The Grace of God (Luke 15:11-32)
Billy Milton - September 26, 2004
Today we are looking at the subject of the grace of God. In fact we’re spending almost 4 months looking at the various aspects of the character of God so as to try and understand better what God is like and who He is. [PAUSE] What is God really like? In a 1995 British Social Attitude survey, 73% of the people questioned said that they believed in either God or a Higher Power. Now that’s quite a high figure but I know for sure that if we started to define who God is as per the Bible that figure would plummet, probably into single figures. Its quite comforting to have a vague belief in a god of some sorts who’ll jump in and rescue us when things get tough. But, even more important than a belief in God, is the question, “What kind of God do you believe in?”
D’you know as a Christian pastor it’s easier to talk to an atheist than someone who has a sincerely false view of God. I don’t mean to be disrespectful here but often people have a view of God gleaned from friends and the media that is totally false. In the light of eternity don’t you owe it to yourself to make sure whether or not your view of God is correct?
So… what is God really like?
Is He the God of the Muslim terrorists? Is God really named Allah and does he reward murdering terrorists who highjack airplanes and kill innocent people?
Is God like the impersonal god of the Deists? Deism teaches that God created the world like a watchmaker, and then he wound it up and started it. But now, he sits by uncaring, or unable, to get involved in what is happening in our lives.
Hinduism teaches there are a number of gods and goddesses (actually they have about 300 million gods and goddesses), but the greatest god is Brahmin, the impersonal but all pervasive life force in every person.
Is that what God is like? Is He Allah? Is He a watchmaker God? Is He Brahmin? Is he the good side of the Force in the Star Wars movies? Is he all of the above?
Does it matter? Well, yes I think it does matter and here’s some great news for us all. We don’t have to guess any more! In fact it’s not even a question of opinion or preference. We have the facts at our disposal. Jesus Christ came to planet earth to reveal to us exactly what God is like!
In Luke 15, Jesus told the parable about the rebel sons and the forgiving father. Notice that I say ‘rebel sons’ and not just the ‘rebel son’, because in his own way, the stay-at-home older son was every bit as in need as the runaway younger son. But in actual fact neither son is the hero of this story – the real hero is the forgiving father. It’s in this picture of the forgiving father that we can catch a glimpse of one aspect of God’s character. His amazing grace.
Most of us will be able to see ourselves in some aspect of this deceptively simple story. Whether we have rebelled against God and need to waken up and come home or whether we’ve never openly rebelled but resent not being acknowledged enough for our faithful service…. Most of us have been in one of these two places at some point in our life.
One son ran away and squandered his inheritance and the other stayed at home and burned with silent resentment at his father’s apparent weakness. Both sons were wrong! Both sons needed to experience their father’s forgiveness. At some point in the parable both boys were away from home and needed to come back. One of the heart stopping lessons for me in this story is that its possible to be in church every Sunday and still far from God. At least the younger son knew that he needed to repent and come home. But the great thing is that the father loved both his boys and welcomed them both home with equal love.
In his book, ‘Capital of the World’, Ernest Hemingway wrote about a father in Spain who had a son named Paco. Because of his son’s rebellion, Paco and his father were estranged. The father was bitter and angry with his son, and kicked him out of the home. After years of bitterness, the father’s anger ended and he realized his mistake. He began to look for Paco, with no results. Finally, in desperation, the father placed an ad in the Madrid newspaper. The ad read, “PACO, ALL IS FORGIVEN. MEET ME AT THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE AT 9AM TOMORROW. LOVE, YOUR FATHER.” Now Paco is a rather common name in Spain, and Hemingway wrote that when the father arrived the next morning, there were 600 young men – all named Paco – waiting and hoping to receive the forgiveness of their fathers.” Doesn’t that just break your heart? Sons and fathers estranged.
Now this story of Paco and his dad has its limitations in that Paco’s dad and the father of the Prodigal Son have obvious differences, but it does highlight a very common issue with many people today. That issue is guilt. I spoke to a lady recently who told me that she just walks about feeling permanently guilty all the time. She was astonished, and intrigued, when I told her that I don’t feel guilty at all because Jesus had forgiven me completely. And I want to give you this assurance this morning, if you need forgiveness, Jesus offers it. Look again at v1 in this chapter to see who Jesus was speaking to. It was a mixed bunch of religious and non-religious people and Jesus was trying to tell them all that God is like a gracious father who welcomes and forgives anyone who calls on his name. He will meet you more than halfway.
That reminds me of a second truth about the nature of God. Not only is he a God who forgives all who repent, he’s also… A GOD WHO RUNS WHEN YOU RETURN.
The wayward son didn’t fare so well in the far country. He lived the high life for a while but pretty soon he was literally pig-sick! Jesus uses six words in v13 to describe what happened: He “squandered his wealth in wild living.” Today we might say, “Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll”. Before he could turn around it was all gone. He ended up a Jewish boy working with pigs! Jesus said he, “came to his senses” and realized a servant in his father’s house had it better than he did. So, he swallowed something more tasteless than pig food – his pride – and started the long journey back home. How does the father receive him?
Following the custom of the day the father should have totally rejected his son but Jesus gives a surprise twist to the plot. The father’s heart was broken when his son left. He was looking, longing, hoping that his son would return. Then one day, he sees a figure on the horizon that looked familiar. In a flash, the father realized it was his son. Then he did an amazing thing. He sprinted out to meet his son. Verse 20 says, “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him.” Then it says, “he was filled with compassion and he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The Greek verb there indicates he kept on kissing him. We would say he “smothered him with kisses.”
In the Jewish culture, men wore long robes. In order for a man to run, he had to lift the hem up and hold it high to keep from tripping over it. In doing so, he would bare his legs, which was considered highly undignified. Men of respect never ran; it would have been embarrassing. But can’t you see this father grabbing handfuls of robe and running toward his son? He didn’t wait for the son to reach him, he ran to meet the son. He hugged and kissed his rebellious son before the son said one word! Remember the son had been working in the pigpen. He probably looked and smelled awful, not exactly the kind of person you want to hug and kiss! But his son was back and the father accepted him “just as he was.”
And God the Father, the Creator of the Universe will welcome you the same way – just as you are. Now, this is a revolutionary portrayal of God. Jesus said God runs to meet us when we decided to return to Him. Some of you have drifted away from God. You have walked away from the presence of your heavenly Father. You see, whenever you choose to sin and disobey God, you are leaving His holy presence. Right now, do you sense that you are far away from God? God didn’t walk away from you; when you sinned, you walked away from him. But God is a loving heavenly Father who is longing for you to return. He has a message for you today. With tender words of compassion He is saying to you: “When you start home, I’ll meet you more than halfway.”
As I said at the beginning, it’s not enough to have a fuzzy belief in an impersonal god. For your future security you need to intelligently examine the God of the Bible. When you do you’ll discover that He is full of love and mercy. That’s what God is really like. So, we worship a God who forgives our rebellion and runs to us when we return. That’s grace.
On Thursday we will be starting an Alpha course over in Beulah. If you’d like to investigate more thoroughly who God is then why don’t you join us? Pick up a leaflet from the foyer as you leave this morning.