Focus on the father’s responses in the parable of the prodigal son - Verses 22-24; 31-32
We are going to focus on the father in this story today. In order to understand this parable, we need to start with 15:1-2 “Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
You can feel the tension here – Jesus likes to spend time with the worst kind of people, and it bothered the self-righteous religious leaders. Jesus went on to tell them WHY – with 3 parables in succession – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
In the 1st one – farmer has 100 sheep and lost one. Leaving the 99 he went on to look for the one that was lost. In the 2nd – a widow loses one of her 10 coins and searches intently until she finds it. In the 3rd story, a son is lost and the father longs for him until he finally comes home.
There are many things we can say about these stories but I just want to highlight ONE COMMON thread – they never give up until the lost is found! God’s grace for you is…
1. A GRACE THAT NEVER GIVES UP
Look at the father’s enthusiasm. Look at his joy. Clearly we see a LONGING in his heart for the son’s return. What a contrast with that of the elder son in this story –
· One was full of excitement and love; the other mockery and anger.
· One was longing for his return; the other wished he would never return.
· One gave him the best of everything; the other wished he would have everything for himself
It’s not easy for the father to display such an act – (1) he lost a big part of his fortune he had worked so hard to save; (2) he lost his reputation in the community, having such an unfilial son running from home. He has nothing to gain from this relationship. In fact, he risked losing more if the son had returned only with the hope of getting more from the father.
Yet 15:20 says that while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. He has been waiting, and hoping for his return. When he saw his son, he was moved with compassion.
Have you ever wondered how long the son was gone? It was probably at least a couple of months, if not longer. Apparently the father has been watching for his son’s return. His heart wasn’t at home, but out there with his lost son.
That’s the heart of God. “I have loved you with an everlasting love…" ( Jer 31:3). His love for you does not change because you’ve changed.
After a divorce, a mom was left to bring up her teenage daughter. She was becoming increasingly rebellious. One night the police called to ask her to get her daughter from the police station, because she’d been arrested for drunk driving.
Not a word was spoken between them until the next afternoon, when mum broke the tension by giving her daughter a little gift-wrapped box. She opened it and found a small rock. Rolling her eyes she said, "What’s this for?" Her mum said, "Look underneath." She took the rock and as she read it, her eyes filled with tears. She got up, walked across the room and gave her mum a big hug.
You see, on the card mum had written, This rock is more than two million years old - and that’s how long it will take before I give up on you!
Multiply that by a million times and you’ll get an idea of how much God loves you today!
Isaiah 54:10 "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you."
Nothing you’ve ever done has shocked Him for He knew what He was getting when He called you. Nothing that you’ve done… no degree of sin… can surpass the greatness of His grace.
God’s grace towards you – is that grace that will never give up.
READ THE OT BOOKS – the major and minor prophets. You’ll see them crying out to the people, message after message from God - urging the people again and again, generations after generations, calling them to return to God and seek Him. These were not the cries of human prophets, but the cries of God. The prophets were the mouthpieces of God – echoing the very words from the heart of God.
Where is the father’s heart? With his child. Where is God’s heart today? With you. He is thinking of you. His heart is with you, seeking to draw you back, always reaching out to you. Has He given up yet? NO. If you’re still on the run, you need to stop and turn around. God is waiting for you to come home.
If you have drifted away from Him, stop and come back. Enjoy the embrace of His love and care for you. Don’t run away from Him, run to Him! Don’t make the mistake this son made – thinking that you can handle it in life and go on your own – YOU CAN’T. You’ll never will.
The father is not obligated to accept his son. He owes him nothing! He has already taken his fair share of inheritance. Yet the father WANTS TO! God wants to be gracious to you. God’s grace for you is…
2. A GRACE THAT NEVER RUN DRY
Rom 9:15-16 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
Paul says in 1 Tim 1:13-14 “13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy…14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
15:24 ends this first scene with these wonderful words: “So they began to celebrate.”
Say that again. Celebrating? Celebrate what? What are they to celebrate? That the son came back with gifts for the father and family, or came back with a fortune earned in a business deal? That he promised to be a servant at home; promise to work hard in the fields? Did the son offer something worth celebrating? NO!!!
Luke 15:24a “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
That’s the common thread in all these 3 parables – celebrate the find of that which is lost!
That’s grace! Nothing to offer, yet we receive all His favours. We have nothing to offer God, but God chose to shower upon your life His favours and blessings. We deserve to be punished, God grants us His forgiveness. We cannot undo our mistakes, we cannot erase our wrongs, but they are all forgiven. God has forgiven us from all these – the past sin, the present mistakes and the future wrongs!
