The Prodigal Father- Part 5

Luke 15:20- But while we 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.

And so we finally come to the last of those verbs in verse 20- the father KISSED him.  What pray tell might be the antonym, the opposite of the verb "to kiss"?

Some of my young Ukrainian friends suggested the opposite of to KISS might be to HIT.  We tossed a couple of other ideas around and we settled on this.

The opposite of to KISS is to withhold affection or withhold love.

You see, in trying to come up with an antonym for the verb, to kiss- we sort of necessarily had to deal with the noun, kiss.  We decided that a kiss is in many ways a symbol.  It's symbolic of affection and love.  Or at least it should be.  In our world today a kiss is casual; it has lost so much of it's meaning, so much of it's value.

I told the kids a story from my college/post-college days.  I liked this girl named Karen.  We were pretty good friends my last year in college.  After college she was probably the first college friend I knew that bought a house!  Whenever I was in Starkville I would hang-out with her.  We didn't really "date", but we did spend quite a bit of time together and we talked on the phone a few nights a week.  So...there was this budding relationship.  One Saturday night after we had cooked dinner and listened to Mississippi State beat USM on the radio I got ready to go home and mustered the courage to ask her if I could kiss her goodnight. I was really proud of myself for being such a gentleman!

She said no.

I was crushed.  I thought there was something there.  And I was mad at her.  And I was mad at myself for even asking her in the first place.  I stewed and brewed until Sunday morning.  I don't have a clue what the Pastor preached about but the Holy Spirit spoke to me about my expectations and about the meaning of a kiss.  I wanted to kiss her because I felt like I deserved it and because it seemed like the next logical step in our "relationship".  But what the Spirit told me is that a kiss should be a reflection of love from the heart and not an exclamation point at the end of a date.  So I vowed from that day forward that if I ever kissed anyone again it would be an expression of love.

Now, it's interesting that Paul encourages the church to kiss one another with a holy kiss- a form of greeting-and of course a display of affection.  I'm sure he's not talking about a passionate, full-on, tongue-in-mouth kiss.  But what really caught my attention when looking at those passages is that on every occasion (I think) where Paul instructs the church to kiss one another, the verb is coupled with the adverb "holy", i.e., "greet one another with a holy kiss." When Peter wrote his epistle he instructed his readers to greet one another with a "kiss of love".

Do you see a trend?  If this greeting, this brotherly and sisterly expression of affection was intended to be "holy" and a display of "love", then how much moreso a romantic kiss?

And if a kiss is a holy thing, a sacred thing, a powerful expression of love and affection...then how much more tragic is the fact that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss?

So the father kissed his young son in an entirely appropriate, holy, with-love kind of way.  He didn't withhold love or affection.  He certainly didn't hit his child if that's an acceptable opposite of "to kiss".  And God our Father doesn't withhold his love and affection, either.  If you feel like that's what He's doing then I suggest one of two things is happening: 1) You are out of fellowship with Him; you've turned your back towards him and you don't know he's looking for you and full of compassion he's running after you, eager to embrace and show affection towards you.  Or 2) You're believing a lie from the pit of hell that says God is hateful and vindictive and is just looking for a time and place to crush your spirit.  That's not what this narrative tells us about God.

The Prodigal Father- Part 4

Luke 15:20- 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.

So today we're looking at the 4th incredible verb in that passage- here of course it says "threw" his arms around him, but in another version it simply says EMBRACED and that's what we'll go with today.

I asked my young Ukrainian friends what they thought the antonym for EMBRACED would be and they almost unanimously thought the opposite of EMBRACED is REJECTED.  There was at least one response of "pushed away" which is pretty good too and really, says the same thing.

How hard is rejection?  It's something we've all dealt with and I think it's one of the most powerful tools in the enemy's arsenal.  I've struggled with it all of my life.

While surfing the internet in preparation for this sermon I ran across an atheist website that presented a terribly negative commentary on this parable.  In the writer's opinion the whole story is "jacked up" because everything about it is "unfair" in his view.  The writer felt like God (represented by this father) is weak because he let the boy off the hook and the outcome is unfair to the older brother.  I'd like to ask that writer a series of "what if" questions.  What if it were your son?  What if it were you!?  Would you really be that hardcore and reject your own son (assumed dead but now discovered to be alive!!) and tell him, "nope, sorry son- you had your chance and you blew it.  Depart from me because I never knew you"?

