September 30, 2009

"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." Luke 15:22-24

I have enjoyed camping out in Luke 15 for this entire month. Thanks for joining me in this journey. Hopefully God has touched your heart a time or two.

At a men's retreat where I spoke last week-end I summarized Luke 15 this way: The Lost, The Lord, and Lavish Love. It seems like that says it pretty well. Those three themes are definitely illustrated through the parables.

Over the past few days I have been focusing on the lavish love of the father that was showered on the wayward son.

Lavish love was expressed through the robe of righteousness and the ring of authority.

Thirdly, lavish love was expressed through a pair of sandals. Sandals are the symbol of sonship, acceptance and freedom. Slaves and servants didn't wear sandals, sons did. Coming back with hopes of being hired as a servant, his sonship was restored. Hoping not to be censored he was instead, celebrated!

Lavish love extravagantly given! That is the snapshot of our Father that Jesus showed to the religious leaders who challenged Him.

It sure has helped me to stare at that snapshot and meditate on it! I hope it has encouraged you as well.

As much of a blessing that is, I want to focus on one more aspect of lavish love - the feast!

The ultimate purpose of the robe, the ring and the sandals was to allow the son to attend the feast in his honor!

When you receive the lavish love of the Father, there is a party held in your honor! And some day, there will be a great feast in the honor of the Father's Son, and those with the robe, the ring and the sandals get to attend!

Are you ready for the feast?

September 29, 2009

"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." Luke 15:22-24

Receiving the lavish love of the Father is an amazing thing!

The wayward son had abused the love of his father before when he took the money and ran. Then he misused the money by wasting it on selfish pleasures. Now he was broke and broken. He was hoping that out of the lavish love there might be a little leftover love.

Shuffling wearily up the dusty road just before dusk, he heard a sound. Could that be footsteps? Looking up he saw someone coming at him in a full sprint. He wasn't sure if he should run away from this fast approaching stranger or run toward him. The confusion was short-lived as he soon realized it was his father! His father was running to him! And the next thing he knew he was firmly locked in the embrace of his father!

"Bring the robe!" the father shouted. The servant obeyed and it was draped around his shoulders covering his filthy stained clothes.

"The ring!" demanded the father. "I need the ring! Where is that ring?!"

A servant arrived carrying a silk bag. "The ring, my master!"

Grabbing the ring and pulling it from the bag, the father reached with his other hand to clutch the hand of his son. "Here! Take the ring! I place the ring on your finger and give you authority to transact business in my name!"

You heard that right! The father in his lavish love restored to the son the very same authority he had just misused. Rather than put him on probation or take him as a hired hand, the father restored his full standing as a son! How extravagant! What lavish love!

The ring contained the family seal. When a deal was struck in the interest of the family business, a contract was drawn up, folded and then sealed with wax. Then the family crest was pressed into the wax via the ring and the "deal was sealed".

Have you ever known love like that? Have you been blessed by lavish love? Have you ever completely blown it and felt so ashamed - and then been COMPLETELY restored no questions asked? Me neither.

Our Father has lavish love like that. He is extravagant! His love is unconditional and He longs to bestow it on you! When you take a few weary repentant steps toward Him He runs to you! And he comes carrying a robe and a ring!

September 28, 2009

"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." Luke 15:22-24

What do we get when we receive the lavish love of the Father? That is, in addition to the lavish love!

The first thing is the robe!

When the wayward son returned, the father called for the robe.

This son had been feeding pigs. In fact, more recently, he had been wrestling the pigs for food. I don't know if you have ever been near a pig pen, but it is not a place where you want to hang out. Growing up in hog country, I am very familiar with the smell of a hog farm. It is a very distinctive smell - or should I say diSTINK-TIVE? I would wonder if the father may have smelled the son coming before he saw him coming!

Needless to say, the son was ready for a change of clothes!

In addition to that, let's look at the significance of the robe.

Throughout Scripture, the robe is a symbol of righteousness. Righteousness means that we are made right with God. Being made right with God means that we are restored to right standing before God. It denotes a transformation in our moral nature. It shows that the guilt from our sins has been removed and the penalty of our sins have been satisfied.

For the son, this meant that he was better after he returned than he was before he ran away! Because of the lavish love of the father his post-pig days were going to be better than his pre-pig days!

