God At The Movies: Part 1
The Glorious Party
Good morning! We are so glad you’re here with us today.
Today I want to get started in a new sermon series. This one is going to be a little bit different than some of the others that I’ve preached. I know for a fact that there has never been an Easter Sunday that I’ve begun a new sermons series on that day. In fact, as I’ve been going through college to get my Pastoral Degree everything that I was reading and everything that college professors were teaching said that you never begin or end a sermon series on Easter Sunday. That’s because Easter is supposed to be the one day that we have to tell everyone that isn’t a Christian all that we can about the love of God. So it’s not a day to be doing what I’m doing.
I can see their point in come ways. Some people that are here today won’t be here next week for whatever reasons. Maybe you’re here to please Grandma, who guilted you into being here. In fact, there are some people here still trying to figure out why you haven’t burst into flames or turned into a pillar of salt yet. There are few others here that have this belief that being here today and Christmas Eve is good enough to get you into heaven. But regardless of your reasons for being here, let me tell you I am personally glad you’re here this morning and you’re going to have a great time.
Just as importantly I’m looking forward to next week and hoping that most of you will join us then as well. In fact, just as a kind of commercial, we’ll be continuing the series that gets started today. And we’ll be talking about the movie “The Dark Knight.” I’m not going to tell you much more than that because if you want to know more you have to tune back into this same church, at this same time, next week.
But since this is Easter Sunday, I think it’d be a little bit more appropriate to start with a very different movie. One that doesn’t involve that much violence. Today we’re going to talk a little bit about the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Now I’ve got to admit something here to you. I have never seen this movie as a whole. I’ve seen a few bits and pieces. Most of what I know about the movie comes from people that I’ve talked to and from clips I’ve seen on the internet.
Here’s the gist of the movie. It begins by looking at the main character, Jamal. Now Jamal has grown up in the slums in India, the country that he’s from. His family is dirt poor and has nothing to really live off of. But as we first see Jamal he faces the last question in India’s version of the television show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” The truth of the matter is that for Jamal it really isn’t about the money. He could care less whether or not he was rich. Instead the main focus of his life is the constant pursuit of the love of his life, Latika. Everything that he does, including going on this game show, is about gaining the attention of this woman and sharing the rest of his life with her.
You want to know what? That is exactly the image of God. God in real life is just like Jamal.
Did you catch that?
God is just like the character Jamal. Or maybe more appropriately the character is exactly like God. God is all about pursuing the love of His life. You and me. He has done and continues to do everything that He can to get our attention. He continually reaches out for us.
In fact, since today is Easter and this may be the only chance that I ever get to see some of you, I’ve got to tell you something important. There is this verse in the Bible that explains just how far God is willing to go to pursue you. It’s probably the most famous verse in all the Bible. Even if you’re not a Christian and have never been to church in your entire life, you’ve probably at least heard of this verse and you may even know it. That verse is John 3:16.
Now before we get to that verse I know that there are people here that are really confused about the Bible. So I’m going to break it down for you really quickly. The Bible is one volume. It contains both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is everything that happens before the birth of Jesus. The New Testament is everything that happens after the birth of Jesus.
Now this whole book forms one story and that story begins all the way over in Genesis Chapter One with the story of how the world was created. And what it tells us is that God creates everything out of nothing and then He creates man in His image. Then in Genesis Chapters 2 and 3 we see how man, that is created in God’s image, does something that God tells him not to and begins to lose his relationship with God. Now here’s the cool part, the rest of this book, the rest of the Bible is about God’s relentless pursuit of man. He desires a relationship with us that He does everything in His power to pursue us. That story is what follows through the rest of the Bible.
Now let’s move on to that verse I was talking about. That one called John 3:16. It says, “For God so loved the whole world that He gave His one and only son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.”
Now hold on a second. I want you to think about something for just a moment. Especially those of you who are parents. Would you give up your only child, your son or your daughter, for someone else? Of course not!
Now some people right now are thinking, “Umm, pastor you can’t say that.”
