August 5, 2010 The Prodigal Son 4

"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."

Good ,my dear brothers and sisters! It is Thursday and that means it families Day and Schools Day on the line. You do recall that we have combined Families Day with Schools Day and now on Tuesday have Healings Day. So remember, dear brothers and sisters, to pray for our schools and for our school families and also for the family of God. And also please pray for the families on this line, and we do have a bunch of them. Let's call them the families of Carry The Light Ministries. Other families to pray for today are the Bus Museum family, and work place families.. The other day we saw on the news what happens when things at the work place go wrong... nine dead as one accused of stealing beer was fired and then he shot up the place.

The Prodigal Son 4: Luke 15: 21 - "The son said to him, ' father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'" 22 "But 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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found." (NIV)

Today as promised I am going to tell you the story about the prodigal son that I know the very best. That would be me, my brothers and sisters. So where do I start with this, for it will not be easy, but let me go back in time to when the street beside my house was still dirt and I lived with my mother, father and brother Leonard on South 27th street in Harrisburg, Pa. We moved to that location when I was two, and of course I don't remember anything except what was told me about where we lived when I was born. My mother and father were both schoolteachers but mother was did not work while I was in those tender years, so if you know about teaching back in those years, we did not have much money, but we were happy. Once in a while I would remember my mamma telling my daddy that she could just not stretch $5.00 for a week's food anymore. My daddy taught school in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, and came home only on the weekends. This was the way it was till I went into senior high school when my daddy got a job as a Harrisburg School District Math teacher. Mamma by then was teaching second grade at East Pennsboro School District, in Enola, Pa.

My parents were good people and loved the Lord, but dad was quiet about it, my mother was not. Near our home was the 29th Street United Brethren Church, the church is still there on the corner of 29th and Derry Streets in Harrisburg, Pa. It is now a United Methodist Church. Back in those days my mother saw that I was in Sunday school each week, and on Wednesday night she took me along to prayer meeting, where as I recall they had a place for us kids to learn a little about Jesus and to be quiet. Reverend G. Edger Hertzler was the pastor and his wife Mary was our choir director. She as I remember was a really pretty woman, Reverend was a very tall man. Both were wonderful people. My mother made most of my clothes and back in those days we did not have many. Having an older brother, I got his old stuff. I remember we had Sunday clothes, school clothes and play clothes. Anyway, I was what you would call, "raised in church." Sunday School, a kids church or sit with my daddy in church, midweek prayer meeting, no movies or card games on Sunday and I could go on and on. This was the way it was. At 8 years old I got my first paper routes, and evening route and a Sunday Morning route. I had to get up very early on Sunday so I could deliver the papers and be home for church, no excuses on this one. I also got a morning paper route when I was about 10 and I carried those routes till I was fourteen when I got my first service station job, working for my brother who just turned 17 and got his very own Texaco Station. I had to work on Sunday Mornings so church and Sunday school now took a back seat. Although my mother would still make me go to midweek things. Oh, and yes, I attended that Vacation Bible School. I hated that, I had to wear short pants and to this day I hate short pants. When I was in my senior year in high school I lost my very best friend in my life at the time, as my dear mother passed away. I was driving her car taking her to the Green Stamp store when we were hit by a drunk driver head on. Mamma went through the windshield and picked up a brain tumor. She died from that brain tumor, as it developed cancer.

After I turned sixteen and of course was in heaven here on earth with my drivers license in hand, I had a truck and a car already. It was not long after that, that I got married to a young lady from Penbrook, Pa., name Karen, who is the mother of four of our children. (I now have six, two belong to my wife Dolores.) I guess this is where I became a prodigal son the first time around, for after mamma died I just did not go to church or Sunday school anymore. Even if I had a Sunday off, I did not go, but it was not just that I walked away from church and Sunday School, I also walked away from God. I don't remember praying, I don't remember talking about God, but I do remember cursing and doing those kind of things. After getting married, Karen got me started back to church again at a Lutheran church in Penbrook. I guess I was more like a C and E person (Christmas and Easter), but did go once in a while. Karen, along with her mother and father, saw that our kids got to Sunday School and church, as for me, I worked most of the time. One thing I never really learned was when to go home from work. Now not only had I walked from God, but then the day came when I walked from my family. Yes I did, the marriage was going south and I did not stick around and try and work it out. I don't know how many times since then I have told Karen and her family and all of our children that to this day I am sorry and it more than likely was the biggest one mistake I made in my life... Yes, I made more.