Now that phrase reminds us of something, doesn't it?  In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus describes how, at the end of it all, many who call Him "Lord" will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but the ones who do the will of God will enter.  He goes on to say that they will attempt to justify their lives by saying, "hey, we called you Lord, we did great things in your name"...and He (Jesus) will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me".

Chilling words, indeed.  I think the key though is in Jesus' first phrase (at least in this version), that is, "I never knew you....".  Those who will enter are those who are known (and know) Jesus.  The ones in relationship with Him.  Get that? It's more about who we know than what we know (or did, or didn't do).

What the young son did with his inheritance; how he obtained it in the first place (which is pretty despicable if it really means that he's wishing his father were dead already as a lot of sermons suggest); the kind of disgusting life he led and how that reflected on the good family name............. all that is irrelevant because of the relationship!  It's the relationship, dummy!  This is the father's son.  That's all that matters.  That's why the father EMBRACED him instead of rejecting him.

While thinking about this verb, EMBRACED, I thought of another verse in Matthew- this one a little off the wall, maybe:

Matthew 23:37 says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

You are NOT rejected by God the Father.  He wants to embrace you.

In Rembrandt's famous painting, The Return of The Prodigal- notice the father's hands- one is larger and more masculine looking, the other smaller, softer and more receptive...suggesting both mothering and fathering.  Our Heavenly Father wants to gather you like a hen gathers her brood under her wing!

The Prodigal Father- Part 3

Luke 15:20- 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.

We're looking at these 5 awesome verbs tucked away in Luke 15:20- almost centrally located in the narrative commonly known as the story of Prodigal Son.  SAW.  FILLED (with Compassion).  RAN.  EMBRACED (threw his arms around him).  And, KISSED.

Again, when I was preaching this sermon (both times) I asked my audience of junior high and later, high school, Ukrainian kids to tell me what they thought the antonym for each of these verbs would be.

RAN is pretty simple I guess and all the answers I got were pretty interesting.  

They said the opposite of RAN (to his son) is to run away from his son.  Another good idea I thought was "hiding" and yet another was "to NOT be moved".  

The first idea is perhaps the most direct "opposite", ie, to run away from.  But that last idea resonated with me more I think.  The idea of "not being moved" is haunting.  I don't know about you but I want what I do and what I say- especially as it relates to "Kingdom work"-  to move people.  What if what you said and did failed to "move" people?  Would you feel like you have no voice?  Would you feel like what you do doesn't matter?

What would that young son had felt and thought if his return failed to move his father?  What if there was no restoration? No party? No acknowledgement whatsoever.  What if the father had treated his son as if he were "dead to me".  

But that's not what the father did and it's not what our Heavenly Father does.  He RUNS toward us. I had this random thought while preparing for this sermon: A lot of people don't get the concept of God looking for us much less RUNNING toward us.  Why is that?  Well, until we repent and turn towards God ourselves then we don't know what's going on behind us.  God is pursuing us but we're too busy running away from Him to notice.

Stop it.  Quit running.  Turn around and see who's running toward you!

I mentioned at the close of yesterdays blog that there's a link between being "FILLED (with Compassion) and RUN".  Here's the link: Running is related to being filled with compassion because compassion is not a passive idea, it's not a feeling.  When you walk by a hurting person and feel sorry for them but fail to do anything about their pain, that is a feeling I suppose but it's not really, truly, compassion.  Compassion is active.  Compassion moves you to action.  Being "FILLED with Compassion" demands movement.  That's why the father RAN.  

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention what you've probably heard in a 100 sermons about this story: Don't leave here without getting this absurd picture in your mind.  This, probably well-to-do father, probably up in his years, probably dressed in a long robe with perhaps a layer or two underneath....RUNS.  He lifts up the layers and maybe ties them about his waist or just holds them with one hand- flashing his old, pasty white legs to everyone...get the picture?  This is conduct unbecoming a respectable businessman/father.  This is undignified.  

And he apparently doesn't care what it looks like.  And we have the audacity sometimes to be ashamed of Him!

I wanted to use the song, "When God Ran", somewhere in my sermon but it's in English so I opted not to use it but I couldn't help but think of it when I was preparing this part of the sermon.

"When God Ran"

[Verse 1:]
Almighty God, The Great I Am, 
Immovable Rock, Omnipotent, Powerful,
Awesome Lord.
Victorious Warrior, Commanding King of Kings,
Mighty Conqueror and the only time,
The only time I ever saw him run,
Was when...

[Chorus:]
He ran to me,
He took me in His arms, 
Held my head to His chest,
Said "My son's come home again!"
Lifted my face, 
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in His voice He said
"Son, do you know I still love You?"