Yes. I can. In fact, let’s be real honest real fast. If I had to give up my son or my daughter for you, you’re out of luck. No way are you getting one of my kids. I love my kids and I wouldn’t give them up for anybody.
But God isn’t like me. He willingly and knowingly sent His son to die for you and for me.
He wanted a relationship with you and with me so deeply that He knew the only way to get it was to give up His only child for us.
Let’s be honest here. That is a big part of what Easter is all about. God sent His one and only son to die on a cross for me and for you. He provided a way for us to have a relationship with Him.
So here’s what I want you to do. I want you to change some words in that verse for me. Look at John 3:16 again. I want to see these words with me. “for God so loved (insert your name here) Tim, Bobby, Sue, Henry, Joe, that He gave His one and only son, so that if (insert your name again) believes in him they will not perish but have everlasting life.”
Here. Check this out. “For God so loved Tim that He gave His one and only son, so that if Tim believes in him, he will not perish but will have everlasting life.”
Now I know that there are people here already saying, “God wouldn’t care about me like that. He doesn’t know what I’ve done. He doesn’t understand my past.”
Here’s my guarantee to you. God does. And He has.
“But Tim, I’m just one person. God would never care about me like that.”
You want to bet?
In the first four books of the New Testament, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) we read through the life of Jesus. We get a chance to see what Jesus was like.
But I want you to look over in Luke Chapter 15. Now we’re not going to read all of this. I’m going to summarize the three stories here.
In Jesus’ day the teachers would tell stories so that the people might understand what they were talking about. In fact, it’s kind of like watching TV or going to the movies for us. We get the idea of what the creator of the show was thinking about just by watching it. The people then would get the idea the teacher was talking about by hearing a story and being able to relate it to their life.
So Jesus is telling stories to this crowd of people around him. He wants them to understand exactly what he’s saying.
So the very first story he tells in Luke 15 is the story about a woman and a coin. This woman loses the coin somewhere in her house and she has no idea where it has gone. Now we don’t think coins are very important today. But in Jesus’ time there wasn’t dollar bill or a printing press to make them, so all money was in the form of coins. Well, this woman loses a very valuable coin. She has nine other ones. But this one is important and so she starts cleaning her whole house just to search for the coin.
It’s kind of like when you lose something in your home. You tear the place up looking for it. Along the way you’re putting books and DVDs back on the shelves they go on. You’re carrying cups into the kitchen. You’ve got to find this item.
That’s exactly what this woman is doing. She’s tearing everything apart and cleaning just to find this one coin. The Bible says that she sweeps the entire house until she finds it.
And do you know what she does when she does find it?
She throws a party. She calls all of her friends together and they celebrate because she found her missing coin.
Now that’s kind of odd, isn’t it? You and I would probably never throw a party because we found some money we lost in our house. But the woman in this story does.
But it doesn’t end there. Jesus goes on to tell another story.
In this story there is a shepherd. He has one hundred sheep. Now we’re not told how it happens but one of these sheep gets away and is lost. It’s gone. Knowing which one is missing the shepherd leaves these other 99 sheep and goes out looking for this one sheep.
Now I was talking to a friend the other day. He and his wife actually raise sheep. So it isn’t a big surprise that we were talking about sheep. And I wanted to know how much a sheep cost. I’ll be honest I was wondering how much money it would cost me to put it in my freezer to be eaten later. But I had to find out what a sheep is worth. He told me that a lamb will normally bring him between $150 and $200 depending on weight and how good of a sheep it is.
So maybe you can see why this Shepherd would go out and look for just one. It is valuable. It’s worth something to him.
So he finds his sheep up in the mountains somewhere and he carries it home.
Know what he does?
I’ll bet you’ll know. He throws a party. He gathers all his shepherd buddies together, they put together a fire, and they celebrate that this guy brought back the missing sheep.
But once again, Jesus doesn’t end with the story. Because he wanted so much to make his message clear and he begins to tell another story. And if you’re looking at Luke 15 right now you know it’s the longest of the stories that Jesus tells. In my opinion it’s the one that strikes home the real point that Jesus is trying to make.
