Your identity. Who are youanyway?
Last week we began a new series of messages called "Identity." We began by asking a simple question. Are you known as a well-grounded person passionately searching God’s word in order to know Christ fully and apply God’s wisdom to all of life?
Why does this matter? BecauseGod's word is the key to survival. Just as a branch cannot survive severed from a vine, so we cannot survive apart from Christ’s words. They give us life.
God'sword is also the key to clarity. Life is full of twists and turns, ups and downs. It is easy to get overwhelmed and confused about the best path to pursue. The word clarifies God’s will for our lives.
We mentioned thatGod's word is also the key to transformation. We try to change our lives in so many different ways and with so many different methods. But when we read the word, it changes us fundamentally and at the core of our being, from the inside-out.
God'sword is the key to knowledge. With so many conflicting ideas about the true nature and character of God, how can we have any confidence in God’s identity? God sent his Son Jesus Christ to reveal the Father fully. The word provides a complete picture of Christ’s life so we can know God the Father completely.
Last, the word is the key to eternity. The Bible is described by Paul in Philippians 2:16 (NIV) as the, "word of life." The scriptures reveal how we can be saved from our sins and from the coming judgment of God. Without the word we would have no confidence in the future.
Are you a joy-filled person?
This week we move into some new territory by asking this question of identity. Are you known asa joy-filled person who is humbled by God’s grace and who celebrates God’s mercy through a lifestyle of prayer, worship, and thanksgiving?
Joy-filled refers to the deep abundance we find in God. Instead of being known for their abundance, many believers are known by what they lack, what they need, what they crave, or what they want. Many believers even describe themselves as bored. In contrast to such emptiness, the true believer is filled with the abundance of God.
Humbled refers to our posture before God. Instead of a posture of presumption, pride, sin, and self-sufficiency, (i.e. I don’t need God) the Christian has his or her arms wide open to receive all the abundance of God.
Celebrates then refers to the response of a believer to God’s mercy ashe lives out of the abundance of God. One of the best pictures of what it means to live out of the abundance of God is found in Colossians 3:1-17. Once the Christian is properly focused on God’s abundance, the possibility of a whole new life opens up.
So what adjectives would people use to describe you? Would they use positive words like contented, joyful, peaceful, forgiving, generous, thankful, or meek? Or would they use negative words like unsettled, unhappy, anxious, discontented, greedy, or self-centered?
This morning I want to revisit a familiar story, the parable of the prodigal son inLuke 15.The story begins with a gesture of ingratitude as the youngest son finds himself unable to receive the grace and abundance of his father.
A gesture of absolute ingratitude.
In Luke 15:11-12 (NIV) we read, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them." The force of the son’s request to his father is, "I wish you were already dead." It’s the worst kind of rejection imaginable. The son is saying, "I can find a better life without you in the picture!" Notice the son’s request, "give me." Friends, these are not words of abundance! These are words of lack. They echo the words of Adam and Eve in the garden during the original sin, where they decided to search for a better life apart from God.
What the son deserves for his act of rebellion is explained in Moses' Law in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NIV)."If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.'Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid."
In our story the father gives in to the son's demand. He sells a part of his estate and writes the check, in a manner of speaking. But before the ink even dries, the son is out the door.
Luke 15:13-16 (NIV) says, "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything."
The son was not living a life of abundance.
Notice the language of emptiness. The son thought that he could have more apart from his father, but he ended up with much less. First, he squanders everything he’d demanded and then a severe famine strikes. It wasn’t just a famine that struck him. It was reality! He’s forced to face the consequences of his choice. The son, "hired himself out" to feed pigs, the ultimate insult for Jewish boy. "He longed" (set his heart upon) the food that the pigs were eating. More than anything else he simply wanted,"to fill" the emptiness, void, and want he’d created for himself. He was willing to go to extreme conditions to fulfill his needs.
