Summary – Our true nature is defined by whose we are. Jesus seeks to restore us to the Father‟s love. Return to Prodigal Son but with focus on the blessing the Father brings itself… and how that reflects what Jesus bears in himself… and imparts to all who receive his life as central identity. Jesus is the means to being restored in the life-giving blessing.
Intro –
Continue in series focused on what it means to live in the blessing… referring to living in relationship to God‟s blessing. We‟re going to engage again the story Jesus tells about the Prodigal Son. But let me begin by noting…
One of the great questions that many take up is whether we should deem ourselves as human beings to be inherently good… or inherently bad (depraved.) I think it‟s an interesting question… and not a simple one to answer… as there is the sense of something great in us… and something shameful and self-absorbed.
It reflects the dilemma that runs through every life… as we live between an ideal self and a real self… and between the denial and despair that each reflect.
When God looks at us… he sees the more defining issue. After God declared that human life… to be that which uniquely bears His own image… to be VERY GOOD… the Scriptures describe how we sought life apart from Him… and the first question is not about whether we now are inherently simply good or bad…God raises a more fundamental question: Where are you? In other words, where are you in relationship to me? He is speaking into the fundamental issue that defined what was now at hand for every human life…our nature as those bound as children to the source of all has sought to find itself in it‟s own self-existence… where true worth was lost to a false pride… and love was lost to fear… and we began to exist in exile from the only source of true life and love.
We have been trying to find ourselves in what we do… but who we really are is not defined by what we do… but WHOSE WE ARE. It is IDENTITY that that defines who we really are.
Sociologists have noted that we become what the most important person in our life thinks we are.
God knows that the deepest issue that we face is that of having turned away and given ourselves over to false sources of defining us… idols… including ourselves.
It is not that we simply don‟t do what we should… but that we don‟t know who we are. We are not living in relationship to who we really are.
This is what Jesus described in the story that he said tells about what he is doing.
Luke 15:11-19 (NIV) 11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of
my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'
As noted… the whole story is about a Father… because that is precisely what Jesus was coming to restore. He as the Son was living out of a perfect relationship to God the Father… and that is the relationship he came to restore.
J.I. Packer is 84 years old. He is a prolific author, powerful theologian, beloved professor and godly man. So, when a man like this draws our attention to that which he believes is most important for us to know, we should listen and think carefully about it!
“You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God‟s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all.” - J.I. Packer
I feel I am just beginning to understand how true that is. And of course it is not simply a matter of understanding Christianity… but understanding our lives.
It is important to grasp that knowing God as our Father is not simply a nice metaphor.
Jesus had known him as the Father from all eternity…even before he created the world and human life…so it is not just something that we call him in reference to ourselves… but what He has always been in His very nature.
God is not like a father. He is not even a father. He is the Father.
To know God as our Father transcends all that we know of fatherhood in this world.
As we noted last week…In this story Jesus describes how the younger son‟s life is not lost because of any lack of the Father‟s love… nor because of what he as the son went on to do.
He is lost because he left his true source of identity.
When we do not have a center… a central voice that establishes who we are…. we try to find ourselves in a myriad of false identities.
I am the prodigal son every time I search for my true identity and unconditional love where it cannot be found.
Of course Jesus goes on to describe the son coming to his senses.
[Realize]
The pivotal phrase is “When he came to his sense..” and is more accurately translated… “When he came to himself," Jesus knew that so long as a man was away from God he was not truly himself. As far as he was from home… he was far from himself.
Henri Nouwen…
“The meaning of the younger son's return is succinctly expressed in the words, "Father, ...I no longer deserve to be called your son." On the one hand the younger son realizes that he has
lost the dignity of his sonship, but at the same time that sense of lost dignity makes him also aware that he is indeed the son who had dignity to lose.
…When he found himself desiring to be treated as one of the pigs, he realized that he was not a pig but a human being, a son of his father. This realization became the basis for his choice to live instead of to die. Once he had come again in touch with the truth of his sonship, he could hear-although faintly-the voice calling him the Beloved and feel-although distantly-the touch of blessing. (-"The Prodigal Son")
Here lies the centrality of IDENTITY. Becoming righteous… one who lives rightly… …. begins not with rules and rituals… but with a right relationship with God.
> We must remember who we are… who we were meant to be.
