WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.239 We started the series with this question. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:25.039 What is God really like? 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.280 At some point, we ask that, all of us ask that. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:35.679 Even if you don't even believe there is a God, you go, if there is a God, perhaps what is he really like? 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.119 Is he good? 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:38.799 Is he benevolent? 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:39.759 Is he distant? 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:40.719 Is he aloof? 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:48.079 Is he this cosmic force that just got everything going and then just kind of is disinterested? 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:56.159 You know, is he this old man in the sky that, you know, is kindly and well-meaning, but can't really do anything? 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.439 What is God really like? 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:01.200 And then we ask the follow-up and does God really like me? 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.840 What is God really like? 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.480 And then does God really like me? 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.599 Like, where do I stand with God? 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:11.680 Is he happy about me? 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:12.959 Is he upset with me? 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:14.959 Is his arms crossed? 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:17.840 Does God really like me? 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:24.480 And here's something that's amazing when you look at the life of Jesus, and and he said this in John chapter 14. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:30.879 He had this incredible saying, he said, anyone who has seen me, Jesus says this, has seen the Father. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.519 Like if you want to know what God's really like, Jesus says, Look at me. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.239 If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:47.200 Earlier in chapter one of the Gospel of John, John would write this: that Jesus came to explain the Father. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.159 That word explain is where we get our word exegete. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:55.920 He's come to explain and unpack and reveal and make known. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:04.879 And so when you look at Jesus, you get to see precisely, exactly what God is really like. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:16.879 You get to know what's on God's heart, what God cares about, how God responds to those who've been ravaged by injustice and poverty and pain. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:22.000 You get to see how God responds to religious elites. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.400 You get to see what makes him angry and what his heart breaks for. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:37.840 See, in Jesus, you get to see precisely what God is really like, and he answers the question, does God really like me? 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.680 Said another way, the life of Jesus brings into crystal clear focus the very heart of God. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:03:02.240 And as you read, and as I read, and as we study, and this is what we're doing for an entire year of just looking at Jesus and going, we want to become more like you, your apprentices, as we look at him, we get to see exactly what the heart of God is for you and me. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:10.000 And often it's a lot different than how we feel when we answer the question, what's God like and whether he likes us? 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:15.439 And it's also different than the way others have explained it, especially religious people. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:20.800 It's interesting, we've asked this question not just in our day, but for all of humanity's time. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:29.039 They're asking it in Jesus' day, and the religious leaders were the arbiters of what is God really like, and is God really like you or me? 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.439 And they had a well-defined box. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:37.680 And what's amazing is when Jesus stepped onto the scene, he didn't step into their box, he stepped outside of it. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:38.960 They didn't understand it. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:48.240 God showed up, and the religious people who had the definition for what God was like and who he liked didn't like Jesus. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:49.680 Uh-oh. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:56.400 And what's fascinating is the people who were far from God really liked Jesus. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:03.680 In fact, the parable of the prodigal son comes in this incredible context. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.879 It says, now there were tax collectors and sinners. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:09.599 They were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:11.520 That's unbelievable, by the way. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:18.480 I love how Pastor Andy Stanley says it, that people who are nothing like Jesus really liked Jesus. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:28.000 But Pharisees, religious people, and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:29.839 How could he? 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:34.560 Because that's not what God is really like, and God doesn't like these people. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:37.759 I like that they say eats with them. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:46.720 In the ancient Near East, um, when you shared a meal with someone, it was the sign of full acceptance of that person. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.040 And the Pharisees, they wouldn't share a meal with these. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.680 They wouldn't even make icons, they wouldn't hold a conversation with tax collectors and sinners. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:08.879 If they were walking on the same side of the street, the Pharisee would make a motion to make sure I'm nothing like them, I'm nowhere close to them, I'm not gonna allow their dirtiness to get on me because I'm so much better than them. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:19.279 And in Jesus, we see something so powerful, by the way, that Jesus fully accepts them, though he does not affirm their direction or their decision. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:24.959 That's a word for the church today that we can love people and accept people and at the same time not affirm. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.839 Jesus didn't say, Well, you're a sinner, don't worry about it. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:29.600 No big deal. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:31.120 No, it's a really big deal. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.000 And he is such a big deal, he says, I'm gonna love you. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:38.639 I'm gonna show up for you because this is what God is really like. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.160 And then Jesus tells them the Pharisees. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:48.399 He's helping them know what God's really like and who God really likes. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:56.399 He tells them this parable, singular, but he tells three stories, and each building with intensity and clarity the very heart of God. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:05.680 He tells the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd has a hundred and loses one, and he goes after the one and brings the sheep home, and then throws this big celebration. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.240 And I love the line in it. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:13.680 And Jesus says this to the Pharisees this is the way heaven responds. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.600 It throws a party and celebrates, oh, listen to this, over one sinner who repents. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:27.519 Now, here's what's fascinating Jesus actually didn't disagree with the Pharisees' diagnosis. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.279 You're hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:33.120 Jesus is like, you're right. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.800 He disagreed with their prognosis. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:44.399 See, a Pharisee said, they're a lost cause, they're a waste of space, they should be stricken from the earth. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.759 And Jesus says, You're right, they're lost, but they're not a lost cause. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:54.560 And I came for them, and heaven rejoices when they turn towards me. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.079 And then he tells another story, the lost coin. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:10.399 And a woman had ten coins and loses one, and she gives this careful search, and when she finds that coin, then she throws a party and says, In the same way, heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:13.360 And then the parable of the lost son. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.120 And all three have this in common that something valuable was lost. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:18.800 Listen today, you need to hear this. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:20.800 You are so valuable. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:23.279 You are so valuable. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:24.560 God loves you. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.839 You're so valuable that a careful search was made. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:31.199 God came for you. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:36.240 If you were the only person on the planet, he would still come for you. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:41.040 And a big celebration was thrown when what was lost was found. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.279 All three have this in common. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:52.959 And what we see when Jesus is explaining the heart of God, what is God like and who does God like, that the Father's heart is actually to welcome everyone home. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:04.480 Not just some people home, not just perfect people, not just the right people, not the people that have it all together, that wear the right things, that say the right stuff, that act the right way, that fit into this box. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.199 He okay, hang on. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:14.240 He okay, he wants to welcome Republicans and Democrats home. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:21.519 He wants to welcome LGBTQ and legalists home. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:27.920 He wants to invite everyone home. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:38.240 In fact, uh Peter wrote this in his letter, 2 Peter, uh, where he says, God is not slow in keeping his promises as some think about slowness. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:45.840 Rather, he delays desiring that none shall perish, but all shall come to a full repentance of him. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:56.159 Like, the reason God has delayed bringing about ultimate restor uh restoration is not because he's going like, I just can't. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.480 He looks at a hurting, broken world and he says, I long for every single person to come to a saving knowledge of me. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:05.759 And it breaks my heart that you're not a part. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.519 The most famous verse, John 3.16. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:13.039 For God so loved uh help me out. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.600 It wasn't for God so loved America, by the way. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:35.200 The world for God so loves Russia and China, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, for God so loves Mexico and Canada, Argentina, Peru. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:37.200 God loves the entire world. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.799 And he looks at the entire world, and his heart breaks. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:47.919 If you're gonna look at Jesus, you're gonna see the heart of God, and he says, I came to seek and save that which is lost. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:49.279 That is why I came. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:10:10.960 And my heart and my desire is to welcome every single person home, and it's to be the heartbeat of his body, the church, as well. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:22.639 If we're gonna understand the heart of the father, I actually think we need to look at this parable and see what's different about the father to the other parables. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:30.159 We saw what was the same or similar, something valuable was lost, something uh careful search was made, a big celebration was thrown. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:47.039 But here's what's interesting is when you begin to look at it and go, okay, they have this cadence and you see there's these similarities, but there's when you look at the response of the father, you see some things that are incredibly dissimilar to the other stories that are so powerful and profound to the father's heart. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.960 See if the father wants to welcome everyone home, here's what you need to recognize and know the father will never force his will upon you, though. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.200 He'll never force his will upon you. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.320 Now, remember the sheep, one is lost. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.840 The shepherd doesn't go to the sheep and go, Do you want to come home? 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:06.240 You like it out here? 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.919 The sheep doesn't go, you know what? 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:11.919 I'm enjoying this. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:14.960 Scenery's real nice. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:18.960 The coin doesn't go, you know what, this dark corner where I've been hiding. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.759 I love kind of just being here and hiding out in the dark. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:22.799 No, no, no. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.639 They each carry that sheep and coin home. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:27.519 The father. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:28.559 Think about this. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:29.840 This is staggering. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.879 And we miss it because we don't understand the cultural context. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:39.120 And for some, you come from an honored culture, and so you get a little bit more of the gravitas of this moment. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:45.279 The son shows up to the father and says, Would you give me my inheritance? 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.360 And the father had a few choices. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:00.559 One, which many of us would say, as parents, no. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:02.639 No. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.919 You spoiled brat, no. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:06.879 Right? 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:07.519 No. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.559 And we could mean it with a well-intended heart. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:10.960 You know what? 