(SLIDE 1) The Prodigal God

(SLIDE 1) The Prodigal God Mike VK and Pastor Steve - Bible study for the past three years - Went through the 2:7 series, memorized 30 verses - Just finished The Prodigal God by Tim Keller I love reading the bible because you can read it at various times, in various seasons of your life and the scriptures with reveal different messages. I always thought the focus on the story of the prodigal son was on the son. The book The Prodigal God focuses on the son, but also the brother and on the father. This sermon could be over three weeks, but since I have only today to preach I will focus on the father. A quick little commercial. You can sign up for my small group, which will be exploring another one of Tim Keller s book, Counterfeit Gods. Our first session will start on Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. Just let me or Amen Bains know if you are interested. So I m going to share a personal story with you that highlight the love of a father, my father. I played baseball at San Diego State and dropped out after my junior year. During my junior year I got hurt, got depressed and lost my way for a little while not knowing what I wanted to do in life. Without getting into all of the gory details, I ended up doing something stupid and was arrested. Now, up to the point, Vince Downey was a pretty good athlete, attended church, participated in Royal Rangers at my church, ran the sound system at my church, I was the captain on my high school football and baseball teams, I graduate high school with a 3.5 GPA. I think most of the people in my life wouldn t picked me to be the last

person to be arrested. I was a pretty good kid, from a good family, who had a lot going for himself. But I allowed the devil into my life for only a short period of time and bam I ended up in jail. So we have all heard stories about your one phone call. Well, I got mine and I decided to call home to talk with my mom (luckily my dad never answered the phone). My mom was in shock, was crying, but said she would be by to bail me out. Who was there to pick me up, my dad? We didn t say two words to each other all of the way home. When we come to our home, my dad parked out front, turned off the car and started to cry. You had to know my dad, I only saw my dad cry one other time and that s when we had to put one of our dogs down. He cried, said he loved me and that he believed in me. My dad loved me, forgave me, showed me grace and showed me that night and in the months to come unconditional love. Reflecting back, I learned a lot about God that night through the actions of my father. I learned that God is gracious, forgiving, and loves me unconditionally even though we make a real mess of things sometimes. Jesus told a story about another son, who messed up and yet, his father threw his arms around the boy and said, This is my son! We call the story The Parable of the Prodigal Son, but I like to refer to the story as The Parable of the Prodigal God. The word prodigal means reckless, wasteful and certainly the younger son was reckless and wasteful with his inheritance. But even more than the son, the father was excessively reckless and exceedingly wasteful with his grace and love. Before we focus entirely on the father in this story. I want us to open up our bibles to Luke 15:11-20 focusing on the younger brother for just a minute. You can turn to page 849 in the pew bible. (SLIDE 2) 11 Jesus continued: There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my

share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. (SLIDE 3) He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 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 servants. So he got up and went to his father. In this parable we should take a close look at the younger son - who asked for his share of the inheritance, went to a far country, squandered his inheritance on loose living, then with nothing left he went to work on a pig farm - he lived with the pigs, he ate with the pigs, he acted like a pig. Jesus has described one of the most despicable persons that the Jewish people could imagine. I want us to skip down to Luke 15:25-32 focusing on the older brother. (SLIDE 4) 25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, Look! All these years I ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.

(SLIDE 5) Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him! My son, the father said, you are 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 again; he was lost and is found. In this parable we should take a close look at the older son. The older son is much like a Pharisee in this story. He stays at home and obeys his father, maintaining all proper appearances, but he is in fact self-righteous and when his brother comes home to a party, he is resentful, bitter and angry. Today I would like to turn to the father, who undoubtedly represents Jesus understanding of God. Author and pastor, Tim Keller writes: If the teaching of Jesus is likened to a lake, this famous parable would be one of the clearest spots where we can see all the way to the bottom. Now lets go back up to verses 20-24 so we can read about the father s response. (SLIDE 6) 20 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. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 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. (SLIDE 7) Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.

After spending time with the pigs, the young son came to his senses - which does not necessarily mean repentance - but he came to his senses and thought, My father s hired hands have food in their stomachs, they have a roof over their heads and I have nothing. I will go to my father and say, I have sinned before heaven and before you. I am not worthy to be called your son. Let me work as a hired hand. The son rehearses his speech all the way home. And when the father sees him in the far distance, he jumps off the porch and runs to his son. During these times, dignified patriarchs did not run in that day - children ran, women ran, young men ran, but the distinguished pillar of the society. He ran to him and threw his arms around him. Now, I find Rembrandt s famous painting of this moment to be quite profound. (Show Rembrandt s picture SLIDE 8) Rembrandt has entitled this masterpiece, The Return of the Prodigal Son. The original is a life-size oil painting that can be found in St. Petersburg, Russia. This younger son is portrayed on his knees, having just met his father, in front of the dimly lit arched doorway of the house. The son s clothes are disheveled - the ragged garments are full of holes; one shoe is off - we see both his worn sandal and his scarred feet; his head bowed in humility. The short, expensive sword on the right side of the prodigal son is the only remaining marker of the status he once had. He was a son of a noble landowner - the sword is a sad reminder of his arrogance that once led to question his father s rule. The father, in contrast, is in a rich, glowing red cape. The father is a big bearded man. He leans over his son, almost enveloping him, his hands gently resting on the son s back. Now pay particular attention to the hands. I see that one hand is a man s hand with even fingers, slightly rough. The other hand is different - the fingers are longer, slender, tapered; the hand is caressing, offering consolation - a woman s hand. Yes, God is like that, the creator, all powerful, the alpha and omega, but at the same time is loving,

