Prodigal: Father | Part 4

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

We started the series with this question.

What is God really like?

At some point, we ask that, all of us ask that.

Even if you don't even believe there is a God, you go, if there is a God, perhaps what is he really like?

Is he good?

Is he benevolent?

Is he distant?

Is he aloof?

Is he this cosmic force that just got everything going and then just kind of is disinterested?

You know, is he this old man in the sky that, you know, is kindly and well-meaning, but can't really do anything?

What is God really like?

And then we ask the follow-up and does God really like me?

What is God really like?

And then does God really like me?

Like, where do I stand with God?

Is he happy about me?

Is he upset with me?

Is his arms crossed?

Does God really like me?

And here's something that's amazing when you look at the life of Jesus, and and he said this in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

He had this incredible saying, he said, anyone who has seen me, Jesus says this, has seen the Father.

Like if you want to know what God's really like, Jesus says, Look at me.

If you've seen me, you have seen the Father.

Earlier in chapter one of the Gospel of John, John would write this: that Jesus came to explain the Father.

That word explain is where we get our word exegete.

He's come to explain and unpack and reveal and make known.

And so when you look at Jesus, you get to see precisely, exactly what God is really like.

You get to know what's on God's heart, what God cares about, how God responds to those who've been ravaged by injustice and poverty and pain.

You get to see how God responds to religious elites.

You get to see what makes him angry and what his heart breaks for.

See, in Jesus, you get to see precisely what God is really like, and he answers the question, does God really like me?

Said another way, the life of Jesus brings into crystal clear focus the very heart of God.

And as you read, and as I read, and as we study, and this is what we're doing for an entire year of just looking at Jesus and going, we want to become more like you, your apprentices, as we look at him, we get to see exactly what the heart of God is for you and me.

And often it's a lot different than how we feel when we answer the question, what's God like and whether he likes us?

And it's also different than the way others have explained it, especially religious people.

It's interesting, we've asked this question not just in our day, but for all of humanity's time.

They're asking it in Jesus' day, and the religious leaders were the arbiters of what is God really like, and is God really like you or me?

And they had a well-defined box.

And what's amazing is when Jesus stepped onto the scene, he didn't step into their box, he stepped outside of it.

They didn't understand it.

God showed up, and the religious people who had the definition for what God was like and who he liked didn't like Jesus.

Uh-oh.

And what's fascinating is the people who were far from God really liked Jesus.

In fact, the parable of the prodigal son comes in this incredible context.

It says, now there were tax collectors and sinners.

They were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

That's unbelievable, by the way.

I love how Pastor Andy Stanley says it, that people who are nothing like Jesus really liked Jesus.

But Pharisees, religious people, and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

How could he?

Because that's not what God is really like, and God doesn't like these people.

I like that they say eats with them.

In the ancient Near East, um, when you shared a meal with someone, it was the sign of full acceptance of that person.

And the Pharisees, they wouldn't share a meal with these.

They wouldn't even make icons, they wouldn't hold a conversation with tax collectors and sinners.

If they were walking on the same side of the street, the Pharisee would make a motion to make sure I'm nothing like them, I'm nowhere close to them, I'm not gonna allow their dirtiness to get on me because I'm so much better than them.

And in Jesus, we see something so powerful, by the way, that Jesus fully accepts them, though he does not affirm their direction or their decision.

That's a word for the church today that we can love people and accept people and at the same time not affirm.

Jesus didn't say, Well, you're a sinner, don't worry about it.

No big deal.

No, it's a really big deal.

And he is such a big deal, he says, I'm gonna love you.

I'm gonna show up for you because this is what God is really like.

And then Jesus tells them the Pharisees.

He's helping them know what God's really like and who God really likes.

He tells them this parable, singular, but he tells three stories, and each building with intensity and clarity the very heart of God.

He tells the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd has a hundred and loses one, and he goes after the one and brings the sheep home, and then throws this big celebration.

And I love the line in it.

And Jesus says this to the Pharisees this is the way heaven responds.

It throws a party and celebrates, oh, listen to this, over one sinner who repents.

Now, here's what's fascinating Jesus actually didn't disagree with the Pharisees' diagnosis.

You're hanging out with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus is like, you're right.

He disagreed with their prognosis.

See, a Pharisee said, they're a lost cause, they're a waste of space, they should be stricken from the earth.

And Jesus says, You're right, they're lost, but they're not a lost cause.

And I came for them, and heaven rejoices when they turn towards me.

And then he tells another story, the lost coin.

And a woman had ten coins and loses one, and she gives this careful search, and when she finds that coin, then she throws a party and says, In the same way, heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents.