He caught me By surprise, When God ran...

[Verse 2:]
The day I left home,
I knew I'd broken His heart.
And I wondered then, if things could ever be the same.
Then one night,
I remembered His love for me.
And down that dusty road, ahead I could see,
It was the only time,
It was the only time I ever saw Him run.
And then...

[Repeat Chorus]

He caught me by surprise.
And He brought me to my knees.
When God ran... I saw Him run to me.

[Bridge:]
I was so ashamed, all alone, and so far away.
But now I know, that He's been waiting for this day...

I saw Him run to me,
He took me in His arms, 
Held my head to his chest,
Said "My son's come home again!"
Lifted my face, 
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in His voice 
I felt his love for me again.
He ran to me,
He took me in His arms, 
Held my head to his chest,
Said "My son's come home again!"
Lifted my face, 
Wiped the tears from my eyes,
With forgiveness in His voice 
He said "Son"
He called me Son.
He said "Son, do you know I still love You?"
He ran to me (When God Ran)
(I saw Him run to me) 
And then I ran to Him 
(When God ran)
When God ran

The Prodigal Father- Part 2

Luke 15:20: "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.

We're looking at those 5 verbs: SAW, FILLED, RAN, THREW (EMBRACED), and KISSED.

My sermon was supposed to address "the Father-Heart of God" and while perusing this familiar passage I was drawn to these 5 verbs and incidentally, to their antonyms.  I know a lot of people "project" onto God the Father their own ideas and experiences with their earthly Father so I asked my young Ukrainian audience what they thought was the antonym, the opposite of, "FILLED with Compassion".

Let me say first of all that it's difficult to separate this verb, FILLED, with the object, ie, filled with what?  Filled with Compassion.  So I'll address both of these words a little bit as I did when I preached and when I asked my audience for help.

My friends suggested that the opposite of FILLED is simply EMPTY.  The opposite of Compassion drew several responses but one was Hatred.  EMPTY HATRED.

Others were "no mercy" and simply "no compassion".  Someone else suggested the opposite of FILLED with Compassion is "Filled with Resentment" and that's certainly the vibe we get from the older brother in the narrative.  Good thing it was the Father that was on the lookout for the young son rather than the elder brother!!

A few weeks ago when I was preparing to preach a picture came to my mind that I think illustrates this idea of "NO Compassion".  It's a picture I've seen with my own eyes in Cambodia.  In fact, I've seen the TREE that is depicted in this picture.

In the mid to late 1970's Dictator Pol Pot nearly annihilated all but the agrarian working class in Cambodia.  Entire families were slaughtered.  An artist who survived the ordeal captured on canvas the atrocities that he saw with his own eyes.  One such picture is of soldiers killing babies by holding them by their feet and slamming them head first into a tree.  They weren't even worth using a bullet.

If that's not a picture of "NO Compassion", then I don't know what is.  That is NO Compassion.  Zero Compassion.  A Complete and Utter Lack of Compassion.  Get the picture?

If you're reading this, then you are alive and if you are alive then you've probably never encountered anyone with NO Compassion.  You may not have had the best father or mother, but I bet you didn't have the worst!

But let's get back to the antonyms and go the other way!  If there's such a thing as ZERO COMPASSION, then the opposite must be MAXIMUM COMPASSION.

And MAXIMUM COMPASSION is who God the Father is!

Psalm 116:5 says: The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

See that?  Our God is FULL of Compassion.  He is maxed-out on Compassion and He is OUR FATHER.

Are you beginning to understand why it's called "The Good News"?

Join me tomorrow when I write about RAN and how it is inextricably linked to Compassion.

The Prodigal Father- Part 1

Life here in Ukraine often throws me an unexpected curve ball.  For example, I'm the lead male vocalist for our Church's worship band.  How in the world is the American with a 2 year old's vocabulary and diction skills singing worship songs in Russian and Ukrainian?

Here's another: Last summer I was asked to speak about The Father Heart of God at Camp.  Ok, that's not a terrible stretch- He's my Heavenly Father and I've known Him now for 30 years.  But I've never been a "Dad".  Why am I the one talking about "Fathering"?

And here's another: I was asked to address the topic again this summer at camp.  Last year I drew heavily upon an old sermon (brochure) from Last Days' Ministries and John Dawson.  I remembered reading it many years ago and so I adapted it for use here.

A couple months ago when I was asked to speak about the Father Heart of God again, I knew almost instantly that I wanted to go with Luke 15- what most of us know as the story of The Prodigal Son.

