WEBVTT 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:05.400 This is your daily reminder. God has not run 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.199 out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.160 to the New Mercies Podcast. Hey, welcome to the 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.939 podcast today. It's February the 11th, and today's 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:18.600 reading is in Luke 15. Yesterday we read in Titus 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.019 chapter 3, specifically... what God had kind 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:25.079 of leaned into me to talk about and to experience 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.879 out of the scripture was found in Titus 3, 3 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:31.500 -5. We were foolish. We were disobedient. We 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.299 were led astray. But when the goodness and the 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:36.460 loving kindness of God showed up, he saved us, 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:39.460 right? It's awesome. It's a brilliant, beautiful 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:43.719 concept for believers. So today in Luke 15, I 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:46.479 think it puts some legs to that concept. We don't 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:48.500 just see it as a concept anymore. We now experience 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:51.450 what it looks like. This is how we are saved, 00:00:51.509 --> 00:00:54.729 how God came to us, how he rescued us. You know, 00:00:54.729 --> 00:00:57.850 we've talked before on here. It is all God's 00:00:57.850 --> 00:01:01.149 work, not ours. We didn't do anything to receive 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:03.429 this salvation. We just trusted in him who did 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:06.549 it all. So Luke 15, the setting, just to kind 00:01:06.549 --> 00:01:08.569 of let you see it a little bit, a whole chapter. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:09.930 I encourage you to read the whole chapter today. 00:01:10.049 --> 00:01:11.989 I'm not going to read many verses out of this 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:15.010 text. It's three parables. Jesus teaching the 00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:18.209 parables. In fact, very famously, he teaches 00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:20.870 the parable of the prodigal son or the lost son 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:24.090 in this text at the end. A lot of evangelistic 00:01:24.090 --> 00:01:28.349 emphasis services have to do do with this prodigal 00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:30.409 son. You've heard the story a lot, probably. 00:01:30.750 --> 00:01:32.829 But I want to look at the three parables as a 00:01:32.829 --> 00:01:35.790 whole and see maybe some themes throughout it 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:38.290 that have been standing out to me that I think 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:42.310 can help us all. And so Jesus is in this text. 00:01:42.609 --> 00:01:44.650 I'm going to read the first. verse or two here 00:01:44.650 --> 00:01:47.590 for you so that you can see the background of 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:53.129 what's about to happen. The Bible says, Jesus 00:01:53.129 --> 00:02:01.269 is facing a religious crowd, very frustrating 00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:05.170 crowd. They are frustrated at him that he is 00:02:05.170 --> 00:02:07.870 eating with sinners and tax collectors. How could 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.310 he go to the lowest of the low? What is he doing? 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:13.150 Thank goodness he comes to the lowest of the 00:02:13.150 --> 00:02:15.189 low. the low. But that's the background. Jesus 00:02:15.189 --> 00:02:18.189 then begins to teach. He teaches three small 00:02:18.189 --> 00:02:22.069 parables, little stories that convey a message. 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:24.389 A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly 00:02:24.389 --> 00:02:26.330 message, right? That's what I've been told my 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:28.409 whole life. And sometimes we get a little bit 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:30.289 lost in some of that, but I want to help us to 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:32.889 see just exactly what's going on. There's a tension 00:02:32.889 --> 00:02:35.969 in the room, in the area where the religious 00:02:35.969 --> 00:02:38.469 people are saying, what is he doing? He's doing 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:41.250 it wrong. He's not doing it the right way. They 00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:43.270 have in their mind a preconceived understanding 00:02:43.270 --> 00:02:46.689 of what religion needs to look like and what 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:51.009 God wants from us. Jesus then flips the script. 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:54.980 He first talks about the lost sheep. Beautiful 00:02:54.980 --> 00:02:57.139 story, right? We've heard before, he leaves the 00:02:57.139 --> 00:02:59.460 99 for the 1. That's where this is found in Luke 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:03.280 15, verses 3 through 7. You can read that parable 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.479 about the lost sheep. It's not a story of careless 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:09.460 sheep, all right? So I just want to go ahead 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:10.960 and make sure we understand this. When we read 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:12.719 the scripture, we need to make sure we have it 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.759 in the right lens. This lens is not about a careless 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.400 sheep. It's about an intentional shepherd. That's 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.139 what this parable is about. We will begin to 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.460 see a theme as we go through these parables today 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:26.319 that is absolutely beautiful and incredible. 