THE FORGIVING FATHER
Today, we are going to talk about our model father - Our Heavenly Father.
We will look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son and learn some insights on what it takes to be a good father.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Luke 15:17-24 (NIV) 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants 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 servants.’ 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.
Since today is father's day, we will look at the Parable of the Prodigal son found in Luke 15 vs. 11-32.
There are three Parables in Luke chapter 15.
The Parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
These three parables talk about how God responds to lost sinners who came back and repent.
There will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents.
But what we will focus today is the parable of the Lost son.
Jesus started this parable about a man who had two sons.
The younger one said to his father, "Father, give me my share of the estate."
So, he divided his property between them.
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.
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
So, he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
He longed to fill his stomach with the ponds that he pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and there I am starving to death."
"I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you."
"I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants."
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.
The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."
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 in his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it.
Let's have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again.
He was lost and is found.
So they began to celebrate.
However, the older son was in the field.
When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
"Your brother has come," he replied.
"And your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound."
The older brother became angry and refused to go in.
So, his father went out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, "Look, All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.
Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
But this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!"
"My son," the father said, "you were always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brothers of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found."
This is a wonderful story and many of you have probably heard about this several times already.
This story illustrates the loving God in his attitude to the Lost sinner.
Just like us, we have turned away from God and do what is good in our eyes.
But God the Father has been waiting and watching for us to come back so that we will be restored back in our relationship.
That is why we have entitled this message the THE FORGIVING FATHER.
Many of us have difficulty learning the value of forgiveness.
Because God has forgiven us, we need to learn to forgive as well.
And as we celebrate father's day, we can learn a lot about the forgiving father whose character remain constant throughout the story.
How do you forgive a son who turned his back upon you?
Only by the grace of God.
But let me tell this clearly.
As human fathers, we make a lot of mistakes in the way we deal with our families.
In fact, there is no such thing as a perfect father because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
At the same time, there is no such thing as perfect children.
We go through the struggles of life and encounter various problems that we cannot control and very difficult to solve.
But the presence of a loving father in every home is very much important.
Fathers have big roles to play in every homes.
According to the fatherhood.org, there is a big positive impact in a family where the father is present and involved.
They made a study of about 134 children during their adolescent period of life over a ten year period.
The result?
1. They discovered that those who have good father -child contact have better socio-emotional and academic functioning.
That means, when the father is involved with his children, there were fewer behavioral problems that were shown.
At the same time, the children scored higher on reading achievement.
They have expanded their study and even discovered more startling revelations.
2. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor.
That means, the father's presence has a factor in decreasing cases of poverty in the society.
3. Infant mortality rates are 1.8 times higher for infants of unmarried mothers than for married mothers.
That means, the father's presence has a big factor in maternal and child health.
4. A study of 109 juvenile offenders indicated that family structure significantly predicts delinquency.
That means the father has a factor in controlling crime.
They are like salt in the family that will prevent the onslaught of corruption.
5. Being raised by a single mother raises the risk of teen pregnancy, marrying with less than a high school degree and forming a marriage where both partners have less than a high school degree.
That means, the father has a factor in teen pregnancy and sexual activity as well.
6. There is significantly more drug use among children who do not live with their mother and father.
That means the father has a big factor in eliminating drug and alcohol abuse in the society.
7. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that obese children are more likely to live in father-absent homes than are non-obese children.
That means the father has a big influence in curving childhood obesity.
8. Father involvement in school is associated with the higher like hood of a student getting mostly A's.
This was true for fathers in biological parent families, for stepfathers and for fathers heading single parent families.
That means the father is a big factor also in the pursuit of education of their children.
They are like the light that will guide them to the right path.
There you have it.
The statistics speak for itself.
Fathers indeed have important role to play in the lives and development of their children.
No wonder, we need to celebrate father's day to instill in our hearts and minds that we have a big task in the family and in the society.
But you see, the presence of a father does not mean that all these problems in the family will be erased.
Not at all.
There will always be problems and challenges that every family will face because we live in this sinful world.
But because of the presence of a father and his desire to guide his children, this will help put the family back in the right direction.
This is what we will learn in this story.
We see a father taking care of his two grown -up children who have some issues themselves in the way they respond to the father's love.
The younger son claimed his share of the inheritance in spite of the fact that the father was still alive.
It was as if he wanted his father dead because of the money.
There is no more devastating news than that.
But because of the father's love and forgiveness, he was able to turn it around at the end for some valuable lessons learned.
Then there was the older son's jealous attitude who refused to join the family celebrating the return of his younger brother.
Again, the presence of the father guiding and giving advises made a big difference.
Folks, there are problems in every family but there are clear solutions from the Bible that we need to learn.