Upon doing some internet research I discovered that Louie Giglio had preached a sermon about The Prodigal Father.  (Apparently the word, Prodigal, which we (I) have associated with wanton wastefulness can also simply mean, "lavishness").  Ie, the young son was "lavish" in wasting his time and money, but the Father was equally (moreso!) lavish is extending mercy and grace.

So anyway, as I prayed over and studied the familiar passage my eyes were drawn to verse 20.  You've had that happen before, right?  Where something you've read in the Bible a hundred times jumps out at you with newness that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit?  Maybe it's the "language learner" in me that I find myself more attuned to sentence structure and such...but do you see what I see?

In the ESV it says: v 20- And he arose and came to his father.  But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

See it?  Five Verbs in that second sentence... his father SAW him and FELT compassion, and RAN and EMBRACED him and KISSED him.

So I shared the narrative and I explained some of the background (going back to chapter 9 we see that Jesus has already "set his face" towards Jerusalem...that adds extra weight to everything he says and does thereafter) but then I came back to Verse 20 and camped-out.

The thought occurred to me during my study: What are the antonyms to those five verbs?  Many of us have good, Godly men to father us here on earth but certainly not everyone, not in America and not here in Ukraine.  Our personal experiences are often the opposite of good and Godly and how we experience our earthly father affects how we experience our Heavenly Father.

I asked my "audience" of young Ukrainians to help me out with those antonyms and here's what they came up with for the first verb- SAW.

The opposite is that no one is looking for you, no one sees you, the result is that you feel invisible. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people you and I know have felt that way before.  Maybe all of us have.  But to feel that from a father- or any parent-figure or loved one, obviously, is devastating.

That's not what the "prodigal son" felt when he returned home.  His father SAW him!  Not only did his father see him, he was LOOKING for him.  Do you remember the movie, Avatar (aka, Dances with Wolves in Outerspace)?  "I See You" was an important concept in the movie that meant something akin to, "I see the real you and I love you".

In Genesis 16:13 Hagar assigns the name El Roi to God meaning "The God who sees me".

That's our God- that's our Father!  He Sees Us.  We are never invisible to Him.  We are never lost to Him.

Tune in tomorrow for the verb FILLED (Filled with compassion in NIV, Felt Compassion in ESV).

Me preaching (with Christina translating) at the first Camp.

Yikes, it's way past time for a blog

Yeah, nearly 2 months since I last wrote something!  A lot has been happening.

I went to America for 2 weeks!  Talk about a quick trip.  But it was productive and I enjoyed my time to the fullest and I think I squeezed a lot out of it, including co-officiating the wedding of a dear friend.

When I returned to Ukraine I did so in the company of Tonya Teasely, a recent high school grad from my church back in Mississippi.  At 18, she's already logged 3 trips to Mexico and a trip to Costa Rica.  We were delayed getting into Ukraine by a couple days since it's also that time of year for me to renew my Visa/Temporary Residency.  We arrived in Budapest on Tuesday, June 18 with intentions of entering Ukraine the next day after I dropped off my new Visa Application at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest.  When I did so, they informed me that it would be ready in just 2 days- on Friday, so it just made more sense to stay in Hungary until the Visa was ready than to go to Ukraine and then turn around and come right back.  So we stayed with long-time friends and IMB Missionaries, the Hathcocks, for a couple days.

Tonya and I finally arrived in Ukraine that Friday night and went to our first Summer Camp the next day!  It was a long 7 days of tent camping in chilly, rainy weather with about 20 middle schoolers.  The following week we did the stuff I usually do on a weekly basis- we visited the local children's hospital to hold abandoned babies, and we went with some friends to visit toddlers at our regional baby orphanage.  Aside from that we saw some local sights and visited Ukrainian friends while preparing for the next camp which just wrapped up this morning.  This time we had near perfect camping weather with about 50 high school kids.

I took one day off of camp to attend a meeting with the Regional Chief of Immigration (still working on getting my new Residency Permit).  The meeting was a success- my petition was approved and I think all that remains now is a 3 week wait while my internal passport/residency permit is prepared.

Tonya and I will enjoy Shashlik (sort of a cook-out) with the members of our worship band and some other friends tomorrow, she'll catch-up on some last minute souvenir shopping, and then first thing Sunday morning we'll head back to Budapest.  She'll catch her flight home early that morning and I'll try and catch a couple of summer blockbuster movies in English before returning to Ukraine.

Next week I'll be at one more camp and then a few days later I'll welcome another friend to Ukraine for the month of August to explore ministry options with our team here in Uzhgorod.