Even better, the robe meant that the son would be admitted to the party. Trust me, you don't want to party with a person who comes straight from a pig pen. Talk about a party pooper, well........

Since the party was in his honor, it is good that he got to go in!

When you and I were connected to the lavish love of the Father, we got a robe! We were given the righteousness of Christ that cleansed us from the filth and stench of our sins and prepared us for the party! The robe enabled us to be in a right relationship with the Father and enjoy more of His lavish love! And as long as we have the robe, we have the connectionn with the Father and there will be plenty of parties to follow!

Have you put on the robe of righteousness? Are you rightly connected with the lavish love? Will you be prepared for the party?

September 27, 2009

"Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:1-2

So, do you?

Will you?

Do you have a plan?

Every believer should! So should every church!

What am I talking about?

I am talking about having a strategy and a plan for "welcoming sinners and eating with them"?

What are you doing to connect with lost people?

What is your church doing to make connect lost people with your church?

Are you building bridges to connect lost people to the lavish love of God or are you erecting barriers?

Two of the guys who have done it the best, like Jesus, have been subjected to severe criticism. Bill Hybels and Rick Warren have built churches with a ministry strategy to welcome sinners and connect them with the lavish love of God.

Over the past quarter of a century Willow Creek and Saddleback Churches have reached tens of thousands converts, developed tens of thousands of disciples, seen thousands called into ministry, sent millions of dollars to foreign missions and planted hundreds of healthy, growing local churches around the world.

Despite those massive footprints in Christian history, they have been accused of compromising and being shallow and selling out in order to get numbers. Most of the criticism comes from people who resemble the Pharisees and religious leaders, small minded people leading small ministries. They have managed to make "seeker sensitive" into a negative concept and built fellowships that are "seeker resistant".

As I have been camping out in Luke 15 this month, I have been reminded of how passionate Jesus is for reaching lost people. He came to show us how to connect lost people with the lavish love of the Father. That sounds a little "seeker sensitive" to me.

Given the choice of building a "holy huddle" populated by the saved, sancitified and satisfied, I'll take the criticism for daring to "welcome sinners". I'll take the heat from narrow-minded traditionalists who can't seperate the methods from the message.

I like the attitude of a young pastor friend of mine who once declared, "I'll do anything short of sin to reach lost people."

If the mindset of the Pharisees and religious leaders had prevailed and if Jesus had bowed to their criticism, I would still be "eating with sinners" - as a sinner.

What are you doing to "welcome sinners"? How sensitive are you to the lostness of people who haven't been connected with the lavish love of the Father? Are you building bridges or barriers?

As for me, at the Judgment I'll hope to stand in the line somewhere behind Bill and Rick - hopefully surrounded by a bunch of former sinners who were reached through my "seeker sensitivity".

September 26, 2009

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate." Luke 15:23

Do you have a "fattened calf"?

Does your church have one?

Not sure?

When I talk about the "fattened calf" I am talking about expectations. You could call it faith.

Where did this fattened calf come from and how long does it take to fatten it up?

I am talking about preparations.

Was it a coincidence that there happened to be a fattened calf ready for the impromptu feast?

Was it actually an impromptu feast? Or was it planned?

The father was expecting the son to come home so he prepared for his arrival.

Are you expecting to see your unsaved friends come to Christ? What preparations are you making? Are you fattening up the calf? Will you be ready to celebrate?

What about your church? What are you doing to prepare for new converts? Will you be prepared to welcome them? Are you ready to celebrate?

Churches that expect to reach lost people show it by fattening up the calf. They have a designated way of celebrating lost sons who return.

For FredWes it is a lighted cross. What will it be for you? What are you expecting? Will you be ready to welcome and celebrate?

September 25, 2009

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate." Luke 15:23

Just outside of Greensboro, NC is an amazing place called "Celebration Station". It is like Funland, Chucky Cheese, and Dave & Busters all rolled up into one! This place is SO good that adults beg their kids to go!

I always liked that name - "Celebration Station". That has a nice sound. It rolls off the tongue doesn't it? When I first heard it I thought, "That would be a great name for a church because that is what a local church is designed to be - a celebration station!

What do I mean by that? Where do I get that?

