Theme: God is a loving and forgiving Father
Text: Josh. 5:9-12; 2 Cor. 5:16-21; Lk. 15:11-32
We have no problem believing that God is love, yet at the same time we doubt God’s love. Today’s story from the gospel is all about the Fathers love. When the father saw his rebellious son returning, he ran to welcome him home. This was an extraordinary act in Jewish culture since running was restricted to servants and slaves. The father’s behaviour was a reflection of his great love. We cannot claim to believe in God and doubt His love for us. When we have a wrong conception of God we are no better than the unbeliever. Jesus Christ became a man to reveal God to us. He came to reveal the character and nature of God. He came to reveal God as the loving and forgiving Father.
God is love and loves us as a loving Father. He loves us no matter how much we hurt Him. He loves us even when we rebel and refuse to obey Him.
It is love that motivates God to meet our needs. Just as God created all that man would need before creating man so God continues to supply all our needs. God has entered into covenant with us and remains our Father even when there is a break in fellowship. A break in fellowship denies us access to His presence, favour, and blessings. The Father has blessed us with every blessing. When Christ made us righteous with His righteousness we became new creations and joint heirs with Christ.
This gospel story is about two believers. The younger son does not represent an unsaved person but someone who had experienced his father’s love and favour. He demanded his share of the inheritance because he wanted to be in control of his own life. He did not value the father’s provision and disregarded His authority. The father nevertheless grants his rebellious and disrespectful son’s request. He broke his Father’s heart and this is repeated every time a Christian leaves His Father’s presence. God loves his children and will not force them to act against their will even when it is something as foolish as leaving His presence. God wants us to freely love and serve Him. This is one of the reasons we often find our lives in a mess and this is often the reason we blame God and are often bitter toward Him. We blame God for not stopping us when He had all the power to do so. God does not stop us for the same reason He didn’t stop Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God does not stop us for the same reason He didn’t stop King David from having sex with Bathsheba. And God does not stop us for the same reason the father in this story did not stop his son from leaving. God loves us so much that He not only allows us to make our own choices but also respects our decisions even though He knows what the consequences will be. Many parents are hurting from disagreements with their children leading to a strain in their relationship. Some children are alienated as a result of rebellion, a sinful lifestyle, or a bad relationship. Rebellious children are always causing their parents pain. They can be disciplined as children but after a certain age the only way to deal with the problem is to respect their choices and decisions and allow them to leave. God understands the pain we go through with our children and He cares. He is able to use their tragic circumstances to bring them on the right path to realize their sin and what to do about it. We should continue to love our children and be always ready to welcome them back.
Rejection begins when we begin to put our trust in our own abilities. The younger son believed in himself and that he was capable of taking care of his own life. He not only believed in himself but also in the possessions he would inherit. He trusted in possessions rather than the father. He believed he was capable of making a success of life even without his father. He trusted himself, his possessions and his friends. He trusted his friends but you only know who your real friends are when you do not have money. When he made the wrong decisions and lost his wealth, all his friends deserted him.
The separation from God always leads to lack and famine. There is no one who can provide and meet your needs better than God. When the younger son left his father he was exposed to sin and soon forgot everything that was good, right and holy. Sin always leads to more sin just as one bad decision leads to another. He spent all his money enjoying the pleasures of sin. When he had spent all his money his so called friends deserted him and left him to his fate. Lack and famine are so prevalent in the world today due to sin. Unfortunately many people are seeking refuge in the wrong places. The drinking bar has become the best counterfeit to the fellowship meetings of the Church. It dispenses liquor instead of grace and escape rather than reality. We should, however, not seek imitations when the real thing is available. Only Christ can offer the lost and backslidden the love and acceptance they are searching for and we cannot reach them when we see them as the Pharisees did – as people who have no right to come to God or to associate with the so-called righteous. Lack and hunger can bring one to his senses and lead to repentance and restoration. When the younger son realised his situation he did not try to make excuses for his behaviour or work out any pre-conditions for his return. He made the decision to turn away from evil to God.
We are all sinners and need to be restored to God’s presence. Both sons in today’s parable were sinners. One son sinned when he left home and¬ the other sinned while staying at home. The father’s love is such that He is able to forgive all our wrong doings. The younger son realised his true condition and came to His Father appealing to His grace, His undeserved favour. Grace cannot be worked for and the younger son who did nothing to deserve it was restored to the favour of God. On the other hand the elder son believed his good works could earn him the favour of God. Our good works, as illustrated by the Law, can never be good enough as we are not capable of keeping the Law. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin to restore us to the favour of God. He was tempted in all ways as we are, yet did not sin and by His sacrifice took our sin and gave us His righteousness. The grace of God, God’s undeserved favour, has restored God’s blessings.
The elder son who stayed with his father, like many self-righteous people today, felt he had earned whatever he received. They like the Pharisees are angry and resentful that sinners are being welcomed into or returning into God’s Kingdom. No Christian should think that they had sacrificed and done so much for God that only they deserved to be with Him. No Christian should resent God’s gracious forgiveness for others they consider to be worse sinners than themselves. No Christian should turn anyone away saying they deserved what happened to them. Instead they should behave as the loving father did. He runs to welcome his rebellious son, who after working in a pigsty was not only unclean but also dirty and smelling, hugging and kissing him. He commanded his servants to bring the best robe and he lovingly placed it around his son, covering all the filth and dirt of his mistakes just as God covers our sin with a robe of righteousness. The father put a new ring on his finger symbolizing the restoration of his full status in the family. He had sandals put on his son’s feet because it was only slaves who didn’t wear shoes and He ordered the fattened calf to be prepared for a feast to celebrate the return of his lost son. In the words of Ken Gire, ‘for the son’s lost dignity, the father bestows on him a robe of honour. For his bare servant’s feet, he puts on them the sandals of a son. For the hand that squandered an entire inheritance, he gives a signet ring that reinstates the son’s position of authority in the family business. For his empty stomach, he hosts a feast fit for a king’. Jesus died to reconcile us to the Father and make us joint heirs with Him. Yet, many of us are living without God’s blessings and find ourselves hungry, lonely, in rags, and sitting among those things that defile us. Some of us need to come to Christ while others need to return to their Father and accept the gifts of His grace, a robe, a pair of sandals, a ring and a feast.
The two sons are a picture of the religious leaders, the Pharisees, and sinners. Sinners are deciding to “arise and go to the father” and carrying out their decision. They are saying “Father, I have sinned against you and no longer deserve to be called your son”. The Father is forgiving them and welcoming them into the Kingdom. On the other hand, the older son, a picture of the religious leaders is unhappy that sinners are being welcomed into the Kingdom. They are filled with pride, intolerance and self-righteousness and believed they had kept the Law and were the only ones who deserved to be in the Father’s presence and enjoy His provisions. Their arrogance, pride, and resentment were proof that they had failed to keep the Law. We are saved by grace through faith and not by keeping the Law. God is a loving Father who will welcome us and lovingly forgive us no matter how near or how far we have gone from Him because of the sacrifice of His beloved Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Father does not want anyone to perish but that all may be saved. Today the Father is waiting to welcome you home. Amen!
