A
conference on comparative religions was being held in
Britain.
And one of the questions being debated was the uniqueness of the
Christian faith. One expert said that what makes Christianity unique is
the incarnation of Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us.” (Jn 1:14) But the scholars pointed out that
other religions also claim incarnations -- that gods of other
religions supposedly appeared in human form. Another person said the
resurrection--that's what distinguishes Christianity from all other
religions. But again, other great religious leaders are said to have
returned from the dead.
The debate was going on when C. S. Lewis entered the room. When he
learned that they were discussing the unique contribution of
Christianity to the world religions, Lewis responded, “Oh,
that’s easy. It’s grace.” After some
discussion, everyone had to agree.
Philip Yancey points out that the idea that God would come to us as the
God of love, not subject to any conditions, no strings attached, is
contrary to every human instinct. The Buddhist have an eight-fold path.
The Hindus have their doctrine of karma. The Jewish faith has the
covenant. Muslim’s have their code of law. Each of
these offers a way to earn approval with God. Only Christianity dares
to make God’s love unconditional.
I want to talk this morning about the Tremendous Power of God’s
love. 1 Corinthians 13 puts it this way: And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I will be making the case for love by turning to Jesus’ greatest
parable, the well-known story of the prodigal son. The story begins
with the younger of two sons making a shameless request of his Father.
He said, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’
Freud would say that this was a death wish. In effect he was saying,
“Dad, I wish you were dead because I want what you have, not what
you are. I don’t want to wait around until you die. I want my
inheritance, now!”
No human father would have gone along with this disgraceful request.
But, the Father in our story represents God and, as Karl Barth says,
God can do what God wants to do. God has complete freedom to do
anything he wants. So, this Father divided his property
between
his two sons.
v. 14 - 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.
Notice how Jesus under-tells a story. He sketches the narrative in just
a fewwords, and yet the emotional component is there. This young man,
wanting to get away from the rules and restrictions of home,
leaves with a sizeable inheritance, and foolishly wastes it on
drunkenness and dissipation. His older brother is going to
provide additional details, but that comes later.
Many of you have left your homes and have gone off to far countries.
But instead of squandering your money, you have sent your hard-earned
wages home to support your parents, your brothers and sisters, members
of your extended families. You have sacrificed for years and are doing
that even now! Not the prodigal son! He went through his
inheritance with no thought for anything but his own pleasure. But then
he ran into trouble. Our text tells us that . . .
v.14b After he had spent everything, there was a severe
famine in
that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went
and
hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his
fields to feed pigs.
To be taking care of pigs would have been abhorrent to a Jew. It was an
assault on this young man’s identity. But his hunger drove him to
this extreme. In fact he was so hungry that v. 16 tells us He
longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but
no one gave him anything.
Here's this young man -- no money, no companions, no self-respect. A
classic case of downward mobility. The prodigal is abandoned,
friendless --no one gave him anything. What a terrible condition to be
in! Some of you know that kind of loneliness.
But then something extraordinary happens. V. 17 says “: . .
. he came to himself (NRSV), Another version says, “he came to
his senses.” (NIV) This is a marvelous statement. It shows
the freedom that human beings have. . . . the freedom to make choices.
Even for people down and out.
The text doesn’t say that the Lord spoke to him, or that the Holy
Spirit shook him by the shoulders. This boy came to himself.
He
had the freedom to reverse his course.
You see, Wesley, whose figure is carved on the pulpit at my right, was
correct. He was against the hyper-Calvinists who built a theology that
was so rigid that it did not allow for human choice. Karl Barth waded
into this controversy and said, “No harm must be done to the
critical choice.” This was the critical choice -- “He came
to himself.” He had the freedom to make this decision-- The
decision to return to the Father.
And now listen to what the prodigal says, and how wise and
understanding our Lord is. Luke 15:17 “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!
His first concern was his own survival. That is not
selfishness.
It is not evil. We have to survive. We can’t do anything else if
we do not survive. It was not as though he cut in line in front of
somebody else. He was starving. He needed food, and that is the most
basic need in our hierarchy of needs.
But then, his mind turned to the moral issue and here’s what he
decided: 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.
This is powerful. I have sinned against heaven and against you. When
you offend another human being -- like your parent, or a member of your
family, or anyone else -- you offend God because he cares very deeply
about the people that you hurt.
You’ll remember that when David had committed adultery with
Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet came to David and confronted him. And
David confessed his sin to God, saying, “Against you, and you
alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.”
(Psalm 51:4) His sin was against Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. But
before mentioning them, he confessed his sin to God and admitted that
it was primarily against God that David had sinned.
Over and over the prodigal rehearsed his confession: 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.’
You know the feeling, don’t you? You violate your conscience, and
know that you are not worthy to stand before God. You are afraid that
your recurring sins are too much for God to stomach, that he
can’t possibly forgive you again and again. That’s how the
prodigal felt. He could never be reinstated as a son. Perhaps the
Father would allow him to come back as one of the hired hands -- living
in the barn,-- eating at their table.