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:30.680 One sheep wanders off, 99 stay put. So what does 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:34.360 the shepherd do? He leaves the 99 to pursue the 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:39.000 one. That's what this shepherd does. This offends 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.919 all religious math. Right? If I'm a Pharisee 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:44.819 sitting there, I'm thinking, well, that sounds 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:47.080 like a terrible shepherd. He's going to leave 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:52.439 the bulk of his sheep and his reason that he's 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:53.860 got a job, he's going to leave all of them to 00:03:53.860 --> 00:03:56.120 find the one? That doesn't seem like it makes 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.900 much sense. Jesus, though, is not trying to teach 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:04.039 efficiency. He's trying to teach priority. He's 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:08.379 trying to teach and explain exactly what's top 00:04:08.379 --> 00:04:12.960 priority. to the intentional shepherd. He goes 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:17.240 after the one until he finds it. He goes after 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:18.800 it until he finds it. What does he do whenever 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.459 he finds it? He does not lecture it. He doesn't 00:04:22.459 --> 00:04:26.160 put the sheep on probation. He doesn't scold 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.199 the sheep. No, listen to what he does. He throws 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:34.100 the sheep on his shoulders and he puts it on 00:04:34.100 --> 00:04:37.680 his shoulders. The weight of the sheep is now 00:04:38.379 --> 00:04:41.120 on the strength of his shoulders. I've never 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:43.600 thought about that before. I never thought about 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.000 how heavy the sheep was, what that sheep was 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:51.819 carrying. Can you imagine that Jesus, the intentional 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.790 shepherd, goes after us that's wandered? Maybe 00:04:54.790 --> 00:04:57.689 you've wandered off away from the faith. Maybe 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:01.230 you've wandered off away from the Christian faith 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:03.269 and community. Maybe you've wandered off from 00:05:03.269 --> 00:05:04.810 the church. Maybe you've wandered off. Here's 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:07.009 the deal. What I've seen, this is going after 00:05:07.009 --> 00:05:09.230 the lost, but I want us to understand this shepherd 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:11.910 is intentional. And once he finds that sheep, 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:14.589 he goes after it until he finds it. Then he says, 00:05:14.649 --> 00:05:17.569 I will now carry the weight of your wandering. 00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:21.009 Never thought about that before. Today, that's 00:05:21.009 --> 00:05:23.129 what jumped out at me. He's carrying the weight 00:05:23.129 --> 00:05:26.329 of my wandering on his shoulders. His shoulders 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:29.470 are strong enough. He comes back. And then there's 00:05:29.470 --> 00:05:32.250 this wild thing that Jesus throws in here in 00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:35.810 this teaching. He says there will be more joy 00:05:35.810 --> 00:05:41.730 in heaven over one sinner who repents. I'm telling 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:43.889 you, this is when the Pharisees had to be going 00:05:43.889 --> 00:05:45.959 crazy. What are you talking about? You know what's 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.060 happening in heaven? When a sinner repents, when 00:05:48.060 --> 00:05:50.000 a sinner says, I want to turn to God, I want 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.079 to let the loving shepherd put me on his shoulders 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.720 and carry me home, the heaven is rejoicing. There 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.620 is a celebration happening in heaven. It's a 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:05.199 party that goes on. Luke 15 is awesome. Jesus 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:06.839 just teaches, and he's one after the other. The 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:09.519 next parable he says is a parable of a lost coin. 00:06:10.029 --> 00:06:12.850 I look at this text in Luke chapter 15, verses 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.910 8 through 10. He's talking about a coin is lost. 00:06:16.370 --> 00:06:17.990 Here's what I want to make sure that we understand. 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:22.889 This lost thing is not wandering. A coin doesn't 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:28.209 wander off. It's helpless. It's not able to ever 00:06:28.209 --> 00:06:32.050 wander back, right? It is a helpless item. A 00:06:32.050 --> 00:06:35.129 coin doesn't cry out. A coin doesn't ever find 00:06:35.129 --> 00:06:38.089 its way home. So what does the woman do in the 00:06:38.089 --> 00:06:41.069 parable? She lights a lamp. She sweeps the house 00:06:41.069 --> 00:06:45.050 and she searches carefully. And when she, it's 00:06:45.050 --> 00:06:49.350 a picture of relentless grace. I love the thought 00:06:49.350 --> 00:06:51.769 of relentless grace. Grace that says, I'm going 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:54.050 to turn over everything I have to turn over in 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:57.829 order to get you back. That's what I'm going 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:01.810 to do. The emphasis of these parables shift, 00:07:02.069 --> 00:07:05.009 right? You've got a sheep. that's lost by wandering. 