And so, today, we will look at three things we can learn about the father in this story:
1. THE FATHER'S HEART
Luke 15:20 (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."
The first thing we can learn from this story is that the father has a big heart for his children.
It says that while his son was still a long way off, his father saw him.
That means, he has been waiting and praying all this time that his son would return.
There was no sense to curse him for his bad decision.
There was no sense to hate him, or give discouraging talk that will humiliate his son at this point because he has already been humiliated by his own action.
At that moment, there was a need for forgiveness, there was a need for pardon and clemency.
That is why his heart was filled with anticipation for his son's return.
And so, his eyes were always focused and fixed on the road hoping that someday, he would be able to see his son coming back.
Then, finally, one beautiful morning, he saw him coming.
The father looked at the present disposition of his son - broken and beaten.
The father looked at his son's clothes - rugged and worn out.
Instantly, his heart was filled with compassion.
He just ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
That word "filled" means his heart was full, occupied and brimming with compassion not hatred.
The highly influential Church Father, St., Augustine once wrote: "There is a God-shaped vacuum in every man that only Christ can fill."
No one else can fill our hearts with compassion except God.
Compassion means mercy, tender feeling, sympathy and kindness towards a person in spite of his sin.
It means you can forgo blaming, criticizing, condemning and accusing a person who has already learned his lessons the hard way.
And so, you give up and relinquish any further reprove but instead you embrace him with such love and acceptance that he needed most.
That is what the father's heart is all about.
And that is the kind of heart that we can get from God only.
Because humanly speaking, our hearts are full of sin and selfishness.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
That word "deceitful" means dishonest, insincere, misleading and hypocritical.
Our hearts without Christ are untruthful, very hard and very deceptive.
No wonder, we make wrong decisions in life and we misjudge people.
And when we allow our sinful hearts to control our actions, we hurt ourselves and we hurt others in the process.
But by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit changes our hearts so that we can be transformed into a new person.
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV) "19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."
He will give us a heart of flesh and he will transform our hearts so that we will be filled with compassion and grace.
There was this story of a young man who was getting ready to graduate from College.
For many months, he had admired a beautiful sports car, and knowing his father could afford it, he told his dad on several occasions that it was all he wanted.
Finally, on the morning of his graduation, the young man's father called him into his private study.
His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and ow much he loved him.
He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.
Curious, but disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather bounded Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.
Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money, you give me a Bible?"
And then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible behind.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business.
He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realized his father was getting quite old and thought perhaps he should go to him.
He hadn't seen his father since that graduation day.
But before he could make arrangements, the young man received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and that he needed to come home immediately to take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.
He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.
With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages, when a car key dropped from the back of the Bible.
It had a tag with the dealer's name, and on the tag was the date of his graduation along with the words, "Paid in Full."
Brothers and sisters, before it's too late, our hearts must be transformed.
Our hearts must be filled with love and care not unforgiveness and bitterness.
Here are some Bible verses on what we need to pray concerning our hearts:
We must pray that God will create a pure heart in us.
Psalms 51:10 (NIV) "10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
A pure heart is one that is real, authentic and genuine.
A pure hearted person is one who loves someone who is unlovable.
He is able to look beyond a person's faults and see his potential greatness.
He has no selfish motives.
He only wants to bless those around him.
May God give us a pure heart to God and towards our family.
We must pray that God will give us trusting hearts.
Prov. 3:5-6 (NIV) "5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]
A trusting heart is the one who believed in God without any doubts in mind.
He has developed such perfect peace and calmness deep within.
He is steadfast and faithful full of joy that overflows.
May God grant us trusting hearts to God and over our loved ones so that we can learn to relax and be relieved of stress.
We must pray that God will give us steadfast hearts.
Psalms 112:7 (NIV) "7 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Steadfast hearts are those hearts that are abiding and dedicated to the good of the family.
These are hearts that are relentless in spite of difficulties and unyielding to sin.
When your hearts are steadfast, you do not fear any bad news because you know that something good can come out of this as you learn to trust God.
May God teach our hearts to be steadfast to God and towards our children.
2. THE FATHER'S HOUSE
Luke 15:21-24 (NIV) "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.
The second thing that we can learn from this parable of the lost son is the glimpse of the kind of things that happen in the father's house.
It refers to the kind of home that the father has built for his family to dwell.
To some, the home is a place of safety, of rest, of freedom or sanctuary for the hurting.
While to others, the home is a place of chaos, turmoil and utter confusion.
There are those who desire to stay home after they have been badly beaten by the world.
There are those who just wanted to go out of the house and find shelter elsewhere.
It is what we do in the house that have made an impression to our children.