From Luke 15 where we see Jesus showing us the heart of God to seek lost sinners and to celebrate when they are found.

So, how do we turn our church into a celebration station?

Learn to see with Jesus vision.

We have televison. The military has night vision. Superman has x-ray vision. But Jesus has people vision!

When you look at a crowd you notice people who are about your age or people who are attractive or people who are stylish or people you know. When Jesus looks at a crowd He sees lost people, hurting people, and needy people. That's Jesus vision.

One of the reasons I ask people to put together a list of lost people and begin praying for them is that it helps give us Jesus vision. When you begin interceeding for lost people it slowing changes your focus. The more you pray for lost people and watch for chances to witness the more you develop Jesus vision.

Another way to develop Jesus vision is to go on a short-term mission trip. When you get into another setting or another culture and see the need and feel the spiritual darkness and become overwhelmed by the need - you will never see the world the same again.

Jesus vision helps us become a celebration station.

The second thing is to learn Jesus values. Jesus values lost people. He is the shepherd searching for the one lost sheep while He leaves the 99. He is the woman frantically looking for the lost coin. He is the father anxiously hoping and watching for the return of his runaway son.

In one of my previous messages I pointed out the truth that we search for what we value. That can not be denied! The opposite is true. We betray our misplaced values when we fail to seek lost people.

That is another result of daily praying for the lost people you value most. It helps you develop Jesus value. And that is all you need to do. You don't have to search for strangers. You don't have to value the whole world, but if you will seek to reach those who mean the most to you - that is Jesus value!

Thirdly, for the church to become a celebration station you need to learn to celebrate with Jesus victory! That is what we celebrate? A person whom we loved and sought and prayed for was lost and now is found! What else is there? An eternal destiny has been changed! When a church learns to celebrate what Heaven celebrates, the dynamic of that fellowship changes.

My passion and my prayer is for FredWes to become a celebration station! Will you join us? Will you ask God to you develop Jesus vision, and get Jesus values so we can celebrate Jesus victories?

Who are you intereeding for today? What mission trip are you planning to take? What lost person are you befriending?

September 24, 2009

"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." Luke 15:20

I have never been a runner. I am not built for it, I am not good at it, and I don't like it. Good runners are timed with a watch. I was timed with a calendar. I once got lapped running the half-mile race. Don't tell anyone.

When I was in high school I ran cross country for one reason - I had to. It was a rule that our basketball coach made that stated if you wanted to try out for basketball you had to run cross country. Well, okay.......if I have to.

My goal for every cross country meet was not to finish last. As bad as I was at running there were always others who were worse. I counted on that.

Now, when it came to basketball or soccer, I could run all day. Maybe it was because you were running in spurts, or maybe it was because it wasn't about the running.

I respect people who love to run and are good at it. I don't understand them, but I admire them.

This morning I want to talk about my favorite runner and the most amazing run ever! What am I talking about? I am talking about the day God ran!

We have been camped out in Luke 15 this month. I hope you have been enjoying it. If not, you should enjoy this one!

The runaway son was making his way back home. He was disgraced. He was destitute. He was desparate and broken. He was hopeful that returning to the father hungry, honest and humble would count for something.

He crossed the county line and saw the hill on the horizon. Home was just a short distance on the other side of the hill. His face was down as he stared at the dusty road concentrating on his speech, "I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be your son....."

That's when he heard footsteps. Looking up he saw the cloud of dust and in front of that cloud was his father! His father was running to him - with outstretched arms! The runaway froze in his tracks still rehearsing the speech in his mind. He wasn't expecting this.

It was textbook tackling technique! Dick Butkus would have been proud (or Ray Lewis - sorry about the generation gap). The running father hit the runaway son and wrapped him up in a bear hug. When he hit the filthy son, there was a toxic cloud released - but it didn't matter. The runaway had returned! It was a sweet reunion!

Think about a God who would run to meet you! There is no other God like that! All the other gods make people run to them and they put down hurdles to make it harder. BUT OUR GOD RUNS!

Have you strayed from Him? Has your heart wandered or your mind drifted?

Whatever may have put distance between you and the Father, I have good new for you. If you will head toward home in humility, honesty and with a hungry heart. You can feel the embrace of a God Who runs!