00:07:05.110 --> 00:07:08.569 You've got a coin that's lost by inability. Either 00:07:08.569 --> 00:07:11.829 way, who's the one that does the finding? It's 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.889 God. It's God that does the finding. When you 00:07:14.889 --> 00:07:17.050 wander off, thank goodness he comes and finds 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:19.790 us because we never wander back. Whenever we 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:23.689 are a lost coin, we're a picture of this. We're 00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:27.069 not able to get back. We've gone away. Because 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:30.920 of our sinful nature. We're not being drawn back 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:33.779 to God unless he is the one doing the drawing. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.839 We're never like, you know what, I think I need 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.160 to go find Jesus. That's never our natural instinct. 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:41.160 If that thought ever comes into our mind, it's 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:43.480 because God put it there. He's the one that does 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.779 the finding. What happens after the coin is found? 00:07:47.100 --> 00:07:50.740 Again, another celebration. He says again, Jesus 00:07:50.740 --> 00:07:53.939 repeats it. His repetition here is there's joy 00:07:53.939 --> 00:07:58.519 before the angels of God over one sinner who 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:02.259 repents. I mean, joy, there is delight in heaven 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:05.800 whenever one sinner is repentant and comes back 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.459 to Jesus. There's absolute joy. And then, of 00:08:09.459 --> 00:08:11.639 course, the third parable in this, the parable 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:14.600 of the prodigal son, as we've heard, or the lost 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:19.879 son. There's a man who had two sons, right? One 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:22.980 son was the younger son who was rebellious. He 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:26.759 had open rebellion. I like to think of this as, 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.399 and I wrote this down today to make sure that 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:31.860 we understood kind of the heaviness and the weight 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:37.440 of this. This parable pulls the blood from theology. 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.740 It makes this theological understanding of God 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:43.860 very, very real and very connected to us. It 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:48.700 takes this abstract truth. of God's pursuit of 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:51.740 us and God's care for us and God's overwhelming 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:55.840 grace for us, and it makes it painfully real. 00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:58.799 We can all think about a son or a daughter or 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.179 someone in a family that's connected to us. This 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:05.240 isn't just a sheep. A sheep is basically a piece 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.860 of property, right? It's not a coin that if we 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:12.080 never find again, oh well. Now he goes into the 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.559 family. the family unit. And he says, this is 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.360 where it gets very, very real. It's personally 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:22.100 costly. It's not just a coin or monetary value. 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:24.860 Now it's relational value. It's every value you 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:30.039 can imagine in the family. And it's undeniably 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.500 alive, right? This is a parable that now is going 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:34.600 to the very heart of where we are and who we 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:38.039 are. This is theology that's lived, not just 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:41.679 learned. right? Sometimes I'm too dumb to learn 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.879 enough theology, theology being the study of 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.240 God, knowing who he is. Sometimes I'm too dumb 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.100 to learn it all, so sometimes he makes me live 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.559 it all, right? That's kind of how I seem to experience 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:53.059 God in ways that I have to go through things 00:09:53.059 --> 00:09:56.000 sometimes. This is Jesus explaining a story that 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.620 makes you feel it, right? This son, young son, 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:01.820 is in rebellion. He didn't want the father. He 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:04.789 wanted the father's stuff. He goes to him, hey, 00:10:04.870 --> 00:10:06.830 I want my inheritance now, early. I don't want 00:10:06.830 --> 00:10:09.570 you. I want what you can give me. That's what 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.169 I want. He leaves. He wastes everything, and 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:15.509 he hits rock bottom. You know the story well. 