The Prodigal Father (2)

Overview

Text(s):

Big Idea: Our God is a GENEROUS father who gives us a GOOD world.

Purpose: Congregants will come away with a greater appreciation for the goodness of God’s creation.

Sermon Outline:

Series Introduction

This year we are growing together so we can follow God better as individuals, families, and a congregation.

The first step is to lay a common spiritual foundation:

Who is God?

Who am I?

Where did I come from?

Where am I going?

What does God want of me?

To answer these questions, we are going to use a story that Jesus told, which is really the story of each of us: the Prodigal Son.

Sermon Introduction

READ LUKE 15:11-32

Today we focus on the beginning of the story: Where did we start? Where do we come from? If we all have strayed from God, where did we start?

Let’s talk about the word “prodigal.” What do we usually think it means?

“A Prodigal” means someone who has returned after a long absence. But that’s because of this story.

As an adjective, it means:

Prodigal: spending or using large amounts of money, time, energy, etc., especially in a way that is not very wise.

He’s called the prodigal son because he spends his money so foolishly while he is away.

Interestingly, however, the son is not the most prodigal figure in the story.

If you look at the story, the father is much more prodigal than the son—he gives away half of his money in one go!

In fact, the father’s prodigality is the hwole point of the story.

Luke 15:1–3 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable:”

This is the story that the son told about his father.

I. The Father is generous with his children

Luke 15:31 NIV

“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

The father gives his kids full reign of the pantry.

The Father is generous with his CHILDREN. (v. 31; Genesis 1:28-30, Psalm 65:9-13)

Genesis 1:28–30 NIV

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Psalm 65:9–13 NIV

You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

APPLICATION:

Squeaky wheels get grease, and bad news gets headlines. But we often lose sight of how amazing God’s creation actually is, and how generously God provides for us. Our God lavishes generosity on us!

II. The Father is generous when they REBEL.

One reason why we often forget this is because we think God’s generosity is conditional.

Sure he’s generous, but I did something wrong, so he’s not generous with me.

Sure, he was generous, but we live in a fallen world; we can’t count on that generosity now.

But let’s look at the Father in the story.

Luke 15:12 NIV

The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

The father’s greatest act of generosity might be in how he responded to the son’s demand: he lets him take the estate with him!

The Father is generous when they REBEL. (v. 12; Genesis 9:1-3,Matthew 5:43-45 Acts 14:16-17)

There are consequences for the fall, but God’s generosity has not changed:

Genesis 9:1–3 NIV

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

The reason Jesus tells us we should love our enemies is because God is generous with enemies and friends alike.

Matthew 5:43–45 NIV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Paul thinks that God’s generosity is so obvious that it prepares people to accept the Gospel.

Acts 14:16–17 NIV

In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

APPLICATION:

We expect limitations to God’s goodness, and we find what we are looking for. But God is good, even if he isn’t giving us what we expect.

We are afraid that our mistakes are going to ruin everything.

We think we will lose relationships over the next mistake.

We don’t recognize that those relationships are unhealthy because we think that God operates the same way.

Our actions matter, and they have consequences—but they do not change God’s generosity to us.

III. The Father is generous when they RETURN.

Luke 15:22–23 NIV

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

The Father is generous when they RETURN. (v. 22-23, Psalm 103:8-14)

Psalm 103:8–14 NIV

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

We often think of the God of the Old Testament as an angry, judgmental God, but that is not what the Israelites experienced. They experienced a God who was generous, always willing to forgive, to give every chance he could.

Conclusion

The spiritual journey does not begin with sin. It doesn’t begin with commands. It begins with God’s unshakable generosity. He provides everything we have, beyond what we deserve, both material and spiritual.

God is an UNSHAKABLY generous Father. (Matthew 7:7-12)

Matthew 7:7–11 NIV

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Too often we react immediately with qualifiers. But there are like 14 places where Jesus says, God will give you what you ask for.

That isn’t to say that the qualifiers don’t matter. But Jesus didn’t start there.

Daily Readings

Monday: Psalm 8, Psalm 19

Reflection Question: What do we learn about God from his creation?

Tuesday: Hosea 11:1-11

Reflection Question: what kind of picture does this passage paint of God as a father?

Wednesday: Ephesians 1:3-23

Reflection Question: what is the most astounding example of God’s generosity in this passage?

Thursday: Romans 8:28-39

Reflection Question: How do we see God’s generosity in the way he cares for us?

Friday: Matthew 5:43-48, 6:25-34, 7:7-12

Reflection Question: How does God’s generosity enable to live differently than we did before?

Sunday School Discussion

Goal: to personalize the goodness of God.

Passage: Psalm 104.

Outline:

Sermon discussion

What challenged you?

What didn’t convince you?

What questions do you have?

Passage Discussion: Psalm 104 Read psalm. Discuss. What stands out to you?

V. 1-4: The greatness of God This psalm is about the greatness of God. What is the relationship between greatness and goodness?

Looking through the psalm, where does the psalmist see God’s greatness?

V. 5-9: The ordering of creation

V. 10-18 The flow of God’s generosity

What does God get credit for here? What does he provide? For whom?

V. 19-26: God rules over darkness and ocean, lions and dragons.

How would the Israelites have felt about lions and Leviathan? How does God feel about them?

How do the lions and Leviathan demonstrate God’s greatness/goodness?

V. 27-30: God’s rule over the life cycle

How does the life cycle demonstrate God’s goodness?

V. 31-35How does the psalmist react to seeing God’s greatness?

Application:

Which aspects of God’s goodness resonated with you from the Psalm? Are there others that are important to you?

Are you more or less likely to think of God’s creation as good?

Are there aspects of God’s creation that you struggle to accept as good?

What difference would it make to see God’s goodness more clearly and consistently?

How does this affect the way you view the world and your place in it?