And then the parable of the lost son.

And all three have this in common that something valuable was lost.

Listen today, you need to hear this.

You are so valuable.

You are so valuable.

God loves you.

You're so valuable that a careful search was made.

God came for you.

If you were the only person on the planet, he would still come for you.

And a big celebration was thrown when what was lost was found.

All three have this in common.

And what we see when Jesus is explaining the heart of God, what is God like and who does God like, that the Father's heart is actually to welcome everyone home.

Not just some people home, not just perfect people, not just the right people, not the people that have it all together, that wear the right things, that say the right stuff, that act the right way, that fit into this box.

He okay, hang on.

He okay, he wants to welcome Republicans and Democrats home.

He wants to welcome LGBTQ and legalists home.

He wants to invite everyone home.

In fact, uh Peter wrote this in his letter, 2 Peter, uh, where he says, God is not slow in keeping his promises as some think about slowness.

Rather, he delays desiring that none shall perish, but all shall come to a full repentance of him.

Like, the reason God has delayed bringing about ultimate restor uh restoration is not because he's going like, I just can't.

He looks at a hurting, broken world and he says, I long for every single person to come to a saving knowledge of me.

And it breaks my heart that you're not a part.

The most famous verse, John 3.16.

For God so loved uh help me out.

It wasn't for God so loved America, by the way.

The world for God so loves Russia and China, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, for God so loves Mexico and Canada, Argentina, Peru.

God loves the entire world.

And he looks at the entire world, and his heart breaks.

If you're gonna look at Jesus, you're gonna see the heart of God, and he says, I came to seek and save that which is lost.

That is why I came.

And my heart and my desire is to welcome every single person home, and it's to be the heartbeat of his body, the church, as well.

If we're gonna understand the heart of the father, I actually think we need to look at this parable and see what's different about the father to the other parables.

We saw what was the same or similar, something valuable was lost, something uh careful search was made, a big celebration was thrown.

But here's what's interesting is when you begin to look at it and go, okay, they have this cadence and you see there's these similarities, but there's when you look at the response of the father, you see some things that are incredibly dissimilar to the other stories that are so powerful and profound to the father's heart.

See if the father wants to welcome everyone home, here's what you need to recognize and know the father will never force his will upon you, though.

He'll never force his will upon you.

Now, remember the sheep, one is lost.

The shepherd doesn't go to the sheep and go, Do you want to come home?

You like it out here?

The sheep doesn't go, you know what?

I'm enjoying this.

Scenery's real nice.

The coin doesn't go, you know what, this dark corner where I've been hiding.

I love kind of just being here and hiding out in the dark.

No, no, no.

They each carry that sheep and coin home.

The father.

Think about this.

This is staggering.

And we miss it because we don't understand the cultural context.

And for some, you come from an honored culture, and so you get a little bit more of the gravitas of this moment.

The son shows up to the father and says, Would you give me my inheritance?

And the father had a few choices.

One, which many of us would say, as parents, no.

No.

You spoiled brat, no.

Right?

No.

And we could mean it with a well-intended heart.

You know what?

If you just stay in the house long enough, you'll understand my heart.

If you're just around me long enough, you'll just get it.

He also, and this is more likely the response of a patriarch in that day is not no, but disown.

You wish I was dead, you're dead to me.

That was not uncommon.

I will disown you.

You have dishonored me, and so I will disown you.

You have done the greatest uh violation against your father in dishonoring me.

You are disowned.

He does neither of those.

It's unbelievable.

He divides the state and he says, Your will be done.

The father never forces his will upon you, but he says, Your will be done.

You get to have your way.

You get to make your choices.

And unfortunately, we get to live with our consequences of our choices.

And what the father knows is any type of force is never a relationship.

It's never love.

In love, breaking his heart, he gives the inheritance, knowing full well it's not gonna go well.

And the father doesn't do this after it was like, what was I thinking?

I can't believe I gave him all that money.

He's he's he's given our family a bad name.

He's living wildly.

Come on, kid, right, right?

He's not doing that.

Well, you know what his eyes are on?

His eyes are on the horizon every single day.

His eyes are on the horizon.

He looks often the distance that his son left.

In the morning, he's looking, in the evening, he's looking.

His eyes daily are on the horizon because the minute his son turns, he's gonna run to him because he will never force his will upon you, but he will always make a way back home.

It's the father's love.

And here's what's amazing, a little different about the father is the father cares more about your return than his reputation.

The father cares far more about your return than his reputation.

