Pastor Michael Polite - Let the Party Begin!

Adventist Radio London. Inspiration for the song start off in

somewhat of an awkward way for an introduction, and it's

always awkward when the preacher calls for confession. However, I

do believe in the axiom confession is good for the soul.

And as we look over two on twenty nineteen, as

it's come and kind of just whisp by? Is it

flown by for anybody else? I kind of remember standing

in this exact month in twenty eighteen. It seems like

just a couple months ago, and yet we are at

the end of another year, and it's a good time

for reflection, looking back over preparing for the new and

the incoming. So I just want to ask a question,

how many people partied well in twenty nineteen? I thought

this would be the response as I meditated on how

to begin this discourse, because I'm in a church, and

when we are in a gathering of believers, the word

party comes with some baggage. It comes with baggage simply

because first and foremost Western religion has drained the celebration

from Christianity. Now most of this has been passed on

to European progenitors who believe that sorrow was the pathway

to the kingdom. However, I do find that David tries

to admonish us on multiple occasions to let a joyful

noise be lifted unto the Lord and not just you,

but all ye lands. That's a global call to enjoying

the God that you have discovered, or let me posit

that differently, the God who discovered you. But as we

talk about partying, a lot of times we shy away

from it because the first question in your mind is, well,

what type of party are you talking about? Now? Some

people would answer that question have you partied hard in

twenty nineteen, and you would not raise your hand to

say yes, for fear that I might be talking about

the lacivious lifestyle that so many of us have been

counseled to stay away from. So you're wanting to know, Wait, day,

is their alcohol served at this party? Anybody attend to

any parties with alcohol this year? Man? I want to

appreciate the transparency I have on the front row. This

is how church should be. Let me ask another question,

anybody attend to any parties with some good dancing in

twenty nineteen? I mean some good dancing. I'm not talking

about waltzing. No no, no, no no. I'm talking about

a little grooving and a little moving. Anybody go to

any good parties in twenty nineteen? Anybody go to any

parties with some good food in twenty nineteen, I'm talking

about the type of good food to where although you

want to stand up and be active, the itis sets

in because all of the blood is rushed to your

stomach cannot seem to digest everything that you've consumed. But

you kind of know when you had a good party

when it comes to the quality or the caliber of

the cooking. It body party hard and twenty nineteen. Anybody

get dressed up for a party in twenty nineteen, I'm

talking about you. You had your best on for my ladies.

You might have done some stilettos for my brothers. You

might have had some Gucci slippers on. I don't know

what you're rocking with, but I just want to know.

Did anybody dress the part for a party in twenty nineteen. Well,

I'm glad you're kind of warming up to this confessional

moment because it's critical for you to understand that you

have to embrace partying because you serve a God that

throws parties. Now we read about it, and a lot

of times you, Santa, tie the text by putting words

in there like banquet, or putting words in there like feast.

And let me tell you amongst Seventh Day at Venus crowds,

anybody will go to a banquet, but as soon as

you say party, some people hesitate and wonder if in

any way, shape or form their true nature will be

exposed at this gathering. There have been some wedding receptions

in twenty nineteen that call some members here at CPC

to wonder, do I get up or do I stay seated?

I feel it in my feet, but I don't want

to be caught on video. And so we have an

issue embracing the party aspect of our father in Heaven.

And if I could just put in a commercial break here,

you do know that the community of faith is supposed

to be fun. There's a reason why children always like

to chill with Jesus. Yes, I know, the King James

makes them sound somber and distant, arodite and pious, but

children are not attracted to that type of vibe. And

so the fact that they're willing to interrupt his messages

may speak to the fact that he was a little

bit more informal than you would expect in twenty nineteen.

As a matter of fact, I don't think any of

you would invite Jesus to preach here at CPC. If

you actually put your eyes on them, you would hear

the stories, You would hear the rumors. You would go

to him, and after shaking his hand, you'd say, no,

I don't think he's the speaker for this year's Education Day,

but I do thank you for your time and your consideration.

Why Because Jesus embodies those he's trying to save, and

when you seek to embody those you're trying to save,

it takes you out of the formality of institutional gatherings.

This is why he would preach, and he's preaching sermons

where at the end the appeal is not given for

people to come forward. The appeal is for people to

pick up stones and kill this man. And it is

because when you try to embody the lost aspect of

the world, it puts you at odds with those who

are trying to embody a false sense of self righteousness.