All this is made possible because someone has been punished on our behalf. Forgiveness is now available… freely.
It was total grace that God gave us His only begotten Son. The grace is great because of the excellency of what is given. The gift was infinitely precious because it was a person of infinite glory, one infinitely near and dear to God, one infinitely worth. ...Jonathan Edwards
Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.
On the evening of April 25, 1958, a young Korean exchange student, a leader in student Christian affairs in the University of Pennsylvania, left his flat and went to the corner to post a letter to his parents in Pusan. Turning from the mailbox he stepped into the path of eleven leather-jacketed teenage boys. Without a word they attacked him, beating him with a blackjack, a lead pipe and with their shoes and fists. Later, when the police found him in the gutter, he was dead. All Philadelphia cried out for vengeance. The district attorney secured legal authority to try the boys as adults so that those found guilty could be given the death penalty. Then a letter arrived from Korea that made everyone stop and think. It was signed by the parents and by twenty other relatives of the murdered boy. It read in part:
"Our family has met together and we have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed this criminal action--.In order to give evidence of our sincere hope contained in this petition, we have decided to save money to start a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational, and social guidance of the boys when they are released--.We have dared to express our hope with a spirit received from the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins."
…A. Leonard Griffith, Beneath the Cross of Jesus; J. S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publ, Inc, 1988) pp. 213-214.
God’s grace for you is…
3. A GRACE THAT IS OVERFLOWING
Look at all the things that were given to him – the best robe, the ring, the sandals and the feast!
The father gave him more than he could imagine. I believe he was in a state of shock, to see what was done to him. What is he going to say to the neighbours and friends gathered at the party? What great accomplishments is he going to tell them? It was a blessing beyond what he expected. He did not just return home, he was honoured. He was the reason for the occasion.
The elder son accused, “You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” (15:29). The father said, “`My son,’ the father said, `you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” (15:31)
God’s grace is ABUNDANT grace. God blesses us beyond what you can ever imagine. Stop and let that sink in. We did not barely made it into heaven. We are joint heirs with Christ. Heavenly hosts and angels will sing in celebration at our homecoming. We are highly favoured, greatly honoured.
Psalm 23:5-6 “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…”
Eph 1:18-19 GN
“I ask that your minds may be opened to see His light, so that you will know what is the hope to which He has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings He promises His people, and
how very great is His power at work in us who believe.”
And He is going to pour out His blessings for ages to come...
Eph 2:6-7 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
John the Baptist testifies about Jesus in John 1:15-16
"This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’" 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
Think of it — we are going to be the objects of His kindness for ever and ever!
It’s more than a "drop in the ocean."
Think of a drop in the vast oceans of the world - although magnificent in scope, they are still finite. Though vast, there is still a limit. Paul testified that the Lord gave him grace to go forth and proclaim the "unsearchable (unfathomable) riches of Christ." (Eph 2:7)
So there is more grace in the heart of God for us than there is water in all of the oceans of the world!
Charles Spurgeon shared this story:
A person gave Mr Rowland Hill a hundred pounds to dispense to a poor minister, giving instruction not to give the whole sum all at once. Mr Hill forwarded five pounds in a letter, with only these words within the envelope, "More to follow." In a few days’ time, the good man received another letter; this second messenger contained another five pounds, with the same motto, "And more to follow." A day or two after came a third and a fourth, and still the same promise, "And more to follow." Till the whole sum had been received, the astonished minister was made familiar with the cheering words, "And more to follow."
Every blessing that comes from God is sent with the same message, "And more to follow."
"I forgive you your sins, but there’s more to follow."; "I bless you with my best, but there’s more to follow."; "I give you grace upon grace, but there’s more to follow."; "I have helped you even till this day, but there’s still more to follow."
…Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)
CONCLUSION
God’s grace is a grace that will never gives up, never runs dry, that is overflowing.
Listen. No matter who you are, where you have come from or what you have done, God considers you worth loving. You are not a product of a chance. You are not a number among the billions in the world. You are significant to God. You count! And nothing in all of God’s entire Creation will ever cause God to quit loving you….nothing!
· We are enjoying God’s riches at Christ’s expense. Don’t take that grace for granted. If you’re not living a life for His glory, you’re taking that grace for granted. Be grateful.
· If God has given us second chances… and given us grace, even tho undeserving as we are, learn to give others a second chance. Learn to treat others with grace!
Eph 2:8-9 "8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast."