20 So [the young man] got up and went to his father.
Ah -- "But while he was still a long way off -- [there is so much
meaning in that phrase]-- his father saw him and was filled with
compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and
kissed him.
If love is a combination of feeling and action we have it here in its
finest demonstration. The boy -- still a long way off is spotted by the
Father. The Father is filled with compassion --the word that
expresses the deepest emotion for love! And this compassion
moves
him to action.
This old man sets aside all dignity and decorum. This wealthy
landlord rushes out into the street, and runs to meet his
son. And as he gets closer, he sees guilt and distress on his
boy's face. The Father wanting to reassure his son, throws his arms
around him, pulls him in tight, and kisses him again and again.
The son clears his throat to say the words he has rehearsed: `Father, I
have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. '
But the Father breaks off the apology. It’s not necessary to say
those words. Grace interrupts. His son has returned. That’s
enough. So the Father raises his voice, and shouts to the
servants:
Luke 15:22 …, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best
one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us
eat
and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive
again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to
celebrate.”
It is very important for us to understand that this is the picture of
God that Jesus gives us-- a loving Father who scans the horizon looking
for us, who yearns for our return, is filled with compassion when he
sees us draw near, forgives us, and embraces us with his
love.
How powerful is that? Is there anything more helpful to our spieitual
growth than to know that we are loved by
God? Have
you felt his embrace? You can! Just believe this description of God
given to us by Jesus himself!
But the story doesn’t end here. V. 25 tells us that the older son
[who] was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and
dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him
what
was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied,
‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him
back safe and sound.’ 28 The older
brother
became angry and refused to go in
He refuses to go into the feast even though, as the older brother, he
would have had a certain responsibilities. His refusal is a symbolic
act of huge proportions in a culture where families bound themselves
together by the sharing of food.
Whereas the Father was filled with compassion, this older brother is
filled with anger. So, how does the Father respond?
. So
his father went out and pleaded with him.
The basic definition of love from I Corinthians 13 is this: “Love
suffereth long and is kind.” That’s the picture of the
Father. He was “patient and kind.”Love suffereth all
things, beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things.
Love never fails. That’s the Father. He leaves the banquet,
of which he was host, to console his older son and to plead with
him. The Greek word is” parakaleo,” He comes along
side of him. It’s the same word that is used of the Holy
Spirit when he is called the paraclete, the one who comes along side,
to comfort, and to counsel us. The father makes an emotional
appeal. He pleads with him.
29 But [the older son] answered -- (and notice-- he doesn’t
refer to him as Father) ‘Look! [he says] 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered
your
property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for
him!’
He’s making a strong case. He's saying that this prodigal son of
yours turned his back on you, on your values, your deepest beliefs,
your way of life. He disgraced himself and all that you stand
for
-- and all the while I have been serving you and doing what you
expected. And instead of rewarding me, throwing a party for
me, you arrange this lavish feast for this son-of-yours.”
The older son is expressing the resentment and bitterness that many
people have: against God. They are convinced that God does not treat
them fairly, that he doesn’t always do right, that his actions
are unjust. And if this is correct than God is not a good God, not a
just God. He is not a God you can trust, or love or respect. Instead,
you develop a resentment toward a God like that.
In response, the Father says, My son, you are always with me, and
everything I have is yours. Perhaps the elder son didn't
realize
that the Father was available, accessible in every way, eager to be
engaged at any moment. As Jesus says to us, “I am with you always
to the end of the age. Or, I will never leave you nor forsake you. For
Christ is in you, the hope of glory.
My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is
yours.
The older son actually comes off better than the younger son. The
younger son is restored, but the Father assures this elder brother that
everything he has belongs to the older son. Isn’t that the
case for us as well? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up
for us all, will he not also with him freely give us all things?
And then the Father explains the need for a joyous response. He says:
32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours
(he wants this older brother to be reconciled to the younger brother)
was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
So what is the point of this story? The focus is not on the
younger son -- his rebellious dissipation. Nor is the focus on the
older son -- his angry resentment and jealousy. There’s nothing
new or significant in the sins of these brothers. They are defects that
are as old as the human race.
What is new and remarkable and even incredible is the kindness and
goodness and grace of the Father. This is Christianities unique
contribution among the world religions. That God would lavish such love
on people who are undeserving.
Waiting in agony for them, running to embrace them, interrupting their
apology, restoring them into the family, celebrating their return. And
then pleading with those who criticize and condemn, inviting them to be
restored to their brothers, and insisting on a
joyous
response to the recovery of the lost.
Is there anything more powerful than that kind of love? Best of all --
it's real. As the Father related to his two sons, so he relates to
everyone of us --with patience, understanding,
forgiveness,
generosity, and love. There is tremendous power in that love because it
is unconditional. Unconditional, and yet you have to receive it.
Is it important that you receive God’s love? Yes!! Otherwise you
will be short on giving love to others. We love, because he
first
loved us. God is the source of our love.
And so I conclude by asking you to receive God’s love,
God’s acceptance of you, God’s forgiveness of you. It
doesn’t take a lot of words. All you have to say is “Thank
You God. Thank you for your great love for me.” Or simply
say, “Amen!”
