The Heart Beat of God
Dr. Marty Baker / February 24, 2002 / Luke 15:11-24
Over the last four weeks, we have been in a series called "Love Stories". We have examined "The Best of R + B", the story of Ruth and Boaz; we’ve glanced at Solomon’s passion; and marveled at Hosea’s love for his wife Gomer. Today, we conclude the series with a talk focusing on the incredible love that God has for you and me.
We often hear the phrase "God loves you", but I sometimes wonder if we really believe what we hear. Someone has said that a picture paints a thousand words, this morning I am going to focus on a picture of God’s love in the parable of the prodigal. The story of the prodigal is the most popular parable that Jesus taught. I believe that it’s popular because we see ourselves within it’s story line. Let’s pick up the story from Luke 15.
Luke 15:11-12
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.
Good story tellers always have a "hook"; that is, something to grab your attention. As Jesus taught this parable, he grabbed their attention with the younger son asking his Father for his share of the state. In the Jewish culture of that day, a request such as that was tantamount to saying, "Father, I wish that you were dead."1 This is how many people treat God.
In that culture, the sheer magnitude of a request like this would crush a Father’s heart. The younger son wanted the benefits of his Father’s provision, but did not want a relationship with his Father. The younger son wanted freedom ... the opportunity to do what he wanted to do. You can almost hear what he says to himself, "Oh, if I could just go where I want to go and do what I want to do, to go and come back as I please, and not have to answer to anyone. What a great life that would be!"
I believe that the father probably tried to reason with him, but to no avail. The boy was determined to have his way. So at last the father gives him his share of the property. The elder son received two-thirds and was responsible for the family’s well-being. The younger son received one-third of the family’s estate.
Luke 15:13
"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.
At first he is sure that he has done the right thing. He rents a home with a great view, and furnishes it with taste. He begins to make friends everywhere. He spends money freely, and tries anything and everything, especially those things which had formerly been forbidden him.
Strangely enough, soon everything seems to be mysteriously changed. His body becomes the vehicle of wild passions that sometimes frighten him. His health begins to suffer, and he no longer feels vital and alive as he once did.
His money begins to dwindle and with it his friends go. He is no longer able to keep up with the expensive crowd he first chose. They leave him in the lurch as soon as his money is gone. Then, what happens?
Luke 15:14
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
Hard times hit the country. His money is gone, and now he has to get a job. But because he had not stayed with his father long enough to complete any skill or training, the only job he can get is manual labor, and even that is hard to find.
Luke 15:15-16
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.
This is one of the most degrading jobs for a Jewish boy to have. Their customs viewed "pork" as an unclean meat. This young Jewish boy finds himself feeding pigs. There, in the pigsty with an empty wallet and an empty belly, he begins to take stock of his empty life.
Maybe this is where you are this morning. You’ve made some decisions that have taken you down the wrong road. You are at a dead end street and now you are staring at an empty life.
Luke 15:17-19
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.’
Perhaps the most hopeful sentence in this story is the phrase with which this section is introduced, "But when he came to his senses."
He was living in a dream world, a world of fantasy, unreality. Now, he begins to see himself exactly as he is. He is controlled by his urges. His passions have so developed within him that he has to satisfy them in any way he can. There is a beast inside that controls his every move.
In addition to this beast within, the boy is homesick. He is lonely. He tries everything to keep himself occupied, but busyness does not heal the hurt of his heart. What he thought would be a life of freedom has become a life of misery.
He realized that everything that he once had, he had gotten from his father. His possessions, his money, his clothes, his food, his drink, even his very body had come from his Father. He realized that everything he now wanted -- even needed -- was to be found only in the father’s house. That is where true freedom could be found.
It was interesting that the younger son wanted to be a hired hand. In his mind, he wanted to earn his keep and possibly repay the father. At the same time, live near his father but not under the rule or authority of his father.
Luke 15:20
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.
This is interesting because in those days farmers lived in the city in cluster homes. So, when the son returned home, he not only had to face his family, but he had to face the community. The Father wanted to spare his son the pain of the community’s scorn so he ran out to him. This in itself was humiliating for the Father. In those days, it was not dignified for an elderly man to run. The Father’s passion for his lost son overshadowed his desire for dignity. The Father threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Kissing him was a sign of acceptance. Notice that the Father accepted him even before the son repented.
Luke 15:21
"The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Luke 15:22
"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.
The clothes he receives indicate his restoration to the family. The ring the father gives him guarantees his position and his access to the father’s support. The younger son is restored completely to the father’s love. The broken relationship is healed. The father responds.
Luke 15:23-24
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.
This was a community wide celebration. They did not have refrigerators at that time, so the family would only prepare enough meet for one meal. If this were a family celebration, they would have eaten a lamb, but the father said, "kill the fatted calf". A "fatted calf" would feed around a hundred people. This indicates that the celebration was a community-wide event
When Jesus taught this story, He was not only trying to show us the boy’s heart, but the father’s. This story is a picture of the heart of God.
God’s heart is the same today. He is looking for wayward children. God is looking for children who have distanced themselves from His care and wandered off to a foreign land.
You may feel like you are not worthy to return home, but God is waiting for you with open arms. I want to close by asking you three questions and providing three directives.
Questions to Consider
1. How close are you with God?
You did not mean to stray away this far. You never intended to be where you are right now. It happened. You regret it, but you feel powerless to do anything about it. The fact that you realize where you are is a positive step.
2. What’s keeping you at a distance?
3. Why not ask God to remove the barriers in your relationship with Him?
The way back to God may not be easy ...... but it is the best thing for you. Get started, and get started now.
What does it take to get to that God? Three steps ...
What to Do
Step 1: Come to your senses.
When the young son 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 ... (v17)
Some of you are miserable. You are sick of living life like you are living. You are starving for meaning and purpose. It’s time to wake up. Come to your senses.
Step 2: Come home.
After he came to his senses he decided ...
... "I will set out and go back to my father" ... (v18a)
He could have survived the famine and stayed in the pig pen. You can stay there too, but there’s better things out there. Come home to God.
Step 3: Come clean.
The boy came to his senses, he decided to go home to his father ...
... "and say to him: ’Father, I have sinned ...’" (v18b)
He didn’t hide the truth about his condition from himself or his father. He came clean and admitted it. And that’s what each of us needs to do ... own up to our sinfulness.
Today, if you want a relationship with the kind of God we been talking about I invite you to come to your senses, come home and come clean. I’m confident that some of you are going to do that today.
If you make this decision I guarantee you will never regret it. God will live in you and your life will be changed.
Closing Prayer
