God's Amazing Love
In Luke 15 we have the wonderful stories of God's love. He tells the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then paints a beautiful picture of the love of the Father as it relates to a son who had wandered off to a distant country, spent his inheritance, and found himself a hungry farm laborer.
Verse 17 tells us that in the slop of the pig farm, the boy came to his senses. When the boy came to his senses he knew what he must do. The first step was confession: “Father, I’ve sinned …” That was a start, but it was not enough. He got up from the distant country and came home to his father. He turned around. Repentance is when we are walking in one direction and we turn and walk the other way. We need to come to God with both confession and repentance.
Notice how the father responds to the son. He sees the son a long way off and he runs to meet him. He embraces him. He kisses him. He gives him gifts.
Let’s pause here from a moment. The son did not expect this from the father. He expected to become a day laborer, and he was very wrong. What image do you have of the Father? Covey reminds us that we see the world not as it is, but rather as we are. I think it is the same thing in terms of how we think of God. J.B. Phillips, in his book, Your God is Too Small, tells of some of the faulty images we have of God in our heads that affect how we relate to him.
Resident Policeman: we are hounded by an unrelenting conscience that is not right.
Parental Hangover: all that was bad about our parenting.
Grand Old Man: an elderly gentleman living in heaven.
Meek and Mild: a wimpy Jesus.
Absolute Perfection: he is perfection, but we always fall short.
Heavenly Bosom: a place of escape, but we don’t deal with life.
God-in-a-box: we fashion a God of our own liking.
Managing Director: a God who manages the universe doesn’t have time for me.
Second-hand God: the only experience of God is through someone else.
Perennial Grievance: the God who let me down.
Pale Galilean: a God as a negative force in people’s lives, always holding people back.
The truth is, our God is none of these. We see his nature in this parable. The younger brother blew it, but the father sees him from a long way off. He was watching for his return. He longed for his return. And when he sees him, he runs to meet him. It is such an incredible picture of the grace and the love of God. When people from the Middle East were asked about this story, the part that is amazing to them is that the father ran to meet his son. It is uncharacteristic of that culture. A Middle Eastern father would walk impressively, stoically, and slowly, representative of his status. But this father ran. God runs to meet us when we turn to him.
The son came back to be a hired servant. Not a regular servant that had status with the family, but just a day-laborer. But his father would have none of it. He gave him a robe; signifying honor. He gave him a ring, a signet ring ; signifying authority, the power-of-attorney vested in a son. He gave him sandals; signifying he was a son and not a slave, and he gave him a feast of celebration. Notice the joy of finding the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost boy.
The older son represents the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. He had been a good boy, so he thought, but had no concept of his own need for his father’s grace. There is forgiveness for all of us in the embrace of the father who runs to meet us.
Ravi Zakarias tells the story of attending a convention. He found himself standing only a few feet away from Jim Bakker.
Recently released from serving a humiliating prison term, he looked only a shadow of his former self as he stood alone, for the most part, and only a few stopped by to greet him. It was hard not to feel some of his pain as I looked in his direction. That evening he spoke to an audience at the Christian Booksellers Association. He spoke of his heartache and his duplicity as a result of which he lost everything – his wife, his ministry, his reputation. He spoke of a dismal day in prison when everything seemed dark. He was cleaning the toilets when he was told that a guest had come to see him. Looking at himself in that unpleasant clothing and condition, wondered if he could really go out and meet anyone. But recognizing his true state – that this is what he had descended to – he went to the meeting room, completely unaware of who his guest would be. Little did he realize what awaited him. He was ushered into the room and stopped in a state of shock to see Billy Graham reach out and embrace him.
Billy Graham could extend the grace he did because of the grace Billy Graham himself received from God, the grace we all need.
I like the way the elementary school teacher put it:
He came to my desk with a quivering lip,
The lesson was done,
Have you a new sheet for me dear teacher?
I’ve spoiled this one.
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted,
Gave him a new one, all unspotted,
And into his tired heart I cried,
Do better now my child.
I went to the throne with a trembling heart,
The day was done,
Have you a new day for me dear master?
I’ve spoiled this one.
He took my day, all soiled and blotted,
Gave me a new one, all unspotted,
And into my tired heart he cried,
Do better now my child.