This week we are addressing the distorted view of God as our
parents supersized. Yesterday, we discovered that the view of God as our
parents supersized is the most understandable, and in many ways the most
impactful, of all of the distorted views of God that we have discussed. The
role a parent plays in shaping a child’s view of God is real and unavoidable.
Our parents are the first and foremost figures in our lives that shape and mold
virtually every aspect of our lives.
And for many of us, this distorted view of God as our
parents supersized is the reason that we want nothing to do with God. However,
when we see God as our parents supersized, we end up with a distorted view of
God that will keep us from knowing and experiencing the true father/mother
heart of God. And the reason why this is the case is due to the fact that God
is not a reflection of our earthly fathers. Instead God is the perfection of
our earthly fathers.
We see this reality revealed in a section of an account of
Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. And
it is in this section of this account of Jesus life that we discover a timeless
and true view of God that can help us rid ourselves of the distorted view of
God as our parents supersized and replace it with an accurate view of God that
will enable us to experience a growing relationship with God. So let’s jump
into this section of the gospel of Luke together, beginning in Luke 15:11-13:
And He
said, "A man had two sons. "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. "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.
Now to fully understand
what is happening here, we first need to understand the context in which we are
jumping into this section of the gospel of Luke. As Jesus was traveling
toward the city of Jerusalem, large crowds were accompanying Him. And part of
these large crowds consisted of tax collectors and sinners. These tax collectors and
sinners were people who did not measure up to moral standards of the day in a
way that resulted in them being viewed as outsiders. These were people who were
far from God and who were viewed as outsiders by others.
However, as the
self-righteous religious people of Jesus day observed Jesus engaging these
outsiders who were far from God, they began to grumble and complain out loud.
Because that is what self righteous religious people do. Self righteous
religious people unlovingly judge others as being outsiders, while considering
themselves to be insiders who are better than anyone else.
Jesus responded to the
grumbling and complaining of these self righteous religious people by telling a
series of parables. Now a parable is an earthly story that reveals a deeper
spiritual truth. In this parable, Jesus explains that there was a father who
had two sons.
Now when Jesus states
that the younger son said to his father "Father, give me the share of the
estate that falls to me", here is what the younger son was really saying
to his father: Father, I wish you were dead so that I would not have to deal
with you. But since you are not dead, give me what I should get from you once
you are dead.” You see, the younger son did not want a relationship with his
father; he just wanted what he could get from his father.
Jesus then explained
that the father responded to his sons request by granting his request. The
father divided up his estate between his older and the younger sons. Now here
is a question to consider: If your child talked that way to you, would you have
given him what he asked for? No, you might have given him something else, but
you wouldn't have given him an inheritance from you, would you?
After all, your child
does not want a relationship with you, he just wants something from you. To
give your child an inheritance after saying such a thing would seem foolish,
wouldn't it? You would have to be incredibly gracious and forgiving to do such
a thing, wouldn't you? Jesus then explained that after receiving his share of
the inheritance, the youngest son gathered his inheritance and "went on a
journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose
living.”
Now, if Jesus was
telling this parable today, this parable might have sounded something like
this: the younger son took all that he received from his father and moved to
Vegas. And once in Vegas, the younger son hit all the strip clubs and crap
tables. The younger son called all the numbers that he got from the flyers that
they hand out on the strip and had some fun. The younger son got his groove on
at all the local clubs."
In other words, the
younger son did everything that his father had taught him not to do. The
younger son went as far away from his father as he could and lived a life that
was as far from his father's lifestyle as he could. We see what happens next in
verse 14-16:
"Now when he had spent everything, a
severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
"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. "And he would have gladly
filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was
giving anything to him.
Now, if Jesus was
telling this parable today, these verses might have sounded something like
this: “After the younger son spent all the money that he had received from his
father's inheritance, there was a severe economic downturn. And as a result of
the severe economic downturn, the younger son ended up broke and without a job.
As a matter of fact, things became so bad that the only job that the younger
son could get was to work for a local casino cleaning out their garbage
dumpsters with a toothbrush. And while he was so hungry that he wanted to eat
all of the food that had been thrown into the dumpster, his bosses would not
allow him to eat the food that had been thrown into the dumpster. So every day
the younger son spent his day cleaning out nasty casino dumpsters with a
toothbrush, while desperately wanting to eat the food that others had thrown
away as being no good to eat."
Now, here is a question to consider: Could it
get any worse for the younger son? You have burned your relational bridges with
your family. You are broke and without a job. You have no friends. You are lost
and alone. You have hit rock bottom. If you were the younger brother, what
would you do? What could you do? Maybe you can relate to the younger brother.
Maybe you feel like you have hit rock bottom. We see what the younger brother
did in verse 17-19:
"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! '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."'
Jesus explained that, at
rock bottom, the younger son had a V-8 moment and came to his senses. And as he
came to his senses, the younger son came to a conclusion and a decision. The
younger son came to the conclusion that his father's servants had it much
better off than he had it off. The younger son came to the conclusion that his
father treated his servants in a way that was way better off than he was being
treated.
And as a result of
coming to that conclusion, the younger son made the decision to return to his
father and ask to be hired on as one of his servants. The younger son made the
decision to own his selfishness and rebellion against his father in hopes that
his father would take him in as a servant instead of a son. You see, the son
came to the conclusion that he did not deserve to be in a relationship with his
father as a result of how he had treated his father. So the son made the
decision to confess his selfishness and rebellion to his father in hopes that
that his father would hire him and provide for him as a slave.
And with that the son
prepared and practiced the speech that he would give to his father and headed
off to meet his father. Friday, we will see how the father responded to the
son...
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