And I want to suggest that the reason, maybe even

here at CPC, but definitely the Sun Day Adventist denomination

will have a hard time embracing the God that throws parties.

Is because we have always been taught that God is

higher than that, but we forget. The Philippians seems to

suggest a different narrative that God is not celebrated for

his highness but for his willingness to be brought low,

for he did not count it robbery to leave the

heights of his palace and to come be a human,

a slave that was obedient, even to death on a tree.

I'm quoting straight from the passage of Scripture. God is

celebrated because we serve a God that's willing to embody

our dysfunctions. But in the embodying of our dysfunction, his

own integrity is not compromised. For the Word of God

says he became sin but knew not sin, which means

somehow he's able to be wrapped in your experience and

not compromised within his spirit. It is a mystery, but

I'm really not here to talk about the mystery of

God's nature, wanting to ground our thoughts and just one idea.

See today's message is less of a sermon and more

of a journal entry, because as I read this text,

I was arrested by one question, Why is it that

you welcome home a dysfunctional party animal with a party.

Have you ever considered that question and your devotional thinking?

Have you ever stepped back to consider the fact that

as God personifies himself through this story, he personifies himself

as embodying the experience of this younger son, and the

way that he does it is a way that most members,

yes even here at CPC, would feel uncomfortable with. Why

it is because deliverance has always been explained to us

as the process of distancing ourselves away from our dysfunctional past.

So one cannot be delivered as long as they are

still encountering the very dysfunction that caused them to fall.

And so as I read the text being brought up

in that same faith tradition, I'm struggling and I'm challenged,

because the last thing you want to do for someone

who's come down to an appeal is ushered them into

an environment that looks more like where they just came

from than where they need to be. Why are you

throwing a party animal a party? Now? We understand that

this party was not customary. How do we know this

because the older son gives commentary to the fact that, Dad,

you never do this around here, that even for those

who stayed and worked for you faithfully, you don't throw parties.

And so the older son's assessment should not be ignored.

Here it is true, this is not common, this is abnormal,

But here it is a herein is illustrated the true

character and nature of your God. That God is willing

to do abnormal things to prove to you that his

love endures forever. He does an abnormal thing by throwing

a party. Now, why does the Father throw a party? Now?

I'm only opening up to you, not my sermon notes,

but my journal notes. I'm on a journey of asking

all these questions because parts of the story do not

seem to match the God that I was taught and

the God taught about, and the God that I was

introduced to in church. This God seems to be a

little bit different. But I know Jesus tells this story

to help you understand the Father's love for you. Why

throw a party for a party animal? But why do

something abnormal and out of your routine to demonstrate your love.

Wait a second, No, here's the question. How did you

know that the way to reach him was a party?

Is it that someone snitched on him while he was

in the far off country? Notice the text says that

the young man went to a far off country. We

can interpret that from the original writings to mean that

he almost went a few states away. It was not

as if he went about this new lifestyle choice underneath

the vision and underneath the observance or observation of his father.

He went far away. He was trying to get as

far from Dad as possible. I don't want nothing to

do with you, as a matter of fact, give me

my inheritance now, because I wish you were dead. Notice

that this conversation had to start with an argument, and

it ended with the son saying I hate your guts.

I just want what's mine, which really wasn't hiss because

his father was still alive. But anyways, he's mad, he's

in his feelings, he's getting petty, and he's saying, I

want you to give me the inheritance that I will

get when you die, because I wish you were dead. Now.

The father gives him that fund those funds. Why is

it that the fun that those am a party? Though?

It's because I believe the Father knew what was in

the sun before the son left, so when the son

gets back, he knows how to welcome that son. Watch this,

I pray to God, and I ask God, well, what

is the significance of that? And I simply felt something

in my heart. I didn't hear it in my ear,

but I felt it in my heart that God is

trying to communicate the fact that the reason why many

of you have not made this move to come back

to God, or to get close to God or improve

your intimacy with the Father in heaven is because you

still think that it's cool for you to distance yourself

based upon what you've done, based upon who you are,

based upon what you know is there. But understand that

God saw your whole lifetime in one moment. Because God

does not live in time. He is not past, present

or future. He's only present. So in one present moment

he saw your whole entire life. You have never surprised

God with anything you've done. I don't care how grimy

it was. I don't care how beneath you it was.