Um if we understand this from the perspective of the father, um his reputation was dragged through the mud.

He did not behave as expected a patriarch would behave in that day.

Disown him, deny him, maybe adopt somebody else to be another heir.

Not only does he give his son his portion of the inheritance, he knows the town's talking about him.

Man, what a terrible dad is he?

I would never parent that way.

Are you kidding me?

But then he does something remarkable.

While his son was a far way off, his eyes were on the distance, he was looking upon the horizon to see just the shadow.

And as a dad, you know the shadow of your kid, you know the gait of your kid.

You don't, you just need to see a spot, and as a mom, you're like, I know that's my kid.

I know that's my kid.

I just wonder if he ran multiple times thinking it was a kid.

I don't know, the text doesn't say.

But the minute he saw it was his kid, he did what no patriarch would do.

He lifts up his garb, exposing his legs, which was shameful, and he runs.

A patriarch has people come to him, they don't go to others.

Especially a disgraced son.

And he runs, scorning the shame and the reputation of what everyone else would think about him.

He runs to his son and embraces him.

His son, by the way, came with that speech, right?

I don't deserve to be your son but a servant.

And here, this is incredible parenting, by the way.

The father does not lecture his son.

I gotta be honest, that that I would struggle with that.

Like, don't you want to just kind of have your arms crossed and go, yep.

Thought you'd come back.

How'd it go?

Not good.

I can see that.

Look at you.

You don't even have shoes on.

Shoeless.

You're dirty.

Right?

I mean, isn't that all of our tendencies?

Like we just want to go, see, you should have known.

And the father does none of that.

That's insane.

He embraces him, he doesn't lecture him.

He throws a ring on his finger, sandals, the sandals of sonship, and the best cloak he has on his shoulders and says, Welcome home.

You know, it's interesting.

We um we we can all, if those of us are parents, at times parent from reputation, can't we?

How you made me look rather than concerned with the development of our child.

This happens most often in the grocery store, by the way.

Um and you're like, oh, just shut up, you know.

And all you're thinking about is what other people are thinking about your parenting.

And honestly, when we do this and I've done this, it creates such pain.

And all of a sudden, love is dependent upon meeting certain objectives and standards and approval.

And the father cares far more about your return than his reputation.

And for some, you were a follower of Jesus and you walked away from Jesus, and you just walked in today, and you're like, I don't really think I could come back because I I've kind of dragged his name through the mud, and he says, I care more about your return than my reputation.

And others, you've had a day, no, no, no, you've had a year, oh, you've had a lifetime.

You're like, you don't I could tell stories, um, and God would never want me nor like me.

And he says, No, I care far more about your return than my reputation.

The father will never force his will upon you, cares more about your return than your rep his reputation.

And then this third one we see, this different than the sheep or the shepherd, or the woman.

And by the way, I don't know that we're gonna like this one, but we need this one.

I say that again.

I don't know if you're gonna like this one, but we need this one.

The father sacrifices fairness for the sake of relationship.

The father sacrifices fairness.

Isn't that the argument that the brother had, by the way?

It's not fair.

Isn't that every brother's argument?

Every kid.

I remember my mom would make this um uh chocolate pudding, we loved it, and you know, she would put it in different size bowls.

I why?

I don't know.

Um, but it looked like one brother got more than the other, and she said, No, I measured it out, it's exactly the same.

And we still would go, it's not fair.

Because we think somehow fairness will solve everything.

But the reality is, is what if life was really fair?

Because fair is just getting what you deserve.

And what if God was really fair and you just got what you deserve?

See, God is not fair, he is just.

Those are different, don't confuse them.

He is not fair, he will not give you what you deserve, he will give you mercy.

It's not getting what you deserve.

The son showed up and he deserved a lecture, he deserved shame, and he did not get that.

That was mercy, and then he was given grace.

Grace is getting what you do not deserve.

The father bestowed upon him the ring of sonship, sandals upon his feet, a cloak, and then he threw a party.

And that's your God, a God of mercy and grace and not fairness.

And then there's some of us, some of us older brothers, that we just can't get over it.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

Prince Fairness died in the garden.

He is just and Jesus said, I will take your pain and your shame and the consequences of it.

Someone had to deal with it, and I will deal with it on the cross.

And then finally, God, I hope.

I just pray this is the this is we're building to this.

This is what I uh the what I want from to go from your head to your heart.

The father's love is lavish.

I love that word by the way, lavish.

Um the shepherd and the woman did what was expected.

You lose a sheep, that's part of your life.

Livelihood, that's a part of your wealth, you're gonna go after that sheep.

That's expected.

