s being discredited as a messenger from God.

This parable is to address the Pharisee’s notion of what God is like and how he feels about people that are struggling; who have failed; who’ve hit rock bottom.

Here’s the parable:  Suppose one of you has a 100 sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 sheep in the open country and go after the one lost sheep until he finds it?  When he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and he goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me, I’ve found my lost sheep.

Application: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Story number two:  Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and saying, rejoice with me, I’ve found my lost coin.

In this same way, I tell you, there is more rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Story number three:  There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father give me my share of the estate.  So the father divided the property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he had and he set out for distant country, and there he squandered his wealth in wild living.  After he spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country and he began to be in need.  So, he went and he hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him into his field to feed his pigs.--not a great job for a Jewish boy.

He longed to feed his own stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything to eat. Translation: he’s at rock bottom.  When he came to his senses he said, how many of my father’s hired men have food to spare and here I am starving to death.  I will set out and go back to my father and I will say to my 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 men.  So he got up and he went to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. And, he ran to his son and he threw his arms around him and he kissed him.

Literally, it’s in a tense of the verb, that he kissed him repeatedly. The son said to him father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.  But the father said to the servants, quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

Reason: for this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and he’s found. So they began to celebrate.

That’s the story of the younger brother. The scene changes and, now, the camera moves to the older, faithful brother.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field working. When he came near the house, he heard the music and the dancing so he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on?  Your brother has come home, he replied. And your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe and sound.

The older brother became angry and refused to go in so the father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, look, all these years I’ve been slaving for you, I’ve never disobeyed your orders, yet, you haven’t even given me a goat to celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him?  My son, the father said, you’re always with me. And everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and now he’s found.

The point of this parable is to understand how God feels and how God responds to people who have hit rock bottom.  It is about immoral, irreligious people who by their own work or by the work of others find themselves absolutely without hope.

If you’ll pull out a pen, I’ve made some observations that I think will help you understand it.  First of all, this one parable has three mini stories. Did you notice that?

The first story is about the lost sheep.  He tells this story because sheep were very important. They use their wool; it was a part of the landscape. They understood. It would be a valuable.  Everyone knew you would leave--in this open country it was safe--the ninety-nine. Everyone knew, you would go get him.

The second story is about the lost coin. This one takes it from something that’s important to even more important. The woman sweeps because in that day women who were married, as a sign would take ten silver coins to form a headband, would put it around their head.  Then, in public people knew they were married.  It was worth about one day’s wage but the sentimental value was even more. It’d be like losing your wedding band. I mean, she says, man, I gotta find this.

The third story goes from a sheep that’s important to something very important like a reminder of who you are and what you have--not to mention a full day’s wage work. With the lost son, we hear this story of a son who disrespects his father, runs away, and then is found.

Each story has five things in common. If we were doing Bible study together, we might do some observations. And, at the end of our time, we’d come up with five observations about these three mini stories.

One: something valuable is lost. Two: an intensive search occurs. Three: that which is lost is found. Four: a great celebration follows. I mean, there’s a party. There is music. There is dancing. There’s excitement each time.

Five: the spiritual application is explained - more rejoicing in heaven. God rejoices. The angels in heaven rejoice.  Each time, it says, these are many pictures that explain how God the Father feels. How heaven rejoices when one sinner repents.

That’s what the parable says. Now, let’s dig a little bit deeper and ask, what does it mean? What exactly does this parable mean? What can we learn from it?

First, God deeply values irreligious, immoral, lost people and that was his point to the Pharisees. You look down your nose at these people. They hang out with me because they understand.  I love them.

Second, God is actively drawing them to himself. There’s an intensive search. The shepherd goes out for the sheep. The woman cleans the house. The father was waiting and looking and longing. He’s making the point that God is waiting, searching, looking, and longing for irreligious people that don’t have anything to do with him. He’s pursuing them.

Next, heaven rejoices when one lost person repents. It’s a very interesting root word in the New Testament for “repent.” It has the idea of a change of mind. A related root word means a change of mind related to an emotional feeling; of feeling deeply sorry or sad about your behavior of hurting or rejecting someone else.

It’s an idea of people having a complete turning. It is meant to turn or to return each time something very specific back.  Jesus would teach that in the kingdom of God, unless you repent, you’ll perish.

Before Jesus left, he gave this message of repentance will go to all nations. The book of Acts, three different times, will talk about this message of “you must repent.” You must turn. It was this radical turn from self to God as the hope of your life.

We learned from the story that the value of that which is lost exponentially increases with each story.  Like a good storyteller, he starts out with something that’s common and they would all nod. Oh, I’d go after a sheep and then he takes it to the next level.  They would hear the story and all the women would say, oh my! I would sweep all day.

Jesus, then says, this is what the Father does.  By the way, the first two are things that every good Jewish person in that day would clearly understand and they would do, but the last one is shocking. No father would be running after this son. No father would run in public. The father was the patriarch. No father would ever sell his estate and divide it.

He’s really making the point that you would do it for a sheep; you would do it for a coin.  Their view of God was he’s down on lost people. He doesn’t really care about lost people. Sinners need to be judged.

The father in story number three represents God. The younger son depicts an immoral sinner like the people Jesus is hanging out with.  The older son is the Pharisees.  He does his duty and their view of duty before God is that they’re slaves. It’s external.

Notice, finally, that both sons are equally lost but not equally aware of their lostness. See, the reason that Jesus spoke to those that were so far from him they understood they had a need.   And, the reason that he was so harsh with the religious people is they thought they were okay. They were self-righteous.

Both the Pharisees and the younger son are sons that are lost.  The point of this entire parable is not that just lost people matter to God, but to also speak to a group of religious people that are lost and don’t even know they’re lost.  He’s giving them a shocking perspective of what God the Father is really like.