I don't care how depraved it is. I don't care

how guilty you feel. I don't care if the shame

still weighs on you. You have never done anything that

surprised God. I love how Psalms eighty nine reads in

the Message Bible as David testifies to his calling to

be king, and he says, for the Lord, God declared

over me, I have looked everywhere and found the best

person I could find. Did you hear that that God

considered David the best person he could find for the

job although he knew everything David would do while he

was on the job. And what I came to declare

to you is some of you are still holding out

on allowing God to bridge the distance between you and

the Creator because you continue to accept a narrative that,

in some way, shape or form, what you have done

has put you at a distance or put you at

odds with God. Here is what you need to receive

here today. God does not have beef with you. You

have beef with God. That is the narrative of all

sixty six books of the Bible. It's trying to prove

to you that God actually has nothing but good plan

for you, a plan to give you a hope and

an expectant ending God's desire for you has always been good.

The issue is you don't have a desire for God,

and you don't have a desire for God because you

continue to believe that God doesn't want you. But God,

depicted as the father in the narrative, knew what was

in the sun before he left. So when the son

came back, the only thing the father was excited to

do was welcome him. But then there's this older brother

that gets upset, and notice his commentary is, how is

it that you're throwing a party for a person who

squandered all of that money on a party lifestyle that

included prostitutes. This younger son was a cat who if

you went to the club, he say, drinks on me.

For those of you who come from that background, he's

always making it rain. If anybody is trying to get

into the VIP, he's paying the cover. If anyone's looking

for the night entertainment, he's making the call. If anyone's

looking for the next joint, he's making the purchase. If

anyone is looking for the next hit of some substance,

he got your back. You don't got to pay for

anything as long as he's around, because the party goes

on when this brother is around. How is it that

for him you throw a party, but for me you

have not even given me a goat so that I

can share it and party with my friends. And I

ask the question with the brother. The brother is correct, Yo,

this is some lowdown stuff. How is it that the

people who are faithful to you don't get parties? But

the people who are unfaithful to you, they are the

ones that get parties. And that's when God just broke

open all of the judgmental nature that has been programmed

into me by church going. I'm gonna repeat that God

broke into my judgmental nature that had been programmed into

me by church going, because you come to church believing

that your moral conformity will set you up for a

happier lifestyle, that your moral conformity will set you up

to get into pearly gates with streets of gold robes.

I can fly anywhere I want to go, and I

got a crown to boots. But I want you to

understand that God is not trying to woo you through rewards.

He's actually trying to woo you by coming or exposing

the very big hole that resides inside of all of us.

For the sun, the whole was fear of punishment the

younger son. For the older son, the hole is resentment

for all of the work I've been doing. Neither happy

in the Father's house, both needing something called affirmation, and

both get it. To the son who is grappling with

his past. God embodies his welcome by throwing a party

for the son who's grappling with the certainty of his future.

He tells him everything that I have is already yours.

He supplies both sons in the story with the very

thing that's causing them to resent God. And I want

to suggest that here today, there are these two brothers

sitting right here in this congregation, gender aside. There are

two type of believers at all times that are grappling

with the love of the Father. It's the one that says,

I am grappling with my past, or the one that's

trying to secure a bright future. And both paths lead

you to resent God. Those of you here at CPC

who are trying to secure a bright future. You get

upset when it seems like the rigidity of the rules,

regulations and cultural norms of this church are breached. And

although people say, well, we got to try to go

out there and meet them, we got to kind of

get them where they are and then bring them to

where they need to be. Nope, nope, we need to

conform morally. But then for the other side, those of

you who fear punishment for your past, you lament the

fact that you went on a journey of self discovery,

and discovering yourself only leads you to one conclusion, how

wretched you are when you really start to see yourself,

really way down deep. All of us got to admit

that something's broken down there, and that brokenness leads you

to squander all the blessings that are at your fingertips.

So because you squandered your blessings, you fear punishment, and

the other side, because you've conformed and sacrificed so much,

you think God owes you something. Both brothers have beef

with God. God doesn't have beef with either son. Here's

the thing. Did you notice that the older brother said,

you haven't even given me a goat to celebrate with

my friends. Now, the size of the animal denotes the

size of the crowd. The brother has already told us

that a goat alone is enough to celebrate one son.