The father has a great task to play in building an atmosphere of love and care in the home.
The text says that when the son said to his father, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you."
He had not yet finished his sentence when 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.
"Bring the fattened calf and let's have a feast."
It was a grand and a gracious reception that the father bestowed upon his returning son.
His son went back home because he knew that there was love in his home that he did not find in the world.
This is the same way that Jesus, our Savior receives the repentant sinner who comes to Him in faith and salvation.
The son was lost and now is found.
He was dead but now is alive again.
It is a picture of salvation, of the conversion of a sinner.
This is what being "born again" is all about in John 3.
All the unsaved are described as that prodigal son who was lost in sin.
They are described as "dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. 2:1).
This is your description if you are not yet saved by the grace of God.
But Jesus says to each one of us: John 5:24 (NIV) "24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."
Those words "crossed over" also means "passed from death to life."
It means you have walked the bridge that leads to life in Christ.
It means, because of Christ, you have entered the father's house and no longer separated from Him.
Have you experienced this new life in Christ?
The prodigal son came home to the father's house and received a grand reunion.
These then are the things that characterized the father's house - it was full of acceptance, comfort and love to his children.
Let us look at this one at a time.
Firstly, when he came to his father's house, he was given the best robe.
This is a symbol of the garment of salvation.
Isaiah 61:10 (NIV) "10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
When we come to Christ, we are given the garments of salvation because our unrighteousness are like filthy rags before God's eyes.
But this is the garment that we need to always wear so that we can enter and be accepted in heaven.
All the best brands in this world have no match for this kind of robe of righteousness that God gives those who come to Christ.
And so, let us wear this always and be glad that you have it.
The second thing we can notice that the father gave his returning son is the ring.
The ring has no beginning and no end.
It is a never ending circle.
This signifies the eternal love and an unending relationship with the father.
Haggai 2:23 (NIV) "23 “‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
He has chosen us, He gives us a ring and we will always be His.
When a person is saved, nothing can snatch us away from God's hands unless we voluntarily jump out of God's hands.
In the same manner, when we express our love to our children, it should be a never ending circle.
We accept them just as they are.
Thirdly, the returning son was given shoes for his feet.
What does that mean?
During those times, the slaves and servants have no shoes to wear.
When a person wears a shoe, it means he is a free man and not a servant.
When the father gave his son shoes to wear, it represents that from now on, he is no longer a servant but a free man.
This then is what forgiveness and acceptance in Christ is all about.
All who are saved by the grace of God are brought into the family of God and have been given freedom in Christ.
John 8:36 (NIV) "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
In the same manner, when we express our forgiveness to our children, we restore them back to a loving relationship.
Fourthly, the fatted calf was killed out of the ordinary to start a feast or a celebration in honor of a very special guest.
The returning son was considered as that very special guest in the father's house.
And you my friend, when you come to Christ, you are a special guest in the Kingdom of God.
In the same manner, we must treat our children as special.
This then is the picture of the father's house.
No wonder, it has many rooms that can accommodate as many returning sinners as possible.
John 14:2 (NIV) "My father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
Those who have left home to a distant country, squandered their wealth to wild living can always find their place back in the Father's home where there is love, forgiveness and care.
How about you?
Have you found your way back home?
3. THE FATHER'S HAPPINESS
Luke 15:24 "24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing."
Luke 15:32 (NIV) "32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15:6-7 (NIV) 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
First, we learned about the father's Heart of compassion.
That is the kind of heart that we need to have as well.
Then, we learned about the father's house of love and care.
That is the kind of house that we need to build as well.
Lastly, we will learn about the father's source of Happiness.
It says that they made a big celebration because his son was dead and is alive again.
His son was lost and is found.
There is always joy in heaven over one sinner that repents.
This is the source of the father's happiness.
There is nothing more joyful than when a person repents and returns to the Father's fold.
This is actually the main message or theme of the entire chapter 15 of Luke.
When the Shepherd found the lost sheep in vs. 6,7, he rejoiced greatly.
It was a great sight to behold.
Then, when the woman found the lost silver coin in vs. 9 and 10, she rejoiced greatly.
It was a great sight to behold.
Then, in the parable of the prodigal son, when the son returned home, the father made a great celebration.
When a lost sinner is saved by the grace of God, there will not only be joy in the heart of that person but there will be joy in heaven as well.
In closing, let me quote to you a famous Chinese Proverb on Happiness.
"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
But if you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."
And that is what we need to do.
Help people find Christ and you will be the happiest person on earth.
Prov. 11:25 (NIV) "25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."
Prov. 11:30 (NKJV) "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise."
May the Lord bless all the fathers today with a big heart, a loving home and a never ending happiness in Christ.
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