A PORTRAIT OF A KIND FATHER

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching “Love, Father”

Dr. Burns Jenkins was a popular preacher and writer of a generation ago. When his son went to college, Jenkins admonished him not to join a certain fraternity. This, of course, was the very fraternity young Jenkins joined. For months he lived with the secret. Then, as he spoke to a church youth group one night, he was smitten by a sense of unworthiness. Returning to his room, he wrote his father in detail of his disobedience. Two days later he received this wire: “It’s all right. I forgive you. I knew it two days after you did it. Love, Father.”

In many cases this scenario could have had very different outcomes because all fathers don’t fit the profile of this one. There are some fathers who are authoritarian. Authoritarian parenting is an extremely strict parenting style. It places high expectations on children with little responsiveness. As an authoritarian parent, you focus more on obedience, discipline, and control.

I want to use this contrast today to enlighten somebody today who may have the wrong concept or portrait of Father God in heaven. Too many people have painted Him as this authoritarian, cruel, and demanding entity whose focus is on obedience, discipline, and control. But, I rose to paint another portrait of Him today, not as authoritarian (cold and cruel), but as authoritative (warm and kind).

Look with me at the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32

Luke 15:11–32 NASB95

11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. 13 “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 15 “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’ 20 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

Central Idea of the Text

Notice with me that the Father in this narrative has more than one son; he has two and both of them require a parental response from him.

Preach for a Year #1 The Prodigal’s Father

1. The younger was prodigal in choosing the pleasures of sin

2. The older was prodigal in choosing pride of self

I believe this is the place where I need to tell you that we all fit into one of these categories today. Which causes us to consider the possibility of what if God were a cruel, demanding authoritarian God? We would all incur his consuming wrath.

But Bless His Name, Because the Father was what he was, the prodigal became what he should be

1. The younger son returning and the older in decision

2. What kind of a father was he?

This text is tailored to teach that Heavenly Father with which we have to do with is a Kind Father.

Someone may be curious to know why I would color him kind? It is because :

He gives good gifts to His children (v.12)

See Luke 15:12

Luke 15:12 NASB95

12 “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.

Giving is what the Father does. It was James 1:17 who said

James 1:17 NASB95

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Yes, the Father is interested in giving to his children when they ask him for something. See Matthew 7:11

Matthew 7:11 NASB95

11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

Our heavenly Father will give if you ask him, but the real issue is:

“what will you do with what He gives you?”

Preach for a Year #1 The Prodigal’s Father

The far country … Riotous Living

a. Dreamed of great task, but found great temptation

b. Dreamed of adventure, but instead found agony

c. Dreamed of prestige, but instead found poverty

d. Dreamed of romance, but instead found rags

e. Dreamed of happiness, but instead found himself feeding the hogs

He is Kind because he is generous and gracious (v17)

See Luke 15:17

Luke 15:17 NASB95

17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Fourteen: The Joys of Salvation (Luke 15)

To “repent” means “to change one’s mind,” and that is exactly what the young man did as he cared for the pigs. (What a job for a Jewish boy!) He “came to himself,” which suggests that up to this point he had not really “been himself.” There is an “insanity” in sin that seems to paralyze the image of God within us and liberate the “animal” inside. Students of Shakespeare like to contrast two quotations that describe this contradiction in man’s nature.

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!

(Hamlet, II, ii)

When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

(The Merchant of Venice, I, ii)

The young man changed his mind about himself and his situation, and he admitted that he was a sinner. He confessed that his father was a generous man and that service at home was far better than “freedom” in the far country. It is God’s goodness, not just man’s badness, that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). If the boy had thought only about himself—his hunger, his homesickness, his loneliness—he would have despaired. But his painful circumstances helped him to see his father in a new way, and this brought him hope. If his father was so good to servants, maybe he would be willing to forgive a son.

Had he stopped there, the boy would have experienced only regret or remorse (2 Cor. 7:10), but true repentance involves the will as well as the mind and the emotions—“I will arise … I will go … I will say …” Our resolutions may be noble, but unless we act on them, they can never of themselves bring about any permanent good.

He is Kind because He is Affectionate and Approachable (V.20)

See Luke 15:20

Luke 15:20 NASB95

20 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Preach for a Year #1 The Prodigal’s Father

1. “Ran and fell on his neck and kissed him”

2. It’s nonsense that manhood calls for coldness

3. The look of love

a. The father had been watching for him

b. He ran to meet him. Spurgeon: “out of breath but not out of love”

4. His son was returning

a. The time away made no difference

b. The smell of the swine made no difference

c. The rags made no difference … NOR DID THE EMPTY POCKETS

5. His son is home, that’s all that matters

He is a kind Father because he was Assuring to both of his children (v v. 21, 31)

See Luke 15:21; Luke 15:31

Luke 15:21 NASB95

21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Luke 15:31 NASB95

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.

Preach for a Year #1 The Prodigal’s Father

1. “Bring forth the best robe”

2. Father should take the problems as God the Father takes them

3. Your failures have not moved you away from His love. Return!

Conclusion:

God has some wayward children who are lost in this world of sin and He is waiting for them to come back home. He also has some children who have stayed home but have become prideful that they have not made the errors of their brothers and sisters who have. The message in the text today is that Our Heavenly Father is concerned about us all.

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 696: Support

Has any athlete had more fans than Michael Jordan? Probably not. Even so, Michael Jordan said something surprising about his need for emotional support to columnist Bob Greene. When Greene asked why he wanted his father to be in the stands during a game, Jordan replied, “When he’s there, I know I have at least one fan.”

Even the great Michael Jordan needs support. Loyal support. How much more do the rest of us need regular reminders that others are behind us—even when we aren’t at our best.

I’ve wandered far away from God, Now I’m coming home; The paths of sin too long I’ve trod, Lord, I’m coming home.

I’ve wasted many precious years, Now I’m coming home; I now repent with bitter tears, Lord, I’m coming home.

I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord, Now I’m coming home; I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy word, Lord, I’m coming home.

My soul is sick, my heart is sore, Now I’m coming home; My strength renew, my hope restore, Lord, I’m coming home.

My only hope, my only plea, Now I’m coming home; That Jesus died, and died for me, Lord, I’m coming home.

I need His cleansing blood I know, Now I’m coming home; Oh, wash me whiter than the snow, Lord, I’m coming home.

Refrain: Coming home, coming home, Nevermore to roam; Open wide Thine arms of love, Lord, I’m coming home.

Thank God that we have a kind Father to come home to.