In fact, some people here may be affected by this story because it’s very similar to your own story. Most people find that they can relate to at least one of the characters in it.
So here’s the story.
A man has two sons. One day the younger one comes to him and says, “Look Dad, I know that you’re going to die someday, but I really don’t want to wait around until that happens. So I’d really like it if you gave me my share of the inheritance.”
Now personally I’d feel like I’d been slapped in the face. But the father in this story doesn’t act like that.
He gives the younger son his share of the inheritance and the young man leaves to go out on his own. But he’s not exactly the most responsible person in the world. He goes and spends everything he has. It gets wasted on food and wine and women of the night. He just throws it at whatever seems to please him at the time.
The money is gone and the country is struck by a famine. So this young man has no money, no food, and the only job that he can find is feeding someone’s pigs. But this kid is starving. He wants something in his stomach so bad that he begins to eat the pig slop.
It’s at this point that he comes to his senses. He realizes just how badly he’s screwed up. Even his father’s servants have enough to eat and he’s out eating pig food. So he decides to go back home and ask his father for a job. He figures at least if he could be his father’s servant there would be food on his table.
Now the father hasn’t forgotten about this son or disowned him. In fact most days he stands out on the porch and watches for the son to come back. Sometimes he walks a little ways down the road the son went down just to see if maybe the son is coming back. He questions everyone who is coming from that direction to see if they’ve heard anything about the son. This father isn’t just waiting around. He’s seeking the son. He wants to know if the child is alright and he wants to be able to show that child a father’s love once more.
In fact Jesus says, “That while the son was still a long ways off the father saw him and rushed out to meet him.” Now that doesn’t sound like the way someone would meet a servant to me. Not only does the father rush out to meet him, but the father puts a ring on his finger and a good cloak on his back. When the son finally does get the chance to ask to be a servant the whole question is brushed off to the side like the kid never asked.
Then this father does something unbelievable. The father throws a party for the son.
This is the child that failed to honor his father. He took the father’s money and he spent it on meaningless things. This is the same son that hadn’t even bothered to send his father a note to tell him he was alright and was still alive.
And the father throws a party!
He has a calf butchered, has a barbeque, and invites all his friends over to his place.
Why?
Because the one missing son has been found.
Now here’s my question for you. Did you catch the theme of all these stories?
I’m sure that you did. You’re not blind.
Only one thing was missing in each of the stories.
Now think about something for me. Remember just a few minutes ago you were asking why I would ask you to change the word world to your name? I mean you’re just one person right? Why would God send His one and only son for you?
Because you are that important.
You are the one thing that God has been looking for.
Remember I told that the whole Bible is about God’s relentless pursuit of man. You are the person that God has been pursuing.
That’s why we really celebrate Easter. Sure. It’s about the Jesus rising from the dead to live again. But we celebrate because God pursued us to the point that He did everything in His power to save us. What it finally came down to was sending His one and only son to die a pain filled death upon a cross.
But it didn’t end there. Three days after his death, on a Sunday morning Jesus rose from the grave. He was alive again.
That’s where the everlasting life part comes in. If you and I believe and have a relationship with Jesus Christ the day will come that we will live again. We may be buried and long dead physically but we will live again.
In the end though there is a celebration. The Bible tells us that every single time a person comes to a new life in Christ, every time a lost one is found the angels in heaven celebrate. They throw a party. For one person they have a huge celebration.
One day we will join in that celebration.
Here’s my question for you today, as you leave to celebrate Easter in your own way. Are you still one that God is pursuing? Is He still looking for you? Have you come to realize that God did everything He could to pursue you? That He gave up the life of His only son for you?
It doesn’t have to be that way. In just a moment we’re going to have an invitation. I’m not going to ask you to come down. I am going to ask you all to stand, bow your heads, and close your eyes. Then I will pray a simple prayer. If you’re praying that prayer with me, I want you to raise your hand. No one is looking but I want to know who you are so that I pray for you.
God is still pursuing. He is still seeking. If you come to know Him today there will be a celebration.