Brace yourself. This is gonna hit you really hard. One

goat is enough to celebrate a son. But the story

says the father calls for the fattened calf. Could it

be that this party is not only for the younger son,

because if it was just for one son, we could

just get a goat. That's what the older brother just

told me. But God calls for a fatted calf because

what he really wants to do is celebrate both sons.

He wants to look at the older son and say, listen,

I want to give you some major thanks for hanging

in there with me through these rough years, for sticking

it out with me in the venue, or doing all

of this hard work. I want to call you into

a space of celebration and in to the younger brother,

he says, and listen, I know you think I'm going

to leave you out, but I'm actually going to put

on the robe that we reserve for the guests of honor.

I'm gonna give you a new outfit, some new shoes,

and some new bling, and I'm gonna throw you a party.

And I want both of you all to come in

so that all of the countryside can see how proud

I am of both of my sons. But both sons

have an issue coming into the party. Neither of them

feel comfortable. One comes in feeling undeserving, the other stays outside,

believing that there's some great injustice that has been done.

And all God is trying to say is let the

party begin. When will the people of God begin celebrating

not what you have sacrificed, or not what you've had

to come back from, but celebrating the unchanging, unmoving, and

marchious love of your Father. This is why we gather

each We do not gather to celebrate your moral conformity,

and we don't gather to celebrate the fact that you

came back from your journey of self discovery. Those are

idols that have been set up in the Temple of God.

The world today will never be changed by listening to

what you discovered about yourself. And we know that the

world has never been changed by abiding and heeding to

rules and regulations, mandates and prohibitions. None of that saves.

But it is the goodness of God that leads us

all to repentance. And if there's something I've come to

lift up to raise up here in this space today.

It is that our church is void of joy because

nobody's experiencing the goodness of the Lord. I'm not talking

about goodness that is measured by materialism. I'm not talking

about goodness that is measured by promotion. I'm not talking

about goodness that is measured by interpersonal relationships. I'm talking

about a goodness that is only and solely place and

what God is done. Behold what manner of love the

Father has given unto us that we should still be

called sons and daughters. What's your point, preacher? My point

is there's not enough partying going on, and there's not

enough partying going on because nobody's being honest. We got

beef with God. I don't care if you're the son

that is fearing where you came from or the son

that is fearing where you're going. But all of us

laying on one of those two paths, and all paths

lead to you having beef with the Father. Some of

you sit here, you feel like you don't belong. You

almost resent the fact that you have to dress up

every Sabbath because your outside doesn't reflect what you feel

on the inside. That's younger brother, and some of you

feel pressured to be here every Sabbath. This is your

your good service to the Master, who requires a high

standard of consistency, and so you show up. But you

wonder why it's hard to praise, had to worship. It

is because God loveth a cheerful giver, and your presence

and involvement in the Body of Christ has not done cheerfully.

It's done because you feel like it's a requirement. And

what I want to suggest to the old brother and

to the younger brother, is that what we really see

there are the two sides that have split our church today.

The younger brother represents liberalism, the older brother represents conservatism,

and we probably have both sides here at CPC. Now

I'm just guessing. Don't know. No, this is not coming

from pastors. I know a lot of people are like,

who'd you talk to before you started preaching. I don't

have to talk to anybody because you're a Seventh day Adventist,

and I know the DNA of Seventh Day Adventists. I

was born into this as a p que If anybody

has seen Adventism behind the scenes, backstage I have and

what I want to understand, what I want you to

see and understand, is that there's always been a civil

war in Adventism. On one side, it's the younger brother

asking for permission to go on journeys of self discovery,

to have a little bit more leniency, acceptance and inclusion,

to do things a little bit differently, and to take

things in a little bit more of an awkward direction.

Robert Frost called it taking the road let's traveled. That

is the younger brother. Liberalism, conservatism. No God has a standard.

There are traditions here that have been sett in a

stone far before you came into the place of existence.

Now there's an institution whose pillars must be held up.

We must sustain this thing through rigidity and conformity. We

must make sure that everybody's in line and in lockstep,

in uniform or else, the whole thing will disintegrate. Conservatism,

older brother. And it doesn't matter if you're liberal or concerned.