The woman loses a coin, which was part of her dowry.

It's valuable to her.

She needs it.

That's expected.

What's unexpected is how the father responded to the son who walked away, and how the father responds to the older son who's outside saying, I don't want to go in.

And he goes to both of them, pleading with them, giving them grace and mercy.

And he says, My love has no limit.

My love isn't like that little measuring, you know, cup that my mom used for the chocolate, right?

It's not like, hey, you get this little portion right here, and it'll run out, and once you eat it, you're good.

And once you use it up, you're done.

He's no, my love is lavish.

My love is lavish.

Another word for lavish, by the way.

Prodigal.

His love is prodigal.

His love is extravagant, excessive, extreme.

His love has no bounds.

Lavish, a definition for lavish.

To bestow upon something in a generous and extravagant quantity.

He says, that's what I'm doing.

It's not this little measuring stream.

I'm just pouring it on you, and it does not stop.

It's wasteful.

It's absurd.

It's lavish.

I remember when Elle was born.

I never had this experience before, and those who are parents, you get this.

Like as dads, we're not a part of the process, we're part of the process.

This is another story for another time.

But the like we don't feel the baby inside.

And so it's only when she came into this world that it's like it was an experience I'd never had before.

Like she was born, and it felt like my heart erupted.

It felt like there was a chamber in my heart that I had no idea had been there all along, opened up, and a capacity to love another human being that I'd never experienced in my entire life.

It's just like boom.

And I'm like in love with this little baby girl.

And then we got pregnant and we had a son, Ryder, coming along.

And I got really nervous.

I got so nervous because I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to love this boy the same way I love this girl.

Like, I I don't know that I have that capacity.

Like, like, to does it divide?

Does it somehow like divide out?

And I was so nervous.

I'm like afraid that I'm not gonna be able to love this other one the same way I loved the first one.

And then Ryder came along and it was boom.

And a chamber of my heart opened, and love expands, and love in the context of who God is that drives out perfect fear, and God is love.

It's lavish, it's expansive, it's not limited, and that gives just a drop in an ocean understanding of God's lavish love for you and me.

It's just a drop, it's just the tiniest drop in the ocean of God's love.

Like that gives the smallest understanding that we possibly could.

Like, He loves you.

He loves you, He loves you.

Oh God, would you understand that He loves you with an overwhelming, unrelenting love?

First John says 3 1 says, See what great love the Father has.

Help me out.

Lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what you are.

The son showed up and he asked to be a servant because that's all he thought he could be.

But by the way, this is really great.

There was something about the father the son knew he could return to.

He didn't know he could be a son still, but there's something about the father he knew he could return to, and he showed up expecting to be a servant.

And his father says, You're a son.

There's something you just need to hear.

This you're a daughter and you're a son of the King Most High.

You're not a servant.

Your identity, you're a daughter and you're a son, and that is what we are, children of God, his love lavished on us.

First John 4 goes on and says, This is how God showed his love, demonstrated he sent his one and only Son to the world that uh that we might live through him.

This is love, not that we love God, but he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Romans 5, 6 through 8.

You see, at just the right time when we're still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.

While we're still sinners, Christ died for you.

And then the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 would be speaking to the church and says, I don't want you to miss this.

In fact, this is my prayer for you.

This is my prayer for you.

Like this is this is what you gotta get.

For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, like you have the family name of the King Most High.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of Christ.

He will not force his will upon you, but he cares far more about your return than his reputation.

He sacrifices, by the way, fairness for the sake of relationship.

His love is so lavish, it's so extravagant.

He says, I came for you.

I die for you to welcome you home.

We're gonna partake in communion together.

It is the symbol that Jesus left us to remember the lavish love of God, that his body broken for us, his blood poured out for us, that we might become children of God, that we might experience his mercy and grace.

And at awakening we practice an open table.

And so if you're a follower of Jesus, we welcome you as we worship in a second to partake in the elements.

Up front, we have bread, and you just take a piece of the bread and you dip it into the juice.

And I want you to just remind yourself how deep the Father's love for us, that you would be overwhelmed afresh with his love as you partake in communion.

In the back, we have the gluten-free option if that's what you need.

But as we worship, take this moment, take this moment, go God, you love me.

I don't get it, I don't understand it, but would you move that reality from my head to my heart?

And Heavenly Father, right now, in this moment, would you overwhelm my friends with your love?

Would you overwhelm them with your love for them?

Would you just make it so tangible that the reality of your great love demonstrated by your sacrifice on the cross for us?

God, it just would pour like sweet waters over our souls.

Jesus' name.