Pods were the husks of the carob tree, a last resort nourishment for people facing famine. It was kind of like the last remaining dish at a church potluck that no one would touch with a ten foot pole. "But no one gave him anything." That’s the world we live in! He couldn’t even eke out a living by begging! He was left empty, hungry, and in want.
What’s the parallel? How do we go about trying to fill the place in our soul that only the abundance of God can fill? Well for one thing, we entertain ourselves to death with television, music, movies, and video games. We graband grasp for things. We amass wealth, houses, cars, clothes, etc. We try to control others or try to take advantage of others.
We embrace addictive behaviors likeovereating, smoking, drinking, chewing, gambling, and pornography. Some even engage in high-risk behaviors like adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality, prostitution, carousing, marijuana, crystal myth, or cocaine. And the result? It's always the same. A bigger void and more brokenness.
But the grace of God was at work in this young man’s life.
Luke 15:17-19 (NIV) tells us,"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father."
He repents, having realized that even his father’s servants were treated better. He resolves, "I will set out and go..." "I am no longer worthy to be called..." This is the essence of humility. Some question whether the son was truly sorrowful, or just presumptuous.Did he truly realize the extent that he had disgraced his father and family? Well it doesn’t matter! What matters is that he got up and went home. What matters is he realized that his lack could be filled with the abundance of God. Such is the starting point for spiritual renewal!
Matthew 5:3-6 (NIV) says,"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
A gesture of irrational generosity.
Luke 15:20-24 (NIV) continues,"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'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. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."
The father knows what the son has done. He knows his son’s condition of need. And he, "saw" his son while the son was still a long way off. He was waiting, anticipating this moment. He was, "filled with compassion" which signaled his intense yearning deep in his bowels, sympathy, and pity for the son. The father, "ran" , not walked, and threw his arms around his son, embraced him, and kissed him fervently!
The father accepts the son quickly, without reservationand without a guilt trip. The father is saying, "No, I won’t receive you back as a servant. I’ll receive you only as a son." The son is given the best robe, his father's! He is given a ring, which is a reinstatement to sonship, a sign of the father’s acceptance, and a sign that he was under his father’s authority. He is given sandals to wear. Servants went barefoot. Only the family wore sandals. A fattened calf is slaughtered, signaling how special an occasion it was for the son to return. The whole community would be invited. A public celebration would ensue, freely and openly.
What is the parallel for us? It's that God has blessed us with irrational generosity.
Ephesians 1:3 (NIV) says,"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
Ephesians 2:4-7 (NIV) tells us,"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV) says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
The generosity of the father melted the rebellious heart of the son. It’s this grace that changes us, fills us with joy, humbles us, and causes us to live lives of abundance, worship, gratitude, and thankfulness.
Another gesture of absolute ingratitude.
Luke 15:25-32 (NIV) continues,"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!''My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
The irony is that the son with the closest proximity to the father, was furthest from him. Notice that he was too wrapped up, "in the field" to participate in moment of grace. There is a party and he asked what was going on.Notice his anger. He couldn’t reconcile the father’s grace with the moral outrage he felt toward his brother. "He deserves death! How canmy father spare his life?" Notice his blatant disrespect for his father, not greeting him properly. Notice his preoccupation with rights and entitlements. "Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you... never disobeyed... you never gave me even a young goat?" Notice how he distances himself from his brother. "This son of yours..." Notice how he missed the abundance of the father. The father has to tell him, "everything I have is yours." Notice how he has lost kingdom perspective. The father tells him, "your brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
Notice his failure to acknowledge his own sin and need for grace. He is like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 (NIV). "The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "
It's agreat mystery to me how those closest to the Father can be so calloused, so unforgiving, so angry, so disrespectful, so preoccupied with rights and entitlements, so indifferent to others, so blind to the father’s abundance, and so disconnected with the utter depravity of those without Christ.
It all comes down to grace.
Are you running from it, withholding it from others, or embracing it? Are you a joy-filled person who is humbled by God’s grace and who celebrates God’s mercy through a lifestyle of prayer, worship, and thanksgiving?