God our Father

The Parable of the Lost Son " Luke 15:11-15:32 "

11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

13 "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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 "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! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father.

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.

21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[a] '

22 "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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

31 " 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 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.' "

A joke story

ILL. "You," said the doctor to his patient, "are in terrible shape, & unless something is done you’re going to die. You’re under too much stress, & you’re not eating right. Tell your wife that she must start cooking more nutritious meals. And to help reduce the stress, have her keep the kids off your back so you can relax. Then make a budget, & tell her she has to stick to it. If she’ll do all this, you should recover completely. Otherwise, you’ll be dead in a month."

Obviously shaken, the patient said, "Doc, would you call my wife before I get home & give her those instructions?" When he got home, his wife rushed to him. "I just talked to the doctor," she wailed. "Poor man, you only have 30 days to live."

Some of us may look at our life right now and realize that we thought we were grownup and we moved out to make our own mistakes.

Others may feel that we have stayed with the family and done the best we can with all kinds of limits on our lives.

Some of us are Dad’s and we are doing the best we know how. In our scripture, the father, gives his younger son, what the ask. He hands over his share of what would one day be his inheritance.

Dad’s want to give their kids the things they want. They want their children to be happy. Dad’s will let you make a mistake and hope you will learn from it.

Dad’s will love you through your pain and suffering, many times never saying a word. They suffer with their children silently because a man, according to the world, is tougher.

I believe that most of us use our own fathers as a guide on what we believe God is like. If your father was distant or not there you probably feel that God is the same way.

Some of us have a real fear of our fathers. We fear punishment and rejection.

(Wait until your daddy Gets Home!) Dad being the ultimate punishment machine.

OR Maybe the problem is that we can’t be good enough. Perhaps it was grades, or friends and or any choices in your life that were judged harshly. And you just can’t see how you can satisfy your dad.

Too often we place our personal view of our earthly fathers on God. We take the human traits that we know about our dad’s - GOOD or BAD think GOD is the same.God is not the same.

God is God, and God is the perfect father. When we go off to a far country, never expecting to return he waits, Not patiently but anxiously for our return.

What an earthly father wants is the same as the heavenly father. They would love to be perfect, but most know they aren’t. But just like the heavenly father they wait anxiously for the phone to ring, and are more than willing to accept the charges to hear from their children.

Because you know your mom worries, if we don’t hear from you……

Our God would love to hear from all of you on this father’s Day, Call call collect because you know he worries.

All Glory be to God!

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