This is portrayed well in the movie “The Lion King.” The young cub Simba. He is the son of the king of the land… who was to take up his honorable role… but he gives in to his intrigue for lies in the forbidden outside land… and in going off there he causes a battle in which he believes he has killed his father. So he leaves home for a distant country… where he tries to settle into a new life … with no expectations… but no identity as well. Then the priest like figure of the monkey prods him to a pond where he is told to look in and see who he really is. He sees his reflection begin to appear to look like His father. He wants to pull away in shame… when the clouds part… and His father speaks from above… and calls him to return to his rightful place in life…. and concludes by repeating the central phrase… “Remember who you are.”
Like Simba… like the prodigal… we must „remember who we are‟…who we were meant to be.
…. But then like Simba… like the prodigal… we must return.
Let‟s return to the scene…
Luke 15:20-24 (NIV) 20 So he got up and went to his father. "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. 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.' So they began to celebrate.
[Repent]
20 So he got up and went to his father.
This describes what Jesus always says is our one essential step…repentance … which means turning around. It‟s a turning that acknowledges what they did to end up where they are.
Then he must take the step to actually go…
[Return]
As we can imagine with this son… it may seem like an intimidating step. We can only wonder what will we face? Can you imagine what the son may have felt?
This is what we might call „the beautiful sorrow of love‟… because it is not simply the sorrow of regret that goes nowhere… it is the sorrow that is turning towards another because of the greater blessing that lies in being reconciled and restored in relationship.
The story could have ended there… in fact there are stories in ancient Judaism that are similar and end with the consequences for such behavior… being cut off from their community…. but
the words that follow are those most critical for every soul to hear…
[Response]
"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.
Here we come face to face with the father‟s heart for us…
While he was still a long way off…
Do you want to know how God feels towards you? … even when you turn from him?
Jesus could not have described it any clearer. He is waiting and watching with compassion and a desire to throw his arms around you… and kiss you.
That is not my hope… that is what the one revealed as the Son of God told you and showed you.
His love is unrestrained. It was a breach of an elderly Jewish man‟s dignity to run… they would have to pull up their long outer garment… a bit vulnerable in more ways than one. Jesus knows his Father … and that God‟s love is not bound by any need for the respect of men.
Son had a speech… about wanting to be a servant… William Barclay notes… he is referring to „the lowest rank of slaves, the hired servants, the men who were only day labourers. The ordinary slave was in some sense a member of the family, but the hired servant could be dismissed at a day's notice. He was not one of the family at all.‟
The father interrupts his speech because the son IS a son… he can only return to what he IS.
I imagine we all have speeches that explain what we think we should be. they too are speeches that need to give way to being loved. He‟s not going to come back on his own terms.
I was expressing to my friend Linus appreciation but qualifying it with not wanting him to feel obligation… and he says… „cut the crap‟ … this is friendship. He was cutting through my guardedness to just trust the care of a friend.
Threw arms around him and kissed him… the ultimate affection of a father for their child. (Word Pictures of the NT – „Kissed (katephilēsen). Note perfective use of kata kissed him much, kissed him again and again. The verb occurs so in the older Greek.)
What Jesus describes next is the father fully restoring the son to all he was meant to be.
[Restoration]
The robe represents being restored with honor… covering the son‟s poverty and shame with Father‟s honor
He does not call for any robe… but the „best robe‟ in the house. This describes what is later made clear about what God seeks to do for each of us through Jesus… to trade our shameful coverings with his righteous robe … to allow us to receive Christ‟s righteousness as our own. God the father declares that you have the FULL honor a child.
The ring represents being restored with authority… to function as a full representative of the Father (… for this was his signet ring… it was the same as giving him the power of attorney)
How easy it is to return as one who has no right to speak… who should just accept a powerless role. But God the Father declares you are His child and children were created to share in what the Father is doing. This is what Jesus imparts as he calls lives to once again join as partner… wit authority not in ourselves… but extended from him.
The shoes represent being restored with the bonds and dignity of being a child…. as opposed to a slave. (Only the children of the family were given shoes… slaves were not. (The slave's dream in the slave spiritual is of the time when "all God's children got shoes," for shoes were the sign of freedom.)
If we have never known the strength of family bonds… we can naturally wonder if and where we belong. You may have been raised by a father whose wasn‟t able to affirm the bonds you shared… or parents who divorced which has left you uncertain of your own belonging. We can feel that we are never really a part of life‟s household. But here we are reminded that our ultimate Father is clear that we are sons and daughters.
