really? god loves me?????

7/30/2019 Really? God loves me?????

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The Prodigal Son: A Parable About God`s Grace"-- The prodigal son doesn`t understand how much his Father loved himand how much his father had to give him. He basically says to his Dad,"You`re not dying fast enough for me, old man, -- give me my inheritancenow so I can spend it on what I want." Then he goes to a far country "not just geographically, but in his heart as well " to a far country with thepromise of adventure, freedom, and pleasure. Ever do that? Do you ever wander away from God in some part of your life and leave behind all thatGod has to offer you to go to a far country " away from him? I do it all thetime. Things like: concern for my own comfort that keep me fromfollowing him; impatience with other people because I am so focused onmy own agenda; just plain old ignoring God, not having enough time for him; an unhealthy obsession with success; a desire to please people

more than I desire to please God. And I am a pastor - you all must reallybe struggling! In all kinds of ways I leave God to go to some far country,cash in everything God has to offer for what that far country promisesand the result is always a disaster just like it was for the prodigal son. Ittook him just a short time to squander everything it had taken his father alifetime to earn. Then there was a famine and he began to starve. That isalways the result of our wandering away from God. We think it is goingto satisfy us, but in the end we just starve.

-- And that is why Jesus tells this story. He tells this story to convincebroken people who are running away from God that if they just turnaround, which is what the word "repent" means, turn around and goback, they still have a place in their Father`s home, in spite of what theyhave done, or where they have been, or even what religious peoplemight think of them. Jesus tells us this story so that when we are inthose far countries, we will remember three very important things aboutthe Father. The first is this:

1) The Father has good eyesight.The text says: "while the prodigal son was yet at a distance his father saw him " and ran to him "" And what that implies is that every day thisFather was scanning the horizon for a glimpse of his son. It is in God`snature to search for what is lost. Before this story Jesus tells two other stories about a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep just to find the one lostone, and about a widow who searches all night for one lousy penny. Atthe end of those stories Jesus asks, "Isn`t this right for the shepherd andthe widow to do this?" My answer is "No." It`s not cost effective; thelabor costs alone outweighany potential gain. But the Father is different - he has good eyesight and



he is always searching for what is lost, which is great news for usbecause so often we feel lost from God, but in those moments God islooking for us.

2) The Father is good, but he`s not fair.I think the elder brother in this story has a legitimate complaint, don`tyou? He`s been good " he`s stayed at home " he`s worked in the fields,and now his prodigal brother just waltzes home, and He gets the party "well, la ti da "isn`t that nice. IT`S NOT FAIR " and pastors often chastisethe elder brother for not understanding grace. I think that is wrong. Theproblem with the elder son isn`t that he doesn`t understand grace - it isthat he understands it perfectly. He understands that the grace of God isnot fair, and that`s good news, because it means all kinds of people get

forgiven that don`t deserve it " sinners " tax collectors " elder brothers "prodigals " you " me.

The problem with the elder brother isn`t that he doesn`t understandgrace. The problem with the elder brother is that he doesn`t think heNEEDS grace. Notice how he distances himself from his younger brother. He says to his father: "This son of yours who devoured your living with prostitutes." He doesn`t say "my brother." And who saidanything about prostitutes. The text doesn`t say anything about it -guess it must have come out of the elder brother`s head - maybe what

he would have done with the money. You see the elder brother needsthe father`s grace just as much as the younger brother, but he wouldrather EARN his father`s approval through hard work rather than receivegrace and that way he can feel superior to his younger brother. Iunderstand that and perhaps you do too. I work hard to be virtuous, andI expect others to do the same.

3) The father is rich.This parable is known as the story of the prodigal son, but the word

prodigal doesn`t mean bad or runaway; it means wasteful " lavish "spendthrift " so as many commentators have pointed out, this isn`t theparable of the prodigal son at all, but of the prodigal father. This is thestory of a father whose heart is extravagant " wasteful " lavish in theextreme " and willing to spend all his money to throw a party for hisrebellious younger son. The younger son and the father have somethingin common - they are both lavish - one with money the other with grace.-- This is a great illustration of God`s economy. God is lavish " wasteful "prodigal with his grace. God is not cost effective; that is not God`s

economics. He lavishes his grace on people that don`t deserve it in spiteof the fact that that grace was purchased by the sacrifice of his only son,



who bore the penalty for our sins on the cross so that we could bewelcomed home from all of those far countries where we go - that wasan expensive Christmas present! You see God`s grace is free, but it`snot cheap. We belong to a spendthrift God who foolishly " lavishly "

wastefully spends his grace on people like you and people like me whodo not deserve it and cannot earn it and can never pay him back, all of that so he can say to us "welcome home my son " welcome home mydaughter " I have missed you so much." The father is rich and he isprodigal with his grace.

-- This is a familiar sermon about a very familiar story, but the reason it isso familiar to me isn`t because I`ve read it 1, 000 times, but because it isso much about me and maybe about you, too. You see, I am a prodigal

child. I am loving " yet capable of intense anger and at times evenhatred. I am committed to integrity and being above board in all things "and yet, on occasion, I have told a white lie just to make myself lookbetter. I am vulnerable and open " but only about what I want you toknow and what I`ve prepared and packaged for your consumption. I ama very self-disciplined person with an incredible capacity for chocolatechip cookies. I deeply desire Godly behavior in my life " and yet strugglewith deep desires that are not Godly and that I wrongly assumed wouldgo away with age " or marriage " or experience " or even with being apastor. I am giving " but profoundly selfish. I am full of faith " and utterly

faithless almost every single day of my life. And it is this mess that Godsays he loves and that he welcomes home, not because I`ve earned it "or because of any virtue of my own " I don`t have any, but because of what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross to pay my debt and clean meup and make me whole. So what about you? What far country have yourun away to? Maybe you have never told Jesus that you want him to bethe leader of your life and forgiver of your sins " maybe this is the day todo it. If you have ever wondered what God is like this story tells you.Maybe you have been a Christian for a while, but have run away to

some far country: workaholism " an addiction " some kind of sexual sin "adultery " materialism " or perhaps just simply ignoring God except for one hour a week. What happens to you when out of boredom or oldpatterns or sheer rebellion, you run away to that far country? Do you feelhim there? Do you hear his voice searching for you " extending hisinvitation to you to return home?-- The Father is rich and he longs to lavishly spend his extravagant graceon you and on me. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling, oh sinner come home. "

--Taken from www.jesuscentral.com

really? god loves me?????

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