forgiving, and welcoming, The hands are open; they are hands of blessing; they are hands of love and grace. The son rests his head on his father s chest. He is hearing his father s heartbeat. Yes, in this very unique painting, Rembrandt captures the heartbeat of heaven - a father filled with compassion. In the background, are 3 other figures. The elder son is filled with resentment, anger and bitterness at the reaction of his father toward the wayward son. His hands are tightly grasped together. Unlike the father, the elder son s hands are withholding, not giving. Remember Jesus is telling this parable to the Pharisees, who too were horrified that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners and tax collectors just like this elder son. Then there are two other figures - one is a young man who sits on a chair with legs crossed who looks at the scene. Then there is a woman who maybe a maid or maybe the son s mother. Yes, in this painting Rembrandt portrays a God who is forgiving, compassionate, loving, always welcoming us home. I understand that Rembrandt in his early years had a wild streak himself. Perhaps this has been Rembrandt s experience of coming home to God. As we continue with Jesus story, we remember that the father is so grateful that his son has come home that he gives him gifts. First, there is the robe. The wayward son comes home, bankrupt, hungry, dirty, broken, disheveled and the father gives him the best robe which was only reserved for someone very, very special like a high priest or a governor and treats this wayward son like of VIP guest of honor! The second gift is the ring. In the first-century family the ring was like the power of attorney. It was the signet ring, which made the official mark of the family. It gave a person the authority to

represent the family. The third gift is the shoes. The father had a pair of sandals placed upon his returning son s feet. The gift of shoes meant that the wayward son was still a member of the family. Back in the first century, there were some who wore shoes and some who did not wear shoes. A free person wore shoes while slaves went barefoot. Having shoes was an outward symbol that meant you are free and you are a part of the family. Remember the son s confession, Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me like one of your hired hands (or some translations say, Treat me like a slave. ) But the father with his gifts of sandals says, No, you are still my son. You are a precious member of this family. The final gift was the party with the fatted calf. Beef was a rarity. Can you see it? Such hustling and bustling in the kitchen. Out come the best china, the linen tablecloths, and the vintage champagne. Soon the house rocks with music and dancing. It is time to celebrate and everyone is invited. The Good News in Jesus parable is that God seeks that which is lost. Many people understand religion to be humanities search for God. But the message Jesus preached gives exactly the opposite notion: We do not find God by searching hard and long for him God searches for and finds us. Jesus himself says: (SLIDE 9) The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost. (Luke 19:10) Religion says that if we seek long enough, if we try hard enough we will find God. Jesus says that we don t come to God- God comes to us on a stupendous rescue mission This is Good News almost too good to be true. The people in Jesus day known as sinners knew the language of rejection. They saw people look away in the streets; they knew the feeling of shame as

people crossed the street to avoid their presence. They heard the Pharisees judgmental statements and, in their heart of hearts, they believed them. So when this story they knew they were the lost ones. But could it be true that God was seeking them? Could it be true that God throws a party, a celebration, and a feast every time he finds a lost son or daughter? When the Father embraces his lost son, he immediately celebrates with a feast for the whole village. Some of us, because of the pain of our past, find it incredibly hard to believe that we are lovable. We have screwed up so many times we begin to believe we are a screw up. We have made so many mistakes we begin to believe we must be a mistake. The Good News in Jesus parable of a God who seeks to save us from our past sounds just too good to be true. But this is the God Jesus reveals. In a bad news world it is hard to believe that Good News is possible especially when that Good News is free. Some of us look at our lives and all we see is mistakes and pain and regrets. Our mistakes hang around our neck like a noose, choking life from us. Guilt and shame weigh us down like a backpack laden with bricks. We find ourselves trapped in destructive conversations that start with words like: I could have... I should have... I would have... If these are the conversations you have with yourself, if this is the script you constantly repeat, the message of Jesus parable is especially for you. Jesus said to the Pharisees on another occasion:

(SLIDE 10) Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually fit. (Mark 2:19) Vince Downey is not perfect. Vince Downey is a sinner. Vince Downey does not deserve God s grace and compassion, but due to Jesus death on the cross, God runs toward me, embraces me, loves me unconditionally, celebrates my coming home and throws a party for me and for you. Let s pray!