Now I do believe that a person can be a prodigal son or daughter more than once in life. After I left that marriage I married a another lady who was divorced, she had two young daughters. Together we purchased a home or two and then a small farm in York County and it was there I started back to church again. This time I came fully to Christ, or so I thought I did. We went to a small United Methodist Church near our farm, and the pastor, Pastor Shaffer, came to the farm to talk to me about Salvation. He was surprised to learn that I knew a lot about it, and we prayed together to have my sins forgiven. Ah, back with Jesus, and it felt good. But again, I did not know when to go home from work, we moved sometime later back to the Harrisburg Area and I purchased a service station, and again I gave up going to church, although I still would talk about Jesus, I was not living that everyday life to please him. It was again that I drifted from him, oh, I did good things for people but did not walk daily with Jesus. Working days from 6 in the morning till 11:00 at night I guess got to that second wife and one evening I went home from work to find the house empty, most of the belongings gone. She took off with someone else. I did not know what to do, I was lost so to speak, but the truth was I was lost before, I became lost when I walked out on the Lord. I wonder, did he hurt the way I did? And now I found out how Karen must have felt the day I walked out on her. Yes, it came around to get me.

So what happened next, long story short I knew enough about Jesus that I wanted to be with Him, I wanted Him back in my life, only I asked Him to come and take me home. I gave it all up to Him. I started back to church again, going back to a United Methodist Church where my roots were. I went to the Church on State Street in Harrisburg, often riding my motorcycle, but I got there. Still fighting depression, I came to the point I did not want to live. Now a customer of mine who also went to that church found out about this and on one of my worst days she and her friend came and sat with me all day. Her name, Betsy, might have saved me from doing something really dumb. Later the pastor at the church told me that doing something dumb would not get me into heaven and if I really wanted to do that I should just go down and jump in the river. Or I could do something good for myself... Since I can't swim, I went out the next day and purchased a new truck. I look back on those days and I really tried to put that marriage back together, but she was out seeing the world in the seat of her boyfriend's tractor trailer. I guess I just worked too many hours. By the way, I have forgiven her. One day I remember talking to a nun who had the church's car in for gas. She prayed with me a lot, and said that God had something better in store for me and that I should get real tight with Jesus before I start looking for someone in my life. I took this Sister's advice, and sure enough, one thing led to another, someone got me to go to Parents Without Partners, where I met Dolores. We met at a harvest moon dance in October 1981. The next day I went to her house on a motorcycle and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. She got on the bike and I took her to my brother's farm. We also road up by my Cousin Martha's farm. Then it was her turn, I told her I picked the first date and we went on a motorcycle ride. She was to pick the second date. She took me to a gospel concert, a concert put on by Duane of the Couriers and I got hooked on gospel music for life, and I also got tighter and tighter with Jesus.

Now have I made mistakes since, sure I have, but my dear brothers and sisters, I am never, do you hear me, never going to turn my back on Jesus again. In fact I am more likely to walk away from things if others do not welcome Jesus. I went on to adopt Matthew, Dolores' youngest son, and I also got this wonderful step-son, Mark, to round the family to five children. Mark is the oldest, then Glenn, Keith Sr., Danelle, and my baby Leann, who is just a few months older than Matthew. All these kids get along together and mine all love Dolores, as does, and hear me on this one, as does my first wife Karen and her dear mother Helen.

Now if you expected to hear about someone who turned to drugs or to booze, you are wrong. I turned to Jesus, and Jesus took me back, and he took me back more than once. He has forgiven me so many times I could not count them for I made many mistakes along the way and I am sure that before He calls me home, I will make more. By the way, I still don't know when to stop working so what I did was go to work for the Lord.

You see, folks, I once or twice or maybe more was lost, but now I am found. I keep Jesus above all else in my life now, above my wife Dolores, above my children, and above my very own being. I truly love Jesus and have given all my sins over to Him. Once in a while people will say, "I knew him when" and they go on to tell folks things I did in my past. While I am not proud of them, I gave them to Jesus and I tell folks just that, my past is now my past, do I remember some of the things, of course I do, and does it hurt when people might cast it up, yes, of course it does, but Jesus and I can deal with it. Those who love Jesus, those who are saved understand all of this, how we give our past to Jesus.

Now let me ask you this, are you a prodigal son or daughter, or have you been? Are you back with Jesus today and did you give Him your past? If you have "a past" you need not share it with anyone but Jesus. Don't let evil people cast it in your face, for indeed when people cast up our past once we find the Lord, then they themselves need to remember to get in touch with Jesus and learn this. No one on this earth wants their closet door opened up for the world to see. Today will you go with me and empty that closet of all things and give them to God? I need it, for things that happened just this week that I handled poorly. So will you walk out today with me in faith, will you put Jesus above all others and all else? Will you get welcomed home? God gets excited about this folks, when a lost child comes home.

Dear Father in Heaven, I am putting all in my closet in Your arms today, take them off of me for I want to lighten my load of trash and junk and walk with You... Lord forgive me, and Lord, help me repent and walk with You. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and share those blessings. And I do want to tell you this, you only need to confess your sins to God, through Jesus. Do not hurt others from your past by bringing up things for there is a good chance they have also already come to Jesus and given their life to Jesus. Know this folks, I am indeed a prodigal son, and I am happy I am back. And I am also happy to have Jesus first in my life, and I also am happy that I love all of you. Pastor Dan.