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:17.149 I hope and pray you read it again today. Read 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:19.149 it with fresh eyes. Listen to it with fresh ears. 00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:22.370 He comes home, and on his way home, he's rehearsing 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:25.110 a speech in his head. He's rehearsing a speech. 00:10:25.169 --> 00:10:27.269 He's like, I'm not worthy. Make me a servant. 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:30.009 I'm not worthy. I've sinned against you. Just 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:31.830 make me a servant in your home. I don't have 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:33.769 to be your son anymore. I get it. What I did 00:10:33.769 --> 00:10:36.070 was wrong. I'm brokenhearted over it. I can imagine 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:38.490 the boy with tear -filled eyes as he's walking 00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:41.350 up, afraid, fearful, not knowing what's going 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:45.289 to happen. And the father doesn't let him get 00:10:45.289 --> 00:10:47.769 the speech out. It says when the father sees 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:52.450 him, he runs. He embraces him and he kisses him 00:10:52.450 --> 00:10:55.789 before the son even speaks a word. I want you 00:10:55.789 --> 00:10:58.230 to think about that. The father in this time 00:10:58.230 --> 00:11:03.730 running is a very undignified thing. They weren't 00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:06.350 going to do that type of thing. He embraces him 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:09.629 before he's clean. I want you to think about 00:11:09.629 --> 00:11:13.429 it. Let that one soak in. Again, I've read this 00:11:13.429 --> 00:11:18.169 story hundreds of times. He embraced him before 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:23.889 he was clean. Then he kisses him before he even 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:27.590 confesses. That's the way the story is laid out. 00:11:28.049 --> 00:11:31.309 The father has been looking for his son. He's 00:11:31.309 --> 00:11:35.450 waiting, looking down the road every day. That's 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:39.090 how much he loves us. He says, when you come 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:42.450 back, whenever you come back to me, I'm going 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:44.970 to be waiting. And I'm not going to let you give 00:11:44.970 --> 00:11:48.409 me your rehearsed speech before I run to you. 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.879 before I hug you and before I kiss you and bring 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.960 you in. The son then begins to give his confession. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:01.039 He says, I've sinned against you. The dad's now 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.059 covered in whatever the son was covered in because 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:08.080 he's embraced him. He's tasted on his cheek what 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.019 the world tastes like in that moment. The father 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:14.139 has now absorbed this. The son says, I've sinned 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:16.679 against you. I'm so sorry. And the father just 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:19.039 restores him. He says, here's the robe. Here's 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:22.519 the ring. Here's the shoes. Let's put you together. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.899 And then he says, we're going to celebrate. You 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:26.500 know, in each of these parables, there's a celebration. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:31.879 We think about heaven and we think about, I'm 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.000 not even sure what we think about in terms of 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:36.779 what's going on in heaven right now. Let me tell 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:40.279 you, if you want heaven to rejoice, lead somebody 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:42.899 to Christ. If you want heaven to rejoice, this 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:45.659 is what Jesus says. There is more rejoicing in 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:48.659 heaven when someone turns their life back to 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:51.620 Jesus. When somebody says yes to Jesus, to the 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.960 gift of salvation, there is that much joy that 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:57.100 takes place. And we're over here saying, well, 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:59.399 we're fine if heaven's not partying. I want heaven 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:02.110 to be a party. I want to be part of the reason 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:04.610 heaven is partying, right? I want to be the one 00:13:04.610 --> 00:13:06.610 leading people to Christ, knowing as soon as 00:13:06.610 --> 00:13:09.110 I do, those that have gone before, those angels 00:13:09.110 --> 00:13:11.730 that are around his throne are celebrating and 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:14.070 saying another one has given their heart and 00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:17.289 their life to this Jesus that's worthy of all 00:13:17.289 --> 00:13:19.529 of it. That's what I want to see. That's what 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:22.690 I want to hear. I look through the scripture 00:13:22.690 --> 00:13:24.470 in the prodigal son, and I think there wasn't 00:13:24.470 --> 00:13:26.769 a partial restoration. It was full restoration. 