The story ends the same for us. Both both sides

don't want to party. Sides will struggle when Jesus comes

because it will be in that moment that they realize

they never wanted him to come. Both the liberal and

the conservative are prodigal sons, and the only one who's

partying in the story is the father. So while we

sit here at CPC week after week, arguing, going between

the two paths of liberalism and conservatism, grappling with the

past or pushing for a bright future, whether with the

younger or the older, every week passes and the joy

of the Lord is never discovered because nobody's partying in

the last day. Message I believe comes from Luke fifteen.

You can read Daniel, you can have revelation. It's all

summarized in Luke fifteen. Let the party begin, which is

why the Book of Revelation ends with this. Come says

it three times at the end. Come this open invitation

for people who want to do away with the beef

they have with God, whether it be fear of punishment

or resentment for all that he required. And He's just

trying to figure out who will come to the feast,

who will come and party, who will see me as good,

who will stop having beef with me? Who will stop

having aught with me? And this is why Romans five

is so important to everyone. Under the sound of my

voice when it says that you have been reconciled. That's

Paul saying God has no problem with you. He just

wants to party. He has no problem with you, and

as a musician begins to play the brilliance of this

story as told. For those who are literary critics here

at CPC, there's something called the cyclical narrative, which means

that the narrative ends where it began, that the same

tension that was open at the beginning remains at the end,

and there's some resolve in the middle, but on both

sides of that resolve, the tension remains. The story begins

with one son that the father was looking for. The

story ends with one son that the father was looking for.

Sick local narrative, Yeah, it hit either son at different

times that they actually have aught with their father. But

what Jesus was really trying to say to the crowd

that day is if you've seen me, you've seen the father.

Look at how I've treated everyone here, I mean no

one any harm. I've actually come that you might have

life and have it abundantly. So any beef that resides

in the crowd right now is beef you have with us,

And so I end my journy entry conversation with you

on what I wrote in the margins, I said, this

story calls me to reconsider what evangelism really is. That's

what I put period, because evangelism, underneath the upbringing I've

had has always been about behavior modification, which is why

we make people accept vows before they get baptized. Before

we can party with you, we must make sure that

you have committed to change your behavior. But when I

read the text, God never requires behavior modification from the younger,

and he never requires behavior modification from the older. All

he says is, would you please come in and party

with me? See, the party isn't a testament to the

fact that either brother has changed. We know when we

read the story that there's gonna be a long road

of change. Reconciliation most of the times doesn't happen in

a day. There's gonna be some tough conversations. There's gonna

be some transparent arguments. The younger will always feel as

if Dad, I'll let you down, and the older will

always feel like, Dad, you let me down, And day

after day they will have to work through the distancing

between them. But I'm so glad God does not require

that to be worked out before he looks at you

at said lad's party. Where is the church in America

who will start welcoming the older and the youngest son,

not when they show change, but welcoming them just because

they came back. This is what Heaven celebrates, not that

you're changed. Heaven guarantees a change, for the Word of

God says, I will send to you the comforter, and

he will lead you into all truth. He will convict

you of sin. God doesn't expect you to convict somebody

else of sin. The only spirit has been sin as

the great prophet and messenger of the last days. So

what does he want us to do? He just wants

us to chill out and come party, to celebrate the

great truth of the Gospel, that the Word he began,

He will bring it to a completion that he is

the author and the finisher of your faith. And he

doesn't party when the process is done. He starts partying

when the process begins. Because our father in Heaven has

confidence in what his love can do in the heart

of a human being, and just the fact that you're

willing to come back means he has all he needs

to transform you by renewing your mind. Listen, the love

of God is shrong, the love of God is consuming.

The love of God takes over, and the love of

God reforms. He has confidence in his power. He's used

to working in dark places. For the Word of God

says that his first act in our sphere of the

universe was to move in the darkness. He's created out

of darkness before. You'll do it again. But what he

cannot do is force you to come back. So to

the younger brother here today, the Word of God declares,

come back home, Come back home. I knew what was

in you before you left. I knew you were going

to squander the blessings I gave you. I saw your

true nature before you discovered it for yourself. So just

come home and party. To the older brother, I know

you've gotten some resentment towards me because you feel like

I'm always throwing out another rule, another assignment, another regulation,

or another call to sacrifice something else that you love.

I know that has upset you. But just come back home,

come party, and I'll help you see that. I never

meant for you to work that hard anyways. For the

Just Shall Live Adventist Radio London inspiration for the song