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:14.000 If you just stay in the house long enough, you'll understand my heart. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.960 If you're just around me long enough, you'll just get it. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:24.480 He also, and this is more likely the response of a patriarch in that day is not no, but disown. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:30.240 You wish I was dead, you're dead to me. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.480 That was not uncommon. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:34.000 I will disown you. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.039 You have dishonored me, and so I will disown you. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:43.360 You have done the greatest uh violation against your father in dishonoring me. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:44.960 You are disowned. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:47.919 He does neither of those. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.320 It's unbelievable. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:56.000 He divides the state and he says, Your will be done. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:02.000 The father never forces his will upon you, but he says, Your will be done. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:04.639 You get to have your way. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.159 You get to make your choices. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.440 And unfortunately, we get to live with our consequences of our choices. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:24.559 And what the father knows is any type of force is never a relationship. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:26.720 It's never love. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:36.000 In love, breaking his heart, he gives the inheritance, knowing full well it's not gonna go well. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.039 And the father doesn't do this after it was like, what was I thinking? 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.879 I can't believe I gave him all that money. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.159 He's he's he's given our family a bad name. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.679 He's living wildly. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.720 Come on, kid, right, right? 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:50.639 He's not doing that. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.159 Well, you know what his eyes are on? 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.759 His eyes are on the horizon every single day. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:54.960 His eyes are on the horizon. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.360 He looks often the distance that his son left. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.519 In the morning, he's looking, in the evening, he's looking. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:10.320 His eyes daily are on the horizon because the minute his son turns, he's gonna run to him because he will never force his will upon you, but he will always make a way back home. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:12.960 It's the father's love. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:24.799 And here's what's amazing, a little different about the father is the father cares more about your return than his reputation. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.759 The father cares far more about your return than his reputation. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:40.720 Um if we understand this from the perspective of the father, um his reputation was dragged through the mud. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:47.360 He did not behave as expected a patriarch would behave in that day. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:56.080 Disown him, deny him, maybe adopt somebody else to be another heir. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:06.480 Not only does he give his son his portion of the inheritance, he knows the town's talking about him. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.639 Man, what a terrible dad is he? 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:10.960 I would never parent that way. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:13.440 Are you kidding me? 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.240 But then he does something remarkable. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.480 While his son was a far way off, his eyes were on the distance, he was looking upon the horizon to see just the shadow. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.080 And as a dad, you know the shadow of your kid, you know the gait of your kid. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:30.639 You don't, you just need to see a spot, and as a mom, you're like, I know that's my kid. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.639 I know that's my kid. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.600 I just wonder if he ran multiple times thinking it was a kid. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.200 I don't know, the text doesn't say. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:46.559 But the minute he saw it was his kid, he did what no patriarch would do. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:54.320 He lifts up his garb, exposing his legs, which was shameful, and he runs. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:58.639 A patriarch has people come to him, they don't go to others. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:01.679 Especially a disgraced son. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:08.720 And he runs, scorning the shame and the reputation of what everyone else would think about him. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.200 He runs to his son and embraces him. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.639 His son, by the way, came with that speech, right? 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:18.000 I don't deserve to be your son but a servant. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.960 And here, this is incredible parenting, by the way. 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:24.320 The father does not lecture his son. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:30.240 I gotta be honest, that that I would struggle with that. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.120 Like, don't you want to just kind of have your arms crossed and go, yep. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.600 Thought you'd come back. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:39.919 How'd it go? 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.240 Not good. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.399 I can see that. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:45.519 Look at you. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:47.759 You don't even have shoes on. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:50.399 Shoeless. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.080 You're dirty. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:53.759 Right? 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.320 I mean, isn't that all of our tendencies? 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.679 Like we just want to go, see, you should have known. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.240 And the father does none of that. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:03.759 That's insane. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:08.559 He embraces him, he doesn't lecture him. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:20.000 He throws a ring on his finger, sandals, the sandals of sonship, and the best cloak he has on his shoulders and says, Welcome home. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:23.759 You know, it's interesting. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:30.480 We um we we can all, if those of us are parents, at times parent from reputation, can't we? 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:41.920 How you made me look rather than concerned with the development of our child. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.720 This happens most often in the grocery store, by the way. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:48.559 Um and you're like, oh, just shut up, you know. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:54.640 And all you're thinking about is what other people are thinking about your parenting. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:03.920 And honestly, when we do this and I've done this, it creates such pain. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:11.279 And all of a sudden, love is dependent upon meeting certain objectives and standards and approval. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:19.599 And the father cares far more about your return than his reputation. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:34.640 And for some, you were a follower of Jesus and you walked away from Jesus, and you just walked in today, and you're like, I don't really think I could come back because I I've kind of dragged his name through the mud, and he says, I care more about your return than my reputation. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.880 And others, you've had a day, no, no, no, you've had a year, oh, you've had a lifetime. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:44.559 You're like, you don't I could tell stories, um, and God would never want me nor like me. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.640 And he says, No, I care far more about your return than my reputation. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.079 The father will never force his will upon you, cares more about your return than your rep his reputation. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:08.240 And then this third one we see, this different than the sheep or the shepherd, or the woman. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:13.440 And by the way, I don't know that we're gonna like this one, but we need this one. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:14.799 I say that again. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.400 I don't know if you're gonna like this one, but we need this one. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.640 The father sacrifices fairness for the sake of relationship. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.279 The father sacrifices fairness. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:28.079 Isn't that the argument that the brother had, by the way? 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.079 It's not fair. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.200 Isn't that every brother's argument? 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.240 Every kid. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:41.839 I remember my mom would make this um uh chocolate pudding, we loved it, and you know, she would put it in different size bowls. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:42.400 I why? 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.119 I don't know. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:49.519 Um, but it looked like one brother got more than the other, and she said, No, I measured it out, it's exactly the same. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.480 And we still would go, it's not fair. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.400 Because we think somehow fairness will solve everything. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.119 But the reality is, is what if life was really fair? 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.599 Because fair is just getting what you deserve. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:10.720 And what if God was really fair and you just got what you deserve? 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.440 See, God is not fair, he is just. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.599 Those are different, don't confuse them. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.680 He is not fair, he will not give you what you deserve, he will give you mercy. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.599 It's not getting what you deserve. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:28.079 The son showed up and he deserved a lecture, he deserved shame, and he did not get that. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.480 That was mercy, and then he was given grace. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.480 Grace is getting what you do not deserve. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:38.079 The father bestowed upon him the ring of sonship, sandals upon his feet, a cloak, and then he threw a party. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:42.880 And that's your God, a God of mercy and grace and not fairness. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:21:00.400 And then there's some of us, some of us older brothers, that we just can't get over it. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:02.640 It's not fair. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:04.720 It's not fair. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.599 Prince Fairness died in the garden. 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:18.559 He is just and Jesus said, I will take your pain and your shame and the consequences of it. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:23.759 Someone had to deal with it, and I will deal with it on the cross. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:31.119 And then finally, God, I hope. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.160 I just pray this is the this is we're building to this. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:39.200 This is what I uh the what I want from to go from your head to your heart. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.400 The father's love is lavish. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.799 I love that word by the way, lavish. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:57.039 Um the shepherd and the woman did what was expected. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 You lose a sheep, that's part of your life. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.480 Livelihood, that's a part of your wealth, you're gonna go after that sheep. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.160 That's expected. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:10.400 The woman loses a coin, which was part of her dowry. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:11.920 It's valuable to her. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:12.960 She needs it. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:15.279 That's expected. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:28.960 What's unexpected is how the father responded to the son who walked away, and how the father responds to the older son who's outside saying, I don't want to go in. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:33.519 And he goes to both of them, pleading with them, giving them grace and mercy. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:36.480 And he says, My love has no limit. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:42.240 My love isn't like that little measuring, you know, cup that my mom used for the chocolate, right? 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.359 It's not like, hey, you get this little portion right here, and it'll run out, and once you eat it, you're good. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.799 And once you use it up, you're done. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.359 He's no, my love is lavish. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.160 My love is lavish. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:56.799 Another word for lavish, by the way. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:58.000 Prodigal. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.039 His love is prodigal. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.519 His love is extravagant, excessive, extreme. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:11.920 His love has no bounds. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.559 Lavish, a definition for lavish. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:20.400 To bestow upon something in a generous and extravagant quantity. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:21.759 He says, that's what I'm doing. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.440 It's not this little measuring stream. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:26.559 I'm just pouring it on you, and it does not stop. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.119 It's wasteful. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:30.160 It's absurd. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:31.680 It's lavish. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:37.039 I remember when Elle was born. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:43.440 I never had this experience before, and those who are parents, you get this. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.880 Like as dads, we're not a part of the process, we're part of the process. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.720 This is another story for another time. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.799 But the like we don't feel the baby inside. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:00.799 And so it's only when she came into this world that it's like it was an experience I'd never had before. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:05.599 Like she was born, and it felt like my heart erupted. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:16.559 It felt like there was a chamber in my heart that I had no idea had been there all along, opened up, and a capacity to love another human being that I'd never experienced in my entire life. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.319 It's just like boom. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:23.599 And I'm like in love with this little baby girl. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:31.039 And then we got pregnant and we had a son, Ryder, coming along. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.160 And I got really nervous. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:43.440 I got so nervous because I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to love this boy the same way I love this girl. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:46.640 Like, I I don't know that I have that capacity. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.119 Like, like, to does it divide? 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:51.279 Does it somehow like divide out? 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.640 And I was so nervous. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:57.119 I'm like afraid that I'm not gonna be able to love this other one the same way I loved the first one. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.400 And then Ryder came along and it was boom. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:13.599 And a chamber of my heart opened, and love expands, and love in the context of who God is that drives out perfect fear, and God is love. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:26.960 It's lavish, it's expansive, it's not limited, and that gives just a drop in an ocean understanding of God's lavish love for you and me. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:32.559 It's just a drop, it's just the tiniest drop in the ocean of God's love. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:36.480 Like that gives the smallest understanding that we possibly could. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.880 Like, He loves you. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:42.000 He loves you, He loves you. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:48.640 Oh God, would you understand that He loves you with an overwhelming, unrelenting love? 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:53.759 First John says 3 1 says, See what great love the Father has. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:54.799 Help me out. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:26:00.000 Lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what you are. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:05.119 The son showed up and he asked to be a servant because that's all he thought he could be. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.880 But by the way, this is really great. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:10.480 There was something about the father the son knew he could return to. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:18.000 He didn't know he could be a son still, but there's something about the father he knew he could return to, and he showed up expecting to be a servant. 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:19.759 And his father says, You're a son. 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:21.519 There's something you just need to hear. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.480 This you're a daughter and you're a son of the King Most High. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:28.160 You're not a servant. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:37.039 Your identity, you're a daughter and you're a son, and that is what we are, children of God, his love lavished on us. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:47.440 First John 4 goes on and says, This is how God showed his love, demonstrated he sent his one and only Son to the world that uh that we might live through him. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:54.799 This is love, not that we love God, but he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.960 Romans 5, 6 through 8. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:01.440 You see, at just the right time when we're still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:07.359 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.200 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:16.319 While we're still sinners, Christ died for you. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:22.799 And then the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 would be speaking to the church and says, I don't want you to miss this. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.880 In fact, this is my prayer for you. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:27.200 This is my prayer for you. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:30.559 Like this is this is what you gotta get. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:39.519 For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, like you have the family name of the King Most High. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:47.359 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:28:08.160 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of Christ. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:20.319 He will not force his will upon you, but he cares far more about your return than his reputation. 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:25.119 He sacrifices, by the way, fairness for the sake of relationship. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:29.279 His love is so lavish, it's so extravagant. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:32.720 He says, I came for you. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.039 I die for you to welcome you home. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:41.839 We're gonna partake in communion together. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:59.759 It is the symbol that Jesus left us to remember the lavish love of God, that his body broken for us, his blood poured out for us, that we might become children of God, that we might experience his mercy and grace. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.079 And at awakening we practice an open table. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:08.160 And so if you're a follower of Jesus, we welcome you as we worship in a second to partake in the elements. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:13.519 Up front, we have bread, and you just take a piece of the bread and you dip it into the juice. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:23.359 And I want you to just remind yourself how deep the Father's love for us, that you would be overwhelmed afresh with his love as you partake in communion. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:27.119 In the back, we have the gluten-free option if that's what you need. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:34.720 But as we worship, take this moment, take this moment, go God, you love me. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:40.000 I don't get it, I don't understand it, but would you move that reality from my head to my heart? 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:45.839 And Heavenly Father, right now, in this moment, would you overwhelm my friends with your love? 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:50.640 Would you overwhelm them with your love for them? 00:29:51.680 --> 00:30:03.680 Would you just make it so tangible that the reality of your great love demonstrated by your sacrifice on the cross for us? 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:09.759 God, it just would pour like sweet waters over our souls. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:11.599 Jesus' name.