00:13:26.889 --> 00:13:30.399 It was full sonship that was given to him. But 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.980 the story doesn't end there. Luke 15 keeps going. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.639 There's another brother, the older brother. He's 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.700 been obedient. He's been moral. He's been hardworking. 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:45.299 He's also completely lost. Completely lost. He 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:47.399 doesn't want the father either. He wants control. 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:50.519 That's what he wants. He wants to be the master 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.440 of his own life. That's what the older brother 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.980 wants. He wants credit. He's angry at grace. 00:13:58.079 --> 00:14:01.679 He's offended by mercy. He's uncomfortable with 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.460 the celebration. Read it for yourself. Go look 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:06.879 it up. That's what happens with the older brother, 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:10.120 the one who's been there with the father the 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:16.100 whole time. Father goes out to him too. You know, 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:19.960 thinking this through, this father is a good 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:24.500 father. He says, even though you're... frustrated 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.299 at the mercy that I'm showing your brother, even 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:30.820 though you're uncontrollable and out of your 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:32.779 mind about this celebration that we're throwing 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:35.980 for him, I want you to know you've been here 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:38.480 this whole time and you still don't want to be 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.139 around me? You still don't want to celebrate 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:44.000 what's gone on? Heaven is celebrating right now. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.559 Why would you not celebrate? Are you not a citizen 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:51.500 of heaven? Father goes out to him with the same 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:54.580 love. The same invitation, the same open arms, 00:14:54.759 --> 00:15:01.559 and yet Luke 15 ends with no resolution. I don't 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:04.600 know why the story doesn't resolve. I did think 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.620 today, what if it doesn't resolve because Jesus 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:10.179 is still asking the question to all the listeners, 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:14.399 which son are you? Are you the one that came 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.360 home, or are you the one that doesn't want anything 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.940 to do with it, doesn't want anything to do with 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:25.320 the Father? Which son are you? You know, as I 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.220 look through this text and I think about God's 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.500 character in these three parables, I've looked 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:36.279 and God's the one that seeks the lost. God rejoices 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:41.080 over repentance. He restores without shame and 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:46.580 he welcomes the undeserving. He does all of that. 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:49.179 It's not reluctantly. He doesn't do it casually 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:54.600 or cautiously. He is good in all of his nature. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.840 The sheep that he's put on his shoulder, the 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.559 coin that he finds and celebrates, the son that 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:03.460 returns home, the son that's there that still 00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:05.179 doesn't want any part of it, and he still offers 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:11.019 and extends this grace. You know, Luke 15 is 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:16.379 not about getting our act together. Luke 15 is 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:19.600 about what kind of father you will be coming 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.750 home to. He's good. He's good. But here's the 00:16:24.750 --> 00:16:28.149 deal. If you are living a life away from him 00:16:28.149 --> 00:16:31.750 at the moment, I want to encourage you to turn 00:16:31.750 --> 00:16:34.649 and come home because the Father is already on 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:38.090 the road. He's already on his way to get you. 00:16:38.129 --> 00:16:43.490 If you're wondering, he pursues. If you are helpless, 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:50.759 he searches. If you are ashamed, he runs. And 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:55.139 if you are resentful, he comes outside for you 00:16:55.139 --> 00:17:00.139 too. He is always on the move. Luke 15 is not 00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:04.160 about you cleaning up your life. It's about you 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.400 realizing how great this father is.