Then the Father calls for a huge party…
„bring the fatted calf‟.. that which had been saved for a special occasion. Some note that a fatted calf could feed the entire surrounding village. (BBC - Aristocratic families often invited the whole town to a banquet when a son attained adulthood (about thirteen years old) or a child married.)
God is throwing a party for the restoration of his child… and that child is each of us.
Jesus … and that is what He has for EACH of us.
That is who He is. That is who you are.
Yet a part of us may have a hard time accepting such grace. We can fall back to wanting to wanting to deserve it… to want to claim our own goodness.
Well… Jesus has one more son to describe…
the older son… who protests to the father that he had served the father far more… and never been received by such a party. The father explains he was always there with him… and everything the father had was already his… but the son refuses to come in.
He reflects the self-righteousness of us all… the religious leaders who refuses the radical grace of the „Abba Father‟ because they cannot accept how much they need it. Such a son refuses to come into the heart and home of the Father.
> He is defining himself by how good he is… and how bad his brother is…. not by whose they are.
We may feel the tension of not being that good of a child… and find it hard to escape the questions of „deserving‟ such love acceptance. Our guilt fights away such an identity.
We may feel that someone has to pay. In truth forgiveness does cost… the one owed is cancelling a debt that is theirs. The fact is that when the father called for a feast there was a cost.
Any some note that it should have been the elder brother‟s duty to have gone out and found the younger brother and brought him back… even at his own expense… for as the older brother he would have received two-thirds of the estate. However… he refuses to even join the party.
So who is going to pay?
Jesus tells this story to explain that this is what God is bringing to bear in himself.
Some would note that there are really three sons involved… the younger, the older, and the one telling the story. It‟s Jesus who is bringing the fulfillment of this story into reality. It is Jesus who pays.
[The Source of Restoration]
John 1:12 (NLT) “to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
John 1:12 (MSG) “whoever did want him… who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.”
How? Because he bears what we were created to know… the blessing of a son… a child.
Matthew 3:17 (NLT) ….a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
This is the blessing that was upon Jesus… it could NOT be said of any other for those created in His image had sought life in a distant country… and had lost their true identity. To leave this blessing… was to live under the curse… not that of what another cast upon them… but the curse of their own consequences.
Jesus takes the curse upon himself…. that we might be restored in the blessing.
Galatians 3:13-14 (MSG) “Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the Cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. 14 And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available…”
The Father‟s blessing is restored by His grace in sending His own perfect eternal Son… to transfer his blessing to us… if we will receive his life as our restoring identity.
Ephesians 1:3 (GW) “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer.”
He imparts his identity as God‟s child to us. And that identity begins a new life within us.
Galatians 4:4-6 (CEV) “…when the time was right, God sent his Son… so … we could become God's children. 6 Now that we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And his Spirit tells us that God is our Father.
If we receive Jesus into our hearts … as the eternal Son whose very nature honor and seek… … the Spirit of God will be at work within us…speaking to us … and he is answering the question that matters most… which is WHOSE you are.
CLOSING:
So who are you? The question is not answered by how good or bad you are… but by whose you are.
Invitation – If you have never received that Son…you can join the younger son in the grace that the Father has for you.
Some of us may have received Jesus… but haven‟t really known the father‟s heart… blessing. We may have been raised in a Christian home… and therefore just felt included by way of heritage. It may be helpful to recognize that God doesn‟t have any grandchildren… just children. Today, God wants to change our lives as we begin to see ourselves as God sees us… his child.
For any of us who realize that we may be away from home… the Father‟s heart is clear… he says:
“Come home. I‟m waiting.”
I‟m going to invite us to hear the Father as He speaks through His own Word… You can close your eyes or follow on the screen.
My Child… You may not know me, but I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up…Psalm 139:2 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image…Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived…Jeremiah 1:4-5 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book…Ps. 139:15-16 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you…1 John 3:1 Simply because you are my child and I am your father…1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could…Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father…Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand…James 1:17 Because I love you with an everlasting love…Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore…Ps. 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing…Zephaniah 3:17 For you are my treasured possession…Exodus 19:5 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes…Revelation 21:3-4 And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered …Revelation 21:3-4 For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed…John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being…Hebrews 1:3 He came to show you that I am for you, not against you…Romans 8:31 If you receive him, you receive me…1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again…Romans 8:38-39 I have always been Father, and will always be Father…Ephesians 3:14-15 Will you be my child?…John 1:12-13 Love, Your Dad. Almighty God
I want to give us a moment in silent prayer… If you‟re far from home, use this opportunity to talk with your Father.
